TibBo Posted June 20 Posted June 20 I'm pretty confident Scotland will get through to the knockouts. I wish they would shoot when the opportunity arises though, rather than falling on the floor. Those girders must have been pretty flimsy. Quote
Fog Dude Posted June 20 Posted June 20 1 hour ago, MVP RULZ said: That's how it is in the Euros so nothing particularly new or odd about it I can see arguments both ways but I don't mind it. If a team is on the same points it's fairly logical and fair to suggest that the team that beat the other should finish above them. The original idea for a 48-team World Cup was 16 groups of 3 teams each, but then FIFA backed down from that when they realised it could lead to multiple repeats of the infamous West Germany 1 Austria 0 in a single tournament. Then the next idea was 12 groups of 4 but with only the group winners and 4 best runners-up going through, in order to protect player welfare and stop it getting bloatedly long. Nonetheless, the problem with that was deemed to be too many dead rubbers in the group stage so we've ended up with the most inefficient format of them all: it now lasts five and a half weeks due to the frantic introduction of an extra knockout round, the final four will all end up having played eight matches rather than seven, there are 72 group games just to eliminate 16 (i.e. one third) of teams and then, to top it all off... they introduce a tiebreaker which is going to lead to a lot of dead rubbers anyway! Utterly baffling incompetence (and/or part of a betting scam, given how corrupt FIFA is?) and knowing the Euros do it as well hardly sugars the pill. That's half the size and a more evenly matched event. Quote
westlondonmist Posted June 20 Posted June 20 50 minutes ago, Fog Dude said: The original idea for a 48-team World Cup was 16 groups of 3 teams each, but then FIFA backed down from that when they realised it could lead to multiple repeats of the infamous West Germany 1 Austria 0 in a single tournament. Then the next idea was 12 groups of 4 but with only the group winners and 4 best runners-up going through, in order to protect player welfare and stop it getting bloatedly long. Nonetheless, the problem with that was deemed to be too many dead rubbers in the group stage so we've ended up with the most inefficient format of them all: it now lasts five and a half weeks due to the frantic introduction of an extra knockout round, the final four will all end up having played eight matches rather than seven, there are 72 group games just to eliminate 16 (i.e. one third) of teams and then, to top it all off... they introduce a tiebreaker which is going to lead to a lot of dead rubbers anyway! Utterly baffling incompetence (and/or part of a betting scam, given how corrupt FIFA is?) and knowing the Euros do it as well hardly sugars the pill. That's half the size and a more evenly matched event. I think they make it 64 fairly soon. Make sure all the countries they want there are there and teams play the same amount of games. Quote
Fog Dude Posted June 20 Posted June 20 9 minutes ago, westlondonmist said: I think they make it 64 fairly soon. Make sure all the countries they want there are there and teams play the same amount of games. Teams play a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8 either way, but 64 into 32 is just neater isn't it? Plus I don't think they expected the likes of Italy to miss out given the latest expansion so that's probably already got them thinking about making it bigger again in order to please the sponsors. If they do leave it as it is then the first tie breaker in the groups really ought to be goal difference though. Quote
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted June 20 Paid Members Posted June 20 What would be the logistics of doing it like the Champions League? Two leagues of 24 for some group matches during the international breaks the season before, and then the top 8 from each group go into a knockout during the actual World Cup? I know there'd be some horrendous travel, especially when a European team end up playing Australia or New Zealand. Quote
Rossman Posted June 21 Posted June 21 Ivory Coast had a great chance to win the game against Germany when it was 1-1. Nicholas Pepe sprinted with the ball from the edge of his box on the counter attack. Puts a lovely weighted cross into the Germany box for Evan Guessand who has also made the run. Absolute bread and butter shot. The sort of the thing you see in training where the ball gets rolled to you and you rocket it into the top corner. For some reason Guessand tries to take a touch with the outside of his boot, miscontrols it, loses possession and Germany go back on the attack. Tunisia are improving. Only lost 4-0 to Japan after the 5-1 battering to Sweden. I wonder if that's enough to get the manager the sack. Netherlands next for them. Good luck! First point for Curacao! Take a bow Eloy Room! Most shots saved in a World cup match without conceeding. Tim Howard saved the same amount but conceded two when USA lost to Belgium at the 2014 World Cup. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted June 21 Paid Members Posted June 21 2 hours ago, Rossman said: Ivory Coast had a great chance to win the game against Germany when it was 1-1. Nicholas Pepe sprinted with the ball from the edge of his box on the counter attack. Puts a lovely weighted cross into the Germany box for Evan Guessand who has also made the run. Absolute bread and butter shot. The sort of the thing you see in training where the ball gets rolled to you and you rocket it into the top corner. For some reason Guessand tries to take a touch with the outside of his boot, miscontrols it, loses possession and Germany go back on the attack. Was Adingra, not Guessand. And yeah, was a sinful waste that cost them, as it inevitably would against a team like Germany. Quote
TibBo Posted June 21 Posted June 21 I like that they have decided to use the FIFA 95 stars to highlight the players on the replays during analysis. Hope they switch-on the invisible walls for one of the matches to make things interesting. Quote
TAFKA Jonny Vegas Posted June 21 Posted June 21 The BBC has a webpage with the last 32 draw brackets which updates after every game. World Cup 2026 Knockout Draw Quote
HandsomeButchIII Posted June 21 Posted June 21 Had Turkey in the sweep in The Famous Royston Club, band named after there and everything. And I was happy enough as semis pay out and Turkey have been there before... First team out. Can't even thumb a soft in, Quote
Paid Members Cod Eye Posted June 22 Paid Members Posted June 22 15 hours ago, TAFKA Jonny Vegas said: The BBC has a webpage with the last 32 draw brackets which updates after every game. World Cup 2026 Knockout Draw If it stays like that, it could be a shocking result for England. Cant be many worst possibilities than that? Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted June 22 Paid Members Posted June 22 4 hours ago, Cod Eye said: If it stays like that, it could be a shocking result for England. Cant be many worst possibilities than that? Agreed. I don't want to be cheering for Ronaldo. Quote
Paid Members TheBurningRed Posted June 22 Paid Members Posted June 22 Messi could’ve had a second hat trick if he didn’t take such a shit penalty. Still playing 90 plus minutes at his age. He is incredible. The greatest player ever for me. Quote
HandsomeButchIII Posted June 22 Posted June 22 (edited) 4 hours ago, TheBurningRed said: Messi could’ve had a second hat trick if he didn’t take such a shit penalty. Still playing 90 plus minutes at his age. He is incredible. The greatest player ever for me. He's only turns 39 tomorrow, he's a fucking pup. At least 80% of this forum is older than that. And we've got to try to be interesting or be judged by our peers, which is inherently harder work than kicking a bag of wind. Edited June 22 by HandsomeButchIII Quote
Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted June 23 Posted June 23 Just heard Gabby Logan saying that Djed Spence refused to shake hands with Thomas Partey prior to the game. Good on him! Quote
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