The 2018 World Cup Superthread

yabadabado

England v Belgium could turn out to be of a non event.Both teams through and Martinez has already said there will be plenty of changes due to injury/cards.
England will likely do similar.
Winning that group might not work out great either ,depending how group H goes.

yourdeadwright

I read an article yesterday that Russia have the oldest squad in the tournament ,
Which surprised me because I recalled the day before reading an article that they have covered the most distance I think as a team the average of outfield players is 11.8k per game,
I checked with Prem stats and Erikson covered the most per game in the season with 11.9 one of the Russia lads has covered 12.7 per game so far,
The numbers are pretty mental ,I wonder in years to come will there be another Russian drugs scandal or is it the case of home support pushing these guys on to run more than anyone else,

namloc1980

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I read an article yesterday that Russia have the oldest squad in the tournament ,
Which surprised me because I recalled the day before reading an article that they have covered the most distance I think as a team the average of outfield players is 11.8k per game,
I checked with Prem stats and Erikson covered the most per game in the season with 11.9 one of the Russia lads has covered 12.7 per game so far,
The numbers are pretty mental ,I wonder in years to come will there be another Russian drugs scandal or is it the case of home support pushing these guys on to run more than anyone else,

Costa Rica and Panama have the oldest squads by far. Russia is 5th or 6th oldest I think.

gimli2112

I think the Mail ran a story over the weekend alluding to a Russian doping scandal that's being ignored by FIFA. I saw they have a CB who is closing in on 40 and had retired. Are there some notable absences/injuries to their squad? It wouldn't take much to kick off the speculation given what's happening in athletics.

Loafing Oaf

yabadabado wrote: »

England v Belgium could turn out to be of a non event.Both teams through and Martinez has already said there will be plenty of changes due to injury/cards.

But they will definitely be trying their best to win the match.

Wonder is Southgate too much of a boyscout to take this approach...

yourdeadwright

namloc1980 wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I read an article yesterday that Russia have the oldest squad in the tournament ,
Which surprised me because I recalled the day before reading an article that they have covered the most distance I think as a team the average of outfield players is 11.8k per game,
I checked with Prem stats and Erikson covered the most per game in the season with 11.9 one of the Russia lads has covered 12.7 per game so far,
The numbers are pretty mental ,I wonder in years to come will there be another Russian drugs scandal or is it the case of home support pushing these guys on to run more than anyone else,

Costa Rica and Panama have the oldest squads by far. Russia is 5th or 6th oldest I think.

Ah I see, Where Russia the lowest ranked team going in ?

citytillidie

Group A
Both Russia and Uruguay have qualified from the group. Russia will go through as winners if they avoid defeat in the final game.

Group B
A point for Spain against Morocco would see them qualify.

If Spain lose they will go through if Portugal beat Iran or suffer a heavier defeat against Iran, or if that match is a low-scoring draw and Spain lose by no more than one goal.

Portugal will qualify with a draw against Iran.

If both Portugal and Spain suffer defeats then team with the bigger loss would be eliminated. If they both win then the team with the biggest win will finish top of Group B.

The top two teams currently have the same number of points, goal difference and goals scored - they are separated by Fair Play records (Spain have one yellow card and Portugal have picked up two).

If all these elements are equal then there will be a drawing of lots to decide their final group positions.

Iran will qualify with victory over Portugal - they would win the group unless Spain also won.

Group C
France are through to the knockout round - a point against Denmark would see them finish as group winners.

A point against France would see Denmark qualify, as would Australia's failure to beat Peru. The Danes would top the group with victory.

In order for Australia to qualify they must beat Peru, hope Denmark lose and also better the Danes' goal difference.

Group D
Croatia have qualified and will be group winners with a point against Iceland.

Nigeria will qualify with a win over Argentina. A point would be enough if Iceland do not beat Croatia.

If Argentina and Nigeria draw, Iceland will make the last 16 if they beat Croatia by a two-goal margin and also score at least one more than Nigeria.

Argentina will qualify with victory over Nigeria coupled with Iceland failing to defeat Croatia. If Iceland do beat Croatia, then Jorge Sampaoli's side can still qualify if they beat Nigeria by two more goals than Iceland win their game. If Argentina and Iceland win and finish with identical records their fate will be decided by their disciplinary records and then the drawing of lots. Argentina have picked up three yellow cards and Iceland have none.

Group E
A draw for Brazil against Serbia will be enough for a place in the knockout stage.

If both Brazil and Switzerland win then the group winner could be decided by disciplinary records: Brazil have three yellows, Switzerland four. If they both lose then it will be the second and third places potentially decided by the same process.

The Swiss will qualify with a draw against Costa Rica, or if Serbia lose to Brazil.
If Switzerland lose by one goal and Serbia draw, second place will be decided by goals scored. If the sides finish with identical records then Switzerland would go through because they beat Serbia.

Serbia will qualify if they defeat Brazil. A draw would be enough if Switzerland lose to Costa Rica by more than one goal.

Group F
Mexico need only a point against Sweden to qualify and finish top. They will go through, irrespective of their own result, if Germany fail to beat South Korea.

Sweden are guaranteed to qualify if they better Germany's result. They will top the group if they beat Mexico and better Germany's result.

Germany will qualify if they win by two or more clear goals.

If both Germany and Sweden draw their games, then the team in the higher-scoring game will finish second. If the matches finish with the same score, then Germany will finish second because they beat Sweden.

South Korea can qualify if they beat Germany and Sweden lose, and finish with a better goal difference than those two teams.

Group G
England and Belgium have qualified and are the only two teams to have identical records going into their final match.

If they draw then the top two positions will be decided by the number of cards accumulated. England have two yellows and Belgium have picked up three.

If both teams have the same number of booking points then lots will be drawn to decide the final positions.

Group H
Japan and Senegal require only a point in their respective games against Poland and Colombia to qualify.

Colombia will qualify with victory over Senegal. If Colombia win Japan will need to lose by fewer goals than Senegal to progress. Colombia can also qualify with a draw if Japan lose, because they have a better goal difference.

MarkY91

yabadabado wrote: »

I hope Spain go all the way.They have some excellent players and are righly one of the favs.
I think it was a massive **** up and overreaction sacking the manager, which may come back to haunt them.

They're bookies favoirites at the moment

yourdeadwright

Going to make an early call and say Serbia will beat Brazil ,
I can see them ending up getting knocked out as I think the Swiss and South Korean will draw,

yabadabado

MarkY91 wrote: »

They're bookies favoirites at the moment

Just saw that ,think they were fourth favs pre tournament at 6s.
Makes sense they have leap frogged a few teams but its very hard pick out a winner yet ,after 2 games no one has really stood out.

Loafing Oaf

yabadabado wrote: »

Just saw that ,think they were fourth favs pre tournament at 6s.
Makes sense they have leap frogged a few teams but its very hard pick out a winner yet ,after 2 games no one has really stood out.

If things had gone as expected they would have met Argentina in the q-f, followed by Germany. Now it's looking like Croatia followed by God knows who, possibly even England.

irishguitarlad

Hey lads I've started a football blog there if you want to have a look at it. I just have a short piece on the Spanish game tonight. I will try and add to it frequently.

http://thomasdmflynnfootball.blogspot.com/

MarkY91

yabadabado wrote: »

Just saw that ,think they were fourth favs pre tournament at 6s.
Makes sense they have leap frogged a few teams but its very hard pick out a winner yet ,after 2 games no one has really stood out.

I bet on them the day before they sacked their manager. I still had hope, I'm fairly confident now.i don't think they're favourites due to being that impressive, I think it's due to the teams originally ahead of them in the betting being terrible so far

Loafing Oaf

MarkY91 wrote: »

I bet on them the day before they sacked their manager. I still had hope, I'm fairly confident now.i don't think they're favourites due to being that impressive, I think it's due to the teams originally ahead of them in the betting being terrible so far

I just backed Costa for the Golden Boot at 6/1. If he bangs in another couple against Morocco today he'll be well placed I think, esp. if Lukaku and Kane are 'rested' on Thursday. Also on Isco for POTY. Couldn't call outright winner between four or five teams...

gimli2112

just reading an article on Maradona and looked at his wiki entry. The description of the infamous brawl in Spain. When he snapped he really snapped. Was up for Germany in 86 but I'm glad he won one.


Maradona then headbutted Sola, elbowed another Bilbao player in the face and kneed another player in the head, knocking him out cold. Sixty people were injured

yabadabado

MarkY91 wrote: »

I bet on them the day before they sacked their manager. I still had hope, I'm fairly confident now.i don't think they're favourites due to being that impressive, I think it's due to the teams originally ahead of them in the betting being terrible so far

Did similar bet on them outright and Isco POTT a couple of days before the sacking.

Loafing Oaf

yabadabado wrote: »

Did similar bet on them outright and Isco POTT a couple of days before the sacking.

I came across what I thought was a brilliant double of De Gea golden glove and Spain win World Cup @20/1 on the Ladbrokes website but they wouldn't let me do it in the shop for some reason...:mad:

MarkY91

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

I just backed Costa for the Golden Boot at 6/1. If he bangs in another couple against Morocco today he'll be well placed I think, esp. if Lukaku and Kane are 'rested' on Thursday. Also on Isco for POTY. Couldn't call outright winner between four or five teams...

I did Spain to win then a bet for Lukaku to be top scorer.

I'm surprised Costa is scoring so much. He may very well win you your bet if Spain are to reach the final!

5star02707

Suarez goal funny how the Russian player pushed 2 Uruguayans and Suarez punished them:pac::pac::pac:

gimli2112

gimli2112 wrote: »

Maradona then headbutted Sola, elbowed another Bilbao player in the face and kneed another player in the head, knocking him out cold. Sixty people were injured

Bilbao had Goikoetxea, who liked to end careers. He nailed Bernd Schuster and he hunted Maradona down. They were a disgrace to football, he should have been banned for life.

terrydel

Who are rte showing tonight, spain or portugal?

spock.

terrydel wrote:

Who are rte showing tonight, spain or portugal?

Portugal, but Spain on rte news now

Minderbinder

Cavani could cut ice with those nipples.

ERG89

Uruguay will be sticking with 3-5-2 after this I'd say.

Will I Am Not

Polonium in his water bottle...

sligeach

That shouldn't have been a second penalty for Saudi Arabia.

yabadabado

MarkY91 wrote: »

I did Spain to win then a bet for Lukaku to be top scorer.

I'm surprised Costa is scoring so much. He may very well win you your bet if Spain are to reach the final!

did that in Winner/Top GS market at 150/1 .It's got a fighting chance but was sickened to see Lukaku off at 60 minutes on Saturday, if he could have stayed on for the 90 I reckon another 1 or 2 goals and they created a lot for Batshuayi.

jacool

sligeach wrote: »

That shouldn't have been a second penalty for Saudi Arabia.

This was posted about the first pen

Some penalty save by El Hadary, and something to tell the grandkids,
when he goes home.

NIMAN

Can we put the myth that the Russians are all doped to the eyeballs to bed now?

As soon as they met a team that can play football they have found their level.

Media got a little excited that there was mass doping going on cos they stuffed two bucket sides.

Looking forward to Ewan McKenna reversing up now in the Indo.

NIMAN

Or maybe Uruguay are taking better drugs than Russia?

Never thought of that.

Corholio

Being beat doesn't mean they aren't doped up, Russia or any other team. The running stats is what brought a lot of the suspicion. Always thought Russia would come up well short against a decent team, especially one who could decent anyway good. There's plenty of recent archival evidence to at least suspect that Russian athletes are doping at any one time, would be the same for any other country if it was uncovered.

Gbear

Corholio wrote: »

Being beat doesn't mean they aren't doped up, Russia or any other team. The running stats is what is what brought a lot of the suspicion. Always thought Russia would come up well short against a decent team.

The running stat and the history of mandatory state-run doping programmes at major tournaments.

yabadabado

Egypt ended up with no points .Some people were talking them up as getting out of that group but they were woeful.

citytillidie

NIMAN wrote: »

Can we put the myth that the Russians are all doped to the eyeballs to bed now?

As soon as they met a team that can play football they have found their level.

Media got a little excited that there was mass doping going on cos they stuffed two bucket sides.

Looking forward to Ewan McKenna reversing up now in the Indo.

NIMAN wrote: »

Or maybe Uruguay are taking better drugs than Russia?

Never thought of that.

Or Russia lost to go into the bottom half of the draw which could be easier

yabadabado

citytillidie wrote: »

Or Russia lost to go into the bottom half of the draw which could be easier

Most likely playing Spain in next round, can't see them getting anything there.

Paully D

Uruguay vs Spain or Portugal confirmed, while France va Argentina is looking very likely too.

Love it!

yourdeadwright

Paully D wrote: »

Uruguay vs Spain or Portugal confirmed, while France va Argentina is looking very likely too.

Love it!

Argentina aren't going through ,

castletownman

I am sucker for random WC trivia. The John Stones scoring more goals than Rooney factoid that surfaced yesterday is a doozie.

But I have literally just discovered that Ruben Loftus Cheek is a half-brother to Carl Cort, a non-scoring forward for Newcastle United before Shola Ameobi became a thing. You learn something everyday

citytillidie

yabadabado wrote: »

Most likely playing Spain in next round, can't see them getting anything there.

Playing Spain or Portugal in Moscow maybe seen as better than playing them in Sochi

asteroids over berlin

so i wonder if Portugal done that on purpose or was it a genuine mistake! they have portugal v IRAQ on tbeir jersey. nuts!

sligeach

Thanks Jim for mentioning the vuvuzelas. I HAD drowned them out and forgotten about them. Not anymore.

citytillidie

Spain should be down to 10 men

Loafing Oaf

'Oooh dear!' Lawro went all Dale Winton (RIP) there for a second.:eek:

murpho999

Paully D wrote: »

Uruguay vs Spain or Portugal confirmed, while France va Argentina is looking very likely too.

Love it!

How do you work that out.

Argentina are very likely to go out.

sligeach

The Iranian keeper is very dodgy.

citytillidie

0-1 to Morocco

yabadabado

G'wan Morroco that's making things interesting.

sligeach

Shocking mistake by Spain.

eagle eye

This will show us what Spain are made of. Their style of football does not stand up well to the counter attack and that is what Morrocco will be doing for the last 70+ minutes.

citytillidie

1-1 in Spain