FIFA World Cup 2018

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Per
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FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Per »

Only 16 days till kickoff! 8-)

With the expansion to 32 teams, it is doubtful if there is any group of death any longer.

Eight groups with four teams in each, the two best from each group go on to the elimination phase.

These are the groups, and I've listed the most recent FIFA ranking (from May 17th) for each team, as well as the average for the group:

Group/team Ranking
Grupp A 49,0
Uruguay 17
Egypt 46
Russia 66
Saudi Arabia 67

Grupp B 22,5
Portugal 4
Spain 8
Iran 36
Morocco 42

Grupp C 17,5
France 7
Peru 11
Denmark 12
Australia 40

Grupp D 23,0
Argentina 5
Croatia 18
Iceland 22
Nigeria 47

Grupp E 17,0
Brazil 2
Switzerland 6
Costa Rica 25
Serbia 35

Grupp F 25,0
Germany 1
Mexico 15
Sweden 23
Korea Republic 61

Grupp G 21,3
Belgium 3
England 13
Tunisia 14
Panama 55

Grupp H 28,5
Poland 10
Colombia 16
Senegal 28
Japan 60

The first thing we notice is that Group A is ridiculously low in talent. The two lowest ranked teams of the tournament, Russia and Saudia Arabia, have ended up in the same group, and there are only four more teams (Nigeria, Panama, Japan and South Korea) in the entire tournament that are lower ranked than Egypt, the second best team of Group A. Also, there are three teams in Group C (France, Peru and Denmark) that have a better rank than Uruguay, which is the best team in Group A. The reason it has gotten this lopsided is that Russia, as hosts, were placed as one of the eight highest seeds as the groups were drawn, while in reality it has the second worst ranking of all teams participating. Thus Uruguay was drawn from the group seeded 9th through 16th, and was one of the worst in that group as well. Uruguay should move on quite comfortably, and then probably Russia, what with home court advantage and all. Egypt's best player, Salah, of Liverpuddlian fame, is injured, but may be back before the group play ends.

Group B: Two really good teams, Spain and Portugal, with two less good, Morocco and Iran. The teams from the Iberian peninsula move on.
Anything else would be shocking.

Oh well. That brings us to group C, which I assume is the closest thing to a Group of Death in this tournament. France is ranked 7th, Peru 11th and Denmark 12th. Poor Australia (rank 40) really had tough luck ending up with this lot. I'm pretty sure France moves on, and then it is a toss up between Denmark and Peru.

Group D is tricky. Argentina should move on, but then it's harder to tell. Croatia is ranked better than Iceland, but Iceland has shown in the past that they can beat anyone. What they lack in skill they make up for with hard work and heart! And Nigeria is better than its ranking implies. This group is really up for grabs.

Group E is kind of like group B. Two good teams, Brazil and Switzerland, that should move on. Still. Serbia is the best worst team of any group, ranked 35th, which is better than all teams in group A, save Uruguay, and Costa Rica, ranked 25th, could also score an upset.

Group F: Germany, ranked #1 in the world, should be in a class of its own. Likewise, South Korea should end up dead last. Mexico is ranked slightly higher than Sweden at present, but I'm not so sure they can seize the second spot. In my opinion it's a toss up who gets second place. Both teams should beat Korea and lose to Germany, and then it's down to the game between the two themselves. Yet if one or more of those games end in a draw, that could change everything.

Group G is also a contested group. Belgium ought to win, and Panama should be discarded. Then you have England and Tunisia of roughly the same strength (ranked 13th and 14th) in the middle. I would tend to think England is more likely to advance, but that's probably only because I've bought into some of the hype the English media always manage to work up regarding their rather average team.

Group H then finally; On paper it looks like Poland and Colombia, but watch out for Senegal! African teams tend to be better than their ranking suggests. Still. Really should be Poland and Colombia, shouldn't it?
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by 2Fingers »

Really looking forward to these games.

Russia is in their group to make Mad Vlad look good.

Grupp A 49,0
Uruguay 17
Egypt 46
Russia 66
Saudi Arabia 67

Grupp B 22,5
Portugal 4
Spain 8

Iran 36
Morocco 42

Grupp C 17,5
France 7
Peru 11
Denmark 12
Australia 40

Grupp D 23,0
Argentina 5
Croatia 18
Iceland 22
Nigeria 47

Grupp E 17,0
Brazil 2
Switzerland 6

Costa Rica 25
Serbia 35

Grupp F 25,0
Germany 1
Mexico 15
Sweden 23
Korea Republic 61

Grupp G 21,3
Belgium 3
England 13

Tunisia 14
Panama 55

Grupp H 28,5
Poland 10
Colombia 16
Senegal 28
Japan 60

My predictions, have to pick Japan to support my wife.

Just think Mexico will take it over Sweden but it is a toss up.

England will depend on how the team plays as a team, too many individual efforts in the past, too many egos.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

Reefer2 wrote: Tue May 29, 2018 12:56 pm

My predictions, have to pick Japan to support my wife.

I make sure to trash all over the old ladys native sweden every tournament just to avoid the possibility of being a cuckold. It really works. 9 yrs married and the blowjobs havent dried up yet
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Strangelove »

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(muffled) "go Japan go"
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

Hahaha awesome!
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Per »

So, having the FIFA rankings up, I started wondering, what's Canada's rsanking these days?
So I looked, and... seriously? 80! Wtf? :shock:

You guys are ranked below Curacao (rank 71) for crying out loud! Wtf?

What happened to that proud French (rank 7) and British (rank 13, 21, 27 and 34) heritage? :|

http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ ... index.html

Heck, Iceland, with a population of less than 350,000 people are ranked 22nd and qualified for the World Cup.
Seriously.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

Soccer is for fags thats why

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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Island Nucklehead »

Per wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:23 am So, having the FIFA rankings up, I started wondering, what's Canada's rsanking these days?
So I looked, and... seriously? 80! Wtf? :shock:

You guys are ranked below Curacao (rank 71) for crying out loud! Wtf?

What happened to that proud French (rank 7) and British (rank 13, 21, 27 and 34) heritage? :|

http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ ... index.html

Heck, Iceland, with a population of less than 350,000 people are ranked 22nd and qualified for the World Cup.
Seriously.
Who wants to play soccer in Regina in January?

Also, Canadians prefer sports that require testes (hockey, lacrosse, rugby).
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Mickey107 »

Per wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:23 am So, having the FIFA rankings up, I started wondering, what's Canada's rsanking these days?
So I looked, and... seriously? 80! Wtf? :shock:

You guys are ranked below Curacao (rank 71) for crying out loud! Wtf?

What happened to that proud French (rank 7) and British (rank 13, 21, 27 and 34) heritage? :|

http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ ... index.html

Heck, Iceland, with a population of less than 350,000 people are ranked 22nd and qualified for the World Cup.
Seriously.
Check out our women though. They are ranked, last I heard, around 10th or so.
Should be 3rd or 4th.

In regards to the men, our entire system, or lack there of, sucks from to to bottom.
We are ranked so low, it's hard climb the progression style system.

Sure lots of boys in Canada want to be hockey players but it seems basketball, too, is way up there. :evil:

Problem starts right at the elementary school level which is where talent is, sometimes, first recognized.
There is insufficient funding. Field trips, buses, even equipment isn't supplied like it once was.
It's bad. They ask for volunteer parent drivers and in reality, that shouldn't happen as a rule, happen.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by 2Fingers »

Per wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:23 am So, having the FIFA rankings up, I started wondering, what's Canada's rsanking these days?
So I looked, and... seriously? 80! Wtf? :shock:

You guys are ranked below Curacao (rank 71) for crying out loud! Wtf?

What happened to that proud French (rank 7) and British (rank 13, 21, 27 and 34) heritage? :|

http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ ... index.html

Heck, Iceland, with a population of less than 350,000 people are ranked 22nd and qualified for the World Cup.
Seriously.
A couple reasons.

Soccer Canada is poorly run and does not have the leadership needed to move soccer forward in Canada.

Not enough higher tier playing opportunities in Canada.

the best Canadians goes overseas or way down south and are not available or choose not to play for the National team.

Lastly IMO, the coach sucks the forwards sucks, watching them play to qualify for the current World Cup was painful. The forwards could not hit the broad side of a barn for 2 ft away. Attack after attack saw the shot miss the net by meters. It was disgusting to watch and the coach should of been fired for selecting the players he did.

in 1984 in the Worlds Canada played 9 guys back and 1 forward (I swear it seemed like that), not even sure how much offensive possession they had but it was damn low. I felt betrayed watching that crap and now I still see the same where they is little to no originality in the plays Canada does. Try something different, try to win 3 - 2 vs. 1 - 0.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Per »

micky107 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:11 pm Check out our women though. They are ranked, last I heard, around 10th or so.
Should be 3rd or 4th.
Yeah, I think that's what left me so confused. In women's football, Canada is always a contender.
So it's hard to understand how the men could be so much worse.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Mickey107 »

Per wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 1:03 pm
micky107 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:11 pm Check out our women though. They are ranked, last I heard, around 10th or so.
Should be 3rd or 4th.
Yeah, I think that's what left me so confused. In women's football, Canada is always a contender.
So it's hard to understand how the men could be so much worse.
LOL; Fourth and Eightieth. Makes almost as much sense as Las Vegas playing for the Stanley Cup.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Aaronp18 »

Per wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 1:03 pm
micky107 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:11 pm Check out our women though. They are ranked, last I heard, around 10th or so.
Should be 3rd or 4th.
Yeah, I think that's what left me so confused. In women's football, Canada is always a contender.
So it's hard to understand how the men could be so much worse.
It's the seasons of play. Here in BC, mainly Vancouver region the main soccer season is throughout the winter, competing with hockey. During the spring/summer when the rest of the country has their soccer season it competes with a plethora of sports from lacrosse to baseball to 'Mercan football to track to biking, etc.

There just isn't enough time and soccer in the rain can't compete with hockey in a temp controlled rink in BC.

Less girls play hockey, ball, football, and lacrosse meaning soccer is a much more viable option for them so enrolment is much higher!

Also, there's too much diving in soccer. We have pools for that shit here!
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Topper »

Our rural BC soccer assoc is steadfast in no compete soccer. No goalies or score keeping until U11. But when my son played, on the drive home he told me the score and who scored every goal for both teams. Bloody useless.

He now races bicycles and because of a similar non compete at our local track, we're in Spokane 2 or 3 times a week (2.5hr drive each way - got in just past 11 last night from his team practice). Trophies for 1st to 3rd at the races. UCI Wold Championship is in Baku next week.
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Re: FIFA World Cup 2018

Post by Aaronp18 »

Topper wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 9:34 am Our rural BC soccer assoc is steadfast in no compete soccer. No goalies or score keeping until U11. But when my son played, on the drive home he told me the score and who scored every goal for both teams. Bloody useless.

He now races bicycles and because of a similar non compete at our local track, we're in Spokane 2 or 3 times a week (2.5hr drive each way - got in just past 11 last night). Trophies for 1st to 3rd at the races.
Yeah the non-compete shit is ridiculous. The kids know! Good parents and coaches teach their kids how to lose and how to win. It's an integral part of growing up, so many young adults these days simply expect to be successful no matter what.

Life is a competition. Learn to excel and learn to bounce back after defeat!
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