Don't remember seeing a WC thread so.....

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/groups/

Yawn.



I'm a super casual fan so I only follow soccer when the US team is in the WC.

Looking forward to it. Not as good as premier league IMO but still god to watch

Let's get that 5th title bu bu boys!

Do you have family from Germany David? Just curious to know why you are a Germany fan.

Looking forward to the Argentina game tomorrow, and Poland on Tuesday. I also will be following Portugal and Spain.

It's an exciting time in our household!

v6,
boNes

As Gary Lineker once said...



At least the hosts got off to a good start.

Yes Sir, my Mom is German (from Wurzburg) and my brother and I were both born there, Munich for me and Stuttgart for my brother.

I was in Germany when they won the World Cup in 1974 and in 1990, I was a kid in '74 living in Frankfurt and really don't remember much other then all the horns blowing all over the place.

The 1990 win is still a great memory, since I was an adult and remember, of pouring out into the streets of Nuremberg with the rest of the city and heading to the town square to celebrate.

The picks to go thru to the next round from BBC website, some machine has run statistical analysis;

Group A: Uruguay 77%, Russia 60%, Egypt 36%, Saudi Arabia 27%

Group B: Spain 76%, Portugal 58%, Iran 35%, Morocco 30%

Group C: France 69%, Peru 68%, Denmark 35%, Australia 27%

Group D: Argentina 82%, Croatia 57%, Iceland 35%, Nigeria 27%

Group E: Brazil 90%, Switzerland 51%, Serbia 31%, Costa Rica 28%

Group F: Germany 79%, Mexico 60%, Sweden 34%, South Korea 27%

Group G: England 71%, Belgium 71%, Tunisia 32%, Panama 26%

Group H: Colombia 77%, Poland 50%, Senegal 45%, Japan 29%

Going to try and watch Portugal vs Spain today from work, crazy that Spain fired the coach a few days ago!

Thanks for that great post David! Definitely some great memories there. I actually remember watching the finals match between Germany and Argentina in 1990 and how Maradona was crying afterwards. I guess I was bored that day so I watched most of the game.

I'll watch a lot of game. And of course, especially France

A lot of people here sees France reaching at least the semi-finals, but our defense makes mistakes, and we have only few players with experience. I'm affraid of a big disapointment. We will see.

Allez les bleus !!!

How in the hell did Holland and Italy not make it this time?

Sweden beated both

Holland during group phase, and Italy during play-off.

Unfortunately it's not new for Holland, they missed the UEFA Euro Championship in 2016. For Italy, it's the first major competition they miss since a lot of time.

I'd say for Holland it's disunity and dysfunction. There is no team there.

For Italy, it was a case of a manager out of his depth, poor formations and tactical decisions. Drawing Spain was never going to help, but they still should have navigated their group.

In my opinion, of course.

Not much of a soccer fan, nor am I Italian. but not having Italy in the WC seems that the tournament will be very bland.
Like having spaghetti with no sauce.

I love soccer! No better cure for insomnia!

Just kidding... Lighten up, Francis.

England is going to surprise everyone and win the WC.

Anyone watching the Germany vs Mexico game?

Mexico has been really aggressive so far.

Great game so far... Really.

And if Mexico had more spontaneity on their fast breaks... They could have more goals.