Was it a good World Cup?

Sheepy99

Did it live up to your expectations?
Was the general standard high enough? How about in the latter stages?
Were the games themselves exciting?
Could the quality of goals have been a bit better?

For me, after the group stage finished I was thinking that it had went well, the lesser nations had come into it a bit (Costa Rica, Algeria), and not everybody who was expected to qualify, made it into the second round (Croatia, Spain, Portugal, to an extent Russia).
The standard and quality of games wasn't unbelievable but this happens in high stake games and in general from my own interpretation of international football so I was taking a lenient look at it.
Perhaps unfairly, I was comparing it to 2010 when looking for the positives, which was statistically (2.27 goals p/m) and in terms of atmosphere (Vuvuzela, enough said) the worst ever.

Knockout stages were extremely poor, there was only 1 or 2 good games and not even a supposed "classic" match which we will look back on (Brazil/Germany obviously for the wrong reasons)

There were few memorable goals (Cahill's, Rodriguez's, i know) whether they be long range strikes or great team goals and I thought the defending could have been better on a lot of occasions, without trying to put down those teams that just aren't that good in general (Honduras for example)

All in all, I felt it didn't live up to expectations, a real shame after the all that went on in the lead up to it, despite the lack of media attention.

Do you feel that the World Cup disappointed and that if it continued to do so, would its popularity over time diminish to the same level as maybe the FA cup's (bit extreme) if it wern't for FIFA and whoever else talking it up and marketing it to the level it is as of now.

john the one

Always one unhappy camper

DeanAustin

Sheepy99 wrote: »

Did it live up to your expectations?
Was the general standard high enough? How about in the latter stages?
Were the games themselves exciting?
Could the quality of goals have been a bit better?

For me, after the group stage finished I was thinking that it had went well, the lesser nations had come into it a bit (Costa Rica, Algeria), and not everybody who was expected to qualify, made it into the second round (Croatia, Spain, Portugal, to an extent Russia).
The standard and quality of games wasn't unbelievable but this happens in high stake games and in general from my own interpretation of international football so I was taking a lenient look at it.
Perhaps unfairly, I was comparing it to 2010 when looking for the positives, which was statistically (2.27 goals p/m) and in terms of atmosphere (Vuvuzela, enough said) the worst ever.

Knockout stages were extremely poor, there was only 1 or 2 good games and not even a supposed "classic" match which we will look back on (Brazil/Germany obviously for the wrong reasons)

There were few memorable goals (Cahill's, Rodriguez's, i know) whether they be long range strikes or great team goals and I thought the defending could have been better on a lot of occasions, without trying to put down those teams that just aren't that good in general (Honduras for example)

All in all, I felt it didn't live up to expectations, a real shame after the all that went on in the lead up to it, despite the lack of media attention.

Do you feel that the World Cup disappointed and that if it continued to do so, would its popularity over time diminish to the same level as maybe the FA cup's (bit extreme) if it wern't for FIFA and whoever else talking it up and marketing it to the level it is as of now.

It was a good World Cup but not a great one.

I get the sense people are over hyping it because it's still fresh. Mexico 86 trumps it for me easily of the WCs I've seen.

Far better than Italia 90 or SA2010 though.

ShaneU

Yes, lots of exciting matches (end of USA vs BEL being the highlight) and the best team lifted the cup

nbar12

No, Ireland weren't in it.

thelad95

The unique thing about this WC was that every single game in the knockout stages was won by the favourite.

Looper007

From my living memory, yes it was. Some of the best group games I ever seen, some great shocks. The quarter finals and last 16 weren't great but weren't bad either. Semi Finals Holland/Argentina was awful but Brazil/Germany was a great sight. The Final was very good and the right and deserving winners. The big players performed and the crowds were great.

thelad95

Looper007 wrote: »

From my living memory, yes it was. Some of the best group games I ever seen, some great shocks. The quarter finals and last 16 weren't great but weren't bad either. Semi Finals Holland/Argentina was awful but Brazil/Germany was a great sight. The Final was very good and the right and deserving winners. The big players performed and the crowds were great.

I think you mixed up your semi-finals their.

tippspur

Yes I think so,I enjoyed it anyway.

dfx-

'98 and '02 still top it for me. Very entertaining group stages, some pretty turgid knockouts, far too much extra time. Knockouts were better in South Africa.

Kylo Ren

Brilliant World Cup.

──────────▄██████████──▄████▄───────
────────▄██████████▀─▄████████▄─────
──────▄████▀▀───────████████████▄───
────▄█████████████─████─█████████▄──
───▄████████████▀─███▀─███─███████▄─
──▄████▀▀▀───────███▀─███─█████████─
─▄█████████████▌███▀─███─███─██████─
─█████████████▀─██▀─███─███─███─███─
▐████▀▀────────────███─███─███─▄███─
▐██████████████────▀▀─███─██▀─▄███──
▐████████████▀────────▀▀─██▀─███▀───
▐█████▀▀─────────────────────────▄█─
▐███─────▒▒──▒▒────────────────▄▀─█─
▐███──▒▒─▒▒──▒▒───▄▀▀▀▄─────▄█─▀▀▀█▀
─██▀──▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒──────█─▄▀▀▄─█────▀─
───▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒────▄▀─█──█─█──▒▒▒─
───▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒──█───▀▄▄▀───▒▒▒──
────▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▀▀▀▀──────▒▒▒───
─────▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─────────▒▒▒────
──────▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒─▒▒▒▒─────▒▒▒▒─────
───────▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒──────
────────▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒───────
──────────▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒────────
──────────▄─▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
──────────█▄─▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
──────────██▄─▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
──────────▐██▄─▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
───────────███▌─▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
───────────████──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────────
───────────▐███▌──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒────────
───────────█████▌──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒───────
──────────▐██████───▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒──────
──────▄▌──████████▄──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒─────
─────▄██─▐██████████▄──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒────
───▄████▌▐████████████▄──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒───
──██████▌─██████████████▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄───
─████████▄─▀████████████████████▀───
─▀█████████▄─▀████████████████▀─────
────────────────▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀────────

jimmytwotimes 2013

The group stage was very good, as good as any World Cup. The Round of 16 was ok but all the fancied teams won. However, from the 1/4 finals on the tournament got very cagey and the entertainment value dipped a good bit.

I think Gary Lineker has commented a few times that he doesn't remember a World Cup where the finishing was so poor. Same could be said for midfield creativity.

A few of the traditional heavyweights had poor teams, Spain, Portugal, Italy and this Brazil team were more kick and rush than samba.

A watchable World Cup that started with more promise than it finished.

Say Your Number

While there was no real outstanding teams, I thought it was a very exciting and enjoyable World Cup especially with Costa Rica and USA getting into the knock out round when no one gave them a chance and Algeria giving the Germans a real fright and Chile nearly shocking the hosts in the last minute of extra time, Germany vs Ghana and Australia vs Holland were the stand out games for me, while it got a bit dour and dull in the knock out stages I'll still remember this WC fondly and have it up there with 1998 and 2006 tournaments as one of my favourites.

simongurnick

Apart from Ireland not being in it,I thought it was great. A lot of free flowing attacking football, loads of goals and won by the best team in the end.
Some incredible results (Holland 5 -1 Spain, Germany 7 -1 Brazil).
Brilliant games (USA v Belgium, Algeria v Germany, Germany v Ghana to name a few)
And some top teams (Colombia, France, Costa Rica, Chile)

simongurnick

...oh, and England getting stuffed!

Macavity.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Best World Cup in my memory.

RedemptionZ

It was alright. Pretty underwhelming, no standout matches worth watching again IMO. Group stages were a higher standard than normal though, to be fair.

DeanAustin

RedemptionZ wrote: »

It was alright. Pretty underwhelming, no standout matches worth watching again IMO. Group stages were a higher standard than normal though, to be fair.

That's true. People are pointing to the Belgium v US game as the best of the tournament. It was good but it wasn't a great game or a classic.

redzerdrog

Meh I thought is was an average enough world cup to be honest

I know it had the joint most goals ever but that was more down to David Luiz than quality attacking games

oldyouth

Really enjoyed it and the match times were perfect.

Giggsy11

I loved it. Lot better than 2010, more goals and lot of exciting matches.

EyeSight

I liked it. Nothing world shattering but it was cool seeing some of the under dogs doing well. Made games more exciting and less predictable.

I must say, fair play to the people of Brazil. They are a country with plenty of troubles and the money spent on the WC could have been put to better use. But they didn't let that halt the festivities, they always seemed to be great craic in the crowd etc. Various media outlets who said the tournament would be a disaster owe them an apology(although we know it won't happen).

Gotta love watching a WC game without the awful vuvuzela sound

Soft Falling Rain

It was a good World Cup, not a great one (baby).

Aurora Green

Sheepy99 wrote: »

Did it live up to your expectations?
Was the general standard high enough? How about in the latter stages?
Were the games themselves exciting?
Could the quality of goals have been a bit better?

For me, after the group stage finished I was thinking that it had went well, the lesser nations had come into it a bit (Costa Rica, Algeria), and not everybody who was expected to qualify, made it into the second round (Croatia, Spain, Portugal, to an extent Russia).
The standard and quality of games wasn't unbelievable but this happens in high stake games and in general from my own interpretation of international football so I was taking a lenient look at it.
Perhaps unfairly, I was comparing it to 2010 when looking for the positives, which was statistically (2.27 goals p/m) and in terms of atmosphere (Vuvuzela, enough said) the worst ever.

Knockout stages were extremely poor, there was only 1 or 2 good games and not even a supposed "classic" match which we will look back on (Brazil/Germany obviously for the wrong reasons)

There were few memorable goals (Cahill's, Rodriguez's, i know) whether they be long range strikes or great team goals and I thought the defending could have been better on a lot of occasions, without trying to put down those teams that just aren't that good in general (Honduras for example)

All in all, I felt it didn't live up to expectations, a real shame after the all that went on in the lead up to it, despite the lack of media attention.

Do you feel that the World Cup disappointed and that if it continued to do so, would its popularity over time diminish to the same level as maybe the FA cup's (bit extreme) if it wern't for FIFA and whoever else talking it up and marketing it to the level it is as of now.

What world cup was better?

It's the best one I can remember and I have been watching since 1994.

Boskowski

was brilliant

Laois_Man

It was a good world cup in the sense that most games were open and teams were reasonably closely matched most of the time

It was a poor world cup in terms of the quality of the "Better" teams which is why teams were reasonably closely matched.

But give me the former over the latter any day. The change in format of the club European cup to the Champions League 18 or so years ago has hugely damaged the quality of international tournaments IMO as the top players are absolutely knackered by the time they get to June/July

Tombo2001

I would say the group stages were fantastic, best I can remember.

Knockout stages were poor really, but they do tend to be poor anyway.

A major disappointement for me was no new team breaking through.....and my definition of breaking through really is making the final or at least the semi.

Colombia and Mexico were the two teams I had high hopes for after the group stages. But the way Colombia defended for the first Brazil goal, I felt after that they werent at the races.

Ivory Coast and Ghana were big disappointments also.

riffmongous

The group stages were great, the matches were very exciting.

But the knockouts completely killed off that WC for me, watching most of the games felt like a complete waste of time and as someone pointed out above, a good test is how many you would rewatch in full? I dont think there is any game from knockouts I would want to see again

briany

thelad95 wrote: »

The unique thing about this WC was that every single game in the knockout stages was won by the favourite.

Also, for the first time in the history of the competition, a European team won the trophy in the Americas.

Looper007

riffmongous wrote: »

But the knockouts completely killed off that WC for me, watching most of the games felt like a complete waste of time and as someone pointed out above, a good test is how many you would rewatch in full? I dont think there is any game from knockouts I would want to see again

But that's the way they are once you get to the last 16, you might get a cracking 4-3 game here and there but they are mostly tetchy and cagey affairs cause there's so much on the line. No manager or player wants to go all out attack and end up losing a game to please a few fans watching at home. Plus the teams get better once it's goes along and the defences gets stronger.

SharpshooterTom

Alan Hansen on the beeb is was the best WC ever by an absolute mile. Maybe he's talking about the best taxpayers paid holiday he's had by an absolute mile, sitting alongside the copacabana in 5 star hotels talking about football.

jimmytwotimes 2013

Laois_Man wrote: »

The change in format of the club European cup to the Champions League 18 or so years ago has hugely damaged the quality of international tournaments IMO as the top players are absolutely knackered by the time they get to June/July

this

iDave

I enjoyed it for the most part. The group stages were a lot better than I expected. Playing each other once unlike the Champions Leagues forces teams to get results from the off.
The knock outs could of been better. A few too many 0-0 draws. Don't mind the odd scoreless draw or even a 2-2 but waiting for penalties for the first goal can be annoying.
Overall happy with how it went. A well deserved winner, a few upsets and some good underdog stories.

CSF

First couple of days were great, after that it stopped entertaining me anywhere near as much.

Far too many matches lacked individual quality. Not enough outstanding players who shone as an individual as opposed to strong units.

Iused2likebusts

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I would say the group stages were fantastic, best I can remember.

Knockout stages were poor really, but they do tend to be poor anyway.

A major disappointement for me was no new team breaking through.....and my definition of breaking through really is making the final or at least the semi.

Colombia and Mexico were the two teams I had high hopes for after the group stages. But the way Colombia defended for the first Brazil goal, I felt after that they werent at the races.

Ivory Coast and Ghana were big disappointments also.

I agree with all that apart from Ghana who I thought were very impressive in their first two group games and we're extremely unlucky to only have 1 point when it could easily have been 4 or 6.

LeBash

90% of the group stages were great. 2nd round was very good.

USA v Belgium was the highlight for me.

Netherlands v Argentina was a hard game to watch.

Overall it's been the best since 2002 for me (green tinted glasses and all that).

Nalz

LeBash wrote: »

90% of the group stages were great. 2nd round was very good.

USA v Belgium was the highlight for me.

Netherlands v Argentina was a hard game to watch.

Overall it's been the best since 2002 for me (green tinted glasses and all that).

Agree 100%. Got a bit tighter, boring as the later stages progressed.
Loved the start of it. Ghana Germany game was great imo

First two rounds of the group stages were incredible.

After that it was good with the odd excellent game. A good few games that were average enough too.

Overall though, very enjoyable

Reekwind

I think it's been a great World Cup. Certainly it's been the best that I can recall (from 1990 onwards), although France 1998 is close. I'd have preferred if more of the top teams had turned up but otherwise we had goals, drama, a deserving winner, some epic matches and plenty of excitement. Ticked all the boxes.

riffmongous wrote: »

But the knockouts completely killed off that WC for me, watching most of the games felt like a complete waste of time and as someone pointed out above, a good test is how many you would rewatch in full? I dont think there is any game from knockouts I would want to see again

I don't know what games you were watching. Even when the goals dried up most of the knockout games remained exciting and absorbing, with one stone-cold classic that we'll still be talking about in decades to come.

But then I don't understand this arbitrary criterion. How many games do you ever rewatch in full? How many games from, say, 1970 or 1950 have you ever (re)watched from beginning to end?

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote:

I think Gary Lineker has commented a few times that he doesn't remember a World Cup where the finishing was so poor

He obviously can't remember back to the distant days of the group stages when all the talk was of how no defenders had turned up and the key strikers (Neymar, Messi, Suarez, etc) were carrying their teams.

rossie1977

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Alan Hansen on the beeb is was the best WC ever by an absolute mile. Maybe he's talking about the best taxpayers paid holiday he's had by an absolute mile, sitting alongside the copacabana in 5 star hotels talking about football.

Yeah when you are living like a king for a month next to cabana beach in Rio the quality of football is secondary.

Meh world cup for me. No outstanding player or team.

Sheepy99

Ghana vs Germany was definitely one of the better ones

smileyj1987

I have to say it was a good World Cup with alot of attacking football on show . The only downside for me was the fact a lot of the big players didn't really play well for various reasons .
Messi faded badly , Ronaldo was injured , Suarez got a ban , Ribery was injured as with falcao and few other brilliant players . When you watch a World Cup you want to see all the big names have a good tournament .
I think the group stages and the second round where all the best games happened . Two teams really stood out to me this World Cup Germany and the USA . Germany deserved to win it and the USA had a great tournament .

kksaints

I enjoyed the Group Stages and the last 16 a lot. The quarter finals and the Argentina-Holland match werent great but overall it was a very enjoyable tournament and a good final.

Best Matches: USA-Ghana, Algeria-Germany, Australia-Netherlands, USA-Belgium.

Worst Matches: Argentina-Netherlands, Belgium-Russia, Japan-Greece.

K-9

It's funny reading the WC's that get mentioned as the best, all the ones in my memory mentioned barring the obvious disappointments 90 and 2010. 86 for me but that's probably with rose tinted glasses as it was my first. I'd say this one will be fondly remembered for the goals and shocks in the group stages but not a whole lot else barring Brazils collapse and obviously a good German team winning.

Tombo2001

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

I agree with all that apart from Ghana who I thought were very impressive in their first two group games and we're extremely unlucky to only have 1 point when it could easily have been 4 or 6.

Ghana made it to the quarterfinals in 2010, and would have made the semi-final if it wasnt for Luis Saurez handling the ball on the line.....a misdemeanour that personally I rate as being far far worse than biting someone on the shoulder. (I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but the fact is that by deliberately cheating in this way he prevented a first African team from reaching a world cup semi final, and denied the nation of Ghana its day out in the sun. Against this, a sore shoulder for Chiellini that had not influence on the result of the match is neither here nor there).

This time, Ghana went out in the first round.

Bluethaw

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Alan Hansen on the beeb is was the best WC ever by an absolute mile. Maybe he's talking about the best taxpayers paid holiday he's had by an absolute mile, sitting alongside the copacabana in 5 star hotels talking about football.

Which world cup do you think was better?

Iused2likebusts

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Ghana made it to the quarterfinals in 2010, and would have made the semi-final if it wasnt for Luis Saurez handling the ball on the line.....a misdemeanour that personally I rate as being far far worse than biting someone on the shoulder. (I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but the fact is that by deliberately cheating in this way he prevented a first African team from reaching a world cup semi final, and denied the nation of Ghana its day out in the sun. Against this, a sore shoulder for Chiellini that had not influence on the result of the match is neither here nor there).

This time, Ghana went out in the first round.

I was at the USA Ghana game they were very impressive I personally thought they deserved to win they also really put it up to Germany and on another day could have won. I didn't see their game against Portugal but it seems they had disciplinary issues prior to it.

FatherTed

It was great until the Hotties thread got locked.

SharpshooterTom

Bluethaw wrote: »

Which world cup do you think was better?

1998 saw the same number of goals scored, however we had more goals in the knockout stages in 98' (45 vs 35 in 2014 and that includes the 8 goal match between Brazil and Germany without that it possibly would have been the lowest ever for a knockout stage).

1994 had a higher goals per game average (2.71) than 1998 and 2014 (2.67). 1982 had and even higher one (2.81). So the straw argument of "this is the best WC ever because of the amount of goals scored" is diffused as its not instinguisable from previous WC's which also have had as many goals.

I think we had as good as a group stages as we have had ever, possibly the best, but for me there were too many drab knockout matches for this tournament to be the best ever undisputed. Only 4 or 5 of the knockout matches from the 16 were barely memorable, the rest were ordinary/poor/forgettable. The 7-1 match is memorable for its scoreline but as match it was no contest ending inside 25 minutes and certainly shouldn't be held higher than the REAL semi final classics like the 1982 France 3-3 W.Germany (aet) or Italy 4-3 W.Germany (aet) 1970.

Peter Flynt

It was a great WC with the best team winning it

brianregan09

I thought the best football was played in the group stages where teams had no sense of fear it seemed, Croatia and Mexico were unlucky not to send Brazil home sooner

But the KO stages were just so poor not that the favourites won in every game its just they were poor poor games