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***Official 2022 World Cup Thread*** (2 Viewers)

This spain team just looks strange with no pique, ramos or iniesta out there
Still a full midfield of Barcelona players though :coffee:

Busquets seems out of place, like he’s the old guard hanging on.
Alba too. I would imagine Rodri gets the nod when they are against better squads who can actually press the pivot.
Is Rodri really playing center back? That's disrespect to CR.
 
Ok, last three games I've managed to catch have been 0-0 stinkers. 270 minutes of boredom. This WC is descending into the suck.
 
Ok, last three games I've managed to catch have been 0-0 stinkers. 270 minutes of boredom. This WC is descending into the suck.
This seems more about your timing and luck than the World Cup as a whole. There have been some great, exciting games.
 
This spain team just looks strange with no pique, ramos or iniesta out there
Still a full midfield of Barcelona players though :coffee:

Busquets seems out of place, like he’s the old guard hanging on.
Alba too. I would imagine Rodri gets the nod when they are against better squads who can actually press the pivot.
Is Rodri really playing center back? That's disrespect to CR.
85% possession doesn't need a lot of defense.
 
Predictions on the next one? I'm sitting on OVER 2.5 goals, but not sure I love that lean.

This game represents as a big a gap in WC experience as perhaps any in WC history.

I have no predictions other than to mention Canada's entire game plan is to frustrate the opponent into submission and hope that one of their two world class players (David and Davies) can win the match for them.

Unlike most teams who qualify for the WC by being better than their opponents and as such force their will on the other teams, Canada did the exact opposite to come in first in Concaacf. They don't have to change anything in their DNA at all when playing in the WC, where as many other teams have to change.

But frustrating teams like Mexico, the US and CR is far easier than frustrating a team like Belgium.

How Belgium deals with the pressure that this is the last run for the Golden Generation will be very interesting to watch.
 
I woke up early to watch GER, and fell back asleep at halftime. Now I need to go watch the second half after seeing the result. My initial impression is that Japan is a really fast team that is willing to outrun its opponent. They seemed content letting Germany control the ball while looking for counter opportunities. Dangerous team.
 
wow this is a good game.
Awesome game to watch. Hard not to like the enthusiasm of the Japanese team and the way they play.
This is pretty much always for both Japan and South Korea. Also both have amazing fans. Hard to dislike them.

The Japanese fans tradition after games is one of the coolest in all sports.


Japan fans winning the tournament so far :)

 
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Navas obviously wasn't good early, but man his teammates have absolutely left him out to dry late. Humiliating night for one of the best in the world.
 
For those that would like to have an upset stomach going into Friday

The US lost to CR 2-0 in the last game of qualifying
England is ranked higher than Spain

Oof :lmao:
 
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So if Japan as expected beats Costa Rica, Germany's game against Spain essentially becomes a must win. A tie would have them alive by a thread but would then require Japan beating Spain and then beating Costa Rica by 7 or 8 (less if somehow Japan wins by more than 1)

-QG
 
From ESPN stats

Spain completed 94% of passes, the highest rate recorded in a World Cup game.

Spain completed 976 passes against Costa Rica, most ever recorded in a 90-minute World Cup game.

Spain had 81.3% possession in their 7-0 win against Costa Rica, the highest in a World Cup match since 1966.
 
A couple of these blow outs are not great advertisement for expanding to 48 teams IMO.

As well as there being probably a ton of dead rubber matches and matches that allow for a mutually convenient results. 32-team format was perfect and they of course FIFA things up. 10 groups of 4 I could have lived with (10 group winners and top 2nd get a bye in that scenario). 48 is just gonna be trash - morphs the nice build up of group stages into a big knock out tournament which will end up with some comically mismatched brackets to boot.

-QG
 
A couple of these blow outs are not great advertisement for expanding to 48 teams IMO.

As well as there being probably a ton of dead rubber matches and matches that allow for a mutually convenient results. 32-team format was perfect and they of course FIFA things up. 10 groups of 4 I could have lived with (10 group winners and top 2nd get a bye in that scenario). 48 is just gonna be trash - morphs the nice build up of group stages into a big knock out tournament which will end up with some comically mismatched brackets to boot.

-QG

I don't trust FIFA to get the format correct but there are some rumors floating that FIFA is considering getting rid of the HORRENDOUS idea of 16 groups of 3, and going back to a more traditional 12 groups of 4 where some 3rd place teams advance.

If they stay with 16 groups of 3, it is going to be BRUTAL.
 
That article mentions Spain/Portugal floating the idea of having Uruguay host a group stage (2030 being the 100th anniversary of Uruguay hosting the first World Cup) as opposed to the joint Argentina/Chile/Paraguay/Uruguay bid being proposed (wonder how the other CONMEBOL countries feel about fighting Brazil for one of just 2 2/3 spots.

Also mentioned the allocation for next time (which clearly had the idea of 16 groups in mind imo):

UEFA 16
CAF 9 +1/3
AFC 8 + 1/3
CONMEBOL 6 + 1/3
CONCACAF 6 + 1/3 + 1/3
OFC 1 + 1/3

The last 2 spots would come from a 6 team playoff (each of the 5 non-UEFA confederations get 1 spot on the playoff with CONCACAF as host confederation getting a 2nd one). Teams would be ranked with top-2 getting a bye into a playoff for a spot each playing a winner of a game between 2 of the other 4.

-QG
 
I don't FIFA minds extra games - they probably prefer it but the 12 group of 4 format introduces the chance that some countries could play 8 instead of 7 - which the big $ clubs surely would squawk about.

-QG
 
Yes, Costa Rica is that bad.

But...I have Canada coming out of this group 2nd. They are built really well for this kind of tournament- organized, defensively smart and simple, will bleed and run through walls for each other, and have a few legit world class players who can punish any team here. Plus sweatpantsbonerman GK. I don't know about a result today...but it's possible.
 

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