World Cup dreams will be realized and destroyed today in the final day of the regular stages of the World Cup qualifying matches around the world. Teams will be battling for automatic qualification, while others will be trying to qualify for the play-offs, and other teams will be fighting for pride.
In the afternoon/early evening installment of our open thread, there are 21 World Cup qualifying matches being played.
Israel vs Northern Ireland, 1pm, ESPN3.com
Portugal vs Luxembourg, 1pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com
Azerbaijan vs Russia, 1pm, ESPN3.com
Lithuania vs Bosnia Herzegovina, 1pm, ESPN3.com
Greece vs Liechtenstein, 1pm, ESPN3.com
Cyprus vs Albania, 1:30pm, ESPN3.com
Turkey vs Netherlands, 2pm, ESPN3.com
Hungary vs Andorra, 2pm, ESPN3.com
Switzerland vs Slovenia, 2pm, ESPN3.com
Romania vs Estonia, 2pm, ESPN3.com
Latvia vs Slovakia, 2:10pm, ESPN3.com
Bulgaria vs Czech Republic, 2:15pm, ESPN3.com
Serbia vs Macedonia, 2:30pm, ESPN3.com
Sweden vs Germany, 2:45pm, GolTV
Scotland vs Croatia, 3pm, ESPN3.com
Belgium vs Wales, 3pm, ESPN3.com
San Marino vs Ukraine, 3pm, ESPN3.com
Montenegro vs Moldova, 3pm, ESPN3.com
England vs Poland, 3pm, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports Go
Spain vs Georgia, 3pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com
France vs Finland, 3pm, ESPN3.com
World Cup qualifying permutations:
Group A
Croatia has to beat Scotland in order to qualify for the play-offs
Group B
Second place is up for grabs with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark and Armenia all fighting for a playoff spot.
Group D
Turkey, Romania and Hungary are fighting to finish in second place.
Group E
Iceland and Slovenia are battling for second spot. Iceland will go through to the playoffs with a win.
Group F
Russia and Portugal will decide who will finish first (automatic qualification) and second (to play in the playoffs).
Group G
Bosnia Herzegovina and Greece will determine who will finish first and second in their groups in their respective games, but Bosnia has the huge goal difference advantage.
Group H
Ukraine has a chance to finish top of the group above England if Ukraine beat San Marino, while England fail to beat Poland. England will qualify automatically for World Cup 2014 with a win.
Group I
Spain will guarantee qualification with a minimum of a draw, which will mean France will go into the playoffs no matter what the scoreline is in their match today.
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Plus, don’t forget that ESPN2 will be featuring their Whiparound Coverage show beginning at 2:30pm ET, which will jump from game to game as the goals and developments happen.
Before, during or after today’s matches, join the conversation in the comments section below.
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