Official Football Thread

Why not just say that the seeding groups follow the FIFA ranking? The host nation and the defending champion go in group 1 together with the top 6 from the FIFA ranking at the time of the draw. The remaining groups follow the ranking. I don't see the problem in having three European teams in one group and only one in another, or in having a group with two South American teams. All these additional rules just open loopholes which make it easy to suspect corruption.

At least the FIFA ranking is based on openly known criteria and results of actual football matches.
 
I was just about to post about Bendtner starting vs. Hull, along with a laughing gif, but he scored before I even opened this thread :D
 
Tomorrow is the day !!

Have you guys ever seen this? Fifa idiocy at the highest level. Scotland is drawn in the Argentina group and they don't like it. You can hear them discussing in German in the background and saying that the ball needs to go back, and that's what happens.
 
I asked for the day of work tomorrow, here in the states it's at 11:30 am. This is like an early christmas for me. I can't wait!
I hope Italy is in the group of death
 
Forostar said:
Tomorrow is the day !!

Have you guys ever seen this? Fifa idiocy at the highest level. Scotland is drawn in the Argentina group and they don't like it. You can hear them discussing in German in the background and saying that the ball needs to go back, and that's what happens.
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:eek:

Never...
 
I've never understood why FIFA and UEFA have big glitzy ceremonies for these draws as it kills all the excitement. I much prefer the FA Cup third round draw which is a low-key affair with celebrities fumbling with balls. The Scottish Football League once got a couple of politicians to do the League Cup semi-final draw but they messed it up and the SFL had to change the matches later that day. ::)
 
This one will last a full game, 1h30.

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Almost there... :confused:
 
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Brasil - Croatia to open to World Cup next year.
Some pretty interesting groups there, should be fun.
France got lucky again. :mad:
 
Yeah, France is ridiculous lucky... :confused:

Super group D with 3 former world champions. Most groups are balanced...
 
My my, we (Netherlands) and especially Belgium could have had worse groups. Look at the opponents of e.g. Germany. And England have to play in Menaus, which is in the middle of the jungle. More difficult logistics and temperature.

Not sure if we can appoint a group of death but if there is one, I'd say it's the one with Germany, Ghana, Portugal and USA who shouldn't be underestimated.

Last time we met Chili, that was in 1928. But they are very a strong side.
Australia, I expect a mentally strong team...
And Spain.... we meet again.


Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Côte d’Ivoire, Japan
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic
 
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Most groups with the exception of France's :mad::confused: and Belgium's have 3 candidates to the second stage.
 
Interesting groups.

Group A: Brazil is topping this group easily. Croatia is my bet for the 2nd place, Mexico has been struggling in competitions for years now. Cameroon's defense is very weak (two of their defenders play for Galatasaray who have the worst defense in the UCL).
Group B: A very exciting group. Spain will top the group with their boring display, Netherlands will go 2nd. I'd want Chile to go through instead of Spain but chances of that are very slim.
Group C: Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire look like obvious picks, but watch out for Japan. They played fabulous attacking football in the Confederations Cup.
Group D: Definitely the group of death. I see Italy and Uruguay going through. Sorry England.
Group E: France is either very lucky or it's fixed. Switzerland is the weakest team of the Pot 1, Honduras is the worst team of the competition. Switzerland and France are going through.
Group F: Iran seems like the odd one out, the other teams are very attacking minded teams. Should be fun. Argentina and Bosnia are going through.
Group G: To be honest I don't think this one is that hard for Germany. They're topping the group with ease. Portugal and Ghana will battle it out for the 2nd.
Group H: Very easy group for Belgium, I see them winning all of their games. Other teams all have chances to go through.
 
Ariana said:
Yours is definitely not an easy one.
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Agreed.

Still, our coach was at least as busy with the locations and weather conditions as with the opponentst, and that 1st factor at least is pretty OK. One hot stadium, and 2 pretty good ones.
 
That is the theory on paper. We have to count the distances between cities, the temperatures changes. I always wonder if it's going to be that easy for Spain, Bosnia and Germany.
 
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