[casa-nostra]

As you all know , Tomorrow the biggest event in the world will start ( World cup) . 32 best countries in the world are in Russia.

In this topic , lets just talk about the soccer side ( news , prognostics , game previews , after games analysis ...)

If it is your first post in this topic , please start by telling your country ,or the country you will support (usually it is the same).

I will start .

My Country (country I will support) is Tunisia (group G)

tomorrow first game , my prognostics : Russia Wins Saudie Arabia ( Not because Russia is that strong but because they play in their country)

First goup looks the easiest group ever.

[kuqezi]

My country, Albania.
I live in USA.
Country I think will win is Germany!
I agree that Russia wins easily...also looking at the trends...I predict that in one way or another Russia goes all the way to at least the 1/8

[H1N1]

England.

We are probably going to be abject, though on paper, as ever, we should be decent. Kane, Sterling, Alli as a front 3 can compete with the best sides (again, on paper). After that though, we look a little ropey. Our defence particularly isn't great. Midfield will be solid but unspectacular.

I find it very hard to get excited about England football these days, we've been dreadful for so long, and I don't feel any warmth for the majority of our players, bratty little tattoo-covered whingers that most of them are.

I suspect Germany will do what they always do, and make it to at least the semis, probably the finals. I'm hoping the Brazil team might light up the tournament with some beautiful football, as they've got the players to do it this time around. I'd love to see Firmino getting game time, and assuming England aren't going to win it, there's noone I'd like to see get a winners medal more than him. He has been an absolute beast for Liverpool for many seasons now, and is a world class player who is consistently underrated.

I'd like to see a strong showing for Egypt too - Salah is a really good guy, and discrete about how he goes about his business (he has spent serious money building infrastructure back in Egypt, mostly philanthropic stuff).

[kuqezi]

(06-13-2018 11:22 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  

England.

We are probably going to be abject, though on paper, as ever, we should be decent. Kane, Sterling, Alli as a front 3 can compete with the best sides (again, on paper). After that though, we look a little ropey. Our defence particularly isn't great. Midfield will be solid but unspectacular.

I find it very hard to get excited about England football these days, we've been dreadful for so long, and I don't feel any warmth for the majority of our players, bratty little tattoo-covered whingers that most of them are.

I suspect Germany will do what they always do, and make it to at least the semis, probably the finals. I'm hoping the Brazil team might light up the tournament with some beautiful football, as they've got the players to do it this time around. I'd love to see Firmino getting game time, and assuming England aren't going to win it, there's noone I'd like to see get a winners medal more than him. He has been an absolute beast for Liverpool for many seasons now, and is a world class player who is consistently underrated.

I'd like to see a strong showing for Egypt too - Salah is a really good guy, and discrete about how he goes about his business (he has spent serious money building infrastructure back in Egypt, mostly philanthropic stuff).

I am not sure who will be the starting 11 of England but I'd be very curious to see a 4-2-3-1 with the "3-1" part being Rashford-Alli-Lingaard and then Kane. Insane talent!
(I read this morning that Rashford has a knee injury though)

[kuqezi]

Also in case nobody read it before...Spain fired Lopetegui and hired Hierro today.
Lopetegui will be the next Real Madrid coach and they announced it 2 day before the World Cup start. Spain's federation got pissed and kicked him out, putting Hierro in his place.

[H1N1]

(06-13-2018 11:29 AM)kuqezi Wrote:  

(06-13-2018 11:22 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  

England.

We are probably going to be abject, though on paper, as ever, we should be decent. Kane, Sterling, Alli as a front 3 can compete with the best sides (again, on paper). After that though, we look a little ropey. Our defence particularly isn't great. Midfield will be solid but unspectacular.

I find it very hard to get excited about England football these days, we've been dreadful for so long, and I don't feel any warmth for the majority of our players, bratty little tattoo-covered whingers that most of them are.

I suspect Germany will do what they always do, and make it to at least the semis, probably the finals. I'm hoping the Brazil team might light up the tournament with some beautiful football, as they've got the players to do it this time around. I'd love to see Firmino getting game time, and assuming England aren't going to win it, there's noone I'd like to see get a winners medal more than him. He has been an absolute beast for Liverpool for many seasons now, and is a world class player who is consistently underrated.

I'd like to see a strong showing for Egypt too - Salah is a really good guy, and discrete about how he goes about his business (he has spent serious money building infrastructure back in Egypt, mostly philanthropic stuff).

I am not sure who will be the starting 11 of England but I'd be very curious to see a 4-2-3-1 with the "3-1" part being Rashford-Alli-Lingaard and then Kane. Insane talent!
(I read this morning that Rashford has a knee injury though)

Yes, apparently caused by Henderson. I think Sterling, much as I loathe the little shit, would be much better than Rashford anyway.

I'd play Henderson and Milner, or Dier, behind them. Behind that it's really anyone's guess. We have pace in defence, which is something at least, but whilst they are good athletes, they aren't the imperious footballers that some other defenders can be.

[casa-nostra]

(06-13-2018 11:22 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  

England.

We are probably going to be abject, though on paper, as ever, we should be decent. Kane, Sterling, Alli as a front 3 can compete with the best sides (again, on paper). After that though, we look a little ropey. Our defence particularly isn't great. Midfield will be solid but unspectacular.

I find it very hard to get excited about England football these days, we've been dreadful for so long, and I don't feel any warmth for the majority of our players, bratty little tattoo-covered whingers that most of them are.

I suspect Germany will do what they always do, and make it to at least the semis, probably the finals. I'm hoping the Brazil team might light up the tournament with some beautiful football, as they've got the players to do it this time around. I'd love to see Firmino getting game time, and assuming England aren't going to win it, there's noone I'd like to see get a winners medal more than him. He has been an absolute beast for Liverpool for many seasons now, and is a world class player who is consistently underrated.

I'd like to see a strong showing for Egypt too - Salah is a really good guy, and discrete about how he goes about his business (he has spent serious money building infrastructure back in Egypt, mostly philanthropic stuff).

Been Looking at many England games (as it is first country that we will play against next Monday).
what I noticed : England of this year is probably the strongest England version since many many years. they won Netherlands , even when they lost 1-0 against Germany in Germany stadium , they did very well , they played better than Germany and lost many easy opportunities, against Italy (country they used to loose against) Italy draw with a penalty last second. Not used to see England performing like that.

That Being Said , Group G wont be easy as people think , Tunisia (Despite the fact that they lost their best player msakni) is very solid team , strongest North African Team by far. 2-2 against Portugal , lost 1-0 against spain in last seconds of the game.
I would garentee that Tunisia passes if Msakni was here , but even without him. they will still pass but with difficulty.

[Foolsgo1d]

I dont know who will win but I do know there will be a lot of violence directed towards certain countries by those lovely Russian Ultras.

[H1N1]

C'mon man, we're having a beautiful summer already, I've just had an awesome gym session, I'm sauteing some delicious baby courgettes and yellow mangetouts in garlic butter to have with some home made steak burgers, and one of the great sporting competitions starts tomorrow - there'll be time and threads for Russian Ultras aplenty. It'd be awesome just to keep this one thread to talking about the football!

[H1N1]

(06-13-2018 11:58 AM)casa-nostra Wrote:  

(06-13-2018 11:22 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  

England.

We are probably going to be abject, though on paper, as ever, we should be decent. Kane, Sterling, Alli as a front 3 can compete with the best sides (again, on paper). After that though, we look a little ropey. Our defence particularly isn't great. Midfield will be solid but unspectacular.

I find it very hard to get excited about England football these days, we've been dreadful for so long, and I don't feel any warmth for the majority of our players, bratty little tattoo-covered whingers that most of them are.

I suspect Germany will do what they always do, and make it to at least the semis, probably the finals. I'm hoping the Brazil team might light up the tournament with some beautiful football, as they've got the players to do it this time around. I'd love to see Firmino getting game time, and assuming England aren't going to win it, there's noone I'd like to see get a winners medal more than him. He has been an absolute beast for Liverpool for many seasons now, and is a world class player who is consistently underrated.

I'd like to see a strong showing for Egypt too - Salah is a really good guy, and discrete about how he goes about his business (he has spent serious money building infrastructure back in Egypt, mostly philanthropic stuff).

Been Looking at many England games (as it is first country that we will play against next Monday).
what I noticed : England of this year is probably the strongest England version since many many years. they won Netherlands , even when they lost 1-0 against Germany in Germany stadium , they did very well , they played better than Germany and lost many easy opportunities, against Italy (country they used to loose against) Italy draw with a penalty last second. Not used to see England performing like that.

That Being Said , Group G wont be easy as people think , Tunisia (Despite the fact that they lost their best player msakni) is very solid team , strongest North African Team by far. 2-2 against Portugal , lost 1-0 against spain in last seconds of the game.
I would garentee that Tunisia passes if Msakni was here , but even without him. they will still pass but with difficulty.

Agreed on all fronts. The trouble is we just don't seem to be able to translate it onto the pitch for a full 90 mins. For the first half against Nigeria, we were awesome - I've not seen us play like that for more than a decade probably. Then the second half we defaulted back to being very boring, and it cost us bigly.

I don't know if we can be confident of beating Belgium, who are ridiculously good. It's pretty funny considering they are barely a country, yet their team is full of monsters. Tunisia are the team that really worry me. As you say, you guys are actually much better than you're given credit for, and are solid all through the team. If we don't beat you guys we are stuffed, so it'll be a nervous Monday. I think it'll be us and Belgium that make it through, with Tunisia just missing out.

[DamienCasanova]

I'm American, and since my country is too shit to make it this time, (and since Italy is too shit this generation also) i'll be rooting for some of my other favorite countries.

Iceland, Colombia, Japan & Costa Rica. All solid squads, but dark horses in their respective groups.

Iceland will need some luck to get out of their group with Argentina, Nigeria & Croatia, Argentina probably tops it and the battle for 2nd place with Croatia should be tough.

I think Colombia & Japan could both progress out of their Group H over Poland & Senegal, but their first match against each other will be a fun one to watch.

I'll be rooting for Costa Rica as a CONCACAF representative, they will probably get smashed by Brazil like the rest of the group, but perhaps they can beat Switzerland & Serbia to advance.

Though I'd expect them to all get beaten in the KOs, my bracket looks like France, Brazil, Germany & either Argentina/Spain as final four. I'll be rooting for the GOAT Messi to get his Copa.

[kuqezi]

Surprise teams I am expecting to do really well: Senegal, Croatia!

[Pancho]

[b]BREAKING NEWS:[/b]

World Cup 2026: Canada, US & Mexico joint bid wins right to host tournament

Quote:

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico after their joint bid beat Morocco's proposal to host it.

The 'United 2026' bid was selected by Fifa member nations, winning 134 votes compared to 65 for Morocco.

The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held - with 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days.

"Football is the only victor. We are all united in football," US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said.

"Thank you so, so much for this incredible honour. Thank you for entrusting us with this privilege."

Of the 211 Fifa member nations, 200 cast a vote at the 68th Fifa Congress in Moscow on Wednesday, with the winning bid needing a majority of 104.

Canada, Mexico, Morocco and the US were exempt, while Ghana was absent after the country's government said it had disbanded its football association amid allegations of "widespread" corruption.

Three US territories - Guam, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico - were among the other member nations to not vote.

Both Mexico (1970 and 1986) and the United States (1994) have previously hosted World Cups.

Canada staged the Women's World Cup in 2015.

Will a single country ever host the World Cup again?
The bidding process
Since the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively in December 2010, widespread corruption has been exposed in the global game, including allegations of bribery and payment for votes.

A BBC Panorama documentary claimed Qatar spent £117m on their successful bid for the 2022 World Cup - the first to be held in winter - while former Fifa president Sepp Blatter suggested there was an agreement in place for Russia to host the 2018 tournament before the vote took place.

Prominent figures, including Blatter, have since been indicted.

As a result Fifa - under the presidency of Gianni Infantino - promised a "more open and transparent" vote to decide the 2026 World Cup host.

It was decided that Fifa's 22-strong executive committee would no longer vote on behalf of the membership, as had occurred previously,

Instead, the two bids made a final 15-minute presentation in front of congress before the Fifa member nations cast their votes.

The winning bid
The 'United' World Cup will generate $14bn (£10.3bn) in revenue and make an $11bn (£8.1bn) profit for Fifa, says Cordeiro.

Of the 16 host cities, 10 will be in the United States while the remainder will be split evenly between Canada and Mexico.

Sixty matches will take place in the US, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.

The final will be held at the 84,953-capacity MetLife Stadium, which is home to NFL sides the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

The distance between the most northern host city (Edmonton) and the most southern (Mexico City) is almost 3,000 miles, which compares to 1,900 miles at this month's tournament in Russia.

The tournament will mark the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations.

The 1994 World Cup, staged by the US, had the highest average attendance in the tournament's history, while Mexico was the first nation to host the event twice.

In 2017, Fifa said the host nation for the 2026 World Cup would qualify automatically and its slot would be taken from the allocation of its confederation.

However, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the issue of all three hosts - Canada, USA and Mexico - being given automatic slots is still to be decided, with discussions set to take place in the next few weeks.

USA will get 60 games
Mexico will get 10 games
Canada will get 10 games


Mexico will host the opener and the opening ceremony while the US will get the the Quarter Finals and and all the way to the final.

[kuqezi]

(06-13-2018 02:15 PM)DamienCasanova Wrote:  

I'm American, and since my country is too shit to make it this time, (and since Italy is too shit this generation also) i'll be rooting for some of my other favorite countries.

Iceland, Colombia, Japan & Costa Rica. All solid squads, but dark horses in their respective groups.

Iceland will need some luck to get out of their group with Argentina, Nigeria & Croatia, Argentina probably tops it and the battle for 2nd place with Croatia should be tough.

I think Colombia & Japan could both progress out of their Group H over Poland & Senegal, but their first match against each other will be a fun one to watch.

I'll be rooting for Costa Rica as a CONCACAF representative, they will probably get smashed by Brazil like the rest of the group, but perhaps they can beat Switzerland & Serbia to advance.

Though I'd expect them to all get beaten in the KOs, my bracket looks like France, Brazil, Germany & either Argentina/Spain as final four. I'll be rooting for the GOAT Messi to get his Copa.

I will politely disagree and think that Poland will top group H. Solid team, strong in all parts, also they have one of the top 3 strikers in the world today (LEWA!)
Cheers!

[TigerMandingo]

(06-13-2018 01:40 PM)H1N1 Wrote:  

I don't know if we can be confident of beating Belgium, who are ridiculously good. It's pretty funny considering they are barely a country, yet their team is full of monsters.

[kuqezi]

(06-13-2018 03:31 PM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  

(06-13-2018 01:40 PM)H1N1 Wrote:  

I don't know if we can be confident of beating Belgium, who are ridiculously good. It's pretty funny considering they are barely a country, yet their team is full of monsters.

HAHA...I think H1N1 was referring more to Belgium being a kind of a mix

[kuqezi]

Quote:

USA will get 60 games
Mexico will get 10 games
Canada will get 10 games

I read it this morning. I am curious to know what the structure is after the group phase, since it's expected that group phase games will be held in the same area and then probably spread.
Kind of difficult to have to play the 1/8th in Canada and then fly down to Mexico for the semis...

[DamienCasanova]

(06-13-2018 03:28 PM)kuqezi Wrote:  

(06-13-2018 02:15 PM)DamienCasanova Wrote:  

I'm American, and since my country is too shit to make it this time, (and since Italy is too shit this generation also) i'll be rooting for some of my other favorite countries.

Iceland, Colombia, Japan & Costa Rica. All solid squads, but dark horses in their respective groups.

Iceland will need some luck to get out of their group with Argentina, Nigeria & Croatia, Argentina probably tops it and the battle for 2nd place with Croatia should be tough.

I think Colombia & Japan could both progress out of their Group H over Poland & Senegal, but their first match against each other will be a fun one to watch.

I'll be rooting for Costa Rica as a CONCACAF representative, they will probably get smashed by Brazil like the rest of the group, but perhaps they can beat Switzerland & Serbia to advance.

Though I'd expect them to all get beaten in the KOs, my bracket looks like France, Brazil, Germany & either Argentina/Spain as final four. I'll be rooting for the GOAT Messi to get his Copa.

I will politely disagree and think that Poland will top group H. Solid team, strong in all parts, also they have one of the top 3 strikers in the world today (LEWA!)
Cheers!

Yeah, I could definitely see them advancing as well with Colombia...while Japan usually underperforms, and doesn't have any world class guys up front like the Poles do. But the Japanese will leave it all on the field, so I think they are usually fun to watch and root for.

[Hypno]

Semis will be in Dallas, Atlanta, or NYC.

NYC is expected to get the Final, but there is a good reason to believe it will be Atlanta--city logistics, practice facilities, behind the scenes stuff with the bid. But Mercedes Benz only holds 75K, and they typically go larger with the final. Dallas is about 10K bigger.

The new stadium in LA will be even bigger but it technically was not part of the bid. I'm sure they'll have some group stage games at the Rose Bowl.

[YoungBlade]

As I always say:

'SCHLAND!

[rottenapple]

My predictions:

Group A: Uruguay to win all, Russia to go through after bad play.
Group B: Spain and Portugal qualify, but Morocco is one of the revelations of the tournament playing very well
Group C: France first, Denmark take second but Peru gave them a challenge
Group D: Argentina to go through as first on goal difference as they drew against Croatia. Iceland disappoints with 0 points.
Group E: Brazil dominates but Serbia and the Swiss are tougher than anyone thought. Costa Rica gets slaughtered.
Group F: Germany and Mexico.
Group G: Belgium to destroy the opposition. England to come in second, Tunisia one of the surprises but coming short. Panama worst team of the WC.
Group H: Poland and Colombia go through, Japan loses all 3 games. Senegal makes it a close call with great counter attack football.

Further rounds: Argentina goes out in quarters, Portugal even in the second round against Uruguay. Brazil suffers a surprise defeat to Belgium in the quarters. The semis between Belgium, France, Germany and Spain with France winning the cup defeating Spain in the final.

Biggest surprise: Uruguay or Denmark. England plays well and shows promise.
Biggest disappointment: Germany in how they play, Argentina in results. Colombia as well.

Individual players: Hazard to win golden ball, Griezmann top scorer, one of the young talents from Uruguay to be a top prospect, Ismail Sarr from Senegal as well, Eriksen for Denmark, Golovin for Russia.

Concacaf only Mexico does well. Africa Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia do well but fall short (I do hope at least one of them gets through). Asia gets their ass kicked all around.

First games:

Russia- Saudi Arabia 2-1
Egypt-Uruguay 0-2
Peru-Denmark 1-1
France-Australia 3-0

[YossariansRight]

(06-13-2018 02:15 PM)DamienCasanova Wrote:  

I'm American, and since my country is too shit to make it this time, (and since Italy is too shit this generation also) i'll be rooting for some of my other favorite countries.

Iceland, Colombia, Japan & Costa Rica. All solid squads, but dark horses in their respective groups.

Iceland will need some luck to get out of their group with Argentina, Nigeria & Croatia, Argentina probably tops it and the battle for 2nd place with Croatia should be tough.

I think Colombia & Japan could both progress out of their Group H over Poland & Senegal, but their first match against each other will be a fun one to watch.

I'll be rooting for Costa Rica as a CONCACAF representative, they will probably get smashed by Brazil like the rest of the group, but perhaps they can beat Switzerland & Serbia to advance.

Though I'd expect them to all get beaten in the KOs, my bracket looks like France, Brazil, Germany & either Argentina/Spain as final four. I'll be rooting for the GOAT Messi to get his Copa.

I can’t keep politics and “other reasons” for finding a team to root for since our home countries didn’t make the cut.

I doubt they have any chance, but I have to go with: Russia, Poland Japan AND Croatia.

There’s one country that can’t lose bad enough. If they do lose, it’s all good to me.

[Akwesi]

Russia tends to start every tournament poorly. Could be a surprise draw tomorrow, but probably not. Saudis are shit.

[Dragan]

I'm pulling for Serbia, even though I don't know how their group is gonna go because of Brazil and Switzerland.

[britchard]

(06-13-2018 12:04 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  

I dont know who will win but I do know there will be a lot of violence directed towards certain countries by those lovely Russian Ultras.

Don't tempt him...

By the way, there already is a 20 something page World Cup thread. Maybe it was just for qualifying though.

H1N1, Milner isn't in the squad. England play 3 at the back these days, so no 4-2-3-1.