OT: FIFA World Cup 2018

[Luigi Habs]

Before the tournament I had Brazil the undisputed favorite. They didn’t play too well in their first game but logically they should start picking up their game specially if Neymar is 100% fit and in form. They may also need to tweak the lineup a bit, i.e Firmino for Jesus, Fred for Paulinho and Douglas Costa for Willian.

I would hate for Brazil to win it though, as I’m an Argentina supporter. Sadly I don’t even think Argentina will make it to the 2nd round. I think they lose against Croatia and they’ll have tremendous pressure to come out with a result against Nigeria while Iceland plays Croatia who will be probably already qualified.

I don’t see Spain or Germany winning for different reasons. France on paper are very strong but they have an immature team and a poor coach. I like Belgium and Croatia as underdogs a lot while Portugal could also sneak in through luck as usual.

 

[Luigi Habs]

the talk of opening it up to 40 something teams makes sense, but not too sure how the format will work, because I do like the current structure of 2 teams per group. it makes the round robin extremely competitive with the chance to land the number 2 spot.

that said, no italy, chile, netherlands, seems silly. Outside those 3 teams not making it, I'm okay with it, and maybe they need to change the qualifying stages to have the best teams present.

In 2026 they’re expanding to 48 teams. 16 groups of 3 teams with the top team qualifying to the round of 16.
We will have 16 ‘weaker teams’ in the competition. Think about it - weaker than Saudi Arabia, Panama, etc.

World Cup is not th best soccer to watch. Games are too poor quality, and the format of the competition makes it as such weaker teams have to park the bus to have a chance at winning. For strong nations, breaking very organized defensive lines while you have players that barely play together throughout the year is very difficult and result often in low scoring and boring games.
Highest caliber soccer is European Champions League.

 

[groovejuice]

I still can't believe Italy isn't there, so weird...

Same for the Netherlands.

 

[Nedved]

Before the tournament I had Brazil the undisputed favorite. They didn’t play too well in their first game but logically they should start picking up their game specially if Neymar is 100% fit and in form. They may also need to tweak the lineup a bit, i.e Firmino for Jesus, Fred for Paulinho and Douglas Costa for Willian.

I would hate for Brazil to win it though, as I’m an Argentina supporter. Sadly I don’t even think Argentina will make it to the 2nd round. I think they lose against Croatia and they’ll have tremendous pressure to come out with a result against Nigeria while Iceland plays Croatia who will be probably already qualified.

I don’t see Spain or Germany winning for different reasons. France on paper are very strong but they have an immature team and a poor coach. I like Belgium and Croatia as underdogs a lot while Portugal could also sneak in through luck as usual.

I don't see Belgium as an underdog team, just unproven team kind of like all those Netherlands teams that could never seem to win. croatia can make a run if they can find the net, they have the talent in the middle to upset some teams for sure. just think they'll fall short because they don't have that special forward.

 

[Adriatic]

In 2026 they’re expanding to 48 teams. 16 groups of 3 teams with the top team qualifying to the round of 16.
We will have 16 ‘weaker teams’ in the competition. Think about it - weaker than Saudi Arabia, Panama, etc.

World Cup is not th best soccer to watch. Games are too poor quality, and the format of the competition makes it as such weaker teams have to park the bus to have a chance at winning. For strong nations, breaking very organized defensive lines while you have players that barely play together throughout the year is very difficult and result often in low scoring and boring games.
Highest caliber soccer is European Champions League.

Ya 48 teams is gonna be absolute torture, but you know money rules all. I do agree CL is higher caliber in the later stages however you can't really compare the two. CL also has a bunch of very weak teams in the group stages, many of of whom don't manage to score a single goal. I would say more than half the games are unwatchable in the early stages.

 

[Nedved]

In 2026 they’re expanding to 48 teams. 16 groups of 3 teams with the top team qualifying to the round of 16.
We will have 16 ‘weaker teams’ in the competition. Think about it - weaker than Saudi Arabia, Panama, etc.

World Cup is not th best soccer to watch. Games are too poor quality, and the format of the competition makes it as such weaker teams have to park the bus to have a chance at winning. For strong nations, breaking very organized defensive lines while you have players that barely play together throughout the year is very difficult and result often in low scoring and boring games.
Highest caliber soccer is European Champions League.

obviously club soccer is a different game. the fact that the world cup is only every 4 years, guys want to win for their country, and literally feel like they're carrying the weight of the country on their back is what I love about the world cup/euro cup. it has a different level of passion and you can see why a player such as modric is so special when he has lesser talent around him. i like that part of the game.

I'm not sure why some teams are playing while others are at home, it's obviously for representing different parts of the world, but if going to 48 teams will bring spots to some more european teams, i'm all for it.

 

[Luigi Habs]

obviously club soccer is a different game. the fact that the world cup is only every 4 years, guys want to win for their country, and literally feel like they're carrying the weight of the country on their back is what I love about the world cup/euro cup. it has a different level of passion and you can see why a player such as modric is so special when he has lesser talent around him. i like that part of the game.

I'm not sure why some teams are playing while others are at home, it's obviously for representing different parts of the world, but if going to 48 teams will bring spots to some more european teams, i'm all for it.

Unfortunately Europe will not benefit a lot. They’ll get 3 extra nations only (they have 13 spots in the current format). The continents that will benefit the most are Africa with 4 more seats (5 in the current format) Asia (they have 4.5 spots and will get 3.5 extra to make it 8 spots).
CONCACAF will have a total of 6 (3.5 previously)
South America with 6 (4.5 previously)
Oceania with 1 (0.5 previously) - basically an automatic qualification for New Zealand.

 

[Nedved]

Unfortunately Europe will not benefit a lot. They’ll get 3 extra nations only (they have 13 spots in the current format). The continents that will benefit the most are Africa with 4 more seats (5 in the current format) Asia (they have 4.5 spots and will get 3.5 extra to make it 8 spots).
CONCACAF will have a total of 6 (3.5 previously)
South America with 6 (4.5 previously)
Oceania with 1 (0.5 previously) - basically an automatic qualification for New Zealand.

that's terrible. Why so many african seats? Number of seats should be tied to rankings, not just area. They still won't have the best talent in the world cup, doesn't make sense, but I guess will see how to plays out. Some of the European teams that are sitting out this year, and by what you just mentioned, are teams that could slide into the knockout stage and make a run if their game is clicking. not sure why so many african seats, they're just not as talented right now.

 

[Nedved]

VAR is already wearing me down. There's been a bunch of questionable penalties awarded, unless the definition has changed and I'm unaware of it. But what is he supposed to do there? Not make a play on the ball? It was a soccer move and the guy headed the ball and hit him in the arm. This VAR should be for obvious calls and not slow motion that takes it out of perspective.

 

[PuckSeparator]

VAR is already wearing me down. There's been a bunch of questionable penalties awarded, unless the definition has changed and I'm unaware of it. But what is he supposed to do there? Not make a play on the ball? It was a soccer move and the guy headed the ball and hit him in the arm. This VAR should be for obvious calls and not slow motion that takes it out of perspective.

It's the goalie interference rule of soccer. If you slow down the action just enough you can almost always see a bit of contact that looks worse because you have access to a slow motion video. You also can't clearly tell whether a player is embellishing so long as there's a bit of contact. Not a fan honestly.

 

[Nedved]

It's the goalie interference rule of soccer. If you slow down the action just enough you can almost always see a bit of contact that looks worse because you have access to a slow motion video. You also can't clearly tell whether a player is embellishing so long as there's a bit of contact. Not a fan honestly.

I like the goal line technology, and I'm okay with an obvious whiff on a call, but some of these calls are are making me question the role of the ref inside the box. You have an assistant on the side that can also make the call. My opinion, the VAR has created more questions than what it has answered.

And there's my problem with VAR, ref decided not to look at the Danish striker getting pulled down. The guy had his hand on his Jersey and pulled, obvious call using VAR, but the ref decides it's not worthy of review?

where's the consistency?

 

[PuckSeparator]

Decent game between Denmark and Australia, I only caught the second half and highlights of the first but it looked like a pretty even game.

 

[PuckSeparator]

I like the goal line technology, and I'm okay with an obvious whiff on a call, but some of these calls are are making me question the role of the ref inside the box. You have an assistant on the side that can also make the call. My opinion, the VAR has created more questions than what it has answered.

And there's my problem with VAR, ref decided not to look at the Danish striker getting pulled down. The guy had his hand on his Jersey and pulled, obvious call using VAR, but the ref decides it's not worthy of review?

where's the consistency?

Goal line technology is good, and VAR could have some uses but it seems to affect the games more negatively so far than positively.

I was just thinking back, when Panama qualified for the WC I don't think they used GLT technology to review the phantom goal for whatever reason... Not sure why, maybe it wasn't adopted by CONCACAF back then.

 

[peate]

Decent game between Denmark and Australia, I only caught the second half and highlights of the first but it looked like a pretty even game.

It was a very entertaining game. Too bad about that hand ball though. Chintzy call I thought, even though the ball barely grazed the Dane player.

 

[Luigi Habs]

Yeah I think the penalty was very harsh. Don't know what Poulsen could have done differently to avoid the hand.

But Australia deserved at least a draw. They were the superior team in this game.

 

[Adriatic]

VAR is still new and they will learn to use it better. Nothing is perfect but even now it's miles ahead of what it was in terms of getting calls right imo. I will live with the adjustment phase and the odd mess up if it means getting the right calls.

 

[Per Sjoblom]

We fought but we can't win if we can't score... Useless possession like always.

**** you Renard for your stupid changes.

I agree, I lost money on them since I had them going through together with Spain in our WC pool at work. It also shows what an arse hole Ronaldo is, trying to get an opposing player get sent off after Ronaldo's play acting showing an imaginary card to the ref. POS. I thought Morocco played great until they reached the penalty area. They should have won both their games. Greetings from northern Montana where I am right now.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I agree, I lost money on them since I had them going through together with Spain in our WC pool at work. It also shows what an arse hole Ronaldo is, trying to get an opposing player get sent off after Ronaldo's play acting showing an imaginary card to the ref. POS. I thought Morocco played great until they reached the penalty area. They should have won both their games. Greetings from northern Montana where I am right now.

Pepe drives me nuts. His diving & constant dramatics are f***ing embarrassing.

 

[Habs]

this diving is pathetic... every game, the acting.

 

[Per Sjoblom]

this diving is pathetic... every game, the acting.

Indeed, I remember once (in the late 80s) when Sweden won a game in a qualifying group that put them to through, winning their group and making the playoffs in the European championship when one of our players did a swan dive and got a penalty. He was harshly critized by Swedish media. These days all teams seen to do it and Swedes are no longer critized by the Swedish media. The only way to stop it might be to do a video review after the game and suspend players.

 

[lo striver]

VAR is still new and they will learn to use it better. Nothing is perfect but even now it's miles ahead of what it was in terms of getting calls right imo. I will live with the adjustment phase and the odd mess up if it means getting the right calls.

I have no issues with it too. Love it. Things will come together soon enough.

 

[Harry22]

Mbappé and Giroud showing very promising signs. Greizmann not so much but he also had a very slow start to Euro 2016 and ended very strong. All they need is a tie to win the group. Go France!

 

[Belial]

France is getting the job done but they're not looking impressive so far... So much talent on that team though...

 

[Adriatic]

Argentina coach hittin' the clubs after the game.

 

[Redux91]

Cmon Croatia

i just cant get behind Messi and Argentina anymore lol... CR7 and Portugal all the way (already got my Germany world cup 4 years ago lol)