FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Knockout Phase

[Dirk]

I'm loving how many people are predicting England to be eliminated by Senegal. Being the villain of the piece feels great.

I'll abstain from hubris for now because I'm certain that, one way or another, be it at the hands of Senegal or France, I'll be cursing Gareth Southgate, Chris Waddle, King Charles and Rishi Sunak's names in the coming days.

My Southgate agenda will stay strong until I see the World Cup trophy with the English ribbons attached.

It’s annoying that Senegal had to play England next though I love the Senegalese team.

We should just be glad that Mane isn't playing. He's got plenty of experience tormenting Maguire, Stones, Dier, Walker, etc.

Where did you get the impression of people thinking Senegal will win? They don't even have their best player.

[Baphomet]

Where did you get the impression of people thinking Senegal will win? They don't even have their best player.

From the predictions in this thread overwhelmingly choosing Senegal to advance, and some posts in the previous thread. A couple of people said it would be an easy upset.

I think it's more people hoping that England lose, rather than an actual belief that Senegal will win. Or just rooting for the underdog, which I understand.

[ArksNetsSince99]

My Argentina has a great chance. This is one of the most competitive wirld cups in recent memory

Chance for what beating Australia ? Sure

Winning whole thing ? No chance

[ArksNetsSince99]

Where did you get the impression of people thinking Senegal will win? They don't even have their best player.

From the predictions in this thread overwhelmingly choosing Senegal to advance, and some posts in the previous thread. A couple of people said it would be an easy upset.

I think it's more people hoping that England lose, rather than an actual belief that Senegal will win. Or just rooting for the underdog, which I understand.

England never goes all the way with one exception 1966 ( well before my time )

England got two choices , capitulate to Senegal now or risk being humiliated by France , choose your poison

[rocketsfan100]

My Argentina has a great chance. This is one of the most competitive wirld cups in recent memory

Chance for what beating Australia ? Sure

Winning whole thing ? No chance

No chance of wining the whole thing? Besides the upset against the Saudis Argentina hasn’t been beaten since 2019. That was the only loss we had in three years. We have as good as chance as anyone

[Baphomet]

England never goes all the way with one exception 1966 ( well before my time )

England got two choices , capitulate to Senegal now or risk being humiliated by France , choose your poison

True, but I'd rather risk capitulation or being humiliated in the knockout phase than in the groups, as some big teams such as Belgium and Germany have this year.

[Mamba81p]

I'm loving how many people are predicting England to be eliminated by Senegal. Being the villain of the piece feels great.

I'll abstain from hubris for now because I'm certain that, one way or another, be it at the hands of Senegal or France, I'll be cursing Gareth Southgate, Chris Waddle, King Charles and Rishi Sunak's names in the coming days.

My Southgate agenda will stay strong until I see the World Cup trophy with the English ribbons attached.

It’s annoying that Senegal had to play England next though I love the Senegalese team.

I wanted to address this Southgate situation for a long time. This might get heated.

I don't understand English fans being so mad at him. Sure you can argue about some choices, but he got this team a final for the first time since 1966, and another semifinal at the World Cup. In this span(1967-2017) England played only 3 semi finals, 1968, 1990 and 1996. In 2 tournaments he reached the semi finals both times. Not a lot of success since 1960s, so I would have thought that he at least earned some benefit of the doubt.

Yes, Phil Foden is probably the second best player in this team, but we know how much international coaches like to go with "their" guys, especially after they had a lot success with them.
Mason Mount seems to be most hated player in this squad, but he is a player that coaches absolutely love, and it's not just Southgate. He is very versatile, that does a lot of things on the field, some that fans might not notice. Every single coach he had, started him at Chelsea, and while Lampard and Potter suck, Tuchel is a legit coach. He plays almost any position in any formation in the midfield.

And what's the alternative? International football/soccer is not very attractive for top coaches. It's reserved for old coaches or for those between jobs. Koeman left Netherlands for Barcelona, and I am sure Southgate would love to leave England for Man City or Liverpool. Do you guys want another Steve McClaren?

[ArksNetsSince99]

My Argentina has a great chance. This is one of the most competitive wirld cups in recent memory

Chance for what beating Australia ? Sure

Winning whole thing ? No chance

No chance of wining the whole thing? Besides the upset against the Saudis Argentina hasn’t been beaten since 2019. That was the only loss we had in three years. We have as good as chance as anyone

Argentina is already past their golden generation, that was Maradona , Cannigia , Burruchaga

That was a team worthy a title and they won deservedly, this team it’s just a shadow , in my opinion Croatia deserves a title before Argentina does , France as well ( not a coincidence that’s last finalist)

[ArksNetsSince99]

England never goes all the way with one exception 1966 ( well before my time )

England got two choices , capitulate to Senegal now or risk being humiliated by France , choose your poison

True, but I'd rather risk capitulation or being humiliated in the knockout phase than in the groups, as some big teams such as Belgium and Germany have this year.

True but how many deep runs and titles Germany had during all this years since England team won last time ?

Probably to many to list them all

I have nothing against England but you guys always have huge expectations yet you cannot back them up on the field , I love Premier League , most entertaining league easily but as international football, mainly World Cup England was nothing but a disappointment , win for once then all world will believe you

[rocketsfan100]

Chance for what beating Australia ? Sure

Winning whole thing ? No chance

No chance of wining the whole thing? Besides the upset against the Saudis Argentina hasn’t been beaten since 2019. That was the only loss we had in three years. We have as good as chance as anyone

Argentina is already past their golden generation, that was Maradona , Cannigia , Burruchaga

That was a team worthy a title and they won deservedly, this team it’s just a shadow , in my opinion Croatia deserves a title before Argentina does , France as well ( not a coincidence that’s last finalist)

It’s not about eho you think deserves it it’s about who will win it. England, Argentina, France Spain and Brasil are the favorites . I feel the winner will come out of that.

[Sedale Threatt]

Watch on YouTube

[Young Stapler]

Poland will shock the world!

[TheHartBreakKid]

Here are my potential super awesome quarterfinals and beyond matchups based on the bracket;


(Please correct me if I'm wrong, I did a quick fact check but I might be missing something)

Quarterfinals:
France VS- England- Quarterfinals
Spain VS Portugal- Quarterfinals
USA vs Australia-The first ever quarterfinal matchup without a European or South American team in modern era (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)
Japan vs Korea- See USA VS Australia + First ever AFC matchup in the knock out rounds AFC matchup in the knock out rounds, if I'm not mistaken. Would happen if both teams upset their (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)

Semi Finals:

Any combinaton of U.S/Australia vs Japan/Korea- Meaning a non European/South American team is guaranteed to make the finals for the first time.

Argentina-Brazil- Just because it's argentina vs Brazil

[hermes]

And what's the alternative? International football/soccer is not very attractive for top coaches. It's reserved for old coaches or for those between jobs. Koeman left Netherlands for Barcelona, and I am sure Southgate would love to leave England for Man City or Liverpool. Do you guys want another Steve McClaren?

why is this the case? not enough pay for the out-sized expectations?

[Mamba81p]

Here are my potential super awesome quarterfinals and beyond matchups based on the bracket;


(Please correct me if I'm wrong, I did a quick fact check but I might be missing something)

Quarterfinals:
France VS- England- Quarterfinals
Spain VS Portugal- Quarterfinals
USA vs Australia-The first ever quarterfinal matchup without a European or South American team in modern era (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)
Japan vs Korea- See USA VS Australia + First ever AFC matchup in the knock out rounds AFC matchup in the knock out rounds, if I'm not mistaken. Would happen if both teams upset their (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)

Semi Finals:

Any combinaton of U.S/Australia vs Japan/Korea- Meaning a non European/South American team is guaranteed to make the finals for the first time.

Argentina-Brazil- Just because it's argentina vs Brazil

I am confused. you want both us/aus vs jap/kor and arg-bra in semi finals, or Argentina-brazil is the alternative? They are all on the same bracket.

[Mamba81p]

And what's the alternative? International football/soccer is not very attractive for top coaches. It's reserved for old coaches or for those between jobs. Koeman left Netherlands for Barcelona, and I am sure Southgate would love to leave England for Man City or Liverpool. Do you guys want another Steve McClaren?

why is this the case? not enough pay for the out-sized expectations?

Money are part of it, but it's a different job. It's mostly a scouting job and managing egos. You have no control over acquisitions, and you have to deal with what you have, and in case you don't like some player, an entire nation will criticize you. Hell, they will criticize you anyway.

A lot of pressure, coming from an entire nation, over a very small sample size. Not a lot of prep time, no room for experiments, and even if you win, you will be so sick of the press that you will quit(Aimé Jacquet in 1998).
Some coaches actually thrive in this environment like Scolari, he did well with Portugal and especially with Brazil.

That is why a lot of coaches stick with what they know, even if the entire nation screams that a change is needed.

[Stannis]

Poland will shock the world!

I want him to have a 15 save day. But Poland is down 0 -1 in stoppage time. Poland gets a corner kick and put everyone in the box. And he scores a header.

Then they go into PKs, and Poland wins.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Here are my potential super awesome quarterfinals and beyond matchups based on the bracket;


(Please correct me if I'm wrong, I did a quick fact check but I might be missing something)

Quarterfinals:
France VS- England- Quarterfinals
Spain VS Portugal- Quarterfinals
USA vs Australia-The first ever quarterfinal matchup without a European or South American team in modern era (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)
Japan vs Korea- See USA VS Australia + First ever AFC matchup in the knock out rounds AFC matchup in the knock out rounds, if I'm not mistaken. Would happen if both teams upset their (Obviously unlikely-both teams need to upset)

Semi Finals:

Any combinaton of U.S/Australia vs Japan/Korea- Meaning a non European/South American team is guaranteed to make the finals for the first time.

Argentina-Brazil- Just because it's argentina vs Brazil

I am confused. you want both us/aus vs jap/kor and arg-bra in semi finals, or Argentina-brazil is the alternative? They are all on the same bracket.

No lol. I’m saying those are all potential exciting matchups that could happen. Obviously not simultaneously.

[lambchop]

And what's the alternative? International football/soccer is not very attractive for top coaches. It's reserved for old coaches or for those between jobs. Koeman left Netherlands for Barcelona, and I am sure Southgate would love to leave England for Man City or Liverpool. Do you guys want another Steve McClaren?

why is this the case? not enough pay for the out-sized expectations?

It's essentially a part time job. Important games are only every two years. Even those tournament qualifiers aren't that difficult, unless you're Italy and just suck at the moment.
And if you lose in that group stage, congrats you just played 3 games and get to wait another two years now.

Club teams have the derbies, the weird cup games where you might lose to a vastly inferior team, the international games against prestigious teams, those tough winter games where a muddy pitch is covered in snow and rain etc. I can't even remember the last time it rained during one of those summer tournament games.

[AussieCeltic]

Australia to pull off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. Let’s goooooo!