Sports The Football Discussion Thread!

[Hikamaru]

Well, for my nation's chances in Group C, we're very likely losing to France in that first game since they are a powerhouse in the Top 10 plus the fact they thrashed us 6-0 in a game back in 2013, though the Danish and the Peruvians are close to that part of the world rankings as well (the Peruvians are #11 and the Danish #12), so it'll be tough.

I know I don't want to hurt any Australian football fans' hearts, but we're likely going to fail in the group stage again, like we did the last two times. France will likely top the group, while second I probably see going to the Danish. I feel our only win here will probably be in the final group game against Peru, considering they had a 36-year drought before this WC.

It's also interesting that out of six WC's that both Argentina and Nigeria played, this is the fifth time of those six that they drew in the same group. I'm also definitely interested in Group D, especially with that small fairytale story that is Iceland. Groups E and H look competitive as well, while I see Group B as the "group of death" for this WC considering Spain (2010 champs) and Portugal (Euro 2016 champs) are both in there, along with a surprisingly good Moroccan side.

Group G is probably the boring one here, since Tunisia looks to be a complete pushover, and Panama hasn't even played a WC before. Group F is going to be a pushover for the Germans, since we know they will obviously top it, especially with being the defending WC champions as well. Group E will be an easy ride for the Brazilians as well.

Uruguay will also probably have an easy time getting out of Group A, especially with a mediocre side like Russia who only got in because they're the hosts. Saudi Arabia could be a strong team there since they did deny my nation automatic qualification and relegated us to playoffs.

 

[%]

first impressions on the groups. i am so excited for this words can't even explain. will be making an effort to watch every match (although that will probably fall apart a few days in)

group a:

Spoiler:

i think egypt will win and it won't be very close. salah is picking up more and more momentum and with a relatively solid backline, which they have, none of those teams should be too much trouble. i'd pick uruguay for second, but if suarez and gimenez don't sort themselves out, that could change. russia vs saudi arabia has to go down as one of the most disappointing opening games in quite a while.

picks: egypt, uruguay

group b:

Spoiler:

top two should be fairly obvious here. not seeing an upset on the cards whatsoever, spain and portugal are both in their best form in quite a few years

picks: spain, portugal

group c: f

Spoiler:

rance are an obvious first place, second will be very close between australia and denmark. peru are not good. although you couldn't tell that from their media which is comparing us to new zealand, despite the facts that a) there's a ~80ish rank difference and b) they couldn't even score against new zealand. if something happens to farfan or he just doesn't play well they are a surefire 0 points

picks: france, australia (can you tell where i live???)

group d:

Spoiler:

about the closest to a 'group of death' that we have this year. can never trust argentina to actually play well despite their insane talent, iceland and croatia both very solid, and nigeria have the youngest squad in the cup. will watch as much of this group as i can

picks: argentina, nigeria

group e:

Spoiler:

brazil for 1st, were unreal in the qualifiers and they're my pick to win the whole thing at the moment. 2nd could go to any of them, switzerland are all-round solid, costa rica have proven their knack for upsets, and serbia are a young up-and-coming side that'll only get better in the months leading up to the cup. milinkovic-savic is a real star imo and i think his value will hit the roof come august

picks: brazil, serbia

group f:

Spoiler:

germany are about as good as they were last time and have just insane depth (although that doesn't count for as much via squad sizes), 100% to go through. second will probably be mexico, again solid in qualifiers, hirving lozano is a 10 although the rest of their squad aren't doing too much in their leagues. sweden are just ok, yes they knocked out italy but italy are also just ok. south korea aren't very exciting and i would expect nothing from them

picks: germany, mexico

group g:

Spoiler:

first place is a battle of the badly managed but potentially quite good teams. belgium are much more talented but still seem to lack any direction. afaik roberto martinez is in charge and he has not been good for a very long time, and lukaku is underperforming to say the least at the time of writing, but they definitely have enough to get them through, especially considering the alternatives of panama and tunisia. england for me are similar to belgium, but just less talented. again, shouldn't matter in this pool.

picks: belgium, england

group h:

Spoiler:

just behind group d in terms of being unpredictable. poland are solid at some times and a bit of a one man team at others, albeit that one man is incredible. if glik and co can keep going and him in particular pick himself up in the league, they should win. senegal have some real firepower in mane and keita, and you'd think that their afcon run was them underperforming rather than what they're fully capable of. colombia seem very average overall, some star players but some weak spots, fairly balanced. japan are very solid but going through a ton of managerial and tactical trouble and their chances will very much depend on wether they can figure that out in the next few months.

picks: poland, senegal

 

[Hikamaru]

first impressions on the groups. i am so excited for this words can't even explain. will be making an effort to watch every match (although that will probably fall apart a few days in)

group a:

Spoiler:

i think egypt will win and it won't be very close. salah is picking up more and more momentum and with a relatively solid backline, which they have, none of those teams should be too much trouble. i'd pick uruguay for second, but if suarez and gimenez don't sort themselves out, that could change. russia vs saudi arabia has to go down as one of the most disappointing opening games in quite a while.

picks: egypt, uruguay

group b:

Spoiler:

top two should be fairly obvious here. not seeing an upset on the cards whatsoever, spain and portugal are both in their best form in quite a few years

picks: spain, portugal

group c: f

Spoiler:

rance are an obvious first place, second will be very close between australia and denmark. peru are not good. although you couldn't tell that from their media which is comparing us to new zealand, despite the facts that a) there's a ~80ish rank difference and b) they couldn't even score against new zealand. if something happens to farfan or he just doesn't play well they are a surefire 0 points

picks: france, australia (can you tell where i live???)

group d:

Spoiler:

about the closest to a 'group of death' that we have this year. can never trust argentina to actually play well despite their insane talent, iceland and croatia both very solid, and nigeria have the youngest squad in the cup. will watch as much of this group as i can

picks: argentina, nigeria

group e:

Spoiler:

brazil for 1st, were unreal in the qualifiers and they're my pick to win the whole thing at the moment. 2nd could go to any of them, switzerland are all-round solid, costa rica have proven their knack for upsets, and serbia are a young up-and-coming side that'll only get better in the months leading up to the cup. milinkovic-savic is a real star imo and i think his value will hit the roof come august

picks: brazil, serbia

group f:

Spoiler:

germany are about as good as they were last time and have just insane depth (although that doesn't count for as much via squad sizes), 100% to go through. second will probably be mexico, again solid in qualifiers, hirving lozano is a 10 although the rest of their squad aren't doing too much in their leagues. sweden are just ok, yes they knocked out italy but italy are also just ok. south korea aren't very exciting and i would expect nothing from them

picks: germany, mexico

group g:

Spoiler:

first place is a battle of the badly managed but potentially quite good teams. belgium are much more talented but still seem to lack any direction. afaik roberto martinez is in charge and he has not been good for a very long time, and lukaku is underperforming to say the least at the time of writing, but they definitely have enough to get them through, especially considering the alternatives of panama and tunisia. england for me are similar to belgium, but just less talented. again, shouldn't matter in this pool.

picks: belgium, england

group h:

Spoiler:

just behind group d in terms of being unpredictable. poland are solid at some times and a bit of a one man team at others, albeit that one man is incredible. if glik and co can keep going and him in particular pick himself up in the league, they should win. senegal have some real firepower in mane and keita, and you'd think that their afcon run was them underperforming rather than what they're fully capable of. colombia seem very average overall, some star players but some weak spots, fairly balanced. japan are very solid but going through a ton of managerial and tactical trouble and their chances will very much depend on wether they can figure that out in the next few months.

picks: poland, senegal

You got some good picks. Maybe I do see my nation's chances of progressing much better now since the Danish tend to rely on the star player Eriksen, while Peru are coming into this WC with a 28-year drought. Peru have not faced Australia previously in any meeting, while Australia's last meetings with the French and Danish both resulted in defeat.

So I do think your choices are definitely what I'd expect. Considering Argentina's sloppy qualifying campaign, I'm probably seeing Iceland pose as Nigeria's biggest threat in Group D, but I'm seeing top spot there definitely go to the Nigerians who have a young side in this WC. Iceland showed that a small nation can still pose big problems to the opposition as they showed at Euro 2016, so they'll definitely be a potential dark horse.

 

[Kostas]

Ok, I'll try to make a "bet" about the World Cup too! First of all, it's interesting how Argentina and Nigeria are in the same group again. In 1994 the group was Argentina, Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Greece, in 2010 it was Argentina, Nigeria, Korea ( I think), and Greece. Now here we go again.

Anyway, group A: this will be a very interesting group and my bet goes for Russia and Urugay. Egypt has a good team and coach too but I don't think it can get a good result against Russia or Urugay, but we'll see!

Group B: I think things are very clear in this group. Spain and Porugal will fight for the first place. Iran and Morocco can't compared with these two teams.

Group C: This is another one interesting group! I'm not that sure about this one but my bet will be France and Denmark. I don't have anything more to say because unfortunately, I don't know many things about these national teams.

Group D: Everyone loves to see Iceland in this WC after the last Euro. Argentina isn't really in a good shape like it was before some years ago but still it's Argentina. My bet on this one is Argentina and Nigeria. However, Croatia and Iceland have really good teams too, I'm looking forward for this games

Group E: Alright, one more interesting group. My bet for this one is Brazil, and Serbia. I mean, I'm rooting for Serbia but they have a very good team and they also finished first in their group on the qualification round

Group F: Probably the most interesting group. Anything can happen here so I really don't know. What I'm hoping for is Mexico and Sweden tho.

Group G: I'm pretty sure Belgium and England can qualify from that group. But I don't know anything about Panama and Tunisia.

Group H: Again, an interesting group. Colombia will probably qualify at first place. Now about the second place... Idk, I would say Poland

 

[Banz]

Wow, Crystal Palace genuinely seem to have turned it around. Now 14th place with 17 points after 0 points and 0 goals in their 1st 7 matches. They are still relegation contenders (safe by just 3 points) but no longer in the top 3 favourites.

 

[Banz]

Any football fans still left in this site? Would anyone like to join the Pok?community FPL Classic league?

 

[Lipstick Vogue]

Doubt there will be enough of us tbh.

 

[Banz]

There used to be 4 or 5. Last season I played alone. This site seems to have a lot of visitors but so few football fans.

 

[Lipstick Vogue]

Any of the football fans still alive?

Spoiler:

Totally not bumping because Norwich are playing like Barcelona these days.

 

[hotsushi-kun]

I am here!

 

[EC]

The craziness with Chelsea was hilarious.

 

[hotsushi-kun]

I am planning to watch Bundesliga football match between RB Leipzig and Hoffenheig, i wonder who will win, it will be broadcasted on 20:30.

 

[Greninja use Water Shuriken!]

I am a massive football fan. I support Norwich City.

Any of the football fans still alive?

Spoiler:

Totally not bumping because Norwich are playing like Barcelona these days.

This is very true and makes me very happy :D

 

[Lipstick Vogue]

Rare, first time I've seen another Norwich fan on a non football site.

We're easily playing some of the best stuff I've seen, and I got my first season ticker in 2002.

 

[hotsushi-kun]

Juventus advance into the quarter-final.

I am hoping my prediction will look like this:
Manchester City vs Juventus
0:0
(3:0 on Penalty Shootout)

I did this for the FIFA 19 to demonstrate about my prediction.

 

[hotsushi-kun]

Juventus advance into the quarter-final.

I am hoping my prediction will look like this:
Manchester City vs Juventus
0:0
(3:0 on Penalty Shootout)

I did this for the FIFA 19 to demonstrate about my prediction.

 

[Lysander]

The English clubs are doing well this season. I can't remember the last time there were four English clubs in the CL Quarter-Finals.

 

[Lysander]

Ajax vs Juventus
Liverpool vs Porto
Tottenham vs Man City
Barcelona vs Man Utd

I'm predicting Juventus, Liverpool, Man City and Barcelona to advance to the Semi-finals

 

[Fleurdelis]

I'm already impressed Ajax made it this far, I'd lose my mind if they beat Juventus

 

[bobandbill]

Go Ajax! ALways fun going for the underdog in such matches.

Glad to see Poland have a good start to their euro qualifiers but it sure doesn't seem convincing. Bad coaches continue yadda yadda. Lucky they have such an easy group...