Group F - Azerbaijan, Israel, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland, Portugal, and Russia
Group F is a three team race with Russia about two lengths ahead of Israel and Portugal. The remaining three, have only been able to muster draws, mostly against each other.
Team Played W D L GF GA GD Pts Russia 4 4 0 0 8 0 8 12 Israel 6 3 2 1 15 8 7 11 Portugal 6 3 2 1 11 6 5 11 Northern Ireland 5 0 3 2 3 7 -4 3 Azerbaijan 6 0 3 3 2 8 -6 3 Luxembourg 5 0 2 3 2 12 -10 2 This is Russia's group to lose. With two games in hand with a victory over Israel and Portugal is a massive advantage that will be difficult to overcome. Even if either Portugal or Israel win out, Russia will still have 11 points to make up in four matches against the bottom three. Russia still has yet to allow a
single goal including 1-0 over Portugal and a trouncing of Israel in
Ramat Gan 4-0. If Russia can get a single point from their upcoming fixture against Portugal, there will be several Vodka infused Aeroflot flights arriving in Rio next year. Now all that remains is who will advance in second place: Israel or Portugal? In their prior meeting, Israel hosted Portugal and
drew 3-3 A couple of quick flicks and a beastly header are all Israel needed to take a 3-1 lead, but Portugal fought back with a clutch and scrappy goal in extra time. Flip this match to Lisbon and the Portuguese run away with the result. This upcoming FIFA World Cup will feature Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime and most likely will be Portugal's best shot in decades for a title. If there is anytime for him to play harder and ditch the
prima donna tag for his country, this will be the perfect stage. The October 11th fixture will decide the fate of 2nd place.