Classification process - Matchday 2 of 18

Here we go, second matchday of the classification process. We start from the "West path" again.

 

Group 1

 

Asturias-Ireland 1-1 (possession 65-35, total shots 3-4, on target 2-3, woodwork 0-1)

Vienna-Extremadura 1-3 (possession 53-47, total shots 1-5, on target 1-4, woodwork 0-1)

Styria-Basle Country 0-3 (possession 74-26, total shots 0-4, on target 0-3, woodwork 0-1)

Rhineland Palatinate-Carinthia 1-1 (possession 51-49, total shots 1-1). Passing 53%-53%

Luxembourg-Hesse 3-1 (possession 31-69, total shots 5-1, on target 3-1, woodwork 1-0)

 

6pts: Luxembourg

4pts: Basle Country (5-2), Ireland (3-1)

3pts: Hesse (6-5), Extremadura (3-3), Vienna (4-5)

2pts: Asturias

1pt: Carinthia (3-4), Rhineland Palatinate (2-4)

0: Styria

 

Group 2

 

Balearic Islands-Northern Ireland 0-0 (possession 83-17, total shots 0-0). Passing 93%-92%

Vorarlberg-Galicia 0-3 (possession 43-57, total shots 0-5, on target 0-3, woodwork 0-2)

Thurgovia-Bavaria 2-0 (possession 49-51, total shots 2-0). Passing 95%-95%

Saarland-England 1-0 (possession 47-53, total shots 3-4, on target 3-1, woodwork 0-0)

Mecklenburg-Holstein 2-3 (possession 42-58, total shots 9-11, on target 2-3, woodwork 0-0)

 

6pts: Thurgovia (4-0), Saarland (5-3)

4pts: Galicia (3-0), Balearic Islands (3-1)

3pts: Holstein

2pts: Northern Ireland

1pt: England (1-2), Vorarlberg (1-4)

0: Mecklenburg (5-7), Bavaria (1-5)

Group 3

Basque Country-Scotland 0-0 (possession 75-25, total shots 0-0). Tackles: total 35-86, successful 30-55, fouls 3-31

Westphalia-La Rioja 1-3 (possession 44-56, total shots 1-7, on target 1-3, woodwork 0-3)

Thuringia-Belgium 2-3 (possession 18-82, total shots 9-15, on target 3-3, woodwork 1-2)

Salzburg-France 1-4 (possession 81-19, total shots 1-4). Average attack Km/h 18,3-38,9

Monaco-Inner Rhodes 1-0 (possession 2-98, total shots 1-0). Total tackles 0-0

 

6pts: France (7-2), Monaco (2-0)

4pts: Scotland (2-0), Belgium (3-2)

3pts: La Rioja

2pts: Basque Country

1pt: Inner Rhodes (2-3), Thuringia (4-5)

0: Salzburg (1-5), Westphalia (2-6)

Group 4

Canary Islands-Wales 0-3 (possession 56-44, total shots 0-6, on target 0-3, woodwork 0-2)

Zoug-Madrid 2-0 (possession 34-66, total shots 6-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 3-0)

Tyrol-Berlin 2-3 (possession 46-54, total shots 9-13, on target 3-3, woodwork 1-0)

Saxony-Fribourg 0-0 (possession 58-42, total shots 2-2, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-2)

Netherlands-Jura 1-2 (possession 68-32, total shots 1-4, on target 1-2, woodwork 0-2)

 

6pts: Wales (6-0), Jura (4-1)

4pts: Fribourg

3pts: Netherlands (7-3), Zoug (2-2), Canary Islands (5-6), Berlin (6-7)

1pt: Saxony

0: Tyrol (2-5), Madrid (0-5)

Group 5

Cantabria-Anhalt Saxony 1-0 (possession 30-70, total shots 2-0, on target 1-0, woodwork 1-0)

Zurich-Murcia 0-1 (possession 65-35, total shots 0-3, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Upper Austria-Bern 0-1 (possession 83-17, total shots 1-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Schaffhouse-Geneva 0-1 (possession 72-28, total shots 1-5, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-2)

Neuchatel-Liechtenstein 2-0 (possession 52-48, total shots 4-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 2-0)

 

6pts: Neuchatel (4-0), Cantabria (2-0), Murcia (2-0)

3pts: Bern (1-1), Zurich (2-2), Geneva (2-2)

1pt: Upper Austria (1-2), Liechtenstein (1-3)

0: Anhalt Saxony (0-2), Schaffhouse (0-3)

Group 6

Castile & Leon-Argovia 2-0 (possession 67-33, total shots 14-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 3-0)

Andalusia-Navarre 0-0 (possession 7-93, total shots 3-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 1-0)

Uri-Brandenburg 1-0 (possession 3-97, total shots 1-0). Total tackles 0-0

Schwyz-Glarus 5-1 (possession 59-41, total shots 14-11, on target 5-1, woodwork 2-0)

Nidwald-Lower Austria 3-0 (possession 28-72, total shots 7-0, on target 3-0, woodwork 3-0)

 

6pts: Uri

4pts: Schwyz (8-4), Nidwald (6-3), Navarre (2-0), Castile & Leon (3-1), Andalusia (1-0)

1pt: Brandenburg

0: Lower Austria (0-4), Argovia (0-4), Glarus (1-6)

Group 7

Castilla La Mancha-Baden Wurttemberg 0-1 (possession 93-7, total shots 0-1). Last-gasp counterattack

Andorra-Portugal 0-0 (possession 33-67, total shots 0-2, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-0)

Valais-Bremen 2-0 (possession 48-52, total shots 4-0, on target 3-0, woodwork 1-0)

Soleure-Grisons 2-0 (possession 42-58, total shots 2-0). Unpressed pass errors 53%-48%

Obwald-Lower Saxony 3-3. Added time was 1 minute. Just before it, the score was 1-3...

 

6pts: Valais

4pts: Soleure (4-2), Andorra (1-0), Baden Wurttemberg (1-0)

3pts: Bremen

2pts: Portugal (0-0), Obwald (5-5)

1pt: Lower Saxony

0: Grisons (0-3), Castilla La Mancha (1-6)

Group 8

Catalonia-Basle City 0-1 (possession 82-18, total shots 15-1, on target 0-1, woodwork 1-0)

Aragon-Valencia 2-0 (possession 16-84, total shots 3-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 1-0)

Vaud-Burgenland 2-0 (possession 15-85, total shots 1-0). 2nd goal was an unforced own-goal by a man

St Gall-Hamburg 2-0 (possession 47-53, total shots 4-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 2-0)

Outer Rhodes-Lucerne 1-0 (possession 51-49, total shots 1-1, on target 1-0, woodwork 0-0)

 

6pts: Aragon (3-0), St Gall (4-1), Vaud (4-1)

3pts: Catalonia (3-2), Outer Rhodes (2-2), Valencia (4-4), Basle City (3-4)

0: Lucerne (1-3), Hamburg (0-3), Burgenland (1-5)

And now here comes quality football. "East path" classification groups.

Group 1

Hungary-Cyprus 0-0 (possession 95-5, total shots 1-0, on target 0-0, woodwork 1-0)

Bulgaria-USSR 0-0 (possession 52-48, total shots 1-1, on target 1-1). Km covered 170,7-174,6

San Marino-Denmark 0-0 (possession 49-51, total shots 0-0). Tackles: total 77-75, successful 72-40, fouls 2-0

Malta-Finland 0-0 (possession 50-50, total shots 0-2, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-1)

Albania-Norway 0-0 (possession 57-43, total shots 0-0). Heatmap dominance 68-32

 

4pts: Albania (2-0), Bulgaria (1-0)

2pts: Cyprus, Denmark, Norway, San Marino, Hungary, USSR (all 0-0)

1pt: Finland (0-1), Malta (0-2)

Group 2

Poland-Greece 2-0 (possession 44-56, total shots 4-0, on target 3-0, woodwork 1-0)

Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia 0-0 (possession 51-49, total shots 0-0). Km covered 172,2-174,1

Ticino-Faroe Islands 0-0 (possession 6-94, total shots 0-2, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-0)

Romania-Iceland 0-0 (possession 40-60, total shots 0-0). Km covered 168,6-120,4

Italy-Sweden 0-0 (possession 1-99, total shots 0-0). Tackles: total 175-1, successful 1-1, fouls 172-0

6pts: Poland

4pts: Sweden (4-0), Yugoslavia (2-0)

2pts: Iceland, Italy, Romania, Czechoslovakia (all 0-0)

1pt: Faroe Islands (0-1), Ticino (0-4)

0: Greece

Third matchday promises to be interesting. I will post it asap.

Classification process - Matchday 1 of 18

Let's start with the"west path". Group 1:

 

Ireland-Extremadura 2-0 (possession 47-53, total shots 6-1, on target 5-1, woodwork 1-0)

Basle Country-Asturias 2-2 (possession 51-49, total shots 5-4, on target 2-3, woodwork 1-1)

Carinthia-Vienna 2-3 (possession 43-57, total shots 8-6, on target 5-4, woodwork 1-0)

Hesse-Styria 5-2 (possession 65-35, total shots 14-11, on target 9-5, woodwork 0-1)

Luxembourg-Rhineland Palatinate 3-1 (possession 39-61, total shots 7-2, on target 3-1, woodwork 2-0)

Group 2:

Northern Ireland-Galicia 0-0 (possession 35-65, total shots 2-2, on target 1-1, woodwork 0-0)

Bavaria-Balearic Islands 1-3 (possession 52-48, total shots 2-7, on target 1-4, woodwork 0-1)

England-Vorarlberg 1-1 (possession 53-47, total shots 3-4, on target 2-2, woodwork 0-0)

Holstein-Thurgovia 0-2 (possession 65-35, total shots 1-4, on target 0-2, woodwork 0-2)

Mecklenburg-Saarland 3-4 (possession 51-49, total shots 13-12, on target 5-7, woodwork 0-0)

Group 3:

Scotland-La Rioja 2-0 (possession 19-81, total shots 2-0, physicality fouls committed 67-0)

Belgium-Basque Country 0-0 (possession 35-65, total shots 3-4, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-0)

France-Westphalia 3-1 (possession 28-72, total shots 8-1, on target 3-1, woodwork 2-0)

Inner Rhodes-Thuringia 2-2 (possession 57-43, total shots 14-11, on target 3-2, woodwork 0-0)

Monaco-Salzburg 1-0 (possession 2-98, total shots 1-0, physicality fouls committed 0-0)

Group 4:

Wales-Madrid 3-0 (possession 14-86, total shots 3-0). Tackles: total 97-0, successful 95-0, fouls 2-0

Berlin-Canary Islands 3-5 (possession 28-72, total shots 9-30, on target 5-26, woodwork 0-2)

Fribourg-Zoug 2-0 (possession 35-65, total shots 4-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 0-0)

Jura-Tyrol 2-0 (possession 33-67, total shots 3-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 0-0)

Netherlands-Saxony 6-1 (possession 84-16, total shots 54-8, on target 7-4, woodwork 2-1)

Group 5:

Anhalt Saxony-Murcia 0-1 (possession 55-45, total shots 0-7, on target 0-2, woodwork 0-4)

Bern-Cantabria 0-1 (possession 77-23, total shots 0-1). Tackles: total 23-92, successful 7-59, fouls 1-16

Geneva-Zurich 1-2 (possession 58-42, total shots 9-3, on target 2-2, woodwork 0-1)

Liechtenstein-Upper Austria 1-1 (possession 37-63, total shots 7-12, on target 3-2, woodwork 1-1)

Neuchatel-Schaffhouse 2-0 (possession 41-59, total shots 7-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 2-0)

Group 6:

Argovia-Navarre 0-2 (possession 36-64, total shots 0-5, on target 0-2, woodwork 0-2)

Brandenburg-Castile & Leon 1-1 (possession 13-87, total shots 7-1, on target 3-1, woodwork 0-0)

Glarus-Andalusia 0-1 (possession 85-15, total shots 0-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Lower Austria-Uri 0-1 (possession 98-2, total shots 0-1, total tackles 0-0)

Nidwald-Schwyz 3-3 (possession 26-74, total shots 3-6, on target 3-4, woodwork 0-0)

Group 7:

Baden Wurttemberg-Portugal 0-0 (possession 35-65, total shots 0-6, on target 0-0, woodwork 0-0)

Bremen-Castilla La Mancha 5-1 (possession 18-82, total shots 9-1, on target 5-1, woodwork 3-0)

Grisons-Andorra 0-1 (possession 31-69, total shots 0-3, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Lower Saxony-Valais 1-4 (possession 58-42, total shots 1-8, on target 1-4, woodwork 0-0)

Obwald-Soleure 2-2 (possession 49-51, total shots 14-15, on target 2-2, woodwork 0-0)

Group 8:

Basle City-Valencia 2-4 (possession 39-61, total shots 9-15, on target 4-11, woodwork 0-2)

Burgenland-Catalonia 1-3 (possession 19-81, total shots 7-31, on target 1-3, woodwork 0-2)

Hamburg-Aragon 0-1 (possession 96-4, total shots 0-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-0)

Lucerne-Vaud 1-2 (possession 65-35, total shots 2-4, on target 1-2, woodwork 0-0). Passing 58%-57%

Outer Rhodes-St Gall 1-2 (possession 50-50, total shots 9-12, on target 2-3, woodwork 0-0)

And here comes quality football. "East path".

Group 1:

Cyprus-USSR 0-0 (possession 9-91, total shots 0-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Denmark-Hungary 0-0 (possession 65-35, total shots 0-0). Tackles: total 65-98, successful 38-75, fouls 24-23

Finland-Bulgaria 0-1 (possession 26-74, total shots 0-3, on target 0-2, woodwork 0-1)

Norway-San Marino 0-0 (possession 83-17, total shots 2-0, on target 1-0, woodwork 0-0)

Albania-Malta 2-0 (possession 52-48, total shots 4-0, on target 2-0, woodwork 1-0)

Group 2:

Greece-Yugoslavia 0-2 (possession 23-77, total shots 0-4, on target 0-3, woodwork 0-1)

Faroe Islands-Poland 0-1 (possession 45-55, total shots 0-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

Iceland-Czechoslovakia 0-0 (possession 66-34, total shots 1-1, on target 0-1, woodwork 1-0)

Sweden-Ticino 4-0 (possession 92-8, total shots 52-0, on target 4-0, woodwork 7-0)

Italy-Romania 0-0 (possession 1-99, total shots 0-2, on target 0-1, woodwork 0-1)

This being an attempt to improve the image of football, the tie-breaking criteria are not the same as those used by FIFA and its subordinates. Teams with equal points are instead separated by:

1)more positive goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded)

2)less goals conceded (because football is a defensive sport, whether you like it or not)

3)less matches lost (because the first step to a win is to avoid the loss)

Also, after the end of this classification process, one more criterion will be inserted:

4)larger slot number (this eliminates the need for lottery procedures or extra matches)

If the classification process ends with unbroken ties, there will be as many extra matches as needed, so that the ties are broken in the fairest way possible, without lottery procedures. This is a necessity, as not all of the countries I am using here have that "coefficient" given by "official bodies", so there are no slot numbers during the classification process. For the classification process groups I just separated the countries into subgroups (such as the Nordic subgroup that includes Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland), sorted the subgroups alphabetically and then, within each subgroup, sorted the countries alphabetically. Therefore it would be arbitrary to have slot numbers at this point.

Oh, one more thing. All Gaul, Latin, Nordic and Slav teams are all-female. Most Germanic teams are all-male, but some teams such as Thurgovia, Monaco, France and England are all-female and there also are some mixed-gender teams such as Bremen and Bavaria. The scenery on the Iberian peninsula has a lot of diversity, ranging between the all-male Madrid and the all-female Andalusia, Cantabria etc etc. As for the Greek teams, Greece is mixed-gender and Cyprus all-female.

Last but not least, don't bother looking for Gibraltar, Israel, Kazakhstan and Turkey. They are UEFA members, but Gibraltar is in Africa, Kazakhstan is part of the USSR and the other two are countries of Asia. Therefore UEFA's idea of European Football is null and void. All they have on their side is money and marketing, no proof of knowledge, no proof of ability, no proof of good intent for the sport, nothing trustworthy. I would very much like an independent body to appear out of nowhere, perform some checking on UEFA's and FIFA's actual financial activities and expose it all in a report for all to see. You know, I am curious about the exact numbers the circuit of corruption catches. I would like to compare them to the 400 Euros per month each player of their teams gets.

Returning to football, at last...

When I set up the rules for this blog, I hadn't predicted the dangers that would be posed towards the whole of society. These dangers forced this blog to become political, but since I have written enough to make my position on them clear, I am returning to my original line.

 

So, I have my own idea for replacing UEFA's version of Nations' League. Rather than the 55 countries we all know of, my version has exactly 100. Before anything else, a classification process will have to be carried out, so that each of these countries ends up in the fairest division possible. However, due to the very high number of countries, they will have to be separated in "West path" and "East path".

 

"West path" includes 80 of these 100 countries. These will be classed in four divisions, of which the first three will have 16 countries each and the last one will have 32. Therefore, the classification process will consist of 8 groups of 10 countries each. So, from each of these groups, the top 2 go to Division A, the 3rd and 4th positions to Division B, the 5th and 6th to Division C and the rest to Division D.

"East path" includes the rest 20 countries. These will be classed in two divisions, of which the first will have 8 countries and the second one 12. The classification process will consist of 2 groups of 10 countries each, with the top 4 of each going to Division A and the rest to Division B.

As I am typing this, I have already planned out these classification process groups, so here they are.

"West path" group 1: Ireland, Basle Country, Carinthia, Hesse, Luxembourg, Rhineland Palatinate, Styria, Vienna, Asturias, Extremadura

"West path" group 2: Northern Ireland, Bavaria, England, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Saarland, Thurgovia, Vorarlberg, Balearic Islands, Galicia

"West path" group 3: Scotland, Belgium, France, Inner Rhodes, Monaco, Salzburg, Thuringia, Westphalia, Basque Country, La Rioja

"West path" group 4: Wales, Berlin, Fribourg, Jura, Netherlands, Saxony, Tyrol, Zoug, Canary Islands, Madrid

"West path" group 5: Anhalt Saxony, Bern, Geneva, Liechtenstein, Neuchatel, Schaffhouse, Upper Austria, Zurich, Cantabria, Murcia

"West path" group 6: Argovia, Brandenburg, Glarus, Lower Austria, Nidwald, Schwyz, Uri, Andalusia, Castile and Leon, Navarre

"West path" group 7: Baden Wurttemberg, Bremen, Grisons, Lower Saxony, Obwald, Soleure, Valais, Andorra, Castilla La Mancha, Portugal

"West path" group 8: Basle City, Burgenland, Hamburg, Lucerne, Outer Rhodes, St Gall, Vaud, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia

"East path" group 1: Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Albania, Malta, San Marino, Bulgaria, Hungary, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

"East path" group 2: Greece, Faroe Islands, Iceland (well, this is geographically west, but had to go with the Nordic countries' subgroup which ended up in the "East path"), Sweden, Italy, Romania, Ticino, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia

The classification process is of course an one-time procedure. From then on, there will be promotions and relegations between the divisions of each "path". I am just doing this for fairness.

"West path" Division A: 4 groups of 4 teams. The winner of "West path" classification group 1 will go to Division A group 1 slot 1, the winner of "West path" classification group 5 will go to Division A group 1 slot 2, the runner-up of "West path" classification group 2 will go to Division A group 2 slot 3, in general none of the division group slots will be filled at random (this last thing goes for all divisions of both paths). Group winners will go to the title playoffs (single semifinals and final). Last place of each group will be directly relegated to the same group number of Division B.

"West path" title playoff consequences: the losing semifinalists will go to the preliminary round of the competition's general title playoffs. A 3rd-place match will determine the exact slot each of them will have there (they will both be unseeded, but the 4th-placer will face the "East path" losing finalist). The title winner will take slot 2 in the general title playoff semifinals.

"West path" Division B: 4 groups of 4 teams. Group winners are directly promoted to the same group number of Division A. Last places are directly relegated to the same group number of Division C.

"West path" Division C: 4 groups of 4 teams. Group winners are directly promoted to the same group number of Division B. Last places are directly relegated, but the group each of them goes to depends on Division D promotion finals (more details in the Division D paragraph).

"West path" Division D: 8 groups of 4 teams. Group winners go to the promotion finals (single matches where group 1 winner faces group 8 winner, group 2 winner faces group 7 winner and so on). Winners of these finals get promoted to Division C, with the group number depending on the finalist with the lowest group number in each of the finals. The promoted team is therefore directly exchanged with the relegated team of that group, so Division D may turn out to be something of a shuffler.

"East path" Division A: 2 groups of 4 teams. Group winners go to the title final (single match). Last places go to the divisional playoffs (more details in the Divisional playoffs paragraph).

"East path" Division B: 3 groups of 4 teams. Top 2 of each group go to the divisional playoffs.

Divisional playoffs: two knockout brackets of 4 teams each (single semifinals and finals). Division A group 1 last place and Division B group runners-up go to Bracket A, of which the winner ends up in Division A group 1 slot 4. Division A group 2 last place and Division B group winners go to Bracket B, of which the winner goes to Division A group 2 slot 4.

General title playoffs: a knockout bracket with a preliminary round of 4 teams, semifinals and a final (single matches all of them). The winning country of this bracket's final is crowned champion.

Knockout matches can have extra time, but not penalty shootout. Instead, if after extra time there is still no winner, the unseeded team (left side of the pair as the matches are single) qualifies.