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Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

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    Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

    San Marino < 100,000
    Liechtenstein < 100,000
    Faeroes < 100,000
    Andorra < 100,000

    Iceland < 1 million
    Malta < 1 million
    Luxembourg < 1 million
    Montenegro < 1 million

    Estonia

    #2
    Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

    The Montenegroids are the ones to watch here I think. In fact, they might be a decent outside bet for the world cup: they went of the boil a bit late in Euro 2012 qualifying, but I can still see them finishing ahead of Poland and Ukraine and behind England again, and if they draw a bunch of flakes like Russia, say, in the playoffs...

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      #3
      Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

      Er, a decent outside bet to qualify for the world cup, that is.

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        #4
        Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

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          #5
          Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

          Lithuania and Iceland had some decent runs the past few years.

          That's all.

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            #6
            Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

            Wales.

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              #7
              Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

              Wales had a great manager who has sadly been lost to us. It depends on whether there's a smooth transition.

              I would put my money on one of the former members of Yugoslavia or USSR.

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                #8
                Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                Dunc has missed them off his list so not sure what their population is, but I'm going with Cyprus. Their national side and club sides have been getting better in recent years, although the national side underperformed qualifying for this summer; the extra qualification slots could see them home.

                Who I hope manages? Bosnia, as they have consistently been in the play-offs but haven't yet got to the big show.

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                  #9
                  Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                  [quote]Donbas Ogrodnik wrote: San Marino < 100,000
                  Liechtenstein < 100,000
                  Faeroes < 100,000
                  Andorra < 100,000

                  Iceland < 1 million
                  Malta < 1 million
                  Luxembourg < 1 million
                  Montenegro < 1 million

                  Estonia

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                    #10
                    Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                    As Janik says it will be interesting to see if Cyprus can make something like the sort of progress that APOEL and Anorthosis have done lately. But an APOEL starting XI on Wikipedia from their Champions League run last year includes only one Cypriot player, so maybe that's unrealistic at the moment.

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                      #11
                      Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                      My initial reaction was the same as Nesta's - Montenegro seem most likely, to me. And I agree with what he says about 2014, as well.

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                        #12
                        Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                        Montenegro, Bosnia, Estonia and Armenia all had their best qualifying campaigns since independence, so I wonder if they might make their debuts. Belarus have slowly improved over the last decade as well.

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                          #13
                          Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                          Janik wrote: Dunc has missed them off his list so not sure what their population is, but I'm going with Cyprus
                          Apologies to Cyprus. They tuck into the < 2 million category.

                          linus wrote: I bet Ultonia won't make it. Neither will Freedonia
                          Wash your mouth out, Monsieur. Ultonia is the smallest country to have qualified for multiple World Cups, don't ye know?

                          Since the Euros expanded after the 1992 tournament, there have been at least 13 European qualifying places available. Here's how they have been filled in the 10 subsequent finals:

                          10: Germany, Italy, Spain
                          9: France, Netherlands

                          8: England, Portugal
                          7: Croatia, Denmark, Sweden

                          6:, Czechia, Russia, Switzerland,
                          5: Greece, Romania

                          4: Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Serbia, Turkey,
                          3: Norway, R Ireland, Slovenia
                          2: Austria, Scotland, Ukraine
                          1: Latvia, Slovakia

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                            #14
                            Smallest nation that might qualify for 2016?

                            I recall we had a thread about play-offs a while ago. We might be able to predict the additional 8 from that.

                            Take away Austria and Ukraine's hosting and you really have 4 teams on one qualification. Scotland had one play-off that I recall; R Ireland several. Russia also several including a loss to Italy, which may have been used to support the decision to seed future play-offs.

                            Several of the above teams were OK or good in the 90s but weak since: Scotland, Norway, Bulgaria, Rumania, Belgium, Poland.

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