Group winners: A: Uruguay, Egipt B: Spain, Portugal C: France, Denmark D : Argentina, Croatia E: Brazil, Switzerland F: Germany, Sweden G: Belgium, England H: Poland, Senegal
1st place: Brazil 2nd place: France 3rd place: Spain
Here's a bulk thing as I will be busy at the weekend
Russia vs Saudi Arabia 1-1 Egypt vs Uruguay 0-1 Morocco vs Iran 2-0 Portugal vs Spain 2-1 France vs Australia 2-0 Argentina vs Iceland 1-1 Peru vs Denmark 1-2 Croatia vs Nigeria 2-0 Costa Rica vs Serbia 1-1 Germany vs Mexico 3-1 Brazil vs Switzerland 2-1
I can't even imagine how players feel now. Having a manager focusing on another team/targets is one thing (and of course that distraction can't be fine), but not having a manager ONE day before the tournament starts is simply... insane. The timing of all this...
According to Sky Sports' Guillem Balague, the players, including Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, did all they could to try and keep their head coach in his position. Imagine how they're feeling now?
Yes, they'll find a replacement head coach, maybe even Fernando Hierro to calm the Real Madrid players in the squad, but it's already a catastrophe for the Spain team.
I was going to predict Spain and Portugal would have a draw but now I agree with @FinneousPJ that Spain is finished here. Maybe Morocco has a chance now?
@Cahir and @StummvonBordwehr you really have to give additional thoughts to your predictions regarding Spain. Maybe they'll be alright, though?
Questions, questions... So many things to decide. At least we have one more day.
@Cahir and @StummvonBordwehr you really have to give additional thoughts to your predictions regarding Spain. Maybe they'll be alright?.
I believe they will be a contender. If anybody can deal with such idiocy its the spanish squad (the barca and real players at least). Spain will be likely to pull some top tier coach - Zidane perhaps - and straighten things out.
Spain is outstanding in defence (Ramos, Pique and de Gea have played many games together and are all strong). I will stick by my choice in the obvious absence of a clear cut favourite...
And no, I havent seen such an idiotic and reckless move in modern football ever...
Edit: yes Hierro is super top tier (cough cough...)
Spain can hope their team has enough talent to overcome the lack of a top class coach. They ought to be strong enough to progress to the knockout phase - neither Iran nor Morocco will pose a threat unless Spain messes up real bad. But if they run into Uruguay in the round of 16, they'd better play their best!
Sorry all. Still unpacking from the move and haven't got anything running like computers or iPads (doing all the scores is a hassle on my phone). I will try to get my predictions in tomorrow at work before the start of the first match.
Group winners: A: Uruguay, Russia B: Spain, Portugal C: France, Denmark D : Argentina, Croatia E: Brazil, Switzerland F: Germany, Mexico G: Belgium, England H: Poland, Colombia
1st place: Germany 2nd place: Brazil 3rd place: Spain
Russia vs Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt vs Uruguay 0-1 Morocco vs Iran 1-0 Portugal vs Spain 1-2 France vs Australia 2-1 Argentina vs Iceland 2-1 Peru vs Denmark 0-2 Croatia vs Nigeria 2-0 Costa Rica vs Serbia 1-1 Germany vs Mexico 2-1 Brazil vs Switzerland 2-1
So we have the following favourites for becoming a champion:
Germany 4 votes (me, Montresor_SP, FinneousPJ, Doubledimas) Spain 1 vote (StummvonBordwehr) Brazil 1 vote (Cahir) Nigeria 1 vote (Grond0) Argentina 1 vote (JM) Portugal 1 vote (because why not - JM)
And we have the following votes for the second place: France 4 votes (me, StummvonBordwehr, Montresor_SP, Cahir) Brazil 3 votes (FinneousPJ, Grond0, Doubledimas) Argentina 1 vote (JM) Portugal 1 vote (because why not - JM)
@Pibaro and @booinyoureyes - this is your last to make pre-tournament predictions. Too bad you both are not here.
My predictions for the weekend:
Egypt vs. Uruguay 0:2 Morocco vs. Iran 2:1 Portugal vs. Spain 2:2 France vs. Australia 3:1 Argentina vs. Iceland 3:1 Peru vs. Denmark 0:1 Croatia vs. Nigeria 1:0 Costa Rica vs. Serbia 1:1 Germany vs. Mexico 3:0 Brazil vs. Switzerland 3:1
I'm really starting to doubt Egypt will let themselves be defeated by Uruguay tomorrow (after today's Russia result), although I still stand by my prediction.
This 5:0 win has messed everything in the group. Also, Salah has recovered. Now if Egypt doesn't get a draw against Uruguay, - they're really risking. Imagine playing against that high morale in the Russia team after a defeat. I remember how England lost in Russia (2:1) during their qualifying campain for the Euro 2008 - that happened because the Russia team had a high morale.
Well well well. Russia scoring goals in heaps. Didnt see that one coming...
Since I totally am on a roll - picking Russia for a narrow win and predicting Spain to get a last minute super coach - I might as well continue my triumfant and insightful predictions. Here are my picks for the next days.
Egypt - Uruguay: 0-1 Morocco - Iran: 2-1 Portugal - Spain: 0-0 France - Australia: 3-0 Argentina - Iceland: 1-0 Peru - Denmark: 0-1 Croatia - Nigeria: 3-1 Costa Rica - Serbia: 0-2 Germany - Mexico: 1-0 Brazil - Switzerland: 1-0 Sweden - South Korea: 0-0 Tunisia - England: 1-1 Colombia - Japan: 1-0 Poland - Senegal: 2-2
I'm not sure how much we conclude from Russia's 5-0 win. Hungary beat El Salvador by 10-1 in their first match back in 1982 and still failed to qualify for the second round. The question is whether Russia is stronger than expected, or Saudi Arabia is weaker, or maybe both.
I'm rooting for an Egyptian upset but I still think Uruguay is the strongest team in group A, and that the host nation is strong enough to take second place.
Comments
Group winners:
A: Uruguay, Egipt
B: Spain, Portugal
C: France, Denmark
D : Argentina, Croatia
E: Brazil, Switzerland
F: Germany, Sweden
G: Belgium, England
H: Poland, Senegal
1st place: Brazil
2nd place: France
3rd place: Spain
Yeah, Brazil will take a sweet revenge.
http://www.espn.in/football/spain/story/3524002/spains-julen-lopetegui-leaves-as-coach-ahead-of-world-cup
Russia vs Saudi Arabia 1-1
Egypt vs Uruguay 0-1
Morocco vs Iran 2-0
Portugal vs Spain 2-1
France vs Australia 2-0
Argentina vs Iceland 1-1
Peru vs Denmark 1-2
Croatia vs Nigeria 2-0
Costa Rica vs Serbia 1-1
Germany vs Mexico 3-1
Brazil vs Switzerland 2-1
I can't even imagine how players feel now. Having a manager focusing on another team/targets is one thing (and of course that distraction can't be fine), but not having a manager ONE day before the tournament starts is simply... insane. The timing of all this...
According to Sky Sports' Guillem Balague, the players, including Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, did all they could to try and keep their head coach in his position. Imagine how they're feeling now?
Yes, they'll find a replacement head coach, maybe even Fernando Hierro to calm the Real Madrid players in the squad, but it's already a catastrophe for the Spain team.
I was going to predict Spain and Portugal would have a draw but now I agree with @FinneousPJ that Spain is finished here. Maybe Morocco has a chance now?
@Cahir and @StummvonBordwehr you really have to give additional thoughts to your predictions regarding Spain. Maybe they'll be alright, though?
Questions, questions... So many things to decide. At least we have one more day.
Spain is outstanding in defence (Ramos, Pique and de Gea have played many games together and are all strong). I will stick by my choice in the obvious absence of a clear cut favourite...
And no, I havent seen such an idiotic and reckless move in modern football ever...
Edit: yes Hierro is super top tier (cough cough...)
A: Uruguay, Russia
B: Spain, Portugal
C: France, Denmark
D : Argentina, Croatia
E: Brazil, Switzerland
F: Germany, Mexico
G: Belgium, England
H: Poland, Colombia
1st place: Germany
2nd place: Brazil
3rd place: Spain
Russia vs Saudi Arabia 2-1
Egypt vs Uruguay 0-1
Morocco vs Iran 1-0
Portugal vs Spain 1-2
France vs Australia 2-1
Argentina vs Iceland 2-1
Peru vs Denmark 0-2
Croatia vs Nigeria 2-0
Costa Rica vs Serbia 1-1
Germany vs Mexico 2-1
Brazil vs Switzerland 2-1
JM: Argentina and Portugal will compete for the first position of this tournament, while Brazil will take the 3rd place.
JM: Russia will win against Saudi Arabia (ofc, no score given)
So we have the following favourites for becoming a champion:
Germany 4 votes (me, Montresor_SP, FinneousPJ, Doubledimas)
Spain 1 vote (StummvonBordwehr)
Brazil 1 vote (Cahir)
Nigeria 1 vote (Grond0)
Argentina 1 vote (JM)
Portugal 1 vote (because why not - JM)
And we have the following votes for the second place:
France 4 votes (me, StummvonBordwehr, Montresor_SP, Cahir)
Brazil 3 votes (FinneousPJ, Grond0, Doubledimas)
Argentina 1 vote (JM)
Portugal 1 vote (because why not - JM)
A total of 66 per cent of almost 200,000 Sky Sports readers said Brazil would come out victorious against Germany in the final.
@Pibaro and @booinyoureyes - this is your last to make pre-tournament predictions. Too bad you both are not here.
My predictions for the weekend:
Egypt vs. Uruguay 0:2
Morocco vs. Iran 2:1
Portugal vs. Spain 2:2
France vs. Australia 3:1
Argentina vs. Iceland 3:1
Peru vs. Denmark 0:1
Croatia vs. Nigeria 1:0
Costa Rica vs. Serbia 1:1
Germany vs. Mexico 3:0
Brazil vs. Switzerland 3:1
Good luck Russia @JuliusBorisov
Russia - Saudi Arabia: 1-0
Egypt - Uruguay: 1-2
Morocco - Iran: 1-1
Portugal - Spain: 1-1
France - Australia: 3-0
Argentina - Iceland: 2-0
Peru - Denmark: 1-3
Croatia - Nigeria: 2-1
Costa Rica - Serbia: 0-0
Germany - Mexico: 2-1
Brazil - Switzerland: 2-0
Sweden - South Korea: 1-0
Tunisia - England: 1-3
Colombia - Japan: 2-0
Poland - Senegal: 2-1
Looks like we're to get another World Cup with many goals.
Wow well nobody managed to predict that score. What a game.
Friday:
Egypt - Uruguay: 1-2
Morocco - Iran: 2-0
Portugal - Spain: 1-1
Saturday:
France - Australia: 2-0
Argentina - Iceland: 1-0
Peru - Denmark: 1-1
Croatia - Nigeria: 2-2
Sunday:
Costa Rica - Serbia: 0-3
Germany - Mexico: 2-1
Brazil - Switzerland: 1-0
This 5:0 win has messed everything in the group. Also, Salah has recovered. Now if Egypt doesn't get a draw against Uruguay, - they're really risking. Imagine playing against that high morale in the Russia team after a defeat. I remember how England lost in Russia (2:1) during their qualifying campain for the Euro 2008 - that happened because the Russia team had a high morale.
Since I totally am on a roll - picking Russia for a narrow win and predicting Spain to get a last minute super coach - I might as well continue my triumfant and insightful predictions. Here are my picks for the next days.
Egypt - Uruguay: 0-1
Morocco - Iran: 2-1
Portugal - Spain: 0-0
France - Australia: 3-0
Argentina - Iceland: 1-0
Peru - Denmark: 0-1
Croatia - Nigeria: 3-1
Costa Rica - Serbia: 0-2
Germany - Mexico: 1-0
Brazil - Switzerland: 1-0
Sweden - South Korea: 0-0
Tunisia - England: 1-1
Colombia - Japan: 1-0
Poland - Senegal: 2-2
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-insight-accuscores-tournament-12699930
I think they're a Finnish company
I'm rooting for an Egyptian upset but I still think Uruguay is the strongest team in group A, and that the host nation is strong enough to take second place.