Post: #26

Here are my favorites to win the world cup:

1. Brazil
2. Germany
3. France

Outsiders for the tournament: Belgium, Spain ( They were my top favorite for winning it but they just sacked their coach lol) and Portugal. These are the only teams IMO who can win this worldcup.




I will support:

1. Belgium ( I don't think we will be World Champion due to Bad coaching and terrible tactics, although we have an easy draw, I see us losing in the Quarterfinals against Brazil)
2. Argentina ( I have a weakness for the South American teams and especially for Messi, they breath football . I don't see Argentina get through the first round tho)
3. Colombia

Post: #27

(06-13-2018 05:23 PM)rottenapple Wrote:  My predictions:

Group A: Uruguay to win all, Russia to go through after bad play.
Group B: Spain and Portugal qualify, but Morocco is one of the revelations of the tournament playing very well
Group C: France first, Denmark take second but Peru gave them a challenge
Group D: Argentina to go through as first on goal difference as they drew against Croatia. Iceland disappoints with 0 points.
Group E: Brazil dominates but Serbia and the Swiss are tougher than anyone thought. Costa Rica gets slaughtered.
Group F: Germany and Mexico.
Group G: Belgium to destroy the opposition. England to come in second, Tunisia one of the surprises but coming short. Panama worst team of the WC.
Group H: Poland and Colombia go through, Japan loses all 3 games. Senegal makes it a close call with great counter attack football.

Further rounds: Argentina goes out in quarters, Portugal even in the second round against Uruguay. Brazil suffers a surprise defeat to Belgium in the quarters. The semis between Belgium, France, Germany and Spain with France winning the cup defeating Spain in the final.

Biggest surprise: Uruguay or Denmark. England plays well and shows promise.
Biggest disappointment: Germany in how they play, Argentina in results. Colombia as well.

Individual players: Hazard to win golden ball, Griezmann top scorer, one of the young talents from Uruguay to be a top prospect, Ismail Sarr from Senegal as well, Eriksen for Denmark, Golovin for Russia.

Concacaf only Mexico does well. Africa Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia do well but fall short (I do hope at least one of them gets through). Asia gets their ass kicked all around.

First games:

Russia- Saudi Arabia 2-1
Egypt-Uruguay 0-2
Peru-Denmark 1-1
France-Australia 3-0

Belgium who will defeat Brazil in the Quarterfinals? We wish bro.. Our coaching is way too weak and our current system ( 3-5-2) is not good enough to beat the big teams, too easy to concede goals. And without Kompany , it will be very hard

And I don't see France winning the tournament to be honest, I'll put my money on Brazil or Germany. Brazil just has everything ( Neymar, Coutinho, solid defence, Good coaching). And Germany , well is Germany , they Always perform well on Big tournaments.

Didier Deschamps from France is a below average coach , in my opinion, and Pogba is not consistent enough. ( He ain't Zidane..)

Post: #28

(06-14-2018 03:35 AM)britchard Wrote:  

(06-13-2018 12:04 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  I dont know who will win but I do know there will be a lot of violence directed towards certain countries by those lovely Russian Ultras.

Don't tempt him...

By the way, there already is a 20 something page World Cup thread. Maybe it was just for qualifying though.

H1N1, Milner isn't in the squad. England play 3 at the back these days, so no 4-2-3-1.

Ha, I'd missed that Milner wasn't selected. Big mistake in my view. He is such a solid player, and one of a very small number of England players who've even experienced success at club level.

Post: #29

My country is Australia, but since we're in with Denmark, France and Peru (group C), we're gonna prop up the whole group. My only hope is for us to be a PITA to one of those teams, especially France. Anything else is a huge bonus!

I think it's gonna be Germany or Brazil winning this one. I have a soft spot for England as I follow the EPL, but I doubt they're gonna get any further than round of 16.

Hope Russia and Korea can cause some major upsets.

Post: #30

I guess America hosting the WC in 2026, is one way to make sure they are in the tournament.

Why they split it up between three countries I will never understand.

England is my team, since I am originally from there.

I hope we have a new country win it this year.

Post: #31

I'm from Portugal and i'm betting if we ever had a chance this is it. The team is strong, cynical and its hungry. Let's see how it goes with Spain, but I do think the firing of Lopetegui migh be beneficial to us. The man hates Portugal!

Iran will be a very hard game, a very good defensive team and Queiroz will want the glory of a win against his own country.

Morrocco we just have to win! So in a moderate cenario 2 drawns 1 win will set us through and in the "mata-mata" (playoffs) you all seen the strategy 2 years ago. We're strong on penalties...

That said, favourites are Germany, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. I really cant see France, Belgium or Colombia as good as they are, as favourites.

Looking forward to the first game I would like to see an upset by the Saudis, I hope they win!

Post: #32

Russia crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0

Golovin looks like a fantastic player, with 1 free kick goal and 2 assists. Juventus are trying to sign him apparently.

Post: #33

Guys, Russia wins this group...I predict a draw tomorrow for Uruguay and Egypt

Post: #34

(06-13-2018 05:06 PM)YoungBlade Wrote:  As I always say:

'SCHLAND!

UBER ALLES!

Post: #35

(06-13-2018 08:26 PM)Dragan Wrote:  I'm pulling for Serbia, even though I don't know how their group is gonna go because of Brazil and Switzerland.

I so want Serbia to beat Brazil!!!
It doesn't happen but if it does...then...Switzerland first and Serbia second!

Post: #36

Computer prediction :
Brazil is expected to win its sixth World Cup title, defeating Germany in the final

http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/world-c...del-2018-6

Quote:Goldman Sachs used AI to simulate 1 million possible World Cup outcomes

The firm used machine learning to run 200,000 models, mining data on team and individual player attributes, to help forecast specific match scores. Goldman then simulated 1 million variations of the tournament to calculate the probability of advancement for each squad.

The tournament bracket below shows how Goldman sees the World Cup unfolding. Note that the numbers next to each nation — which dictate whether it advances over its opponent — represent the predicted, unrounded number of goals scored in each possible iteration of the tournament, based on machine-learning results applied to countless scenarios.

"We are drawn to machine learning models because they can sift through a large number of possible explanatory variables to produce more accurate forecasts than conventional alternatives," a group of strategists from Goldman's international research team wrote in a client note.

Football (soccer) remains a highly unpredictable sport, with many more variables in play than even Goldman could assess. That is why the authors of the report offer this disclaimer at the end:

"We capture the stochastic nature of the tournament carefully using state-of-the-art statistical methods and we consider a lot of information in doing so," they said. "But the forecasts remain highly uncertain, even with the fanciest statistical techniques, simply because football is quite an unpredictable game. This is, of course, precisely why the World Cup will be so exciting to watch."

Post: #37

(06-14-2018 12:33 PM)balybary Wrote:  Computer prediction :
Brazil is expected to win its sixth World Cup title, defeating Germany in the final

http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/world-c...del-2018-6

Quote:Goldman Sachs used AI to simulate 1 million possible World Cup outcomes

The firm used machine learning to run 200,000 models, mining data on team and individual player attributes, to help forecast specific match scores. Goldman then simulated 1 million variations of the tournament to calculate the probability of advancement for each squad.

The tournament bracket below shows how Goldman sees the World Cup unfolding. Note that the numbers next to each nation — which dictate whether it advances over its opponent — represent the predicted, unrounded number of goals scored in each possible iteration of the tournament, based on machine-learning results applied to countless scenarios.

"We are drawn to machine learning models because they can sift through a large number of possible explanatory variables to produce more accurate forecasts than conventional alternatives," a group of strategists from Goldman's international research team wrote in a client note.

Football (soccer) remains a highly unpredictable sport, with many more variables in play than even Goldman could assess. That is why the authors of the report offer this disclaimer at the end:

"We capture the stochastic nature of the tournament carefully using state-of-the-art statistical methods and we consider a lot of information in doing so," they said. "But the forecasts remain highly uncertain, even with the fanciest statistical techniques, simply because football is quite an unpredictable game. This is, of course, precisely why the World Cup will be so exciting to watch."

Dude...is this serious or was this a joke? Saudia Arabia making it through? Australia? HAHAA...come on

Post: #38

Great start! I was hopping for an upset but an "goleada" is as good or even better.

Russia as usual looked unimpressive. Sometimes they can produce quality football but more than not, they're just average. It was again the case.

Saudi really made a claim has the weakest team in the tournament, awfull team. Technically very weak (some would say embarrassingly weak) the central defenders looked liked morons and the goalkeeper seemed fat.

Great for Russia, who now just have to win against Egipt. Won't be as easy, but is feasible. Glad they finally have a chance to qualify to 2nd round. Especialy because they're the home team.

Looking forward for tomorrow for one of the biggest games in the first round: PT vs SPA. Two European Champs against each other, two neighbours face off. Not sure if it will be a spectacular game, but i'm sure it will be intense.

ARG vs ICL will also be an interesting game to watch. The strenght of technic against the technic of strenght.

Post: #39

People claiming Brazil to win. If they win in Russia whilst losing on home soil in the last WC what makes it different this time?

Post: #40

(06-14-2018 12:59 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  People claiming Brazil to win. If they win in Russia whilst losing on home soil in the last WC what makes it different this time?

They're good on paper but let's see...I don't see them winning. My $0.02

Post: #41

(06-14-2018 12:15 PM)Labienus Wrote:  Russia crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0

Golovin looks like a fantastic player, with 1 free kick goal and 2 assists. Juventus are trying to sign him apparently.

I expect the Saudis to beheading home soon.

Post: #42

Haven't been watching football for a time, but even in the past folk used to badly analyze those countries. There are so-called tournament nations that highly overperform based on a few factors - smart leadership, resolve, determination, willingness to fight for their nation out of pride.

Nations which do all that are/were Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Eastern European nations sometimes, South Korea, Japan. Those nations usually outperform to their abilities.

Many countries like Span and England underperform due to their bad discipline in tournaments and long season of their leagues - they simply don't care or don't have the energy to fight well.

Massive underperformers are also South American countries with African countries being the weakest link there. Brazil and Argentina usually won championships while having teams which were twice as valuable/good than all the other ones.

In this time the difference is not big enough for a win for Brazil unless something truly marvelous happens and they play up to their skill-level:

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/weltrangliste
#

Quote:#
Nation
Squad size
Avg. age
Total value
Confederation
Points
7 France France 23 26,0 £972.45m UEFA 1198
10 Spain Spain 23 28,5 £930.60m UEFA 1126
2 Brazil Brazil 23 28,6 £882.90m CONMEBOL 1431
1 Germany Germany 23 27,2 £794.70m UEFA 1558
12 England England 23 26,1 £786.60m UEFA 1051
3 Belgium Belgium 23 27,6 £678.60m UEFA 1298
5 Argentina Argentina 23 29,6 £629.10m CONMEBOL 1241
19 Italy Italy 26 25,7 £597.60m UEFA 951
4 Portugal Portugal 23 28,4 £445.05m UEFA 1274
17 Netherlands Netherlands 25 26,6 £391.50m UEFA 981
14 Uruguay Uruguay 23 28,2 £335.70m CONMEBOL 1018
20 Croatia Croatia 23 27,9 £327.60m UEFA 945
27 Senegal Senegal 23 27,2 £267.57m CAF 838
8 Poland Poland 23 28,3 £247.10m UEFA 1183
34 Serbia Serbia 23 26,8 £246.11m UEFA 751
12 Denmark Denmark 23 27,2 £233.37m UEFA 1051
16 Colombia Colombia 23 28,4 £225.99m CONMEBOL 986
6 Switzerland Switzerland 23 27,2 £196.29m UEFA 1199
26 Austria Austria 27 26,4 £180.36m UEFA 845
45 Egypt Egypt 23 29,0 £177.50m CAF 649
70 Russia Russia 23 28,9 £145.64m UEFA 457
68 Ivory Coast Ivory Coast 25 25,9 £143.24m CAF 463
15 Mexico Mexico 23 29,3 £139.14m CONCACAF 989
66 Algeria Algeria 24 27,2 £131.92m CAF 474
48 Nigeria Nigeria 23 25,9 £121.37m CAF 618

These are the FIFA rankings listed according to market valuation and not the strange FIFA rankings, which often don't make much sense. It's listed in millions of pounds.

The top contenders for the title are thus Germany, Belgium and Italy. The French team barely has any affinity left for France and is more African now - it will be hampered by the usual lack of interest. Zinedine Zidane's French team was the last one imbued with somewhat of a fighting spirit.

Brazil will likely get far, but then ultimately lose.

Post: #43

Uh, Italy is not in the tournament.

Post: #44

@Simeon_Strangelight : You really haven't been watching football for a LOOONG time!

Post: #45

Hehe - fine - I took the FIFA list instead of the current lineup.

My point remains - just cross out Italy.

Post: #46

(06-14-2018 12:15 PM)Labienus Wrote:  Russia crushed ISIS 5-0

Golovin looks like a fantastic player, with 1 free kick goal and 2 assists. Juventus are trying to sign him apparently.

Corrected that for you.

Post: #47

More like Russia crushed a bunch of bought and paid for mercenaries who hardly cared enough to fight much for their Saudi slave masters.

Post: #48

Guys, can we keep this thread "football only"?

Post: #49

(06-14-2018 02:35 PM)kuqezi Wrote:  Guys, can we keep this thread "football only"?

What you mean? Everything in this thread so far has been "football only".

Post: #50

(06-14-2018 02:40 PM)Pancho Wrote:  

(06-14-2018 02:35 PM)kuqezi Wrote:  Guys, can we keep this thread "football only"?

What you mean? Everything in this thread so far has been "football only".

Read Simeon and Batka above