Newbies at the World Cup

A Background

Since the World Cup's inception in 1930 209 FIFA nations have played qualifying games in their various confederations in order to get to the World Cup, in total only 76 of these nations have ever played in a World Cup, the other 133 have never made it to the grandest show of all.

This is where you come in, it's your job to take over a nation who has never made to a World Cup and then do it, you can load up whatever leagues you like, set up whatever database you want and there are practically no restrictions, just keep everyone updated with screenshots on how your attempts are going, now for the list of nations to choose from with their FIFA ranking at the start of the game (June 2013).

Africa

Benin - 115th

Botswana - 116th

Burkina Faso - 42nd

Burundi - 120th

Cape Verde - 49th

Central African Republic - 89th

Chad - 160th

Comoros - 191st

Congo Republic - 90th

Djibouti - 202nd

Equatorial Guinea - 67th

Eritrea - 196th

Ethiopia - 95th

Gabon - 82nd

Gambia - 164th

Guinea - 61st

Guinea-Bissau - 180th

Kenya - 124th

Lesotho - 161st

Liberia - 103rd

Libya - 70th

Madagascar - 185th

Malawi - 109th

Mali - 28th

Mauritania - 172nd

Mauritius - 184th

Mozambique - 102nd

Namibia - 127th

Niger - 107th

Rwanda - 135th

São Tomé and Príncipe - 166th

Seychelles - 200th

Sierra Leone - 83rd

Somalia - 201st

Sudan - 134th

South Sudan - 199th

Swaziland - 179th

Tanzania - 121st

Uganda - 80th

Zambia - 60th

Zimbabwe - 114th

Asia

Afghanistan - 140th

Bahrain - 118th

Bangladesh - 151st

Bhutan - 207th

Brunei - 183rd

Cambodia - 198th

Chinese Taipei - 175th

East Timor - 182nd

Guam - 176th

Hong Kong - 148th

India - 146th

Jordan - 76th

Kyrgyzstan - 137th

Laos - 173rd

Lebanon - 129th

Macau - 203rd

Malaysia - 159th

Maldives - 155th

Mongolia - 186th

Myanmar - 163rd

Nepal - 169th

Oman - 99th

Pakistan - 167th

Palestine - 152nd

Philippines - 144th

Qatar - 113th

Singapore - 156th

Sri Lanka - 171st

Syria - 143rd

Tajikistan - 106th

Thailand - 138th

Turkmenistan - 136th

Uzbekistan - 58th

Vietnam - 145th

Yemen - 170th

Europe

Albania - 37th

Andorra - 205th

Armenia - 66th

Azerbaijan - 117th

Belarus - 78th

Cyprus - 126th

Estonia - 86th

Faroe Islands - 174th

Finland - 65th

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - 92nd

Georgia - 98th

Iceland - 73rd

Kazakhstan - 150th

Latvia - 119th

Liechtenstein - 149th

Lithuania - 104th

Luxembourg - 141st

Malta - 133rd

Moldova - 125th

Montenegro - 30th

San Marino - 208th

North America

Anguilla - 206th

Antigua & Barbuda - 122nd

Aruba - 153rd

Bahamas - 181st

Barbados - 147th

Belize - 130th

Bermuda - 157th

British Virgin Islands - 193rd

Cayman Islands - 194th

Curaçao - 178th

Dominica - 165th

Dominican Republic - 91st

Grenada - 123rd

Guatemala - 93rd

Guyana - 128th

Montserrat - 177th

Nicaragua - 158th

Panama - 51st

Puerto Rico - 131st

Saint Kitts and Nevis - 139th

Saint Lucia - 142nd

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 132nd

Suriname - 108th

Turks and Caicos Islands - 209th

US Virgin Islands - 188th

Oceania

American Samoa - 195th

Cook Islands - 204th

Fiji Islands - 192nd

New Caledonia - 97th

Papua New Guinea - 197th

Samoa - 187th

Solomon Islands - 162nd

Tahiti - 154th

Tonga - 189th

Vanuatu - 190th

South America

Venezuela - 36th

That's the lot of them, not all nations may be playable due to a lack of players/ staff in that nation so make sure that in the setup to add all players from the nation you choose, if there's any nations I've missed then please just say and most of all, have fun and good luck!

For updating I think it will be best to show your results on the 31st December/ 1st January, maybe with a couple more updates for tournaments, also post the best 11 page and a couple of stand-out players for you that year.

If you don't manage to qualify for a World Cup then you can either start over with a new nation or carry on with your current nation until you get there.

Challengers, teams and progress

This looks decent.

To keep us interested, any chance you can tell us what the qualification procedure is?

The Asian Cup Qualifiers gets you into the Asian Cup and I'm guessing that's the equivalent of the Euro Championships?

Just realised that you start off ranked 58th in the World. (Smart team choice). I'm liking this, but I love a league table though.

The Philippines were my first game in charge and we're completely unbeaten so far with surprisingly our closest game being against lowly Guam, even if they didn't have a single shot, we've also qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time in our history.

Not sure where you got that from, Uzebekistan came 4th in the last Asian Cup (2011).

This looks decent.

To keep us interested, any chance you can tell us what the qualification procedure is?

The Asian Cup Qualifiers gets you into the Asian Cup and I'm guessing that's the equivalent of the Euro Championships?

Just realised that you start off ranked 58th in the World. (Smart team choice). I'm liking this, but I love a league table though.

Thanks Jimbokav, sure thing, the Asian Cup Qualifiers are straight forward enough, just 5 groups where the nations play each other twice and the top 2 from each group qualify for the Cup along with the 3rd placed team that finished with the highest number of points out of all the groups.

The World Cup qualifying starts with the First Round which the weakest Asian teams play a 2-legged playoff to get into the 2nd Round which is where Uzbekistan joined (going by the last World Cup qualifying campaign).

After that there's the 3rd Round Group Stage where the remaining 20 teams take up 5 groups of 4 and the top 2 from each qualify for the Final Stage of qualifying which is 2 groups of 5 and the nations play each other twice with the top 2 from each group qualify for the World Cup and the 2 teams in 3rd have a 2-legged playoff to qualify for the World Cup Playoffs with a North American, South American & Oceanic nation with the 2 winners then going on to the World Cup!

I was going to start with Mali as they were ranked 28th and the highest available (I think the nation rankings are a bit randomized though) but I'm quite happy with Uzbekistan so far.

I'm glad you're liking this what do you mean by league table?

Not sure where you got that from, Uzebekistan came 4th in the last Asian Cup (2011).

Looking back, I'm not sure where I got it from either, I think it just came up on the game when I qualified it said for the first time, there must have been some sort of mistake.

Always nice to see the return of the World Cup Challenge, tends to pop up every year.

May have to dust off some league edits & have a crack. Did manage it a couple of versions back with Belarus & it was one of my most enjoyable FM saves.

Tony Hawker - You've made an excellent start to things. Hopefully you can keep the form up when it comes to World Cup qualifying.

Always nice to see the return of the World Cup Challenge, tends to pop up every year.

May have to dust off some league edits & have a crack. Did manage it a couple of versions back with Belarus & it was one of my most enjoyable FM saves.

Tony Hawker - You've made an excellent start to things. Hopefully you can keep the form up when it comes to World Cup qualifying.

I thought it was about time someone made it this year, and after seeing ShanghaiNugget's challenge I thought this would go well with it, good luck if you do try it, would be good to see somebody else in here as well.

I'm glad you're liking this what do you mean by league table?

I just meant the Group tables, but you have done that now anyway. Nice.

I am genuinely shocked at some of the teams that haven't played at a World Cup. Venezuela is a shock to me, as is Finland. So much so that I am going to take on your challenge this evening as Finland. I can't imagine it being as easy as Uzbekistan, with the quality of teams in Europe.

Updates to follow.

*watch this space*

I am genuinely shocked at some of the teams that haven't played at a World Cup. Venezuela is a shock to me, as is Finland. So much so that I am going to take on your challenge this evening as Finland. I can't imagine it being as easy as Uzbekistan, with the quality of teams in Europe.

Updates to follow.

*watch this space*

Good luck with Finland Jonnycosmic, will be good to see someone else doing this

Unlucky at the World Cup with Uzbekistan but fantastic work getting them there in the first place!

I was thinking of posting updates from Haiti save until I realised that they played at the 1974 World Cup. Might post updates here from a new save or after I quit the Haiti job.

Manager Comments

As you may expect from a qualification group that consists of the World champions Spain and former World champions France, the Finnish FA are looking to be competitive in this years competition. With the nation sitting 3rd in the group, nobody is expecting a rise to the top of the league, barring some incredible miracles in the main two ties in the group. Finnish manager Jonathan Ball is pretty confident that Finland can get the three points against Belarus, by playing an attacking brand of football, but with the majority of Finland's players being over the age of 30, it would appear that a rebuild is in order. Jonathan Ball is looking at getting as involved with the Finnish Premier Division as physically possible and has already picked up on some potential future stars, that could potentially be included in the squad for the Bosnia friendly.

Well...in all my years I've never tried any international management...but I think I'll give this a go as my current challenge seems to be crashing more and more often....

I'm taking the <i>relatively</i> easy task of guiding Venezuela, which drops immediately to 61st place at the start of the challenge. The only staff member I'm keeping on is GK coach Briceno, with neither Fitness Coach Canas nor current AssMan Torres meeting my most reasonable expectations.

Expectations are fairly simple, and should give me time to settle into the new role.

Probable starting XI and Formation.

It will take me some time to get comfortable with this challenge....but interesting to see if I can make it past this first WC Season

With the starting table as it is, I should have some time to build. I just need some good initial performances in order to give me time to really build

Well...our first match was anything but terrible, though we only managed the one point. While the team needs a bit of time to settle into the formation, and I need a tactical tweak or two, I was fairly happy with the performance. We were actually unlucky to get the draw, with three clear chances in the past 10 minutes being well blocked/saved (including Wing Back Rosales getting behind the opposition and putting a nice shot on target, only to have the keeper palm it onto the bar in an acrobatic save).

In fact, my defenders had the best of the shots, with ANdres Tunez attacking the near post off of a corner for our only goal, while DC Amorebieta was well saved on a fierce shot from the far post in the 90th minute. Other than the possession disadvantage, I think we had the best of the match overall.

My starting goalkeeper came out to the press saying he was pleased with the unexpected draw, and that the team now has a "renewed sense of optimism".

Meanwhile, an undisclosed "member of the Venezuela camp" said that the result had been greeted with cautious optimism and represented progress towards meeting their own WCQ expectations.

Finally, Fan Club spokesperson Johan Diaz reported that fans are pleased with the 1-1 draw.

Not a bad start at all.

That's a surprise..your starting Venezuela is in a much better starting point than my Venezuela! I started w/ 4 points, 2 GF and 18 GA...and virtually no chance of qualifying for the first WC. I would restart...but, nah...onwards!

And wow, what a second game vs Argentina! We got off to a great start, with, once again, a defender (my WBR) scoring on a drive into the far corner. Two more early chances nearly gave us another pair, but both shots were inches away. Argentina's eqalizer came off of a poor goal kick which was nodded at the mid-line to a wide open Messi who ran onto it and slotted a cool pass to the center, where Aguero calmly put it away.

Then came a moment of bitter controversy, as, on th 76th minute, both Messi and Aguero were clearly offsides on a cross, which was first touched by Messi, before Venezuelan defender Rincon got a touch which put the ball into his own goal. Replayed several times frame by frame, and nothing changes...two Argentine players offside, yet the goal was allowed to stand.

Justice was served in the end (if only one point instead of three), as a Venezuelan Striker (Miku) finally got on the scoresheet in my tenure in the 85th minute, with WBR Rosales again being active, centering the ball onto the head of Striker Rondon, who nodded it down to the feet of Miku who put a vicious equalizer in the net against Argentina.

Another match where the Venezuelan team did well, really outplaying the Argentines and getting unlucky (offsides goal, and hit the woodwork 3 times).

At the start of my tenure, Venezuela had 4 points with 2 goals four and 18 against. Defense was my priority (and, despite giving up two against Argentina, inc. the offsides goal), I am very satisfied with the results. With little pressure on me to qualify for 2014 (I presume, given the starting table), I've got some time to build, and I can be happy with my first outing in the international game.

The squad, the media, and the "jubilant" fans are reacting positively to my start as well. Let's hope it continues!

edit: Damn...a press conference and no questions asked about the offside call...I was hoping to lay into the refs too!

Yeah just realised that it seems that the tables are generated rather than actual results. Good two points you've picked up G_D_K I assume you'll be aiming for the 2018 World Cup?

Yep...2018 is my only realistic goal given my starting position

Two draws drops us one point to 62nd the the FIFA world rankings

Need to improve that a bit!

Though the next few matches are going to be tough...Rincon was just knocked out for 6-7 months...he'd proven very useful in my setup

Ugh...and on 26 May I get 3 more injury notifications to starters Rondon, Cichero, and Amorebieta

Yeah the 4 points they started with on your saved has killed your hopes of WC2014. Shame about Rincon, he's a fantastic battler in midfield - the Venezuelan Vidal!

Yeah the 4 points they started with on your saved has killed your hopes of WC2014. Shame about Rincon, he's a fantastic battler in midfield - the Venezuelan Vidal!

Yeah..Rincon will be hard to replace. Fortunately, I won't need him (other than to help me keep my job!) this go around....though two starting centre-backs will be a really hard hit. Only one competition though...and a couple friendlies...will be missed. Hopefully they'll be available the the final couple matches. Just named my squad for the Paraguay (competitive) and Cayman Islands and Dominca (both friendlies). Here's hoping for some success

Wow....what a 3rd match. Venezuela were lucky to be in it, with Paraguay absolutely dominating possession against my injury-stricken side. With a cobbled-together defence (two new starting centre-backs -- at least for my reign), with Tunez trying to marshall them into a team, just couldn't contain Cardozo, who obtained his 9th and 10th international goals for Paraguay. M. Rondon pulled us back into the match on the 66th minute, and both sides spent the last 10 minutes trying everything to get the go-ahead goal.

It was end-to-end action, with both teams rattling the crossbar with vicious strikes from distance, and a couple great chances gone begging for either side. Paraguay finally broke Venezuelan hearts in the 93rd minute on a last-gasprun down the field, with the aforementioned Cardoza getting on the end of a relatively tame cross along the ground to slot home.

The squad obviously became disheartened, especially after looking to grab a 3rd point in 3 matches....

And to add to my injury woes, my star WBR who has been so influential picked up his second yellow card....earning hime an automatic 1-match suspension. As if I didn't have enough defensive difficulties!

Haha...that seemed a bit too easy! I can't imagine that turning Finland into a World Cup team will be as easy. Technically, I can still qualify, but with Spain and France to come...on away trips, I think 2018 is more likely.

Good look in Rio.

Wow this has really taken off over night

Jonny - best of luck with them away trips! Hopefully 2018 will be the one for you as well.

G_D_K - Good luck with Venezuela shame you got the 'tougher' lot so to speak but there's always 2018 and a couple of other competitions to keep you going

smp20 - Well I don't even need to say good luck to you because you'll ace it all anyway you've already done very very well with Venezuela!

Cheers guys I'm looking forward to the tourney. Got a group that with a bit of luck we may be able to scrape through:

Might give this a go although my long standing save with the cook islands having reached 2100 and still got nowhere near means I will probably choose one of those european teams who somehow haven't ever been to a WC.

Also, smp20, where did you get that logo pack? It's lovely.

Might give this a go although my long standing save with the cook islands having reached 2100 and still got nowhere near means I will probably choose one of those european teams who somehow haven't ever been to a WC.

Also, smp20, where did you get that logo pack? It's lovely.

Wow that's commitment to the Cook Islands game! Did you manage club as well? That's the only real way to see progression at international level.

I'm just using a megapack update, think mines still the 2013 version.

Wow that's commitment to the Cook Islands game! Did you manage club as well? That's the only real way to see progression at international level.

I'm just using a megapack update, think mines still the 2013 version.

I managed Avatiu, there are numerous rules that kind of limit the progress you can make, in terms of signing players and changing the club status (was amateur for about 70 years despite healthy £1M+ yearly profits). Also WC Qualification was often impossible, I'm not sure if FM (or the edit file I downloaded) has the Oceania WC Quals set up properly, that's why i've abandoned the save.

Madagascar

The Madagascar national football team, nicknamed Barea (a species of Zebu that is depicted on the country's coat of arms), is the national team of Madagascar and is controlled by the Fédération Malagasy de Football. It has never qualified for the finals of the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. Among its biggest wins was a 1–0 home victory over Egypt in the qualification rounds of the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Reflecting the official name of the country at the time, the team was known as the Malagasy Republic national football team between 1958 and 1975.

Key Players:

Lalaina Nomenjanahary

Zozimar

Christophe Grondin

Anicet

Andria

Johann Paul

It really doesn't help that some of the players names are so stupidly long....

I've loaded the French & South African leagues in order to get Africa loaded and French/Magalasy regens come through.

Also I've updated the challengers board in the first post, I think I have everyone.

Good luck with Madagascar Tony, managed them on FM13 and Anicet was class for me. I ended up giving a lot of the them nicknames because the long names were too much

Might give this a go although my long standing save with the cook islands having reached 2100 and still got nowhere near means I will probably choose one of those european teams who somehow haven't ever been to a WC.

Also, smp20, where did you get that logo pack? It's lovely.

The qualifying for Oceania is completely wrong in-game, i've asked for it to be fixed for the past 2 fm's to no avail, also it is nigh on impossible to change in the editor without creating a buggy db

Without additional databases I'm not sure if the Oceanic part of this challenge is viable. I've gone to Africa this time and with Gabon.

First game in charge

My first game in charge is a friendly against strong favourites to qualify for the World Cup from Group B, Bosnia & Herzegovina. I decided that as I was most likely to play a defensive formation against France in my first competitive game in charge, I would try out an attacking formation in this game to see how well developed this Finnish team actually were. I decided upon a 4-2-1-2-1 formation with an attacking outlook as shown below:

I did not expect to get the result that I actually did against Bosnia.

Manager Comments

So impressed by the attacking brand of football on show here, that I may actually go out and attack against France from the start of the match. It would be something that the French are not expecting. The midfield pairing of Sparv & Eremenko are both very accomplished midfielders capable of holding a French midfield and giving them a decent game. It is obviously the attacking flair of France that worries me, with an ageing defence. There was a debut goal for a late addition to the squad (and substitute) Tim Vayrynen, who plays for Dortmund's reserve team. He could well be the leading striker for this country for many years to come, given the right opportunities elsewhere. All in all, a fantastic performance from the whole team, with a notable mention to right winger Ojala, who was very tricky going forward and caused a lot of trouble to Bosnia's defence.

Next Up

France at the Stade de France.

World Cup Qualification - Group 9

=====================================================

Manager Comments

Well, after we conceded a goal after 24 seconds against France, plan B was most definitely employed. A more defensive 5-2-3 was immediately brought in to counter the incredible attacking prowess of the French. What the statistics do not show is that the majority of the French shots (95%) were from outside the area. Sadly, we have all seen what France can do with shots from outside the area. A thunderbolt from Frank Ribery and a late Matuidi scorcher condemned Finland to the inevitable. Finland will not be going to Rio.

On the flip side, the more attacking formation worked wonders again with the match against Belarus in a 3-1 victory. I can see the team getting used to this formation in future and hopefully trying to incorporate it more into games with the bigger sides. With one game remaining, Spain and France are battling it out for the automatic spot into the World Cup, with the runner up heading into the playoff.

Next Up:

Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu

A whole world of good luck as manager of Madagascar. I assumed the starting 11 were all cartoon animals. :-)

Good luck in Iceland Kris. I've decided on a change of direction. I'm going to be managing Palestine (I've actually spent two summers in Israel on a Football 4 Peace Project). This is going to be a lot longer term than the last one and I've downloaded a mega pack which included the Palestinian League, though I'm only going to be managing the national team.

jonnycosmic - good start with Finland with those dominant wins vs Bosnia and Belarus who are both very competent sides. Shame about the loss to France but it was to be expected.

The Venezuelan adventure continued through the summer of 2013, with three relatively easy International Friendlies scheduled in order to tweak the tactics and put a couple of wins together in order to build team confidence. Everything seems to be going well, with dominant wins from all three matches.

Things started positively with a match against the Cayman Islands--a game we were expected to dominate and one in which we didn't disappoint. A couple of youngsters made their international debut, with two players scoring their first international goal as well.

Next up was Dominica--another expected cakewalk, and our 3-0 win did not disappoint, as we dominated all phases of the match. Midfielder Julio Alvarez came in and, at 32 years old scored his first International goal in a solid performance which will probably give him a place on the team for the next couple years, though at 36 he'll likely be out of the 2018 WC Campaign.

Lastly, the tougher of our 3 friendlies was set up against Trinidad & Tobago, who were closer in the FIFA Ranking to Venezuela than were either of the other two teams. Despite the injury depleted squad, a dominant 5-1 win belied the overall stats. T&T dominated posession and pass completion rating...but were unable to create or convert chances. Conversely, with only 37% of possession, Venezuela playmakers managed to create 6 CCCs, and our players scored on 5 of them. Substitute WBR Feltscher scored his first international goal to complete this round of friendlies.

The fullbacks on the team are really paying off in this formation, and I have high hopes for the final 3 matches of this WC2014 campaign, even though we will not be able to advance regardless of the outcome. Still have hope for future campaigns!

Our final schedule sees us Away vs Uruguay, home vs Peru, and Away vs bottom of the table Bolivia. My goal is to pick up 7 points if I can to end the campaign (wins vs Peru and Bolivia my goal). Time will tell.....