PakistaniGuyUK
Banned
What if a FIFA World Cup ended up consisting of teams that normally have to be kept apart in World Cup qualifiers for political reasons? In Asia the 'problem team' is Israel. In Europe its Armenia, Azerbajian, Georgia, and Kosovo. Fifa are lucky that these smaller nations don't normally qualify, thus avoiding them any headache when the actual tournament begins.
But what if these teams did, somehow, manage to excel themselves and all qualified for a single tournament at the same time? Oh boy!
To demonstrate this potentially calamitous World Cup scenario I’ve tweaked Russia 2018 with the above ‘minnows’ qualifying for the tournament in place of more politically neutral sides like Iceland and Switzerland. With baited breath, the World Cup draw occurs. These are the groups that would be drawn on 1 December 2017 at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, an event that is televised worldwide (offending groups/teams in red):
Group A
Russia
Uruguay
Egypt
Georgia
Group B
Spain
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Morocco
Group C
Germany
Israel
Mexico
Iran
Group D
France
Denmark
Australia
Peru
Group E
Brazil
Armenia
Nigeria
Azerbaijan
Group F
Argentina
Serbia
South Korea
Kosovo
Group G
Colombia
Japan
Senegal
Costa Rica
Group H
England
Belgium
Tunisia
Panama
Group A Problem clash: Russia v Georgia. These two teams are kept apart in qualifiers, and now this grudge match will be played in Moscow in front of Vladimir Putin. That's if the Georgians decide to show up. Crowd trouble is par for the course. Or possibly a bigger diplomatic shitstorm.
Group C Problem clash: Israel v Iran. The whole purpose that Israel were moved to the European qualifiers was to avoid a clash like this! No elaboration is needed to describe how messy this could get...
Group E Problem clash: Armenia v Azerbaijan. Kept apart during qualifiers due to ongoing unrest in Nagorno Karabakh which both nations contest. Such a clash would very likely involve massive crowd disturbances in and out of the stadium or much worse - followed by unpleasant diplomatic exchanges, followed by... suffice to say things may spiral out of control.
Group F Problem clash: Serbia v Kosovo. Serbia will likely refuse to even play a country it doesn't even recognize.
Other possibly problematic permutations: Russia v Kosovo, Israel v Saudi Arabia
But what if these teams did, somehow, manage to excel themselves and all qualified for a single tournament at the same time? Oh boy!
To demonstrate this potentially calamitous World Cup scenario I’ve tweaked Russia 2018 with the above ‘minnows’ qualifying for the tournament in place of more politically neutral sides like Iceland and Switzerland. With baited breath, the World Cup draw occurs. These are the groups that would be drawn on 1 December 2017 at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, an event that is televised worldwide (offending groups/teams in red):
Group A
Russia
Uruguay
Egypt
Georgia
Group B
Spain
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Morocco
Group C
Germany
Israel
Mexico
Iran
Group D
France
Denmark
Australia
Peru
Group E
Brazil
Armenia
Nigeria
Azerbaijan
Group F
Argentina
Serbia
South Korea
Kosovo
Group G
Colombia
Japan
Senegal
Costa Rica
Group H
England
Belgium
Tunisia
Panama
Group A Problem clash: Russia v Georgia. These two teams are kept apart in qualifiers, and now this grudge match will be played in Moscow in front of Vladimir Putin. That's if the Georgians decide to show up. Crowd trouble is par for the course. Or possibly a bigger diplomatic shitstorm.
Group C Problem clash: Israel v Iran. The whole purpose that Israel were moved to the European qualifiers was to avoid a clash like this! No elaboration is needed to describe how messy this could get...
Group E Problem clash: Armenia v Azerbaijan. Kept apart during qualifiers due to ongoing unrest in Nagorno Karabakh which both nations contest. Such a clash would very likely involve massive crowd disturbances in and out of the stadium or much worse - followed by unpleasant diplomatic exchanges, followed by... suffice to say things may spiral out of control.
Group F Problem clash: Serbia v Kosovo. Serbia will likely refuse to even play a country it doesn't even recognize.
Other possibly problematic permutations: Russia v Kosovo, Israel v Saudi Arabia
Last edited: