2018 FIFA World Cup |OT| Go big and get VAR'd!

iBuzzati said:
Looks like I'm all in on Sweden, who gatekeeped us, but gatekeeped us like champs. They're just underdog-y and skillful enough to root for.
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This iteration of Sweden is far more dangerous than they are given credit for. They work so well together as a group and are filled with self-belief. I mean they already ousted the Netherlands and Italy in qualification. Switzerland (and whoever else) better be prepared if they want to continue. This Swedish group is sneaky good.
 
England vs Belgium.

What a bag of bollocks that was. Can't believe I put off washing the car to watch it.

My thoughts go out to all those unfortunates who actually paid real money for the pleasure.

Plus I'm pretty sure Southgates waistcoat is shrinking.
 
yeah that England vs. Belgium game was all sorts of whelming, but mostly underwhelming.

Ok time for some uneducated guesses:
Uruguay - Portugal -> Portugal wins by 1
France - Argentina -> France narrowly edges past because there is only one Messi and the rest of that team is basically useless
Brazil - Mexico -> not many games where I'm so torn, the heart says Mexico but the brain says Brazil
Belgium - Japan -> Belgium wins by 2
Spain - Russia -> Putin will ride topless into the stadium and overwhelms the Spanish defenders, once the dust has settled Spain still wins by 1
Croatia - Denmark -> Croatia wins by 1
Sweden - Switzerland -> Switzerland after penalties
Colombia - England -> I'm inclined to say England but I would not put it past the English to somehow mess up on an epic level after impressing in the group stage. England wins by 1 or Colombia wins if it gets to penalties.
 
Hoping for Fifa Putin fuckery tomorrow. Imagine the viewership and hype of a Messi vs Ronaldo QF tie, like pitting Pele vs Maradona in a WC at their prime. Probably will get more people tuned in than the final itself.
 
My uneducated guesses:

Uruguay - Portugal -> Uruguay takes it. 2x1.
France - Argentina -> France takes it. 1x0
Brazil - Mexico -> Brazil 2x0 Mexico.
Belgium - Japan -> Belgium 3x0 Jp.
Spain - Russia -> Spain 3x1 Russia
Croatia - Denmark -> Croatia 1x0 Denmark
Sweden - Switzerland -> Sweden 1x0 Switz
Colombia - England -> England 2x1 Colombia
 
Insane Metal said:
My uneducated guesses:

Uruguay - Portugal -> Uruguay takes it. 2x1.
France - Argentina -> France takes it. 0x1
Brazil - Mexico -> Brazil 4x0 Mexico.
Belgium - Japan -> Belgium 3x1 Jp.
Spain - Russia -> Spain 3x1 Russia
Croatia - Denmark -> Croatia 1x0 Denmark
Sweden - Switzerland -> Sweden 1x0 Switz
Colombia - England -> England 1x 2 Colombia
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FTFY
 
Poor showing by Argentina. France could have easily added another two to have made this a Germany-Brazil style drubbing were it not for the shirt pulling and crossbar. Fairly uncalled for abuse on Pogba but at least there aren't any full on fights this time.
 
Honestly Argentina didn't even belong in the knockout stages imo. They did make it interesting in the end, but they were poor in qualifying, poor in the group stage, and poor today overall. Their team was a mess really.
 
Has Messi announced his retirement yet? Dude dragged a shit tier Argentina to 3 finals.
Good strikers and nothing else.

lol Sampoali bring on Meza and leaves Dybala un-used. Who the hell is Meza?
 
59953166c0.gif

Best part.

Di Maria, Aguero and Messi tried to carry their team, but Argentina is awful, it was a miracle they went that far to be fair.

However France has to correct some mistakes there too, so many wrong passes and Giroud was the worst player of the match imo.
 
France has great young players, Dembele is not even needed. Most of their lineup plays in key positions for big clubs, while Argentina only have Messi, Aguero and Otemendi. Dybala un-used.

Although Argentina shit defenders made Mbappe looks too good. A team like Uruguay or Portugal will know how to defend a 2-1 lead.

I think the next 4-8 years will be dominated by France, Germany and England because of their youth
 
I'm getting that France 98 vibe again. In terms of the quarter final I reckon Uruguay will be a hell of a lot harder for France than Portugal, i.e. Portugal who I expect will join Argentina tonight on the plane home. Ronaldo won't save them again, again & again.
 
Uruguay looks a good team, heard they have stuck with the same coach and system for 12 years.
Althetico madrid back line and a good GK, this will end 1-0.
 
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Portugal will lose if their poor ball control and lack of offensive ideas continues into the 2nd half. Uruguay has a strong 4-4-2 formation to shut down Ronaldo and forcing those harried outside crosses. Uruguay's athleticism is also a confounding factor as they're forcing Portugal to panic.

France will likely beat Portugal easily but this Uruguayian team will be difficult if they continue as is.
 
1-1 Why did Uruguay have to defend so much? This is what you get and Portugal has the momentum now...

Edit: Nvm... 2-1! CAVANI!
 
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Uruguay subs were pretty shit old players. Stuani , a poor man Cavani and some Batistia lookalike who looks more suitable for body building and a liverpool reject.

Best hope their first 11 can survive france.
 
Better team won and Uruguay goes on to meet France with 2 beautiful goals. It'll be interesting to see how Uruguay approaches France.
 
Yeah, Messi can still compete for the copa america and confederation cup, to match Ronaldo international win, but Argentina coach sucks big time. No wonder they tried to revolt. Last night clearly showed Portugal have a better team than Argentina.
It will be a waste of effort travelling from EU to SA to play for a poor team and poor coach.
I can see Messi retiring while Ronaldo will try to win the new Euro nations cup and defend his Euro cup.
 
So guys... Should I place a small bet on Russia?

The odds are crazy. And my friend with whom I'm going to watch the match bet on Spain and I want to irritate him XD
 
By halftime, Russia has scored 2 goals to Spain's 0. Granted 1 was an own goal...
Spain can obviously do more, especially against the Russian's who haven't shown anything noteworthy. It wasn't until they were finding Costa near the end there where they were having better opportunities to score.
 
Barca/Real looks toothless without Messi and Ronaldo leading the front line. They are passing sideways, Iniesta looks so slow now. Diego Costa off for Aspas? lol

Russia had a few counter attack chances but their players are not good enough. France will rip this Spain apart.
 
Russia is pretty aimless offensively but are still giving everything they've got. Spain has got to take chances because they're not drawing the Russians out of the centre like they want with all the passing.

This Spanish tactic is going to lose handily at the later stages, though I still expect them to take this game given Russia's worse challenge offensively. Looks like the Portugal, Spain matches against Iran and Morocco were fairly concerning indicators of things to come.
 
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Well that's what you get for passing side ways.
Russia could go on a Greece run. lol.
Defensive play wins again.
 
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Does this make the top bracket easier or harder lol?

Honestly, when Belgium won, I didn't think either bracket was tougher or easier. The best teams suck.
 
Russia didn't deserve to go through, all they did was defend! Spain should have had a penalty as well but Russia bribed FIFA!

De Gea useless as ever! He couldn't save a Word document!
 
Congratulations to Russia. It was not a nice looking game but they had a great defense and man this Goalkeeper will probably have the time of his life now.

Russia still in means also more people in Russia excited about Soccer. So Win Win^^
 
Dunki said:
Congratulations to Russia. It was not a nice looking game but they had a great defense and man this Goalkeeper will probably have the time of his life now.

Russia still in means also more people in Russia excited about Soccer. So Win Win^^
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God I hope not! They booed every Spanish player who took a penalty! Behaviour like that should not be promoted.
 
Looks like Messi and Ronaldo will have some familiar company on that plane ride back... Despite their shortfalls in many areas, Russia still had the will and desire to win and it showed through the last second. They kept challenging and never really let up against Spain.

Surprising outcome.
 
This world cup is about conceding the ball, defending deep and hit on a counter attack. The team with the fastest counter-attack and in-form strikers will win it.
Making the most passes wouldn't win you anything it seems.
I bet Croatia v Denmark will be a similar bore. Both teams will try to give away the ball and defend.. who has the better strikers on the day, wins it.
 
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Russia played like Greece during their best era. But their goalkeeper was amazing in penalties and they deserved that win.

longdi said:
This world cup is about conceding the ball, defending deep and hit on a counter attack. The team with the fastest counter-attack and in-form strikers will win it.
Making the most passes wouldn't win you anything it seems.
I bet Croatia v Denmark will be a similar bore. Both teams will try to give away the ball and defend.. who has the better strikers on the day, wins it.
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When you play single elimination you don't want to risk anything
 
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