The World Cup Draw Gamethread
- Thread starter trekfan55
- Start date
So if this is scheduled to start at 10am, can reasonably expect it to ACTUALLY begin at 10:40am or so?
I wonder how embarrassing the ticket prices will be when this friendly tournament is scheduled for the US in late summer 2018.
Hey, at least the national shame and embarrassment in Italy has overshadowed our incompetence, so we have that going for us!
I'm almost as upset at the 6th (and 7th and 8th) place South American team not getting in, as I am about US, Cd'I, and Total Futbol not getting in. I love watching all 3 of those play.
Italy can go eat some (pizza) pie. F them.
Italy can go eat some (pizza) pie. F them.
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I mean, hell, I'd go to a game at Red Bull Arena or the toilet... it's not like I was thinking "man we have a shot to win this thing" and now we're not there. I was thinking "I want our young guys to get experience playing against world-class international sides", and this of course won't be quite as good but frankly it'll be damned close. Chile, Netherlands, Italy, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, etc? I'll gladly take it.
Can't complain too much about Panama's group. We had a shot at Group A (and the opening day match) with Russia, Egypt, and Uruguay. But Belgium, Tunez, and England is not the worst draw.
FIFA is so rigged. That Russia group is absurd: 2nd weakest Pot B, third weakest Pot C, weakest Pot D. They're just trolling us now.
Russia and Uruguay, Portugal and Spain are already through. Will only play for seeding.
Group C can be tricky. I can see Peru and Denmark stealing points from France.
Same can be said of Group D. Argentina should be first, but all other teams have the potential for stealing some points.
Brazil and Germany should be able to advance in 1st, but if one of them falters the round of 16 will be nuts.
Belgium and England have the best situation. Easy peasy group and probably an easy matchup on the round of 16.
Group H seems to be the more balanced. Not one really good team to run away with the group.
Group C can be tricky. I can see Peru and Denmark stealing points from France.
Same can be said of Group D. Argentina should be first, but all other teams have the potential for stealing some points.
Brazil and Germany should be able to advance in 1st, but if one of them falters the round of 16 will be nuts.
Belgium and England have the best situation. Easy peasy group and probably an easy matchup on the round of 16.
Group H seems to be the more balanced. Not one really good team to run away with the group.
Given a fair competition on a neutral site, Egypt would be fully capable of knocking off Russia. Sadly, neither of those conditions will be met in 2018. I can’t think of a time when I was less interested in a World Cup.
Those rankings are BS too, after top 3 or so. Russia isn;t the 2nd worst team in the tournament.
is Peru really 11th best? Is Swi 8th? Doubtful.
is Peru really 11th best? Is Swi 8th? Doubtful.
Yeah, there doesn't seem to be a classic "Group of Death" this year but Group H is the one where you could tell me any of the four teams emerge and I wouldn't be surprised.
The battle for #2 in Group E should also be pretty good.
I think Switzerland are at least top 15 and are a pretty miserable team to play against. Same with Peru. Are they 11th best? Not sure, but they can be a tough team to play. They knocked out Brazil (without Neymar) in the Centenario.
Russia's ranking probably tanked because they didn't play in WCQ. FIFA rankings are and have always been trash. ELO is not perfect, but it's much better.
That being said, there's not that much reason to expect Russia will be strong, based on their results. Only four WC countries have worse ELO ratings than Russia...and they got two of them.
Groups listed in order of pot, with ELO rankings in parentheses.
A: Russia (45), Uruguay (13), Egypt (48), Saudi Arabia (61)
B: Portugal (4), Spain (3), Iran (21), Morocco (44)
C: France (5), Peru (12), Denmark (19), Australia (33)
D: Argentina (6), Croatia (16), Iceland (22), Nigeria (41)
E: Brazil (1), Switzerland (14), Costa Rica (30), Serbia (23)
F: Germany (2), Mexico (17), Sweden (20), South Korea (37)
G: Belgium (9), England (7), Tunisia (52), Panama (47)
H: Poland (18), Colombia (8), Senegal (24), Japan (28)
Easily?
The last time Germany and Mexico failed to make it out of the group stage is when they were banned from the competition. 1950 for Germany, 1990 for Mexico.
I'm hedging, yes.
Hopefully they can get their stuff together and figure out the roster. My wife's side of the family have confidence they will.
Well, they are Argentinians. Having a sense of self-worth bigger than reality is in their blood.
My Argentinian friend has gone in the opposite direction and spent the morning convincing herself that Nigeria and Iceland are terrifying juggernauts that they'll be lucky to squeak by.
A wonderful combo if there ever was one. I take pride in that! Don't forget attractive psychotic women.
I really like the group draw (other than the laughably rigged Group A). Every top team has a fair chance to advance (i.e. no group of death), so there are no excuses. There are very few pushovers, although I don't expect much from KSA, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, or Panama.
Group A - I would bet good money Uruguay qualify, but no idea who else comes out of it, likely Russia through a good bit of favorable refereeing.
Group B - Spain and Portugal are big favorites. Spain has an embarrassment of world class players up and down the roster. De Gea, Pique, Bartra, Ramos, Alba, Sergio, Saulm Thiago, Asensio, Morata, Azpilicueta, Isco, Koke, Herrera, Vazquez, and Costa. Portugal's squad doesn't impress me because they have world class players at the back, but not as much going forward.
Group C - France will try their best to fuck this up, but they are just too talented. Peru and Denmark are both tough outs and I think the matches between France, Peru, and Denmark will be among the best in the group stage. France is just absolutely loaded - Mbappe, Lacazette, Martial, Coman, Griezmann, Gameiro, Dembele, Payet, Pogba, Kante, Lemar, Rabiot, Varane, Umtiti, Digne, Mendy, Kurzawa, mon dieu!
Group D - I'd also expect all the Group D group stage matches to deliver. Although Iceland was formidable during the UEFA WCQ, I have to think in this day and age that higher seeds Argentina and Croatia will have the ability to study tape and figure out how best to approach the match. Croatia seems like they will be a real problem with an outstanding international midfield of Modric, Rakitic, Kovacic, and Perisic, and Mandzukic, whose game adapts incredibly well to the international variety. Nigeria too has a formidable attacking group in Moses, Iwobi, and Iheanacho among other internationals. Argentina are a big 'ol question mark here because their old guard is still viable, but the pieces have never fit together that well and the younger cohort behind them doesn't seem to be blending well. Don Sampa has too many tools at his disposal, but it's still a mess of a toolkit. Fortunately, I think they can build a relatively skilled blue collar group around Messi and 2-3 other gifted attackers and make this work. I feel that Argentina will need to create turnovers with an aggressive press to generate effective attack.
Group E - Brazil should breeze here and I think Switzerland, Serbia, and Costa Rica are fairly close together. Switzerland and Serbia definitely have more talent than CR, but not so much as to blow the doors off a stout CR defense that plays better than the sum of its parts. I think the matches between the non-Brazil teams will be competitive and great, especially Switzerland-Serbia. Just to make sure I cover it, Brazil has Neymar, Coutinho, Firmino, Gabi Jesus, Alves, Marcelo, Casemiro, Paulinho, Douglas, Willian, Sandro and plenty of other global talents. My word.
Group F - Germany looks formidable again and should be considered heavy favorites along with Brazil, France, and Spain. Looking at their squad, they lack a traditional central attacker again, but they worked with it last WC and it worked out OK. In looking up the squad, I learned Leroy Sane is German, which is just, like not fair man. Add Draxler, Kroos and a slew of other high profile players and the Butt Sniffer can take the team in many directions. Mexico has some interesting pieces and have the talent to qualify, but I think they are in for a fight against a Sweden squad that showed they can hunker down with the best of them. Sweden Mexico should be a fantastic tactical matchup. I don't know much about South Korea other than they have some nice internationals, in particular SPURS ACE Son. I think they can definitely hang with Sweden and Mexico. You can probably get goods odds on them advancing.
Group G - Kind of a snooze IMO, because Belgium and England have so much more talent than Panama and Tunisia. I think Martinez is a much better manager than Wilmots and this is the best opportunity to cash in on the Golden Generation. The front 3 of Lukaku-Hazard-KDB should be lethal, and there's just international class oozing out of every other position on this squad - Alderwield, Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Fellaini, Carrasco, Benteke, Batshuayi, Nainggolan, Januzaj, Moose Dembele, Meunier, etc. England have a squad as good as any since WC 98. Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Lingard, Sterling, Alli, and Sturridge give them real firepower. The midfield is a bit more unsettled with Dier standing out as a fixture, but getting a bit murky after that with Lallana and Henderson maybe filling the middle. Who's going to get the ball up to the silky wingers and target men? The back looks to be pretty good with Stones and Smalling holding down the center while the FBs sort themselves out.
Group H - Along with Group A, the least talented group. Poland is low on name recognition (and scoring) after Lewa, but you have to respect the way they bossed their qualifying group. I'm less than enamored with Colombia's squad, but they still have nice pieces like James and Cuadrado. I think they missed their big chance in the last Copa America and WC 2014. Senegal will have to be stout in defense and then hope Mane can conjure some magic. I don't know much about Japan other than their Spain- and England-based players who are solid, but not spectacular. If I were betting, I'd take the team with the best odds to make it out of this group because I think it will be a shit show full of draws and unpredictable results.
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