MJWalker45 Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 15 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said: Way too early predictions: Group A -Netherlands, Senegal Group B - England, USA Group C -Argentina, Poland Group D - France, Peru Group E - Spain, Germany Group F - Belgium, Canada Group G - Brazil, Cameroon Group H - Portugal, Uruguay Group B - If the United States ties or beats England in the second game I think they'll win the group. That's a pretty big ask though. Group D - I'd pick Demark over the playoff winners, even if it's Peru. Group F - I think Canada vs Croatia will decide second place, but I think it's the Croats that go through instead. Group H - I don't think Uruguay will make it out. I'd pick Ghana over them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAD! Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 27 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said: Looking at Canada's draw, that's almost the best they could have hoped for. If Scotland survives that playoff I don't worry about them as much as I do the other two options. Mexico has to survive Poland and Argentina, but I think if they play their A+ game, they can beat Poland. I don't think they'll beat Argentina even with their A++ game. Ochoa would have to copy Tim Howard's game vs Belgium in 2014. Other than hoping they would be in Group A, this is not the worst case scenario. Who knows what state Belgium and Croatia are going to be at. It beats being in group E. Quote I saw, I came, I left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, DEAD! said: Other than hoping they would be in Group A, this is not the worst case scenario. Who knows what state Belgium and Croatia are going to be at. It beats being in group E. Yup, that's why I said it's almost the best. Croatia is a team that plays to the level of their opponents most of the time. That can help Canada out immensely if that's what happens here. I also wonder if teams that have a bunch of players that play over the summer will be in better shape than those teams playing the traditional European calendar. With the EPL/UEFA clubs, I think they'll be through maybe 8 -10 weeks of the season, and the group stages of Champions League would likely be condensed to the front of the calendar as well. So between 8-18 games for players from those leagues as opposed to MLS which will close their season a few weeks ahead of the tournament, they may not be as ready as the teams with players in North America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockstar Matt Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 3 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said: England Iran USA Ukraine/Scotland v Wales Could be worse -- could be Mexico. Group A (Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands) would have been nice. If the USA makes the knockout round, they'll certainly have earned it. I hope Ukraine or Scotland wins the playoff (prefer Scotland). Wales has a ton of quality. If Wales advances, the US’s group will be rather unfair IMO. All four would be ranked as one of the 21 teams in the world. Wales and Iran would have both been Pot 3 teams, same with Ukraine, had they concluded their playoff before the draw. But oh well. Having said that, this is a good group for the US, or at least it’s a group we should advance from. Even if Wales or Ukraine advance to the World Cup, the US is better than both of those teams. If we can manage a result against England, we should advance no matter what. I’m confident the US will beat Iran and then just need a result against England or the UEFA playoff winner. It could have been a lot worse. I’m rather relieved. Canada also got probably the best group they could have hoped for. They knew going in they were going to have to face at least two of the world’s best teams, Belgium and Croatia are beatable, or at least Canada could get a result against one of them. They should be able to beat Morocco as well. Should be a good World Cup! 1 Quote Cowboys - Lakers - LAFC - USMNT - LA Rams - LA Kings - NUFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrySmalls Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Rockstar Matt said: I hope Ukraine or Scotland wins the playoff (prefer Scotland). Wales has a ton of quality. If Wales advances, the US’s group will be rather unfair IMO. All four would be ranked as one of the 21 teams in the world. Wales and Iran would have both been Pot 3 teams, same with Ukraine, had they concluded their playoff before the draw. But oh well. Having said that, this is a good group for the US, or at least it’s a group we should advance from. Even if Wales or Ukraine advance to the World Cup, the US is better than both of those teams. If we can manage a result against England, we should advance no matter what. I’m confident the US will beat Iran and then just need a result against England or the UEFA playoff winner. It could have been a lot worse. I’m rather relieved. Canada also got probably the best group they could have hoped for. They knew going in they were going to have to face at least two of the world’s best teams, Belgium and Croatia are beatable, or at least Canada could get a result against one of them. They should be able to beat Morocco as well. Should be a good World Cup! If that's the case, then we're officially in the Group of Death regardless of what the pundits say. I sense that most people believe the USMNT will beat Iran and Wales/Scotland/Ukraine in Group Play, but none of those national teams are automatic victories. I recall that the media hyped up a win against Iran back in the 1998 World Cup, and unfortunately, that didn't go exactly as planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 25 minutes ago, BrySmalls said: If that's the case, then we're officially in the Group of Death regardless of what the pundits say. I sense that most people believe the USMNT will beat Iran and Wales/Scotland/Ukraine in Group Play, but none of those national teams are automatic victories. I recall that the media hyped up a win against Iran back in the 1998 World Cup, and unfortunately, that didn't go exactly as planned. The Group of Death is clearly Mexico, Argentina, and Poland, isn't it? Saudi Arabia clearly doesn't have a chance, and I can't see Mexico having one either. Quote 1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said: and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digby Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said: The Group of Death is clearly Mexico, Argentina, and Poland, isn't it? Saudi Arabia clearly doesn't have a chance, and I can't see Mexico having one either. With this new scheme of seeding groups, it’s hard to have a true Group of Death the way we used to, but I felt the same about that one. Maybe the Spain/Germany group too, if Japan plays their best and Costa Rica manages to stay hot. meanwhile the cupcake group is what Qatar drew lol. Shocker! Nearly every possible game in Group B is politically and/or historically fraught which is fun. Do we want the UK battle at the World Cup or do we want to see who awkwardly wants to be the :censored:s who knock out the war victims? I’m kinda rooting for Wales honestly, they haven’t made a World Cup anywhere close to my lifetime and it’d be fitting for Bale to get a chance. Quote Fan Style ShirtsShowcasing fan-made sports apparel by artists and designers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAD! Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 27 minutes ago, Digby said: With this new scheme of seeding groups, it’s hard to have a true Group of Death the way we used to, but I felt the same about that one. Maybe the Spain/Germany group too, if Japan plays their best and Costa Rica manages to stay hot. It had just occurred to me that had Italy qualified and was put in this group instead of Spain, it would been quite the World War II reunion. Quote I saw, I came, I left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockstar Matt Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 4 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said: The Group of Death is clearly Mexico, Argentina, and Poland, isn't it? Saudi Arabia clearly doesn't have a chance, and I can't see Mexico having one either. Don’t really think there is a group of death this year. The closest would be Canada’s group or Brazil’s, but even then Morocco and Cameroon brings the quality of both groups down. I wouldn’t count out México. Even in their current state, with a team that isn’t what it once was, they’re clearly the 2nd best team in that group. Poland is highly dependent on Lewandowski and doesn’t have a lot of quality elsewhere. The Saudi’s are a well coached team, and play really well together. They topped their group with their one loss coming to Japan on the road. They probably finish last in the group, but they’ll be a tough out. 2 Quote Cowboys - Lakers - LAFC - USMNT - LA Rams - LA Kings - NUFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockstar Matt Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 It’s been confirmed that every US group stage game will be at 2pm EST. Super happy about that. I was dreading the possibility of having 2am and 5am start times for some games. Quote Cowboys - Lakers - LAFC - USMNT - LA Rams - LA Kings - NUFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 7 minutes ago, Rockstar Matt said: It’s been confirmed that every US group stage game will be at 2pm EST. Super happy about that. I was dreading the possibility of having 2am and 5am start times for some games. 10 AM soccer! Nice! 1 Quote 1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said: and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrySmalls Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 13 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said: The Group of Death is clearly Mexico, Argentina, and Poland, isn't it? Saudi Arabia clearly doesn't have a chance, and I can't see Mexico having one either. Is it really a Group of Death if you don't give Saudi Arabia and Mexico a chance? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted May 2, 2022 Author Share Posted May 2, 2022 https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61301238 Russia getting their sanctions increased: Russia women out of Euro 2022, Portugal is in. Russia had beaten them in the playoffs. No club teams in UEFA competitions for 2022-2023 Russia's bids for Euros 2028 and 2032 have been thrown out Not allowed to compete in Nations League, automatically placed last in their current group and dropped to League C. They are currently in League B. Banned from all youth tournaments, futsal and beach soccer tournaments through 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted May 9, 2022 Author Share Posted May 9, 2022 https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4662112/brazil-argentina-world-cup-qualifier-must-be-replayed-after-fifa-denies-appeal FIFA tells Brazil and Argentina to replay a meaningless game. for some reason. It's not like they'll redraw the World Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61653086 Hungary is officially playing a game vs England behind closed doors . . . that will have 30,000 fans due to a UEFA loophole. Jumping cues, bad. Racial harassing English players . . . not so bad? FFS!!!!! "Hungary have been ordered to play games without crowds after racist behaviour by their fans. But their football association is using a Uefa regulation that allows children to attend, accompanied by an adult. And the Hungarian FA has had 30,000 children register for Saturday's game. In June 2021 Uefa ordered Hungary to play three games without fans, with the final match being suspended, and fined them £85,000 as a result of discriminatory behaviour by their supporters during Euro 2020". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 That's so... Hungary. Honestly, I had nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Seadragon76 said: That's so... Hungary. Honestly, I had nothing. England will be copying them for their one game behind closed doors. But it's not at Wembley so they won't have as many "kids". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61716504 Jamaica team threatened to sit out because their federation didn't plan for their return from Suriname this week. The team actually arrived back to Jamaica after their opponents because the federation hadn't arranged return travel after the match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJMorris3 Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 For the first time since 2008 (!) the US has qualified their men's team for the Olympics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJMorris3 Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Not only did the US U-20 men's team win the CONCACAF championship... They scored 31 goals in 7 games, winning 6, drawing 1. 15 of those 31 goals were scored by current players for the Philadelphia Union. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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