Got To Hand It To The Lad........

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-63793792
....as pep talks go that's pretty good.

[Zacs-Master]

Bless him.

[Old_Geezer]

Decent pep talk. I'd wish the Welsh luck, but I don't really want England to scrape in with just one win and a draw.

[Lie-in King]

Well done, Preston :-)

This wasn't bad from a few months ago -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63044024

[ichkeria]

Yes a lot better than the bloke I heard yelling yesterday.
Not sure who it was, but I found it mildly disturbing :-)

[New Judge]

//...but I don't really want England to scrape in with just one win and a draw.//

Which shows the farce that such competitions as the World Cup are. England could lose 3-0 today and still finish top of their group. They could lose 5-0 and still qualify. That would be on the strength of one win, one goalless draw and one defeat.

It takes 48 matches and the thick end of two weeks to reduce 32 entrants to 16. A third of that number is all that should be necessary and once you lose, you're out.

[ichkeria]

There are all sorts of permutations: that is because it's a round robin and not a knockout. At last under FIFA rules head-ti-head only counts if other methods fail to separate, and in that at least FIFA has one up on UEFA.
It seems perfectly fair to me: no point travelling halfway round the world for a single game. The next world cup threatens to descend towards insanity with 16 groups of 3 teams.
The real madness is the UEFA qualifying for the Euros. I once worked out how many games would to be played to eliminate a handful of countries. It was ridiculous.

[Hopkirk]

Rubbish.
He started off saying it doesn't matter if we win or lose.
Hardly Sir Alex hairdryer treatment.

[anneasquith]

Lik, thank you for the post .

[ZebuSanctuary]

100% with you on that young man!

When you think of the great names in the past who have tried and failed in the modern era.

The likes of;
Yorath
Toshack
Hughes
Coleman
Hughes
Giggsy

Full credit to you Mr Page!

[ZebuSanctuary]

//The next world cup threatens to descend towards insanity with 16 groups of 3 teams//

Not necessarily.

FIFA committee members are now considering abandoning the 16 groups.

One option apparently under discussion is 12 groups consisting of 4 teams.

That transpires into 104 games being played across North America.

Decision to be announced in 2023.