CrazyMatt
Jaws
I hate that this is being held in the human rights abusing country of Qatar, yes im going to start the thread with that.
The November timeslot is interesting, personally I like that its running for the most part alongside the Rugby League World Cup and the 20/20 World Cup (as much as I hate the 20/20 format). No shortage of great sport to watch in November then.
Although I dont like how its interrupted the domestic seasons, but blood oil money talks (well, screams in cruel pain but whatever) so we’ve got to adapt to what the Qatari’s want.
Lets go through the groups (listed in order of my predicted finish)
Group A
Holland
Senegal
Ecuador
Qatar
Holland should top this group but I dont think they’ll do it too easily. Senegal and Ecuador should provide stiff competition and Qatar should finish bottom, but could surprise, they are playing at home and are the Asian Cup holders after all. Toss a coin between Senegal and Ecuador for second spot but I give the edge to Senegal as I feel they have a little bit more attacking quality.
Group B
England
USA
Wales
Iran
England have been handed a somewhat straight forward group, but after their recent form I question if there is such a thing for England these days. Far be it for me to give England any kind of advice but Southgate needs to dump that back 5 and back his attacking talent in a 4-3-3. Use two of White, Stones, Tomori, Maguire or Dier as a CB pairing (I’d go White and Stones or Dier). Use Bellingham and Rice as your pivot with maybe Mount in front of them as a 10. Then you’ve got Saka, Grealish, Sancho, Sterling and Rashford as your wide options to sit either side of Kane. Anyway Wales could finish second here but after seeing their form in the Nations League, I give the slight edge to the Yanks to surprisingly finish in second.
Group C
Argentina
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
This one should be straight forward. Argentina to top the group with three wins, both the Saudis and Mexico are a shout for second, especially the Saudis purely because of where the tournament is being played, but Poland are looking quite decent this time around so they should get the second spot.
Group D
France
Denmark
Tunisia
Australia
France to top the group easily unless Denmark catch them by surprise like they did in the Nations League. Tunisia and Australia should offer token resistance to them and at least give somewhat a good account of themselves. The Danes are rightful heavy favourites for second spot, I fear what Eriksen will do to Australia’s midfield if he carries his Man United form over to the national team. It hurts me to put Australia last but realistically we wont land a shot against France, we’d have to catch Denmark on a proper off day and I think the Australian public is in for a rude realisation about how good Tunisia are. I give Tunisia a shot to upset the Danes, but realistically, it should be a straight forward group for France and Denmark.
Group E
Germany
Spain
Japan
Costa Rica
The only interesting thing about this group is who will finish top between Germany and Spain. I always find it hard to bet against the Germans so I went with them, but really, either Germany and Spain could easily win the whole tournament. It sucks a bit for Japan because they are bloody good, theyre football program is only getting better and better, but they’ve been lumbered with a bludger of a group for them, they should offer a bit of resistance but ultimately they shouldnt break into the top 2. Costa Rica are cannon fodder of this group.
Group F
Belgium
Croatia
Morocco
Canada
Similar deal with this group, Belgium and Croatia fighting for top spot. Morroco should offer a bit of resistance and Canada are cannon fodder.
Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
Holy **** this one was tough to predict, all three of those teams are legitimate chances to grab second behind Brazil. After looking at the squads though, Serbia just look that bit extra classy, especially the midfield.
Group H
Portugal
Uruguay
Ghana
South Korea
The top two of this group looks fairly straight forward, but the question is which one will be first, which one will be second?
Predictions:
Winner: Brazil (Really wide open field this year, I mulled over this one for ages, I went with Brazil because I like the balance of their squad. France, Argentina and Germany are the other three I was mulling over)
Surprise packets: Denmark or Serbia. (Both I feel are massive chances of going on a run and shocking the world, I just couldnt split them).
Golden Boot: Neymar. (Laugh if you want but he’s started the year with PSG in fantastic scoring touch, he’s also Brazil’s penalty taker, and I also believe Brazil go all the way to the final this year so for me, it makes the most sense for it to be him. Mbappe should get closest to him though. An outside roughie is Alexander Mitrovic from Serbia. He’s in decent touch for Fulham and Serbia is very capable in making a deep run this year, so who knows? It could be him. As for Harry Kane, I think he’s hamstrung by Southgate’s negative tactics).
What do you guys think?
The November timeslot is interesting, personally I like that its running for the most part alongside the Rugby League World Cup and the 20/20 World Cup (as much as I hate the 20/20 format). No shortage of great sport to watch in November then.
Although I dont like how its interrupted the domestic seasons, but blood oil money talks (well, screams in cruel pain but whatever) so we’ve got to adapt to what the Qatari’s want.
Lets go through the groups (listed in order of my predicted finish)
Group A
Holland
Senegal
Ecuador
Qatar
Holland should top this group but I dont think they’ll do it too easily. Senegal and Ecuador should provide stiff competition and Qatar should finish bottom, but could surprise, they are playing at home and are the Asian Cup holders after all. Toss a coin between Senegal and Ecuador for second spot but I give the edge to Senegal as I feel they have a little bit more attacking quality.
Group B
England
USA
Wales
Iran
England have been handed a somewhat straight forward group, but after their recent form I question if there is such a thing for England these days. Far be it for me to give England any kind of advice but Southgate needs to dump that back 5 and back his attacking talent in a 4-3-3. Use two of White, Stones, Tomori, Maguire or Dier as a CB pairing (I’d go White and Stones or Dier). Use Bellingham and Rice as your pivot with maybe Mount in front of them as a 10. Then you’ve got Saka, Grealish, Sancho, Sterling and Rashford as your wide options to sit either side of Kane. Anyway Wales could finish second here but after seeing their form in the Nations League, I give the slight edge to the Yanks to surprisingly finish in second.
Group C
Argentina
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
This one should be straight forward. Argentina to top the group with three wins, both the Saudis and Mexico are a shout for second, especially the Saudis purely because of where the tournament is being played, but Poland are looking quite decent this time around so they should get the second spot.
Group D
France
Denmark
Tunisia
Australia
France to top the group easily unless Denmark catch them by surprise like they did in the Nations League. Tunisia and Australia should offer token resistance to them and at least give somewhat a good account of themselves. The Danes are rightful heavy favourites for second spot, I fear what Eriksen will do to Australia’s midfield if he carries his Man United form over to the national team. It hurts me to put Australia last but realistically we wont land a shot against France, we’d have to catch Denmark on a proper off day and I think the Australian public is in for a rude realisation about how good Tunisia are. I give Tunisia a shot to upset the Danes, but realistically, it should be a straight forward group for France and Denmark.
Group E
Germany
Spain
Japan
Costa Rica
The only interesting thing about this group is who will finish top between Germany and Spain. I always find it hard to bet against the Germans so I went with them, but really, either Germany and Spain could easily win the whole tournament. It sucks a bit for Japan because they are bloody good, theyre football program is only getting better and better, but they’ve been lumbered with a bludger of a group for them, they should offer a bit of resistance but ultimately they shouldnt break into the top 2. Costa Rica are cannon fodder of this group.
Group F
Belgium
Croatia
Morocco
Canada
Similar deal with this group, Belgium and Croatia fighting for top spot. Morroco should offer a bit of resistance and Canada are cannon fodder.
Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
Holy **** this one was tough to predict, all three of those teams are legitimate chances to grab second behind Brazil. After looking at the squads though, Serbia just look that bit extra classy, especially the midfield.
Group H
Portugal
Uruguay
Ghana
South Korea
The top two of this group looks fairly straight forward, but the question is which one will be first, which one will be second?
Predictions:
Winner: Brazil (Really wide open field this year, I mulled over this one for ages, I went with Brazil because I like the balance of their squad. France, Argentina and Germany are the other three I was mulling over)
Surprise packets: Denmark or Serbia. (Both I feel are massive chances of going on a run and shocking the world, I just couldnt split them).
Golden Boot: Neymar. (Laugh if you want but he’s started the year with PSG in fantastic scoring touch, he’s also Brazil’s penalty taker, and I also believe Brazil go all the way to the final this year so for me, it makes the most sense for it to be him. Mbappe should get closest to him though. An outside roughie is Alexander Mitrovic from Serbia. He’s in decent touch for Fulham and Serbia is very capable in making a deep run this year, so who knows? It could be him. As for Harry Kane, I think he’s hamstrung by Southgate’s negative tactics).
What do you guys think?
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