FIFA president Sepp Blatter might want an end to the World Cup play-offs but the excitement, drama, tension, joy and despair they will generate over the next week are unrivalled in the two-year qualifying process.
The final 11 spots for next year’s finals in Brazil are filled with matches played across the globe from Amman to Wellington and Mexico City to Reykjavik with 22 teams facing their final chance of glory.
South American champions and former world champions Uruguay, semi-finalists in South Africa in 2010, are on the brink of reaching the Brazil finals after a thumping 5-0 win over Jordan in the first leg in Amman on Wednesday.
Twice World Cup hosts Mexico are also within touching distance of securing their place in next year’s final after a crushing 5-1 win over New Zealand at the Azteca Stadium yesterday.
There will also be heartbreak, and joy, for one of the world’s top players.
The pick of the four European play-offs is the tie between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden with little to choose between the teams before they meet in Lisbon today and Stockholm next Tuesday.
Blatter’s comment that the play-offs ought to be scrapped because they are such a “hard way to lose” is not just based on the Swiss coming over all sentimental amid worries about the players’ feelings being hurt if their teams are eliminated.
Blatter rarely says anything officially without it having a political meaning for someone, and the comments follow on from other recent remarks that Europe has too many teams in the finals at the expense of Asian and African countries.
That provoked a response from UEFA president Michel Platini, who suggested a 40-team World Cup with an extra eight teams from Asia and Africa might be the answer.
However, while the two soccer chiefs try to score political points off each other, the real scoring action will unfold on the pitch in 17 highly-charged matches.
Iceland, with a population of 320,000, would be the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup if they beat Croatia and, with experienced Swede Lars Lagerback as coach and a bright crop of talented youngsters, they could prevail.
Lagerback, who has coached Nigeria and Sweden in World Cup finals, will also no doubt be interested in how his native land are doing against Portugal, while the other European ties pit Ukraine against France and Greece against Romania.
France, 1998 world champions and runners-up in 2006, were helped through the play-offs four years ago by Thierry Henry’s infamous handball in the build-up to their winner over Ireland and might need all the help they can get to see off Ukraine.
The French, who finished second behind world champions Spain in their group this time, will not find it easy against Ukraine who had a chance of winning their section until the final stages before finishing second to England.
The two other possible debutants are from Africa – Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.
Burkina Faso go to Algeria with a 3-2 advantage from last month’s first leg but Ethiopia, who scored first against Nigeria before losing 2-1 at home, would appear to only have an outside chance against Stephen Keshi’s well-organised African champions.
Ghana seem headed for a third successive World Cup finals as they take a 6-1 first-leg lead against Egypt to Cairo, while Ivory Coast will seek to protect a 3-1 lead in Senegal.
Cameroon will hope home advantage counts after a 0-0 draw in their first leg in Tunisia so they are among the 32 nations in the draw for the finals in Brazil on Dec. 6.
Play-offs (Today’s first legs )
Iceland vs Croatia 20.00
Greece vs Romania 20.45
Portugal vs Sweden 20.45
Ukraine vs France 20.45