April 1 to 7, 2019 Global Futbol Matches

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2019.

April 1 to 7, 2019

This week saw the finalisation of Match Day 5 for a pocket of nations.

 

	Asia A1	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Bahrain	5	3	1	1	10	+3
2	Iran	5	2	1	2	7	0
3	Kuwait	5	2	0	3	6	-3
4	Australia	5	1	2	2	5	0

 

Kuwait and Bahrain’s match looked set to peter out into a scoreless draw, which would guarantee Bahrain’s place in the League A semi finals. However, Kuwait’s Hussain Al-Musawi scored from a 180-degree turn, thus lifting them off the bottom and keeping Iran’s hopes of winning the group intact. Kuwait and Australia now fight to remain in League A, whereas Iran must win at home against Bahrain by two goals to advance.

 

	Asia A4	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Pakistan	5	4	0	1	12	+7
2	India	5	1	2	2	5	-2
3	Hong Kong	5	1	2	2	5	-2
4	Iraq	5	1	2	2	5	-3

India gained another draw, this time at home to Iraq. Both sides still sit on five points. Joining them is Hong Kong, who lost away to the impeccable Pakistanis. Having only lost one match means Pakistan now qualifies for the semi finals with a game to spare. Match Day 6 now will decide who of the three teams on five points each will be relegated to League B. Iraq seems most likely.

 

In Oceania, the Marshall Islands surprised the visitors Guam with defender Waqa shooting on goal twice, and his second in the sixth minute easing around the goalkeeper. The home team maintained their lead, luckily a second goal coming from Kautoga. However, the only dampener was Kautoga’s send-off late in the game, which will have an impact on their final group match against Tonga.

 

In the third Group in League B, Palau’s Bishop Junior scored in the second half to secure a win at home against Kiribati.

 

	Asia B1	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Qatar	5	2	2	1	8	+5
2	Myanmar	5	2	2	1	8	+1
3	Taiwan	5	2	0	3	6	-2
4	East Timor	5	2	0	3	6	-4

East Timor continued their winning ways with a grand second half display, culminating in a three-nil victory over Taiwan. This sets up the group nicely, as each team can, hypothetically, reach top place, or be lowered to Group C. East Timor hosts Myanmar, and will need to hope Taiwan pull off an away victory over Qatar. Reaching first may be next to impossible for East Timor, but a win will ensure no relegation. Taiwan’s best hope of staying in League B is an East Timor loss against Myanmar. Should they somehow defeat Qatar, the Taiwanese will hope East Timor win in a close match, and thus put the men from Taipei in first place. Myanmar must at least draw to remain in League B, and will hope Qatar lose at home, and win themselves, to gain promotion. However, it seems Qatar is likely to win, and thus rise to League A.

 

Match Day 6 games also took place this week, concluding the tournament for European League D Group 4.

 

	Europe D4	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Armenia	6	4	2	0	14	+5
2	Kosovo	6	2	1	1	13	+6
3	Albania	6	1	2	3	5	-1
4	Latvia	6	0	1	5	1	-10

Kosovo did everything in their power to progress to first place, with Valon Berisha scoring a hat trick in their romp over Latvia (Berisha scored five Nations League goals in six games). The more goals scored, the more they liked their chances in reaching League C. However, it was not meant to be. In the other match in the group, Albania surprised Armenia with an early goal; with Bekim Balaj redeeming himself after the penalty miss against Kosovo. The Armenians fought their way back to draw level but could not find the Midas touch to win the game. Still, that point was enough for Armenia to top the group and wave farewell to the bottom league.

 

April 6 Nations League Match Day 5 Oceania League B ·  Marshall Islands 2 Guam 0 ·  Palau 1 Kiribati 0 Asia League A ·  Kuwait 1 Bahrain 0 ·  India 0 Iraq 0 ·  Pakistan 1 Hong Kong 0 Asia League B ·  East Timor 3 Taiwan 0   Nations League Match Day 6 Europe League D ·  Armenia 1 Albania 1 ·  Kosovo 4 Latvia 0   Women’s Futsal MD 13 Egypt 2-2 Portugal Morocco 3-3 Russia Iran 1-1 Uruguay Australia 3-2 Iceland Denmark 4-1 Croatia Nigeria 3-1 France Costa Rica 0-0 Germany Switzerland 2-2 Mexico South Korea 3-0 Brazil Sweden 3-2 Serbia Senegal 5-0 Tunisia Japan 1-4 England Colombia 3-3 Panama