PBP: Most Overrated Country in World Football and why?

Which country you think is the most overrated in world Football?

My vote goes to Russia, loosing to Iran and tie Qatar and Armenia is just sad.

Very close is England, becuase they are so over hyped by the English media.

3rd is Greece, really #10 in the world????????

England

Overrated in which way? Standard of football? Competitiveness?

England. Most underrated: Netherlands.

I read the title and the first team to come to mind was England. However upon seeing Ireland on the list... Yes they are the most overrated.

No Spain?!?!

I voted Turkey, only because they haven't won anything and yet are highly overrated by Middle Eastern media. No offence to any Turks.

England, but they can improve at youth levels.

1- England most overated by their own media ...

2- Spain overated with winning Euro + WC

3- USA is actually UNDERATED (no country care for them, yet not many can walk by them like water)

Argentina. This is probably more a vote for "biggest underachievers" but with all of the talent and hype they have flamed out at the quarterfinal stage or earlier in the last 5 World Cups and haven't won Copa America since 1993. Their players are great, and they are a great team, but they never win anything at the senior level. With them it's sort of a "how will they blow it this time?" scenario.

Most Overrated NTs(by Fifa rankings): England and Portugal.

Mexico, England, Spain ..

How is Spain overrated? Current Euro and World champions and they are overrated? Strange people.

Most posters here have hit the nail very firmly on the head. England are seriously overrated by their press.

The England fan who knows his football is only too well aware of the limitations of the team and its players. We are not as gifted or as well organised as other countries, but we still produce good players who are genuinely committed. When you think that we have gone out of more European Champs / World Cups in penalty shootouts than any other country it's clear that we are capable of competing over 120 minutes.

unfortunately the smaller brained fan, and almost all of the players read the tabloid press, which inflates the levels of expectation to ludicrous levels.

I feel sorry for England managers / Head Coaches like Capello, and those who went before him because they have a microphone stuck in their face and are asked "Can England win the world cup / European Championship?". Well, obviously, if they are in the tournament it has to be a possibility and besides that, if you aren't going there with the intention of competing, then what's the point of going..?

So, the coach, knowing that he HAS to make a positive statement will reply "I think we can win the competiton", which is then immediately misquoted by the gutter press into "Capello says England WILL win the World Cup". This is then exaggerated from being - at most - a statement of intention to compete into a firm promise to the fans that victory is inevitable. The press then demands that this happens and when the team are eliminated, the press then rounds on the players and manager for letting everybody down.

At the team level, the players know that the tattoo'd, moron element will consider any cautious statement to a camera or a journo to be tantamount to an act of treason... of having a faint heart.. of not being totally committed to the cause and they will then be baying for that player's head to be stuck on a spike at Traitor's Gate.

The English press gleefully exploit any hint of uncertainty about the supreme and sure outcome that England will win as "Dissent within the camp" and will then heap pressure on the players which has a corrosive effect on morale.

This then leads the players to adopt a seige mentality which alienates them from the fans and the public of wherever they are playing, making them look aloof. It's a godawful downward spiral.

England has, without a doubt, the most corrosive, damaging, destructive tabloid press corps of any country anywhere exacerbated by a fan base that is largely made up of knuckle dragging morons who think that the way to win world cups is to puff out your chest, cry God for Harry, England and Saint George, and "Battle To The Last Drop of Blood".

Then, when it all goes horribly wrong, the manager takes the blame.

If you want a reason why England have underachieved so badly in international tournaments in the last 20 years (certainly since Italia 90), look no further than the tabloid press.

I'm glad someone finally brought them up. Portugal. Their reputation for whatever reason is nowhere in line with anything they've ever achieved.

Often referred to as drugs.

Brazil, they are well over-rated, they haven't done anything for years. England are ranked in the top 8 by FIFA and normally get the the QF's of the world cup, Brazil normally get there too but everyone seems to think they will win it.

Italy are well over-rated, their national team and league both suck big time

First of all the FIFA ranking is horrible..

Croatia 10 ?
Norway 11 ?
Greece 12 ?


In my point of view, Mexico is well overrated by the people.. They have never won any cop nore have ever played any final, except CONCACAF, but that's it ..

England can also be, they only have 1 WC and that's pretty much it. People give them alot of credit because of the Premier League (which has nothing to do with the National team) ..

This. Every four years, their fans (and media) are as bad as the England media in terms of guaranteeing that they'll win the World Cup, and that the games are a mere formality. Only one problem though: At least England has won a cup in the past. Mexico? They've never even made it past the quarterfinals, and have never made it past the Round of 16 on neutral soil. Yet every four years, they act like they're the favorites to win the cup.

Back on topic, Russia and Egypt I feel are the most overrated nations.

Russia: I heard how Slovenia beating Russia in WCQ was a great upset, yet when one considers Russian WC history (or lack thereof) post-USSR, it isn't really that great of an accomplishment.

Egypt: Somehow gets ranked top 10 in the FIFA rankings consistently, yet they lose to Niger (not Nigeria) in African Cup of Nations qualifying and got run over by the USA the last time they played.

who are you talking to ?



the world cup discussions always revolve around reaching the quarter finals and who the team faces in the second round (and to a lesser extent, where we'll finish in the group), not winning the cup.

the one world title the u-17's was highly unexpected too.

when jesus ramirez said his team could win, he was ridiculed and was told to set more realistic expectations.

Guam - I can't believe it they're ranked 194, over Andorra, San Marino and American Samoa!

Well, usually it was among YouTube commenters who kept declaring that Mexico would win the cup and that their group would be an easy 9 points, at least. Then again, those are youtube commenters, so they're delusional to begin with. I usually divide Mexico fans into two types.

Type A: The fans that are enthusiastic, but are realistic about their chances. They feel they have the potential to lift the cup, but don't act like it's already in the bag. These are the types of fans that I can talk to and have a realistic discussion with, since these fans aren't too cocky (or cocky at all really).

Type B: Those YouTube commenters I just mentioned. Then again, they're YouTube commenters.