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FireBednarsSuccessor
I'd split that first tier up between Germany/France and Brazil/Spain/Messi, and in that second tier a team like Senegal scares me more than England.
This is a really weird year concerning the World Cup. I've been going through some of teams and never in my mind did I ever think that Italy, Netherlands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire would miss the World Cup, let alone in the same year.
Super excited for this tournament as usual. Here's how I see the contenders breaking down:
Tier 1: Germany, France, Brazil, Spain, Argentina
Tier 2: Belgium, Portugal, Colombia, Uruguay, Poland, England
Don't see anyone else as much of a threat - maybe Croatia or Mexico.
Weird to have a tournament without teams like Italy, Netherlands or Chile.
I'd split that first tier up between Germany/France and Brazil/Spain/Messi, and in that second tier a team like Senegal scares me more than England.
Poland, eh? Bold. If Croatia has finally got a decent coach they could do some damage. They've always had no shortage of talent, just frequently have trouble bringing it together. Curious about Belgium, who have almost never impressed me despite being a dreamteam on paper and constantly being tagged the Dark Horse of the tournament.
Senegal is a good team though, I saw a couple of their games and they looked dominant. Still will most likely to struggle to get out of the group stages unless they get into a friendly pot.
Poland, eh? Bold. If Croatia has finally got a decent coach they could do some damage. They've always had no shortage of talent, just frequently have trouble bringing it together. Curious about Belgium, who have almost never impressed me despite being a dreamteam on paper and constantly being tagged the Dark Horse of the tournament.
Senegal is the hipster pick of the season, they have to make it out of the group
I agree Germany/France are the definite front runners.
England's disappointed so much that I feel like instead of being overrated like usual, they've started to get underrated. It's still a team with some good talent like /Kane/Alli/Walker/Sterling/Rashford.
The lack of pressure being placed on them may actually help them.
Senegal is a good team though, I saw a couple of their games and they looked dominant. Still will most likely to struggle to get out of the group stages unless they get into a friendly pot.
Speaking of Croatia have either Jedvaj or Caleta-Car started to get integrated into the NT? Cause Lovren-Vida is solid, but those two kids could bring their backline up to the class of their midfield or attack...plus they could play a beautiful 3-5-2 if one of those kids is integrated into the NT:
What group would you most like, and least like for your team?
For me the worst for Denmark would be:
1Brazil
2Spain
3Denmark
4Serbia
And it wouldn't be possible since UEFA can only have two teams in the same group.
I think the seeding reflects strength fairly well. Usually though in the tournament itself teams that can defend, and in some cases are forced to mostly defend, end up punching above their weight.
Not familiar enough with pot 4 to say who might be the next Hungary or Iceland among those. In Pot 3 I expect Sweden to be well organized and hard working. Denmark I could see doing really well if they can stay compact. A bit like Wales in the Euros they also got some skill up front for solid counter attacking. Senegal remind me a bit of Uruguay 2010. Not sure if they can defend the way Uruguay did though.
Looking at those teams I really don't get why they want to have even more teams in it though. Love when the odd underdog "overperform", but the drop in quality from the top to the bottom teams is already quite significant.
So no:
USA
Italy
Netherlands
Chile
Columbia
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Cameroon
among others.
Wow. I think I might actually be interested in World Cup NIT aha.
Curious about Belgium, who have almost never impressed me despite being a dreamteam on paper and constantly being tagged the Dark Horse of the tournament.
Belgium isn't a dark horse at this point - the talent on that team is well known and established. They're just not a proven contender.
Belgium's problem has been coaching, and they still don't have it.
Not sure what part is it that you disagree with? I honestly have no idea what we "completely disagree" about.
Never said Wales and Denmark are the same tier (even if Denmark should be more than happy if they could replicate Wales' effort from the Euros). I said I could see them becoming successful playing in a similar way stylistically. Eriksen playing the role of Ramsey (obviously Eriksen is a better player, but Ramsey was fantastic in the Euros) and a guy like Sisto doing some of the stuff Bale does/did for Wales (meaning someone that can run with the ball on the counter). Not sure how me saying I could see Denmark doing really well is getting ridiculous (or what is it that you are trying to say?).