World Cup 2018 thread

200-1 to win the tournament

I would have taken Demajay Gray of Leicester - he has tons of flair and pace.

Redmond could have added a bit of the same to the central midfield.

Foden of Man.City has supreme technique and can unlock the tight defences with his ability to beat a player.

This England squad are a little less stereotyped and younger than in previous years.

Best bet is if Sterling is on his game. He has the ability to unlock defences - but his final ball and finishing at times are woeful.

The margins between winning the tournament and say last 16 are actually really,really small.

With a bit of luck and Sterling beating his fullback England can go far.

Lindgard will likely play on the other flank and he's probably England's second most likely player to unlock defences.

The margins between winning the tournament and say last 16 are actually really,really small.

I don't think so. It is not like the Euros where total rank outsiders, like Greece and Denmark have won it.

anybody can reach the last 16, but no team who isn't one of the very top favourites has ever won the World Cup.

Almost no team who isn't one of the top favourites has ever even got to the final.

They'll line up something like this for the first match. He will definitely go 3 at the back

Pickford

Walker stones/Cahill macguire

Trippier/Trent Arnold dier Henderson rose

Ali/lingard Kane sterling

Lots of width but a bottle neck in midfield, which is where we will fail to win games.

That could well change - I'm not sure Southgate knows his best 11 or anywhere close to it, mainly because of lack of options generally. This will probably result in bitty, disjointed play but to be fair the England team have played like they've met in the car park for the first time before more or less every match in the past 15 years.

Now roony ( spell check suggests rookie) has gone at least we have some sort of a chance of getting past the first set of hurdles, his performance last time was a disgrace.

 

The margins between winning the tournament and say last 16 are actually really,really small.

In the last 9 tournaments (since more than 16 teams taking part in the finals) 42 different countries have reached the last 16 but only 6 different countries have gone on to win it.

I'd say that makes the difference between winning the tournament and reaching the last 16 pretty large.

---------- Post added 23-05-2018 at 16:04 ----------

The margins between winning the tournament and say last 16 are actually really,really small.

 

I don't think so. It is not like the Euros where total rank outsiders, like Greece and Denmark have won it.

 

anybody can reach the last 16, but no team who isn't one of the very top favourites has ever won the World Cup.

 

Almost no team who isn't one of the top favourites has ever even got to the final.

Correct - since England won in 1966 only 3 teams who'd never reached a final previously have got to the final - Holland, France and Spain.

In the last 9 tournaments (since more than 16 teams taking part in the finals) 42 different countries have reached the last 16 but only 6 different countries have gone on to win it.

 

I'd say that makes the difference between winning the tournament and reaching the last 16 pretty large.

 

---------- Post added 23-05-2018 at 16:04 ----------

 

 

Correct - since England won in 1966 only 3 teams who'd never reached a final previously have got to the final - Holland, France and Spain.

Indeed, there have only been 9 different runners up since the inception of the world cup.

there has never been a totally unlikely World Cup finalist that was a no-hoper long-shot to win the tournament and who everybody thought before the tournament started, that they were just making the numbers, like Denmark and Greece were total outsiders when they won their Euros.

even unlikely SEMI-finalists in the World Cup are quite rare, who were not one of the tournament favourites to begin with, and who did not enjoy home advantage. However they are not totally unknown and there has been a few, although not in the most recent tournaments :

unlikely World Cup semi finalists

2002 : Turkey

1998 : Croatia

1994 : Bulgaria

1986 : Belgium

1974 : Poland

that is not too many at all, considering there have been a total of 48 World Cup semi finalists or top 4 finishers since 1966, only FIVE of them have been rank outsiders, who almost nobody expected to get that far.

South Korea in 2002 don't count as a rank outsider the way those five listed above do. They had home advantage.

Since the inception of the World Cup, every final except 2010 has featured at least one from Brazil, Italy, Germany or Argentina.

I honestly think it is a bit like snooker and that when you get the semis, it is as if you are still only halfway there.

looking at it superficially, you might think that it could be possible for somebody like Tunisia or Australia to fluke a goal in the first minute of their first match, not score another goal but still qualify for the knockout stage, and then serve up dross basically in each of their knockout games but win on penalties in them.

but that isn't going to happen. You have to play a pretty good tournament to even get to the semis and to get to the final, you have to be REALLY good.

 

The margins between winning the tournament and say last 16 are actually really,really small.

 

Well MAC33 - I think the last half dozen or so posts have proved that assertion to be wrong.

Agree?

I do think England will come up a tad short,that said the margin between England and say France,Germany or Brazil is not very big.

England do not have a Eden Hazard like Belguim but over the whole team are probably just as strong.

Of course weaker teams like Australia and Tunisia have next to no chance of progressing much past the last 16 or quarter finals.