2018 FIFA World Cup Megathread

[The Archregimancy]

No; I said 'the Argentina - Paraguay border, deep in the jungles of Misiones Province'. If you were in Cordoba, you likely mean La Cumbrecita, which is several hundred kilometres from either Paraguay or Misiones.

I was instead referring to this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-32014659

Good article but Nazis had probably many military bases in Southern Cone whose existences have been basically ignored. The absolutely non-fascistic governments also initiated repatriation programs for locals with history in Nazi Army, which was additionally used to save a relevant group of Nazis in Europe.

In great part, nobody really knows who were these Nazis inserted in local societies. So, if Mossad have not yet found, I don't think that someone can do it today. Or can they find?

My last post on what's threatening to become a derail, but there's no need to lecture me on any of that.

I'm in the middle of writing an academic book chapter on archaeologies of dictatorship and repression in South and Central America, and have worked as a consultant for both a University of Buenos Aires field project and a television programme on the Nazi site in Misiones. I've also done some relevant work in southern Chile. So it's safe to assume that I have some passing familiarity with the topic; which is why I made the joke in the first place.

And Mossad weren't remotely infallible when it came to finding prominent Nazis in South America. Eichmann's capture was the result of some very specific circumstances.

For what it's worth, the association between South America and fanatical 'Aryan' German ideologues with deeply unpleasant views on race drawing on a perversion of Nietzsche predates Nazism by decades:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/worl ... aguay.html

I'm currently talking to a colleague in Bavaria about making that site our next project.

[Nazis in Space]

OTOH, Indians were probably the minority the Nazis liked the most, so hey.

No love for us again in the greater nazi empire. :'(

Then again, those Danes (not great ones) and Norwegians are blonder and more blue eyed than us.

Alas, Karl May never covered the low countries.

But if you prefer, I can refer to you as Seedeutsch? :v

You could even celebrate your German victory at the world cup. If a couple frenchmen I know could do it in 2014, so can you!

[Yaana Noore]

Easily. They were shockingly sloppy against our B team yesterday. How will they fare against Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria then?

People said the same thing last time around. They actually beat Croatia in the qualifiers just a year ago. I fancy them to get at least a point against Nigeria anyway, they were hilariously bad against England particularly in the first half.

[Aboim]

Good article but Nazis had probably many military bases in Southern Cone whose existences have been basically ignored. The absolutely non-fascistic governments also initiated repatriation programs for locals with history in Nazi Army, which was additionally used to save a relevant group of Nazis in Europe.

In great part, nobody really knows who were these Nazis inserted in local societies. So, if Mossad have not yet found, I don't think that someone can do it today. Or can they find?

My last post on what's threatening to become a derail, but there's no need to lecture me on any of that.

I'm in the middle of writing an academic book chapter on archaeologies of dictatorship and repression in South and Central America, and have worked as a consultant for both a University of Buenos Aires field project and a television programme on the Nazi site in Misiones. I've also done some relevant work in southern Chile. So it's safe to assume that I have some passing familiarity with the topic; which is why I made the joke in the first place.

And Mossad weren't remotely infallible when it came to finding prominent Nazis in South America. Eichmann's capture was the result of some very specific circumstances.

For what it's worth, the association between South America and fanatical 'Aryan' German ideologues with deeply unpleasant views on race drawing on a perversion of Nietzsche predates Nazism by decades:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/worl ... aguay.html

I'm currently talking to a colleague in Bavaria about making that site our next project.

Everything was Paraguay's fault. I knew it.

Easily. They were shockingly sloppy against our B team yesterday. How will they fare against Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria then?

To wait and to win.

[Neu Leonstein]

What are the views on a Fantasy Football league? NSG have had some in the past, though it always seems to drop in popularity very quickly and people stop subbing players and so on.

EDIT: I made a League.

https://fantasy.fifa.com/en/leagues?code=4E657 (Code: XM9FDTEO)

[The Archregimancy]

OTOH, Indians were probably the minority the Nazis liked the most, so hey.

No love for us again in the greater nazi empire. :'(

Then again, those Danes (not great ones) and Norwegians are blonder and more blue eyed than us.

Ah, but you're taller than any of them.

The world's 10 tallest countries (by average height of male residents):

Netherlands - 1.838m
Montenegro - 1.832m
Denmark - 1.826m
Norway - 1.824m
Serbia - 1.82m
Germany - 1.81m
Croatia - 1.805m
Czech Republic - 1.8031m
Slovenia - 1.803m
Luxembourg - 1.799m

Of course, you're also the nation most likely to think the World Cup final is actually a martial arts tournament.

[Ethel mermania]

Good article but Nazis had probably many military bases in Southern Cone whose existences have been basically ignored. The absolutely non-fascistic governments also initiated repatriation programs for locals with history in Nazi Army, which was additionally used to save a relevant group of Nazis in Europe.

In great part, nobody really knows who were these Nazis inserted in local societies. So, if Mossad have not yet found, I don't think that someone can do it today. Or can they find?

My last post on what's threatening to become a derail, but there's no need to lecture me on any of that.

I'm in the middle of writing an academic book chapter on archaeologies of dictatorship and repression in South and Central America, and have worked as a consultant for both a University of Buenos Aires field project and a television programme on the Nazi site in Misiones. I've also done some relevant work in southern Chile. So it's safe to assume that I have some passing familiarity with the topic; which is why I made the joke in the first place.

And Mossad weren't remotely infallible when it came to finding prominent Nazis in South America. Eichmann's capture was the result of some very specific circumstances.

For what it's worth, the association between South America and fanatical 'Aryan' German ideologues with deeply unpleasant views on race drawing on a perversion of Nietzsche predates Nazism by decades:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/worl ... aguay.html

I'm currently talking to a colleague in Bavaria about making that site our next project.

Interesting read, thanks.

[Aboim]

One shot, one goal. Good record, US.

Friendly games have not been so friendly this time.

My last post on what's threatening to become a derail, but there's no need to lecture me on any of that.

I'm in the middle of writing an academic book chapter on archaeologies of dictatorship and repression in South and Central America, and have worked as a consultant for both a University of Buenos Aires field project and a television programme on the Nazi site in Misiones. I've also done some relevant work in southern Chile. So it's safe to assume that I have some passing familiarity with the topic; which is why I made the joke in the first place.

And Mossad weren't remotely infallible when it came to finding prominent Nazis in South America. Eichmann's capture was the result of some very specific circumstances.

For what it's worth, the association between South America and fanatical 'Aryan' German ideologues with deeply unpleasant views on race drawing on a perversion of Nietzsche predates Nazism by decades:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/worl ... aguay.html

I'm currently talking to a colleague in Bavaria about making that site our next project.

Interesting read, thanks.

True.

[Neu Leonstein]

US is leading France 1:0 right now, an hour in. And Giroud just walked off with blood all over his face after a head-on-head collision with a US defender (and the goalie's fist, to boot).

EDIT: 1:1 draw in the end, but good on a very young US side. Spain also just edged past Tunisia with a 1:0 in the 84th minute, and yesterday Germany beat Saudi Arabia 2:1. I think that all these teams have been through pretty intense training camps the last few weeks, and that may be partly to blame for some tired legs. They'll get a break for a bit as they relocate to Russia, before the final training sessions restart to prepare for the specific matches ahead. Brazil v Austria tomorrow.

[Nazis in Space]

Of course, you're also the nation most likely to think the World Cup final is actually a martial arts tournament.

(Image)

There is such a thing as a Dutch School of kickboxing, which has dominated on a global scale since the 1990s.

So, uh.

No surprise there.

[Yaana Noore]

More people have gone for Belgium and England than Spain, find that quite shocking. I can't see either of those two getting further than the quarters or being capable of beating a team that is actually good.

[Neu Leonstein]

Brazil having a fairly good time, beating Austria 3:0. Certainly looking good going into the tournament, but I think they usually do.

Also, I made that fantasy league, but I'm in there by myself. Very lonely.

[Cryptomypt]

going back in time, it's absolutely astounding how much the brazil squad changed from 2010 to 2014. many players cut/retired.

[Painisia]

Should I boycott The World Cup?

[Neu Leonstein]

Ok, so after my initial, naive numerical predictions, now I've finally found a little time to write down what I actually think might happen.

Groups

Group A
There was no way to prevent it given that Russia is the host, but still... bad group and bad first game of the tournament. Uruguay should comfortably win three out of three - from what I've read they've gone through a period of reinventing themselves a bit, playing a more possession-based game when the situation calls for it. Versatility is good for these tournaments, but for the early stages it'll just be useful when dealing with teams that want to sit back and counter. It's fairly even between the other three, I think. Russia will probably squeeze past, but I suspect it will be low-scoring, boring games with the Russians forced to hold possession against Egypt and Saudi Arabia looking to counter, and having little idea of what to do with it. Given that, it's possible that either of those matches can throw a surprise, and so I wouldn't be that surprised for either Egypt or Saudi Arabia to make it through.

1. Uruguay 2. Russia 3. Egypt 4. Saudi Arabia

Group B
Spain vs Portugal is one of the matches to watch in the group stages, and I'd expect Spain to take that one, and win the other two as well. Portugal might struggle though... Iran doesn't offer that much (though it'll be hard to get goals against them), but Morocco might. I think the Morocco v Portugal match should be quite interesting - it will probably just end up with Portugal eking out a win, but if it's a draw or even an upset win for Morocco... drama. Portugal is one of my more likely candidates for top nations to crash out early.

1. Spain 2. Portugal 3. Morocco 4. Iran

Group C
France won't cruise through, and there might be ongoing dramas about who to play and in what combination, but they should have enough to finish first. Australia will be last - they'll try to put up a fight, and may get a draw or two, but I don't see them getting wins at this point. But between the other two... hard to tell. Denmark is probably better than Peru, but they're close enough. On the basis of the order of games though, I'd think Denmark has the better cards, because they play France last, who will presumably have qualified and rest a few players.

1. France 2. Denmark 3. Peru 4. Australia

Group D
Argentina managed by Sampaoli should be great fun, but they did have their arses handed to them 6:1 by Spain at the end of March. So clearly there are some weaknesses there in the back. Not an easy group either. Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria can all cause upsets. I'm still going to go ahead and put the Argies first, but they're the top candidate for an upset early exit, in my book. Hard to pick the others ... Iceland has discipline and good freekick takers: in the qualification they lost to Croatia 2:0 and then beat them 1:0, to finish the table on top - they can obviously grind out results. Croatia obviously has big star names in midfield especially, but they've switched coaches recently. And Nigeria is a counter-attacking team that obviously did well in recent times, and might upset anyone who has a bad day. I'll go with Croatia, but with little conviction... could go any way, really.

1. Argentina 2. Croatia 3. Nigeria 4. Iceland

Group E
As I said above, I think Brazil look good. They looked good in the friendly against Germany I watched too. It's the classic story of relying a lot on full-backs going forward though, and good sides will be looking to use that space. Less of a problem in this group though, so they should be able to win it. Biggest challenge is Switzerland, I think, who also have very good full-backs and might be the most likely to cause dramas if they can hold out in defense. Serbia I don't think will offer much, and I think they'll lose to Costa Rica to finish last. I think Switzerland can beat Costa Rica, so they get second.

1. Brazil 2. Switzerland 3. Costa Rica 4. Serbia

Group F
I think Germany should cruise through, with the first game being the hardest. Mexico has a decent side all over the pitch, though they did lose pretty clearly to Denmark last night, so there's that. Sweden are similar to Mexico, but not amazing - they made it this far by beating Italy in a close knock-out and relegating the Dutch to third in their group, so they could beat Mexico and should beat Korea. So I don't know... bit of a toss-up for me between Mexico and Sweden. Korea should finish last.

1. Germany 2. Mexico 3. Sweden 4. South Korea

Group G
Boring! England and Belgium to go through. I'm picking England first, on the theory that they'll get into a bit of a goal frenzy against one of the weaker opponents and get a better goal difference than the Belgians. This will also lead to the British media getting completely carried away... Meanwhile, the Belgians will also win, and slightly spectacularly. Then a draw for the final match between the two better sides. I think Tunisia beats Panama in the last game, so they get third.

1. England 2. Belgium 3. Tunisia 4. Panama

Group H
Best group to watch, maybe? Colombia should get first and Poland second, but who knows. Japan should be last, but I think Senegal might have a shot here - if they catch the Poles on a bad day, hopefully they can be the African team to make it through.

1. Colombia 2. Poland 3. Senegal 4. Japan

Knock-Outs

The below is just make-believe... anything beyond the R16 is too uncertain to even try predicting. The teams are too close, and the matches too idiosyncratic.

R16
Uruguay beats Portugal
France beats Croatia
Brazil beats Mexico
England beats Poland
Spain beats Russia
Argentina beats Denmark
Germany beats Switzerland
Colombia beats Belgium

QF
France beats Uruguay
Brazil beats England
Spain beats Argentina
Germany beats Colombia

SF
France beats Brazil
Spain beats Germany

3rd
Germany beats Brazil

Final
Spain beats France

[The Archregimancy]

Group G
Boring! England and Belgium to go through. I'm picking England first, on the theory that they'll get into a bit of a goal frenzy against one of the weaker opponents and get a better goal difference than the Belgians. This will also lead to the British media getting completely carried away...

It'll lead to the English media getting completely carried away.

The Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish media - which, with the English media, comprise the British media - won't be nearly so carried away.

Where we do have truly national media, the BBC will be more restrained than ITV.

[The Archregimancy]

Also, I made that fantasy league, but I'm in there by myself. Very lonely.

Would you like me to add it to the OP?

[Neu Leonstein]

It'll lead to the English media getting completely carried away.

The Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish media - which, with the English media, comprise the British media - won't be nearly so carried away.

Where we do have truly national media, the BBC will be more restrained than ITV.

Haha, ok, apologies - that was sloppy.

Would you like me to add it to the OP?

That might be good actually, it might help at the margin.

[The Archregimancy]

Would you like me to add it to the OP?

That might be good actually, it might help at the margin.

And done.

[Fartsniffage]

England XI beats the Rest of the World XI.

We should send them to Russia...

[Shofercia]

Ok, so after my initial, naive numerical predictions, now I've finally found a little time to write down what I actually think might happen.

Groups

Group A
There was no way to prevent it given that Russia is the host, but still... bad group and bad first game of the tournament. Uruguay should comfortably win three out of three - from what I've read they've gone through a period of reinventing themselves a bit, playing a more possession-based game when the situation calls for it. Versatility is good for these tournaments, but for the early stages it'll just be useful when dealing with teams that want to sit back and counter. It's fairly even between the other three, I think. Russia will probably squeeze past, but I suspect it will be low-scoring, boring games with the Russians forced to hold possession against Egypt and Saudi Arabia looking to counter, and having little idea of what to do with it. Given that, it's possible that either of those matches can throw a surprise, and so I wouldn't be that surprised for either Egypt or Saudi Arabia to make it through.

1. Uruguay 2. Russia 3. Egypt 4. Saudi Arabia

Group B
Spain vs Portugal is one of the matches to watch in the group stages, and I'd expect Spain to take that one, and win the other two as well. Portugal might struggle though... Iran doesn't offer that much (though it'll be hard to get goals against them), but Morocco might. I think the Morocco v Portugal match should be quite interesting - it will probably just end up with Portugal eking out a win, but if it's a draw or even an upset win for Morocco... drama. Portugal is one of my more likely candidates for top nations to crash out early.

1. Spain 2. Portugal 3. Morocco 4. Iran

Group C
France won't cruise through, and there might be ongoing dramas about who to play and in what combination, but they should have enough to finish first. Australia will be last - they'll try to put up a fight, and may get a draw or two, but I don't see them getting wins at this point. But between the other two... hard to tell. Denmark is probably better than Peru, but they're close enough. On the basis of the order of games though, I'd think Denmark has the better cards, because they play France last, who will presumably have qualified and rest a few players.

1. France 2. Denmark 3. Peru 4. Australia

Group D
Argentina managed by Sampaoli should be great fun, but they did have their arses handed to them 6:1 by Spain at the end of March. So clearly there are some weaknesses there in the back. Not an easy group either. Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria can all cause upsets. I'm still going to go ahead and put the Argies first, but they're the top candidate for an upset early exit, in my book. Hard to pick the others ... Iceland has discipline and good freekick takers: in the qualification they lost to Croatia 2:0 and then beat them 1:0, to finish the table on top - they can obviously grind out results. Croatia obviously has big star names in midfield especially, but they've switched coaches recently. And Nigeria is a counter-attacking team that obviously did well in recent times, and might upset anyone who has a bad day. I'll go with Croatia, but with little conviction... could go any way, really.

1. Argentina 2. Croatia 3. Nigeria 4. Iceland

Group E
As I said above, I think Brazil look good. They looked good in the friendly against Germany I watched too. It's the classic story of relying a lot on full-backs going forward though, and good sides will be looking to use that space. Less of a problem in this group though, so they should be able to win it. Biggest challenge is Switzerland, I think, who also have very good full-backs and might be the most likely to cause dramas if they can hold out in defense. Serbia I don't think will offer much, and I think they'll lose to Costa Rica to finish last. I think Switzerland can beat Costa Rica, so they get second.

1. Brazil 2. Switzerland 3. Costa Rica 4. Serbia

Group F
I think Germany should cruise through, with the first game being the hardest. Mexico has a decent side all over the pitch, though they did lose pretty clearly to Denmark last night, so there's that. Sweden are similar to Mexico, but not amazing - they made it this far by beating Italy in a close knock-out and relegating the Dutch to third in their group, so they could beat Mexico and should beat Korea. So I don't know... bit of a toss-up for me between Mexico and Sweden. Korea should finish last.

1. Germany 2. Mexico 3. Sweden 4. South Korea

Group G
Boring! England and Belgium to go through. I'm picking England first, on the theory that they'll get into a bit of a goal frenzy against one of the weaker opponents and get a better goal difference than the Belgians. This will also lead to the British media getting completely carried away... Meanwhile, the Belgians will also win, and slightly spectacularly. Then a draw for the final match between the two better sides. I think Tunisia beats Panama in the last game, so they get third.

1. England 2. Belgium 3. Tunisia 4. Panama

Group H
Best group to watch, maybe? Colombia should get first and Poland second, but who knows. Japan should be last, but I think Senegal might have a shot here - if they catch the Poles on a bad day, hopefully they can be the African team to make it through.

1. Colombia 2. Poland 3. Senegal 4. Japan

Knock-Outs

The below is just make-believe... anything beyond the R16 is too uncertain to even try predicting. The teams are too close, and the matches too idiosyncratic.

R16
Uruguay beats Portugal
France beats Croatia
Brazil beats Mexico
England beats Poland
Spain beats Russia
Argentina beats Denmark
Germany beats Switzerland
Colombia beats Belgium

QF
France beats Uruguay
Brazil beats England
Spain beats Argentina
Germany beats Colombia

SF
France beats Brazil
Spain beats Germany

3rd
Germany beats Brazil

Final
Spain beats France

So you are going to play Loris Karius in the semifinals

[Yaana Noore]

-snip-

Generally solid predictions there. Personally I think Egypt will beat Russia to the 2nd place in the group though. Uruguay will win it, easily, and everyone should beat Saudi Arabia. Whenever I have seen this Russian team over the last 2 years they have been truly horrific, I think Egypt will win.

Think Peru might do better than most expect too but that's a bit of a gamble. Same for Croatia beating Argentina to first place, I think it could be a real possibility though. Iceland third ahead of Nigeria too.

I'm not sure why people are rating Switzerland to be honest, they don't seem that good... I think Serbia will go ahead of them.

As for England... no way are we winning the group over Belgium or having a 'goal-frenzy'. I can't remember the last England team as boring as Southgate's, no attacking ambition, we barely look like scoring and rarely do really. Before these two friendlies we had scored a grand total of 10 goals in 8 games, 4 of which came in one game against Malta (who we struggled past). Ignoring that one, despite playing powerhouses such as Slovenia and Slovakia at home and Lithuania away... we averaged less than one goal a game between September and March. Our winner against Slovenia was a last-minute goal and vs. Lithuania a penalty. I will be stunned if we score more than one goal against either of Tunisia or Panama, honestly. I am expecting us to 'bravely struggle' past one of them 1-0 and draw the other 0-0. We'll probably get 5 points, then lose to whoever we face next. If anyone seriously rates England, despite our weakest squad in about 24 years, an awful manager who would struggle to find a job in the Championship, zero creative midfielders and an inability to score I would like to know for what reason, other than blind optimism.

[Bombadil]

Ok, so after my initial, naive numerical predictions, now I've finally found a little time to write down what I actually think might happen.

Groups

Group A
There was no way to prevent it given that Russia is the host, but still... bad group and bad first game of the tournament. Uruguay should comfortably win three out of three - from what I've read they've gone through a period of reinventing themselves a bit, playing a more possession-based game when the situation calls for it. Versatility is good for these tournaments, but for the early stages it'll just be useful when dealing with teams that want to sit back and counter. It's fairly even between the other three, I think. Russia will probably squeeze past, but I suspect it will be low-scoring, boring games with the Russians forced to hold possession against Egypt and Saudi Arabia looking to counter, and having little idea of what to do with it. Given that, it's possible that either of those matches can throw a surprise, and so I wouldn't be that surprised for either Egypt or Saudi Arabia to make it through.

1. Uruguay 2. Russia 3. Egypt 4. Saudi Arabia

Group B
Spain vs Portugal is one of the matches to watch in the group stages, and I'd expect Spain to take that one, and win the other two as well. Portugal might struggle though... Iran doesn't offer that much (though it'll be hard to get goals against them), but Morocco might. I think the Morocco v Portugal match should be quite interesting - it will probably just end up with Portugal eking out a win, but if it's a draw or even an upset win for Morocco... drama. Portugal is one of my more likely candidates for top nations to crash out early.

1. Spain 2. Portugal 3. Morocco 4. Iran

Group C
France won't cruise through, and there might be ongoing dramas about who to play and in what combination, but they should have enough to finish first. Australia will be last - they'll try to put up a fight, and may get a draw or two, but I don't see them getting wins at this point. But between the other two... hard to tell. Denmark is probably better than Peru, but they're close enough. On the basis of the order of games though, I'd think Denmark has the better cards, because they play France last, who will presumably have qualified and rest a few players.

1. France 2. Denmark 3. Peru 4. Australia

Group D
Argentina managed by Sampaoli should be great fun, but they did have their arses handed to them 6:1 by Spain at the end of March. So clearly there are some weaknesses there in the back. Not an easy group either. Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria can all cause upsets. I'm still going to go ahead and put the Argies first, but they're the top candidate for an upset early exit, in my book. Hard to pick the others ... Iceland has discipline and good freekick takers: in the qualification they lost to Croatia 2:0 and then beat them 1:0, to finish the table on top - they can obviously grind out results. Croatia obviously has big star names in midfield especially, but they've switched coaches recently. And Nigeria is a counter-attacking team that obviously did well in recent times, and might upset anyone who has a bad day. I'll go with Croatia, but with little conviction... could go any way, really.

1. Argentina 2. Croatia 3. Nigeria 4. Iceland

Group E
As I said above, I think Brazil look good. They looked good in the friendly against Germany I watched too. It's the classic story of relying a lot on full-backs going forward though, and good sides will be looking to use that space. Less of a problem in this group though, so they should be able to win it. Biggest challenge is Switzerland, I think, who also have very good full-backs and might be the most likely to cause dramas if they can hold out in defense. Serbia I don't think will offer much, and I think they'll lose to Costa Rica to finish last. I think Switzerland can beat Costa Rica, so they get second.

1. Brazil 2. Switzerland 3. Costa Rica 4. Serbia

Group F
I think Germany should cruise through, with the first game being the hardest. Mexico has a decent side all over the pitch, though they did lose pretty clearly to Denmark last night, so there's that. Sweden are similar to Mexico, but not amazing - they made it this far by beating Italy in a close knock-out and relegating the Dutch to third in their group, so they could beat Mexico and should beat Korea. So I don't know... bit of a toss-up for me between Mexico and Sweden. Korea should finish last.

1. Germany 2. Mexico 3. Sweden 4. South Korea

Group G
Boring! England and Belgium to go through. I'm picking England first, on the theory that they'll get into a bit of a goal frenzy against one of the weaker opponents and get a better goal difference than the Belgians. This will also lead to the British media getting completely carried away... Meanwhile, the Belgians will also win, and slightly spectacularly. Then a draw for the final match between the two better sides. I think Tunisia beats Panama in the last game, so they get third.

1. England 2. Belgium 3. Tunisia 4. Panama

Group H
Best group to watch, maybe? Colombia should get first and Poland second, but who knows. Japan should be last, but I think Senegal might have a shot here - if they catch the Poles on a bad day, hopefully they can be the African team to make it through.

1. Colombia 2. Poland 3. Senegal 4. Japan

Knock-Outs

The below is just make-believe... anything beyond the R16 is too uncertain to even try predicting. The teams are too close, and the matches too idiosyncratic.

R16
Uruguay beats Portugal
France beats Croatia
Brazil beats Mexico
England beats Poland
Spain beats Russia
Argentina beats Denmark
Germany beats Switzerland
Colombia beats Belgium

QF
France beats Uruguay
Brazil beats England
Spain beats Argentina
Germany beats Colombia

SF
France beats Brazil
Spain beats Germany

3rd
Germany beats Brazil

Final
Spain beats France

You don't happen to listen to Football Weekly do you?

Anyway, given those predictions I'd quite like a Spain-Brazil final but true to my original prediction I suspect we'll have a France-Germany final with all the comments on 'Finally winning in Russia...'

I just can't trust Brazil for some reason, and I think a lot depends on Neymar.. and then I'm not so sure whether Spain will consistently click as a team.

[Shofercia]

You don't happen to listen to Football Weekly do you?

Anyway, given those predictions I'd quite like a Spain-Brazil final but true to my original prediction I suspect we'll have a France-Germany final with all the comments on 'Finally winning in Russia...'

I just can't trust Brazil for some reason, and I think a lot depends on Neymar.. and then I'm not so sure whether Spain will consistently click as a team.

That'd be funny.

[Fartsniffage]

You don't happen to listen to Football Weekly do you?

Anyway, given those predictions I'd quite like a Spain-Brazil final but true to my original prediction I suspect we'll have a France-Germany final with all the comments on 'Finally winning in Russia...'

I just can't trust Brazil for some reason, and I think a lot depends on Neymar.. and then I'm not so sure whether Spain will consistently click as a team.

That'd be funny.

You should have insisted the World Cup was held in the winter.....