FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group Stage

[Blame Rasho]

The amazing thing is that so many teams are still alive to make knockout round.

[clyde21]

tomorrow predictions:

Iran vs. USA: 0-0
Ecuador vs. Senegal: 1-0
Netherlands vs. Qatar: 2-0
England vs. Wales: 1-0

[Mamba81p]

The amazing thing is that so many teams are still alive to make knockout round.

goal difference tiebreaker will do that for you.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Iranian American here....

I'm a proud U.S citizen who roots for team U.S in every competition, including the World Cup, but I will be rooting for Iran tomorrow for the following reasons;


1. I was born in Iran and soccer was my first love, Team Meli was the first entity that I remember being a fan of, in any sport.
2. Iran has never made it out of the group stages. For a country where soccer is literally EVERYTHING, getting out of the group stages would be monumental, and a once in a life time experience for someone like my dad who is in his 70s and has seen them come short again and again.. I was still in Iran during the 98' qualifications and I remember the people celebrating in the streets after we tied with Australia to make the WC. I also remember asking my dad telling me about about Iran's only previous WC appearance (at the time), with pride about how they tied with Scotland in 1978.
3. Most important reason by far- The protests and what the people are going through. I won't divert this thread by talking about politics, and you can consider me a proud American who wants to see the IR toppled and I support USA's stance on the IR. I could write a whole essay about that, but I'll just leave it at that and save it for the current affairs board.



It's really unfortunate though that only 1 of the 2 teams could advance. I guess the silver lining is that I'll have one team to root for in the knockout stages, no matter what (barring Wales/England having a shocking result). I will absolutely root for team USA if they advance, as I root for them in all competitions. Another positive outcome of team USA winning would be that I give them a slightly better chance for advancing past the round of 16th than Iran.



As for the game itself, I'm anticipating a 1-1 result. I think Iran is very fortunate to have the luxury of playing defensively, and if both teams were in must-win mode, they would truly be screwed as the U.S has the superior talent. But due to team USA's struggles to score goals against set defenses, and due to Iran's comfort level in counterattacks, I think Iran strikes first and parks the bus the rest of the game, with the U.S managing to get one back due to pure domination of the ball in Iran's half.


What I hope we don't see- Any form of fighting/poor sportsmanship from either side. A 50/50 penalty for either side being the deciding outcome after a VAR review. Any nonsense/complaining/game being rigged allegations from either side after the game.

[magik9113]

Have to expect Netherlands win comfortably. Should be a great battle between Ecuador and Senegal

Nervous as heck for USA.
my earliest US soccer memory from a World Cup is 1998 where they lost to Iran and finished dead last…

[Shaazzam]

Have to expect Netherlands win comfortably. Should be a great battle between Ecuador and Senegal

Nervous as heck for USA.
my earliest US soccer memory from a World Cup is 1998 where they lost to Iran and finished dead last…

That was the day I really understood how many Persians live in the GTA. I went to high school with a bunch, but man that was a wild day. Yonge St. (huge street that runs north from the lake through all of Toronto into the great white north) was **** rammed.

[ejftw]

tomorrow predictions:

Iran vs. USA: 0-0
Ecuador vs. Senegal: 1-0
Netherlands vs. Qatar: 2-0
England vs. Wales: 1-0

Netherlands 3 - 1 Qatar
-Qatar get a late goal

Ecuador 1 - 1 Senegal
-Ecuador do just enough

England 1 - 1 Wales
-Wales can't hold on

US 2 - 2 Iran
-Free flowing and chaotic game

[TheHartBreakKid]

Do you guys think how Group A ends up after the third fixtures could affect how hard England play against Wales?


IE: If it's Ecuador 1st and the Netherlands 2nd, would England be less motivated to go for the win?

[G R E Y]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

[ejftw]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

Irritating?

I love it. Not so much with the Group A games as it's pretty clear the winner of Ecuador/Senegal gets the runner up spot but those that are wide open.

Takes away teams from playing defensive knowing they are through no matter what, and the feeling of the unknown.

Which is why 26 is going to suck.

[magik9113]

Senegal take the lead on a pk

[fbalmeida]

Portugal's coach is a joke.

Vitinha is their best midfielder. Doesn't play.

Leão is their best attacker. Doesn't play.

The guy a dinosaur unable to use the talent he has available to him. So instead he just always plays it conservative.

Not exactly, Dirk.

When you're facing a team with a 6-3 Bentancur in midfield you're going to have to consider whether or not you want to surrender aerial superiority in midfield for advantages in other aspects. Fernando Santos chose wisely, keeping 6-2 William Carvalho, and subbing him with a 6-3 Palhinha.

You could argue that Vitinha is a better all-round player than Ruben Neves is, but Neves probably offers better guarantees at fitting the needed role with Carvalho out there: covering the flanks for Cancelo's or Mendes' runs.

I also like Leão's role off the bench with João Félix starting next to Ronaldo.

I've certainly had my issues with Fernando Santos but the performance yesterday was a masterclass of tactical dominance.

[Dirk]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

They play at the same time because this decides who qualifies and who doesn't.

If games were at different times, some teams would be at a disadvantage*, since the other would know the scores and what they needed to do to qualify.

Or have some games become meaningless if the earlier game already decided the outcome of the group.

*even across different groups. If teams playing later knew that they were qualified, they can rest their starters, while other teams they face in the KO round may not have that chance.

[fbalmeida]

The first 9 minutes of the country's main lunchhour news show today was mostly focussed on the evolving discussion and the details of FIFA's procedures to determine if yesterday's goal was scored by Ronaldo or Bruno Fernandes.

immediately after the final whistle of yesterday's game, and for reasons that are beyond my imagination, the live broadcast panned immediately to the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to capture his reaction to Portugal's 2-0 win over Uruguay.

To say that football is our national obsession is an understatement.

[G R E Y]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

They play at the same time because this decides who qualifies and who doesn't.

If games were at different times, some teams would be at a disadvantage, since the other would know the scores and what they needed to do to qualify.

Or have some games would become meaningless if the earlier game already decided the outcome of the group.

Thanks, that makes sense.

[G R E Y]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

Irritating?

I love it. Not so much with the Group A games as it's pretty clear the winner of Ecuador/Senegal gets the runner up spot but those that are wide open.

Takes away teams from playing defensive knowing they are through no matter what, and the feeling of the unknown.

Which is why 26 is going to suck.

Running on little sleep so this didn't make sense at first but does more combined with info Dirk gave above, thanks.

[ChumboChappati]

Rooting for Senegal to become 1st African nation in this WC to go to next round.

[fbalmeida]

Put money on Iran. I would be shocked if Iran didn't beat the USA today.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Besides being irritating, the point of having games on at the same time is... ?

IIRC it didn't use to be like this, but the point is to make sure the last game (if they were scheduled at different times) is as meaningful as possible.

Using the group B games as an example:

Let's say Iran and U.S went first and they tied (a likely outcome). At that point, England is guaranteed to win the group as long as they don't lose by 5 goals, so they have nothing to play for. Meanwhile, Wales has everything to play for because if they could beat a not-motivated half-assing england team by even 1 goal, they would advance over Iran via Goal Differentials.

It basically avoids that awkward situation where one team might be fighting for survival with another team having no reason to try.


Edit: Someone beat me to it, my bad.

[fbalmeida]

Final group matches are played at the same time in order to avoid this type of disgrace from every happening again.

Watch on YouTube