Can watching international friendlies and Qualifiers improve your football predictions?

While aiming to be Paul the Octopus at the 2010 World Cup might be beyond us, we’re wondering if the amount of football we watch makes a difference to our predictions. You’ll have noticed we’re spoilt for choice at the moment with CONCACAF, South American and Asian World Cup qualifiers and plenty of international friendlies between European and African sides.

Of course, you can just enjoy the matches. We don’t need another reason besides the fact that it’s summer and we’re happy to have the beautiful game on our screens and in our lives. However, will getting sneak previews of these teams give us the inside track when it comes to picking the overall winner of the competition?

What to watch in the Qualifiers

If your team is still fighting for its place, then you’ll definitely be tuning in. As the continent with a smaller number of countries, South America has a round-robin qualification process. Most other areas are at the round one stage, although Asia is on to round two. Those matches will take us from 40 teams down to 12, who’ll head into the third round.

For the rest of us, watching Brazil go head to head with Ecuador while Argentina take on Chile can be full of thrills and good quality football. There are a lot of games to choose from and many more still to come. What that tells us is that you might need to apply some football knowledge and preferences to decide where to focus your attention.

You might like to pick qualifying games according to bookies’ predictions and favourites. Another option is to track players that you’re interested in. Maybe they’ve just signed for your team, or you think they could take the golden boot this year.

Are friendlies like the real thing?

In the qualifiers, there’s usually something at stake, so you’re likely to see a well-put-together side that’s playing some serious football. Friendlies are different and can be hit or miss. These internationals differ from the unusual pre-season matches, which certainly reveal the highs and lows of the game.

For the players, they’re a brilliant way to start becoming more cohesive and working on tactics. As fans, we can see whether the manager and the side are going to come together to put on an impressive performance. You might not see the best goals, but you’re likely to see some promising partnerships emerge. Watching sides come up against different styles of football will also give you some insights to help you predict who will lift the trophy.

Most international friendlies have similar kick-off times. If you don’t have a particular team that you want to follow, it’s easy to switch between the most exciting matches to find out who’s playing well.

More Football?

At the end of the day, we’re not going to say no to more matches to watch. As a bonus, though, you can pick up some useful information about promising players and teams by watching World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies.