2018 World Cup

[Jack]

Not long now till it all kicks off. A full moon on the eve of the tournament might be a sign of things to come!

With meticulous preparation it's difficult to see past the Germans as probable winners.

Will Brazil bounce back after the embarrassment of the last WC?

Surely our neighbours will get past the group stages this time!

Will the Bounce Massive be following Jamie Maclarens Socceroos?

I didn't see the Scottish involvement in 2 countries prep for the competition. They seem to have done the decent thing and massage the egos of those going!

I did see the Turkey (not going) Vs Iran (going) warm up. All I can say is Iran are in danger of racking up a world record of goals conceded. They were absolutely honking!

 

[Greenmachine]

Much as I am looking forward to the World Cup as always, I have noticed over the years a slow deterioration in the quality and the standard of games played. IMO this is mainly due to the amount of football the top players now have to play and the fact that the WC is played only weeks after the various seasons have finished. In terms of how it will go I agree that Germany look the likeliest European winners, with Spain there or thereabouts. Brazil will be better than last time, but I fancy Argentina. I would love to see Messi make this his World Cup and confirm his status of the greatest player of all time.

 

[Two Headed Boy]

I think England might do ok under Southgate. Depends who they come up against mind you. They are a decent side but the likes of Germany will make mincemeat out of them.

Fancy a strong showing from Belgium until the meet a team that is able to hit them hard on the counter.

Agree with your winners prediction though. My money would be on die Deutschen.

 

[Hammi]

Germany or France possibly.

Germany are a tournament team, not as good as they have been, but still really, really good.

France are full of big, athletic monsters with breakaway pace out wide and up top. They'll cause everyone problems and are in with a shout imo.

 

[Hibee Kev]

I’m going to have a punt on Belgium I think, on paper they have one of the best - if not the best - squads at the tournament. Previously they’ve massively underperformed but in Di Matteo they have a manager who knows what it takes to win a knockout tournament. Failing that, Germany.

 

[Greenmachine]

I think England might do ok under Southgate. Depends who they come up against mind you. They are a decent side but the likes of Germany will make mincemeat out of them.

Fancy a strong showing from Belgium until the meet a team that is able to hit them hard on the counter.

Agree with your winners prediction though. My money would be on die Deutschen.

I think England could do better than expected although they are IMO not strong enough to win the tournament. They are heavily reliant on Harry Kane for goals and they have to hope he is on fire during this tournament. They have a very young inexperienced squad but that might actually work in their favour. I quite like Southgate. He certainly knows how to organise a team and they go into this World Cup with far less expectations than previous WC's which is understandable as the manager does not have anything like the talent available to him as previous England bosses have had. The England team suffers hugely from the Premiership being so saturated with expensive foreign players.

 

[Two Headed Boy]

I’m going to have a punt on Belgium I think, on paper they have one of the best - if not the best - squads at the tournament. Previously they’ve massively underperformed but in Di Matteo they have a manager who knows what it takes to win a knockout tournament. Failing that, Germany.

Going forward they are frightening but they tend to get cut open defensively.I hope your right though. I have Belgian family so I've kind of adopted them as my national team in Scotland's absence over the years. I think they will regret freezing out Nainggolan though, he adds a bit of steel to them and is a far more reliable option than Fellaini for my money.

 

[Hibee Kev]

I think England could do better than expected although they are IMO not strong enough to win the tournament. They are heavily reliant on Harry Kane for goals and they have to hope he is on fire during this tournament. They have a very young inexperienced squad but that might actually work in their favour. I quite like Southgate. He certainly knows how to organise a team and they go into this World Cup with far less expectations than previous WC's which is understandable as the manager does not have anything like the talent available to him as previous England bosses have had. The England team suffers hugely from the Premiership being so saturated with expensive foreign players.

Think England will likely meet either Brazil or Germany in the quarter finals should they make it that far. To be fair I’ve not been sensing much expectation from either English fans or pundits this time around, so QF’s for them would probably be regarded as a good tournament (provided their exit isn’t via another German pumping).

 

[greencol]

I think England could do better than expected although they are IMO not strong enough to win the tournament. They are heavily reliant on Harry Kane for goals and they have to hope he is on fire during this tournament. They have a very young inexperienced squad but that might actually work in their favour. I quite like Southgate. He certainly knows how to organise a team and they go into this World Cup with far less expectations than previous WC's which is understandable as the manager does not have anything like the talent available to him as previous England bosses have had. The England team suffers hugely from the Premiership being so saturated with expensive foreign players.

They look decent in the warm up matches as usual, but defensively they're pretty poor. Smalling, Jones, Young, Stones, and Walker are accidents waiting to happen.

I’m going to have a punt on Belgium I think, on paper they have one of the best - if not the best - squads at the tournament. Previously they’ve massively underperformed but in Di Matteo they have a manager who knows what it takes to win a knockout tournament. Failing that, Germany.

Martinez?

 

[HaarlemShuffler]

I’m going to have a punt on Belgium I think, on paper they have one of the best - if not the best - squads at the tournament. Previously they’ve massively underperformed but in Di Matteo they have a manager who knows what it takes to win a knockout tournament. Failing that, Germany.

Their manager or head coach is ex-Evertonian boss Martínez, is it not?

Otherwise might have had a punt on them myself

Think I'll believe in the power of revenge this time, so it's Brazil for me, Germans just seem a bit off just now even though we all know that can soon change when the tourney starts.

 

[Hibee Kev]

Their manager or head coach is ex-Evertonian boss Martínez, is it not?

Otherwise might have had a punt on them myself

Think I'll believe in the power of revenge this time, so it's Brazil for me, Germans just seem a bit off just now even though we all know that can soon change when the tourney starts.

Correct! Egg on face moment for me! Errr...They’ve no chance then!

 

[Chester Perry]

Germany traditionally struggle on Russian soil so can't see them winning.

A Polish win in Russia would be the ultimate dream. As long as we don't suffer any "accidents"

 

[southfieldhibby]

Hope Messi bosses the entire tournament and Argentina win a 4-3 epic final against Brasil.

 

[Kenny]

fingers crossed for an iran vs saudi arabia final.

 

[1875]

As an Evertonian, Bobby doesn't have enough about himself to win it with Belgium, I hope he proves me wrong? I support Argentina in every world cup Scotland are not in, along with Oz.

 

[Beagle]

Germany for me if Scotland aren't playing......so that'll be every time since 1998 then.

 

[BVilleggiante]

Germany traditionally struggle on Russian soil so can't see them winning.

A Polish win in Russia would be the ultimate dream. As long as we don't suffer any "accidents"

Yes, traditionally Germans have struggled on Russian soil since around late 1941

 

[SKII]

Egypt

 

[Smurf]

I too fancy Belgium. I hope all the big guns such as Brazil & Argentina go all the way though.

 

[Jack]

Spain sack their manager.

Spanish FA claim they didn't know he was going to Real Madrid!

It was headline news in Turkey 2 weeks ago. They must have known about it in Spain lol

SFA. There must be something in the initials that contaminate the incumbents with incompetence.

 

[cstkto]

Spain sack their manager.

Spanish FA claim they didn't know he was going to Real Madrid!

It was headline news in Turkey 2 weeks ago. They must have known about it in Spain lol

SFA. There must be something in the initials that contaminate the incumbents with incompetence.

Spanish fa cost themselves money for contract compensation and any chance of cohesion going into tomorrow, why not do a rangers/hearts and Release a statement oh how unhappy they are and get the dosh from Madrid to pay off his contract

 

[Hammi]

Had Russia 4-0 with the first goal in the 13th minute on my super 6 league.

5-0 last minute and the first goal in the 12th minute.
Couldn't make it up

 

[GORDONSMITH7]

Had Russia 4-0 with the first goal in the 13th minute on my super 6 league.

5-0 last minute and the first goal in the 12th minute.
Couldn't make it up

Saudi Arabia will surely beheading out of the World Cup soon.

BIG G

 

[hoppy/hibee.]

Has to be France for me,as Hammi said ,Big strong team,quick on the break and some fantastic players.GGTTH.

 

[Sauzee's Teeth]

What game this is. I think we’ve just seen goal of the tournament as well, unbelievable technique!

 

[Hammi]

Ronaldo is unbelievable.

This has been a great game of football, the unofficial start of the tournament

 

[The Family]

Ronaldo is unbelievable.

This has been a great game of football, the unofficial start of the tournament

Now the World Cup has officially started, cracking game that.

 

[Sauzee's Teeth]

Ronaldo is unbelievable.

This has been a great game of football, the unofficial start of the tournament

We'll be doing well to see another game as good as that in the rest of the tournament. Brilliant stuff.

 

[Bofahibee]

The rhythm of Spain's passing was mesmeric. Ronaldo's free kick was stunning BUT i hate the calculating way he and the spanish get free kicks

 

[Greenmachine]

That was just football at it's very best. Absolutely breathtaking stuff. We are in for a classic World Cup if that game tonight is an indicator of what is to come.

 

[Jamie]

World Cup Sweepstake

 

[jock3]

I have had a few drinks granted, but reflecting on Scotland's failure to qualify again. Then when you think the likes of fucking Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia are there(no disrespect to these please)

I blame the SFA because it appears they don't give a sh&t

 

[HaarlemShuffler]

I have had a few drinks granted, but reflecting on Scotland's failure to qualify again. Then when you think the likes of fucking Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia are there(no disrespect to these please)

I blame the SFA because it appears they don't give a sh&t

D'ye know, I was quite emotional for Iran, thinking bavk fondly to when we drew 1-1 wi them iirc.

Tim-eMelle ya fùckker boonya!

 

[Greenmachine]

Jamie Mac a sub for Australia against France

 

[Hammi]

I have had a few drinks granted, but reflecting on Scotland's failure to qualify again. Then when you think the likes of fucking Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia are there(no disrespect to these please)

I blame the SFA because it appears they don't give a sh&t

They don't, you're right,
But all those countries qualify from a different confederation. If we were, we'd be in with a shout too.

 

[Jack]

The 10 teams with the lowest world rankings in this World Cup are listed below.

Scotland is currently ranked 42, Italy 19th. Obviously there are a few other decent countries before you get to Russia who had only won one match in their previous 10 before the competition.

10. Australia (FIFA ranking 36)
9. Iran (37)
8. Morocco (41)
7. Egypt (45)
6. Nigeria (48)
5. Panama (55)
4. South Korea (57)
3. Japan (61)
2. Saudi Arabia (67)
1. Russia (70)

 

[Hammi]

The rhythm of Spain's passing was mesmeric. Ronaldo's free kick was stunning BUT i hate the calculating way he and the spanish get free kicks

The thing I really liked about Spain was how far back they pressed Portugal.
Pique and Ramos were both taking possession and spreading the play inside Portugal's third, Ronaldo forced into his own third playing as a striker.

Portugal worked hard and managed to combat that and force them to defend.

I really, really enjoyed that game.

 

[Jamie]

After VAR review a pen is given. o_O

 

[Jamie]

No VAR needed for that one.

 

[Hammi]

Not impressed with this France team at all.
Don't look like they can play together, too many names and not enough cohesion.
Mbappe barely kicked a ball, Pogba not impressive.

Finally a goal line goal given at a world cup ha

Australia so unlucky. Been worth a draw for their part.