Favorites to win in Russia' 2018?

Discussion in 'FIFA and Tournaments' started by MIGkiller, Jun 27, 2016.

?

Favorites to win in Russia' 2018

  1. Argentina

  2. Brazil

  3. Chile

  4. England

  5. Germany

  6. Italy

  7. France

  8. Spain

  9. Uruguay

  10. Netherlands

  11. Portugal

  12. Other

  13. Belgium

Multiple votes are allowed.
Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    IMO Brasil is playing the best football as of lately. They jus FINALLY decided to go with the youth. You talk about the youth and talent of France and Germany etc... no one can match Brasil. The only thing they were missing is an out and out CF... and Gabriel/Gabriel Jesus are really coming along.

    Just look at this List of guys that will be entering or in their prime in 2018:

    Neymar, Hulk, Gabigol, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Oscar, Marcelo, Coutinho, Casemiro, Marquinhos, Pato, Renato Augusto, Willian, Firminho, Miranda, Palinho, Alisson, Lucas Moura, Lucas Lima, Rafinha, Rodrigo Caio, Luiz Gustavo, Filipe Luis, Felipe Anderson, Danilo, Fabinho, Alex Sandro

    The Miranda - Marquinhos pairing has been spectacular so far and their defense has taken steps forward with leaving off David Luiz and Thiago Silva.


    Brasil is quietly getting the momentum going, I think it will help them AND Argentina to have 2017 off to get some rest.

    I think Brasil is a combination between the Dark Horse/ Emerging favorite. Germany will be there, France could be there as well. Chile has a ton of work to do to even qualify.
     
  2. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Top Tier Favorites: Argentina, Brazil, Germany

    2nd Tier (Still need to prove Themselves: Belgium, France, Spain


    Sleepers that are much better than people think and don't get the attention:

    Uruguay, Italy, Croatia, and I think a couple teams from Africa will shock some folks - maybe Algeria, Ivory Coast, Nigeria....
     
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  3. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Chile will either barely qualify through the playoff or not make the World Cup at all. Brazil is playing some good jogo bonito, probably the best I've seen in 9 years. The was last time, IMO, they played this well.

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
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  4. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    I like Germany but they will have so much pressure to repeat, which consequently may be detrimental.
    Brazil and France are really looking good lately and both have youngsters waiting in the wings who could make them better by 2018.
    Argentina is going through a crises but they still have individual talent who can pull rabbits out of their hats at any time.

    Italy will probably surprise us all by sneaking further than any of us think they will. They seem to do best when no one expects anything from them.

    Still a long way to go though.
     
  5. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    #55 HomietheClown, Oct 11, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
    We also have to know basic rules about the draw and how they will be applied.
    If the same rules are applied from last cycle then a team like Colombia could benefit by being a seeded team in a Group again and avoiding 2 Euro pot teams (and just have to face one Euro team again). And of course we have to see how the rest of the draws and hypothetical brackets play out.
     
  6. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I think a team like Portugal could catch fire again too...But Ronaldo has done jack shyt in the World Cup so far but he has a ton more support than he has ever had before.

    Algeria has a deadly trio of Mahrez, Slimani and Brahimi that could catch fire and cause trouble...

    I also like Nigeria's makeup as well - Iheanacho and Iwobi are really forming a good pairing and you also have Ahmed Musa, Victor Moses, Ighalo

    Ivory Coast is ushering a new and talented generation in as is Senegal and Ghana
     
  7. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Algeria actually has a deadly quartet, you're forgetting Feghouli. You could even include Abdelmoumenne Djabou in there as well, he was great in Brazil 2014. Nigeria have a deadly with Moses, Musa and Emenike, too bad Odemwingie will retire soon. Portugal could catch fire, but they will need Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of his game to go far in what could be his last World Cup.

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
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  8. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Algeria or Nigeria will not make it as they are in the same qualifying group. Whoever makes it from that group should be a force to be reckoned with.

    Ghana unfortunately is not ushering and new and talented generation. They are overreliant on Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah, Asamoah Gyan being fit and on form. The only new talent coming through right now is Daniel Amartey and maybe Samuel Tetteh and Baba Rahman (if he rebounds after Chelsea).

    Next gen Ivory Coast looks great in defence (possibly even world class) with Bailly, Aurier, Kanon and midfield with Kessie, Seri and maybe Angban. But there is no new generation of strikers.
     
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  9. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Moses, Musa, Emenike have nothing on the next generation of Nigerians. Iheanacho and Iwobi have already become team stalwarts at 19-20 years old, Isaac Success is likely next in line. But there is also countless other U20 players like Wilfried Ndidi, Chidozie Awaziem, Musa Yahaya, Kelechi Nwakali, Victor Osimhen and many others just waiting to jump into the Nigerian senior team and they are all serious materials for upgrades with many potential world class players.

    Fact is Nigerians aren't really excited with Moses, Musa or Emenike, because off what they have coming in.

    BTW Emenike has retired.
     
  10. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Emenike retired? When?

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
  11. maxsanta

    maxsanta Member

    Colo Colo
    Netherlands
    Dec 2, 2009
    Santiago, Chile
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Chile
    North Africans always dissapoint, Balkan teams too.

    Belgium is terribly overrated. They have benefited from a virtous cycle of seeding->good ranking fifa->seeding-> easy wins-> good ranking fifa->good seeding->...which is very easy to mantain in the joke ass euro qualifying campaigns, but they have yet to get releavnt results
     
  12. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
  13. Blondo

    Blondo Member+

    Sep 21, 2013
    #63 Blondo, Oct 11, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
    ... not really.

    - for WC2014 Qs Belgium were ranked 37th (FIFA ranking) and ended up in pot 3 (ranked extremely low for one of the most expensive sides in world football ... yet results were starting to improve)
    - for EURO2016 Qs Belgium were ranked 16th (UEFA coefficient) and ended up in pot 2.

    Both times Belgium wasn't a top seed and all these results are included in the current ranking ... top seed status is a recent thing while Belgium was ranked very low not that long ago (at one time even as low as 71th)

    PS Croatia isn't half bad but the rest ... well, they've got Croatia to look up to.

    PPS Algeria is very much undervalued ... ask the Germans ... they couldn't even breathe anymore after their WC match against Algeria ... German journos didn't spare their criticism ... Germany could have easily been eliminated had Algeria been a bit less wasteful with their many chances.
     
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  14. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
  15. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
  16. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Brazil has some major momentum going. Going to leap Uruguay for 1st in CONMEBOL. Gabriel Jesus' chip was sublime.
     
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  17. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Lets be honest, after the position the 'keeper put himself in the margin of error Jesus had for that chip was pretty large. If he over-hit that chip by 10 more yards it still would've gone in.
     
  18. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I mean, the keeper made a mistake yes, but you go out there in that exact situation and see if you keep your composure and put it away. Not anywhere near as easy to do what he made look so easy.
     
  19. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    What about Iheanacho vs Zambia. Much more composed and impressive.



    Jesus comes to Man City he will still be behind Iheanacho.

    Jesus's goal was off of a massive mistake from the goalkeeper. Nice flick, but thats a goal with 90% of strikers 90% of the time.
     
  20. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Our so called easy groups, starting in 2006
    upload_2016-10-12_16-3-58.png

    2008

    upload_2016-10-12_16-5-2.png
    2010

    upload_2016-10-12_16-6-43.png

    2012

    upload_2016-10-12_16-7-38.png

    2014

    upload_2016-10-12_16-9-2.png

    For those keeping score at home, the top seeds in our groups starting in 2006 up until 2012 won a combined 5 straight international tournaments (2 WCs, 3 Euros). I'm not sure what exactly would qualify as a difficult group within that context.
     
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  21. Rickdog

    Rickdog Member+

    Jun 16, 2010
    Santiago, Chile
    Club:
    CD Colo Colo
    Nat'l Team:
    Chile
    The ranking of the Belgium of "today", wasn't made up over whatever Belgium did for the campaigns of 2006, 2008, 2010 or even 2012, so no need to point them out as being representative of the so called "dificult" campaigns it might have had, once they got catapulted to the rankings they hold "today".

    Fact is, Belgium only appeared into the competitive scene, after the 2012 Euro.
    So you should limit yourself to whatever has happened, since then
     
  22. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Eh? Our climb up the rankings starting during the qualifying campaign for the 2012 Euros.
     
  23. Rickdog

    Rickdog Member+

    Jun 16, 2010
    Santiago, Chile
    Club:
    CD Colo Colo
    Nat'l Team:
    Chile
    yes, you are right
     
  24. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Anyone who thinks that Belgium has benefited from seeding doesn't know how UEFA seeding works.

    Seeding benefits the traditional powers and works against the rising powers. Even after Belgium destroyed their World Cup 2014 qualifying group (which was tougher than it needed to be since they were stuck in pot 3 for the qualifying draw), and even after WC 2014 finals where Belgium did better than almost all the other UEFA teams, they were still ranked as the 16th-best UEFA nation for the purpose of seeding for Euro 2016 qualifying.

    Only starting with Euro 2016 finals were they ranked according to the level they had actually reached on the field some 3 years earlier
     
  25. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    All I know is Belgium better cash in on this current generation- their player pool is just disgustingly talented...they'll never have another generation like this:

    Hazard, Lukaku, Benteke, Origi, De Brunye Batshuyai, Nainggolan, Courtois, Witsel, Fellaini, Carrasco, Dembele, Mertens, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Januzaj

    Just to name a few... and its extremely Balanced as well.... 5 Forwards, 7 Midfielders, 6 Defenders
     

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