Who will win this group of death?

Official team photo

 

England 2 - 0 Costa Rica.

 

No he isn't. Low midfield will most likely be Witsel and De Bruyne and you could notice why if you watch first half against Egypt (Witsel) and then match against Portugal (Dembele). Witsel suits the 3-4-3 better and is loved by many coaches because he does all the tasks he gets. I'm not too big of a fan of him but I understand the choice by the coach.

 

I was impressed by Senegal yesterday, but Tunisia's containment of Spain so far has been impeccable!

 

Tunisia again with a very good effort against Spain. They made Spain looking toothless for almost the entire game with their relentless pressing game. Spain had difficulties to enter even the penalty box! As Tunisia got tired at the end they eventually conceded the goal. I like Tunisia's courageous game but it has also its flaws. This system requires endless running and there is a high risk you run out of gas after 70 minutes or so. The key to succeed will be to alternate this high-pressing with sitting deep at times in order to save energy. Or they have to make sure that they will score first against England/Belguim. If they not score first they might end up losing late like against Spain.

 

DEDICATED TO CR7'S FANS IN THE WORLD... IN ALL LANGUAGES! SHARE & DANCE THE BEST SONG ON CRISTIANO RONALDO!!!

 

Was at the England - Tunisia game last night and finally got to where there's some decent Wifi to upload the 3 goals if you want to see from the crowd's perspective:

Kane's Opener:



Sassi penalty:



Kane's Winner:

 

At this point you may not want to win the group.

The group winner likely gets the winner of Germany-Brazil in the QF (assuming a win in the R16).....the 2nd place team likely gets the winner of Mexico-Switzerland in the QF (again assuming a R16 win).

And given that England and Belgium are equal on both goal differential and goals scored, a draw in their final match would see the group winner decided by fair play points (currently England at -2, Belgium at -3), which could see both teams playing to lose and/or players intentionally trying to get carded in order to finish lower in fair play points in the case of a draw.

 

Interesting last match, most definitely.

 

There needs to be a "No one - it will be a coin toss" option to this poll

 

So both teams will want to get second

If they get second the path to the final (if the favourites win) is
Senegal/Japan/Colombia
Mexico
Croatia/Portugal

Meanwhile if they win
Senegal/Japan/Colombia
Brazil/Germany
Spain/France

 

Yepp i agree except i think its going to be Croatia/Spain and France/Portugal.
I think its bigger chance Spain wins with more goals than Portugal.

 

Can Croatia beat Spain? What are the chances?

 

Did it in Euro 2016 with mostly the same squads.

 

I want England to win. I think we're good enough while almost all the other big boys are struggling. Bring them on! I really think we'll get a result against Belgium as well because England will sit back more and counter-attack.

 

I was thinking about that. Also I believe Croatia were without Modric and Mandzukic when they did it in Euro 2016.

I do believe that Spain has improved quite a bit from Euro 2016, but so has Croatia as well.

 

The questions is: Who wants to win this group? Imo a match-up against Colombia is the last thing both teams want in 1/8 finals. Martinez has already confirmed that he will make major changes and will probably rest the big boys.

To be fair it wouldn't be my choice. I'd like to win to keep the good flow and the confirmation that we can beat a very good team.

 

Yes, because Colombia have advanced...

You're acting like it a foregone conclusion... Colombia is third in the group, may finish anywhere from 1st-4th (albeit 4th is unlikely) and Senegal, if you look at them, has the most expensive team in the group, so it shouldn't really come that much of a surprise, if they win or draw.

 

I want colombia out..overrated rubbish

 

I believe Belgium and England are superior to any team in Group H. Colombia is overrated, and I feel with the new talent that England has brought, they can beat them, and so can Belgium.

 

Well... I gotta come on here and eat crow. I was the idiot who said Panama would beat England way back when the groups were announced.

Umm... just a little bit off on that one, haha. You all are allowed to taunt and boo me untill your throats are sore.

 

It goes against the spirit of winning, but in order to not incur too much damage before the semifinal and final...

Will both England and Belgium rest all their starters in an effort to avoid Germany and Brazil ?(granted we have no idea what the brackets are yet...)

 

Reportedly both sides will rest quite a few players. Southgate and Martinez have made similar comments about it. I hear Kane wants that golden boot and will (probably) play but might be subbed off at some point. Lukaku has a knock and very likely he'll be protected and maybe Hazard, and to a lesser extent Mertens, won't start either. Players on a yellow will definitely sit this one out, i.e. no Vertonghen, Meunier and De Bruyne.

Martinez said fielding a completely fresh team (except the goalie?) is a possibility. In 2014 Belgium were also through before the final group game and fielded 9 fresh players with only Vertonghen (captain for that game) and the goalie keeping their spot in the starting line-up. This time round I expect that at least half of the starters (for Belgium) will be on the bench and it wouldn't be a surprise if it's more.

Belgium's base camp is in Moscow and to play more games in Moscow it would be better to come second in this group.

 

It will be interesting, because as the last group to complete group play, the Group G teams will know exactly what side of the bracket the powerful teams will be. For example, if the Group G 2nd place team will get Brazil or Germany in the quarters, and the first place team Switzerland or Mexico, will that be incentive enough to field the strongest team possible on Thursday and go all out for a win?

 

Managers won't openly admit to it but both Southgate and Martinez will be thinking about the (better) path behind closed doors. I'd expect Brazil +/- Germany to go into the other half though, i.e. the winners of group G ending up with a harder path. Let's see what happens tomorrow (and the day after).