Sweden 1-0 Italy

[KingSweden]

Awwww yeah!

Now watch us bomb out in the road Leg...

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Congratulations! Well-earned victory! We deserve to be out.

[Illiniwek]

Goodness, if Italy doesn't make it after the US doesn't make it, then I think I won't be tuning in next year.

[Gass3268]

Congrats Phil

[KingSweden]

Ahem...

*clears throat*

AHHHHHHHH

Heja Sverige!

[Illiniwek]

[Leinad]

Goodness, if Italy doesn't make it after the US doesn't make it, then I think I won't be tuning in next year.

Don't forget the Netherlands and Chile!

It's the World Cup of Chaos, and I for one am looking forward to the Panama vs. Iran final!

(jk Germany will win lol)

[RINO Tom]

Nice!  Now that the US is out, I'm all in on Sweden and Germany.

[vanguard96]

Denmark smashed the Irish hopes of a berth with a 5-1 thrashing in Dublin! To me that was the 2nd biggest result of the playoff matches.

The Scandinavians reign on playoff weekend as the Azzurri failed to get even a goal at San Siro.
I heard there is a rumor of trying to get Zlata Ibrahamovic back for the WC.

Elsewhere I was happy to see Switzerland dispatch North Irons. I will be able to better talk about the Swiss politically decentralized model with more people paying attention to the country with it in the WC.

And then we have Croatia who had a deserving win over Greece in the first leg and cruised to a win. My friend from RI is Croatian ethnically but came from Italy. So he has mixed feelings. His wife is German so she will no doubt be psyched for what could be a very dominant run for the Mannschaft

Australia did good in the final return match at home to dispatch the Hondurans as expected. And Peru too turned it on with all to play for in Lima to knock out the Kiwis. So once again Oceania is left to Australia's bid through AFC.

For missing the US, Italy, Netherlands, and Chile, the tournament could still have some nice times with Germany, Brazil, Spain, France, Brazil, and Argentina as the main pedigree teams
Portugal, Belgium, Colombia could again prove to be dark horses for a solid run. I hope we will see a couple outsider teams get out of the group phase along with a team from AFC (prefer Japan, S. Korea, or Australia). I don't hold out much hope for the Japanese - I used to live there and my wife is Japanese, so I root for them to do well. 4 points and a round of 16 exit seems to be their max.

[buritobr]

Traditional national teams eliminated: Italy, Netherlands, Chile, USA and Cameroon

Biggest upsets: Panama, Peru, Iceland, Senegal

[vanguard96]

Traditional national teams eliminated: Italy, Netherlands, Chile, USA and Cameroon

Biggest upsets: Panama, Peru, Iceland, Senegal

Senegal not a huge surprise. Cameroon's best days have passed it seems. Iceland performed well at EURO 2016 so not super shocked. Panama is the 4th best team in CONCACAF. If you remember Gold Cup they had some fierce matches with Mexico which were impacted by referee decisions. Better than Honduras. Peru has been lurking in middle of S American field with a decent showing at Copa America recently. Yes Chile losing was a shock but Peru is a resilient side. Ecuador a disappointment too. Kiwis no shock to lose out to Peru.

[Leinad]

Traditional national teams eliminated: Italy, Netherlands, Chile, USA and Cameroon

Biggest upsets: Panama, Peru, Iceland, Senegal

Senegal not a huge surprise. Cameroon's best days have passed it seems. Iceland performed well at EURO 2016 so not super shocked. Panama is the 4th best team in CONCACAF. If you remember Gold Cup they had some fierce matches with Mexico which were impacted by referee decisions. Better than Honduras. Peru has been lurking in middle of S American field with a decent showing at Copa America recently. Yes Chile losing was a shock but Peru is a resilient side. Ecuador a disappointment too. Kiwis no shock to lose out to Peru.

I feel like those upsets are more relevant to the teams they beat than just them in isolation. Although Senegal got an easy group, while Cameroon got a hard one.

I would say that Iceland and Panama are bigger upsets in a large context. Panama is possibly the 4 best in the region now, but that's just because it's their "Golden Age." While Iceland has less people than any US state...4 counties in my state have double the population of Iceland...it's a pretty small country For a small country that doesn't have the entrenched history of Uruguay to make the World Cup is an upset at least in that sense.

[Antonio the Sixth]