Who will win this group?

France might be the most talented team on paper but there is something missing with that team. Lots of great young talent though. They could easily fill 2 starting teams in the world cup and have good results.

 

Not sure about their midfield, even if pogba kante etc are excellent players they don't really have a top lovel in building up the play together..they got world class both front and back though..
I have seen mbappe playing since he is 17...he is on his way to become a legend..

 

Pogba is overrated. He is a good player but not this legend people are starting to call him. Kante is a great midfielder though and so is Matuidi. However their defense is the main problem and they are not very organized either.

 

By being in Paris very often i follow french squad quite a lot without being a fan. I am not worried about their defense with umtiti varane sidibe mendy etc...they will be tough to break.
But they don't have any build up play..just strong individuals.
Fact is with a good organisation and monsters front you can go far..so they can..but i think if they have to deal with spanish or germans regular starters technical skills in world cup they will be in trouble..
For pogba i agree he is not a golden ball some saw in him but i also think people started to underrate him as well...he is a top player. But not like iniesta modric pirlo etc that are maestros.

 

I agree with you about Pogba. Watching him in Juve he had moments of brilliance but also disappeared a lot from games. Pogba doesn't have the great footballing brain to be a great player in my opinion. You either have that or you don't.

 

I don't think France will even reach the quarterfinals, as they say "feet of clay". Any of Argentina, Nigeria or Croatia can take them out.

 

Thanks for bringing this thread back to the topical 4 teams in the group pipiolo.

 

This group is very different from 2014.I certainly cannot see Argentina getting 9 points.Croatia is better than Bosnia.Iceland is better than iran and nigeria is better than in 2014.If messi does not turn up then Argentina is crashing out in the group stages.All four teams in this group are more than capable of beating the slightly overrated France Denmark Peru and Australia.

 

What have Turkey done in international football since 2008.They lost to Albania Romania and Finland for crying out loud they are as good as Nigeria give me a break.Can Turkey Ukraine dream of beating Argentina right know even in a friendly. Nigeria beat Algeria .Algeria player for player are better than turkey and ukraine. Ukraine are utterly disastrous worse than Cameroon probably as bad as Zambia they play such low awful quality football it makes Greece look like Brazil. Ukraine were the worse team i remember in a 24 team euro 2016 even Slovakia Russia played better they could not score a single goal in the entire tournament. I cannot honestly think of any decent Ukrainian player.that i know off the top of my head i really cannot.

 

The best Swedish and dutch team was their euro 2004 team.The 2004 Swedish team is better than the Brazil Chile Belgian french maybe Croatian and English team of today they were that good and that underrated.If there was a world cup in 2004 they could have made the semi finals again.It was just that time there were teams even better than Sweden.In this era they would favourites to win the world cup alongside Germany.

 

I agree, although Argentina will have to have everyone show up if they are to take out France. Well frankly any of those teams will, but I am just pointing out Argentina because often many players do not show up.

 

For me Croatia and Switzerland are the teams at the top of the 2nd tier of European football.However with the dutch now on the decline in general quality i think Croatia is that team that is can be counted amongst the big boys .The dutch right know based on quality especially with no robben van persie are a mid second tier European team at the level of Denmark and Sweden Greece Poland.

 

And do croatians or nigerians show up for big matches? lol

 

Croatia and Switzerland are not on the same level.

I would say Croatia is a bottom 1st tier euro side or a top 2nd tier side

Switzerland is a bottom 2nd tier side, or average one at best.

 

Maybe we don't...but in only 20 years of existence we already have wins against the likes of germany italy netherlands england spain argentina as ties against brazil and france....so i reckon we are far from being an easy opponent for any team : ) but if you are so sure that argentina croatia is a granted win for argentina good for you dear

 

I was chatting to an Icelandic person on Twitter. He said the team are all around the same age and have advanced through the age groups together so they’re almost like a club side with their team understanding and spirit.

 

True this is their strength...they have been prepared since a young age to play together at this level due to the structures in Iceland. They know each others perfectly.

 

Poland is up there too.

 

Fact is what a player is able to do to me is more important than what he missed
When it comes to Mario the fact he was able to score in several champions league 1/4 semi or finals is more important than what he missed at certain times. It shows he got the ability to score against the best. But then showing it at the right time in world cup is another business.
It is not only a question of quality.

 

Poland and Switzerland are comparable. They are like bottom second tier teams. Croatia is like a bottom first tier team.

 

I think Croatia will be a top-tier team at this World Cup, due to all the "tiers" that will flow when they lose to Iceland.

 

Bad news for Croatia as Krovinovic a young midfielder who was playing so well for Benfica tore his ACL. I was watching the game and he just went down after controlling the ball. Nobody was near him.

 

Did he have any chance of making starting XI?

I absolutely hate when players miss the WC like this. Happened last time with Falcao and Strootman.

 

Not just them, many players. Reus and Gundogan were big losses for Germany.