World Cup 2022

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:10 pm

Bold predictions:
The English fans find a way to bypass the drinking ban

The US wins its group over England and Wales who will both fade in the desert heat.
England only gets to second place in its group and loses to the Netherlands in the round of 16
The US makes it to the quarter finals and loses to France in what the Democrats call a huge success and the Republicans an unmitigated disaster

The African teams do very poorly due to injuries to their star players
Spain and Japan advance from the group stage over Germany who dominates every game but can't find a way to score goals
Argentina loses a heart breaking semi final to Brazil
Uruguay eliminates Serbia, Belgium and France and makes it to the final only to lose to Brazil.

AlexR · Post by **AlexR** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:15 pm

Sorry, count me out in all this.
Especially true this year after what I've read about Qatar and the way the infrastructures were built (slave labor).

AR

Harry C. · Post by **Harry C.** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:32 pm

I predict an international incident with at least one teams seriously considering withdrawl.

SF Ed · Post by **SF Ed** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:40 pm

I like your calls, Jacques. I am a big fan of Uruguay. I realistically don't think they will make the final, but they definitely are an interesting team.

If they do make the final against Brazil, 3 million people will be rooting very hard for a repeat of the epic 1950 World Cup final (where Uruguay beat a heavily favored Brazil).

On the political side, I predict that loads of people will gripe, Qatar will have failed in their sportwashing investment, and the tournament will press forward and the games all go off as planned.

SF Ed

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:02 pm

Yes sound predictions Jacques

Very little coverage here in Blighty….

…which when you think about it is very good for our boys…

…because they are not burdened with the weight of expectation

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:16 pm

I was being polite about the African teams, I believe they will suffer a lot of racism. Everything I hear points to corruption, from getting awarded the tournament to the bait and switch of the alcohol tents to their ban, I’ve even been hearing rumors of Qatar trying to fix the opening match.

Ah the 1950 World Cup:
When the USA beat England and shocked the world.
Yanks 1 Planks 0 was the headline I remember reading

Ian, I think England will have a tough time, their best defenders are injured (Walker, James) or really not in good form (Maguire). And they rely too much on Kane to bail them out. I think young US players if they learn to play together, can surprise everyone.

I am also a big fan of Uruguay, Ed. Always was, every World Cup. Darwin Nunez is my dark horse for the Golden Boot (that probably is just my Liverpool allegiance lol).

Ianjaig · Post by **Ianjaig** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:18 pm

Argentina to win it.

Ronaldo to abstain from playing any games due to a lack of "respect".

Like the Nunez call.

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:36 pm

Ianjaig wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:18 pm Ronaldo to abstain from playing any games due to a lack of "respect".

For anyone interested in a bit of (un)biased history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITKOCKp ... foFootball

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:51 pm

Sorry, but you are all wrong.

It will be Canada all the way! We can't win anymore in hockey, or curling, or cross country skiing, so we'll thrash everything and win the football World Cup!

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:02 pm

jal wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:36 pm
For anyone interested in a bit of (un)biased history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITKOCKp ... foFootball

The other episodes in the series are also excellent

Chateau Vin · Post by **Chateau Vin** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:57 pm

Comte Flaneur wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:02 pm .
.
.

…which when you think about it is very good for our boys…

…because they are not burdened with the weight of expectation

Hmm. I don't know which teams are strong, but wondering how good is the English team this time....

But your boys won the T20 world cup (that was heart warming, considering whom they played in the final. You know what I mean

)

Maybe the football team will ride on their coattails this football world cup...

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:44 pm

Nicklasss wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:51 pm Sorry, but you are all wrong.

It will be Canada all the way! We can't win anymore in hockey, or curling, or cross country skiing, so we'll thrash everything and win the football World Cup!

Canada is good, but they are in a tough group with Belgium, Croatia and Morocco. I really hope they move on to the next round

tim · Post by **tim** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 2:44 am

I am all out.

FIFA needs to be reformed. Ignoring human rights to allow Qatar to host the games is crazy.

We laugh at the whole alcohol fiasco but it is really quite serious. Supporting this event enables the worst of human rights abuses.

(and I did my best to stifle the swear words that I feel about this)

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:27 pm

Well I don’t give a tinkers cuss about football (hey it is called soccer in Australia anyway) and will just stay up tonight to watch the Rugby League World Cup final. We are playing …um, err, Samoa. Nobody in old blighty has of course mentioned that inconvenient fact as Samoa knocked the Poms out in the semis.

My only experience with football was in third grade and adamantly refused to ever play it again. I played rugby instead from then on.

Cheers
Mark

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:46 pm

I follow soccer once every four years. One thing I like about soccer is it takes an hour and a half and it’s done. None of these 4 hour marathons like in baseball.

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 4:04 pm

JimHow wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:46 pm I follow soccer once every four years. One thing I like about soccer is it takes an hour and a half and it’s done. None of these 4 hour marathons like in baseball.

Jim
Much of that time is spent merely dribbling the ball back and forward. My definition of boredom is a nil all draw. At least in rugby and RL, the game is so hard these days that it is a spectacle even with low scores.

My mother loved football and I never got it. Anyone heard of the Trannere Rovers?

jal · Post by **jal** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 4:35 pm

I am a huge soccer/football fan. And yes, I have heard of Tranmere Rovers, a team from the Liverpool area.
I would rather watch a 3rd division Spanish football game than any NBA, NFL or MLB game
Hey anyone has the right to watch or not watch, boycott or not. As for me, there are so many things to oppose or boycott today i wouldn't know where to start.
Let me just say that I agree FIFA is corrupt and Qatar should never have been awarded the tournament. Then again, neither should Russia or China the Olympics etc etc etc

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 3:42 am

Guys
In the meantime Australia is the newly crowned RL world champions, after smashing Tonga 30-10.

I was hoping that England would make the final as us Aussies prefer to beat them rather than some tiny country in the Pacific.

Cheers
Mark

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:05 am

Jacques, thanks for that link to The Athletic series of videos. They were excellent. More about regional history and politics than soccer. I liked how they tied it all together.

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 12:28 pm

Right? I thought the 5 episodes we're terrific. Very glad you liked. I knew almost almost all the details but I never did connect the dots.

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:11 am

I did not get a chance to watch, but was pleased with what I read about the US team's performance. At least they control their own destiny.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:41 am

I was unaware of this dynamic on the Iranian team.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/24/opin ... d-cup.html

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:03 pm

England were lucky to scrape a draw against USA.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:27 pm

That was a fun match to watch yesterday!

jal · Post by **jal** » Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:09 pm

USA
USA
USA

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:06 pm

Woohoo! They were winning when I went in the dentist’s chair, and winners when I got off!

jal · Post by **jal** » Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:23 pm

Well done to the boys from the US of A
Play without fear against the Netherlands and let's move on to the quarters

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:58 pm

Guys
Well I’m watching the test cricket instead.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:43 pm

I can only speak for myself but as a dumb American who self-centeredly cares only about football, baseball, hockey, basketball, I always thoroughly enjoy these World Cup tournaments. I love all the drama, the global community, I even love the political controversies, it's another means of communicating between countries without lobbing bombs.

Ianjaig · Post by **Ianjaig** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:18 pm

Good to see the US through, and well deserved.

The Dutch don't look that great (not a patch on the sides from the 70s) so you never know, another upset might be on the cards.

Been enjoying the WC so far. Lots of upsets, good footie and the knockout stage to come.

Antoine · Post by **Antoine** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:41 pm

Rosbifs versus Frogs next to come in quarter finals...

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 3:30 pm

I think England’s easy run is now over, Mbappe looks unstoppable. It was good while it lasted.

jal · Post by **jal** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 4:01 pm

France looks very strong
Walker vs Mbappe. What a matchup!
I love Japan. 1-0 at the half. I hope they can hold on to go to the quarters

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:37 pm

Mbappe!

A heartbreaker for Japan.

Ianjaig · Post by **Ianjaig** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:26 am

Covid finally caught up with me this week, but on the bright side, I have been off work watching the World Cup instead!

Looking forward to the games coming up - the France v England game is going to be epic.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:29 am

Glad to hear you are feeling better IJ, you are a valued BWEer.

SF Ed · Post by **SF Ed** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:04 am

I really hope Brazil and Argentina win tomorrow to set up an epic semi-final against each other.

On the other side I just want to see Portugal lose. I'd rather see England go through, but it wouldn't be too bad if France did either.

SF Ed

jal · Post by **jal** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 5:01 am

Glad you're feeling better Ian,
Uruguay and Spain have been very disappointing, a failure of coaching in both instances.
Japan to me could have gone far, for them it's a failure of ambition and vision. Morocco had both.
Portugal, except for their last game, has been the most hated team in the tournament. Constantly complaining to the refs, faking injuries even more than usual, wasting time when winning. Just masters of the dark arts and that's not a compliment.
I agree with Ed, anyone but Portugal. Not crazy about Croatia either.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sat Dec 10, 2022 11:30 am

Massive game last night and it would have been a travesty if Holland had won on pens having played some negatively on extra time.

Au autre jeu immense ce soir (aujourdhui dans America). Nous Anglais sont vraiment les underdogs.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Dec 10, 2022 1:50 pm

What a tragedy about that reporter. Seems suspicious.