Alright so the draws have been set. Concacaf has some tough groups but very much accessible. Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica to represent. Who has the toughest group? Easiest? Who will make it the furthest?
Costa Rica. Old Brazil is back and Switzerland are a powerhouse Panama but there's no way they beat England or Belgium Mexico is our best chance to advance. They can beat Korea, Sweden can't be underestimated
Difficult draw all around. The draw put me into a depression. Will be a battle of attrition for all our Concacaf squads. Panama isn't getting out of that group. No way. Costa Rica has a serious battle on hand with Serbia and Switzerland fighting for the 2nd spot. Mexico will grind out enough points to leave the group, but then most likely faces Brazil. Panama- 3 and out Costa Rica- 3 and out Mexico- R16, possibly further if they avoid Brazil.
Sorry to interrupt and go off topic but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing a prediction contest for the upcoming World Cup. It basically consists of predicting the results of each match, from group play all the way to the final. Different points will be awarded based on whether you predicted the outcome (who won or was it a tie?) or the exact result (including penalties after extra-time). Depending on how much interest there is, I might do a second one starting from the Knockout Stages. Anyway, let me know if anyone is interested and please feel free to tell others (the more the better).
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...-discusses-2002-2018-battles-with-brazil.html is titled "Wanchope discusses 2002, 2018 battles with Brazil."
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2018/m=4/news=torres-i-enjoy-the-big-moments-a-lot.html is titled "Torres: I enjoy the big moments a lot."
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...-world-cup-dream-driven-by-family-spirit.html is titled "Oviedo’s World Cup dream driven by family spirit."
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...co-must-stop-thinking-we-re-a-small-team.html is titled "Herrera: Mexico must stop thinking we’re a small team."
No te olvides quien te la vez pasada cuando le gano a Panama. With that being said, I think Mexico advances out of their group. CR has a chance. I just hope Panama don't get embarrassed.
I'm crossing my fingers for Panama. Hopefully they shut our mouths. When it comes to the WC I toss rivalries out the window.
FIFA has Panama's preliminary roster, which has 6 players with at least 100 caps. To put that into perspective, there are 94 active players with at least 100 caps, which is 0.45 per member of FIFA. Panama has the second most active players with at least 100 caps behind Chile, who has 7. That includes all countries regardless of whether they qualified. 41 (43.6%) of the active players with at least 100 caps are on countries who qualified (including 1 Russian who didn't have to qualify).
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/four-reasons-why-tico-lightning-could-strike-twice-2951705 is titled "Four reasons why Tico lightning could strike twice."
Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia Germany 0-1 Mexico After beating Germany, Mexico could become the third CONCACAF team in three World Cups to win a group with two UEFA teams. Costa Rica did that in 2014 and USA did that in 2010. Panama plays Belgium at 11:00 A.M. USA Eastern, which is about 1.5 hours from now.
CONCACAF got only 7 Group Stage points, which is their second fewest in the six World Cups with 32 teams ahead of 6 points in 2006. Furthermore, in the final ranking of 32 teams, Panama is last with a worse goal differential than Egypt, who was the other team without a point. Australia, Iceland, Costa Rica, and Morocco had 1 point each. Using the tiebreakers, Morocco's -2 goal differential ranked them ahead of the other three, who each scored 2 and allowed 5. Using Fair Play, Iceland ranked 28th with 3 yellow cards, Costa Rica ranked 29th with 6 yellow cards, and Australia ranked 30th with 7 yellow cards. None of those teams got red cards.