Let's do this. Now that we have the 32 qualified teams. Post your preferred ones and your most disliked ones. Top Preferred: 1. Brazil 2. Iceland 3. México 4. Costa Rica 5. Perú Top disliked (I miss USA here): 1. Portugal 2. Spain 3. England 4. Argentina 5. Australia MOD NOTE: I will be keeping a keen eye on this thread - to all, please keep your comments on disliked teams football-related, without resorting to xenophobic, prejudicial, racist or otherwise derogatory rationales. - Paul Calixte
Top Preferred: 1. Belgium 2. Belgium 3. Belgium 4. Belgium 5. Belgium Top disliked: 1. N/A 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. N/A 5. N/A
Top preferred: 1. Australia 2. Australia 3. Australia 4. Australia 5. Iceland (I mean, how could you not, it's like hating a kitten) Top disliked: 1. Our opponent in the first match 2. Our opponent in the second match 3. Our opponent in the third match. 4. Hopefully TBA 5. Really hopefully TBA. J
In that case its: 1. Australia 2. Iceland And the most disliked are not known yet, how can you dislike them?
I named them exactly. I want my team to win against who they play - everyone else is irrelevant until we have to meet them. J
I understand that you root against the opponent of your side, but this question is about disliking, not rooting against. And how is everyone else irrelevant, you dont watch the other matches? you stop watching the WC once your team is no longer there?
Top Preferred: 1. Australia 2. Sweden 3. France 4. Spain 5. Nigeria Top disliked: 1. Uruguay 2. Saudi Arabia (I would normally say Iran here but they are growing on me and the Saudis are more disliked now) 3. Tunisia 4. England (but I want them to get through the group stage and loose in the knock-out stage) 5. Russia
They are irrelevant to my liking or disliking them - do you look at a (say) EPL game and go "I don't like or dislike either of these teams, therefore I must turn my TV off?" or do you need to create some sort of hatred in your own mind to go on? That sounds really weird (and TBH, like you have some serious psychological problems). Anyway, given you seem so upset that people might have differing views to you on this question - I will play your little game. Like 1. Australia (obviously) 2. Iran. I know some might find this hard - but 2001 set in motion the things that saved football in this country. In addition, I saw Iran v Angola in the 2006 World Cup and met some really great Iranian fans. They were from Sydney obviously, but still. 3. Japan. 2001 might have set our move to the AFC in motion, but Japan were the ones who helped us into that confederation. They are also our great rivals and I will never forget 2006 in Kaiserslautern. Like Iran, they are the best of enemies. And, I also want the AFC teams to perform this time - if only to annoy some posters. 4. Iceland - too cute. 5. Could be anyone else really - whoever plays good football I think - and probably someone who hasn't won before. But, I'll say Senegal (vague personal connection there) not really knowing a thing about how they play. Dislike. I still find it hard to think why I would dislike a team. So, I'll just randomly pick five and give a irrelevant reason. 1. Russia (Putin) 2. Belgium (because of the Belgian Congo and that time I drank too much Stella) 3. Peru (because a kiwi guy I know was whining about them for some reason, and probably 1978) 4. Spain (because I've never been there and that makes me sad) 5. Switzerland ("What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?") J
I'll exclude the top seeds pot and Spain/England as I would love to watch any of them. Hoping to see: Croatia, Mexico, Egypt, Iceland, Sweden Prefer not to see these teams (but I'm happy to be proven wrong in Russia) Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Peru, Panama
I swear i dont dislike Brazil at all. I actually like them a lot. Im closer to dislike Uruguay or Spain, but no way ill ever dislike Brazil (unless they play against us and injure Messi or something. Then ill hate them) But tbh i still dont hate any team this WC.
Top preferred: Argentina Peru Colombia Top hated: England Brazil Chil...oh no Uruguay ********ing germans
Good thread for people to get their biases out and in the open. The top of the dislike list for me, for instance, is a no-brainer: Saudi Arabia. No other team comes close. And, of course, my favorite would be Iran. The rest of the pack would, of course, depend on the draw. Any side drawn against Iran can easily move from the likes to the dislike list. The good thing, though, is that there isn't any circumstance that can move Saudi Arabia out of the top position in my dislike list! So here is how the list would look from my angle at this moment, before the draw: Favorites: 1- IRAN - don't need to explain the choice, except I really hope we play as well as I have seen us play. In which case, there will be others who will find Iran worthy of being liked as well. 2- Germany - I used to root against them, starting with the first World Cup final I watched in 1974 as a child were I rooted for the Orange, and subsequently as I didn't appreciate their style of football. But when the Bundesliga became the first top European league to start recruiting players from Iran in the 1990s, that all changed. At one point in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were a dozen Iranian players in the Bundesliga! And since then, I have been a fan of Germany and, for the most part, I haven't been disappointed! 3- Russia - don't expect them to do well, but as long as they aren't in Iran's group, I will want them to succeed as hosts. And unlike some others here, there are plenty of political figures that I hate more than Putin! 4- Iceland - a true Cinderella side. The only thing I have against them is that they are among the best candidates form UEFA to flop and I don't want UEFA fans to become more annoying with the superiority complex some of them like to showcase. 5- Japan - I really wanted Japan to do well in 2014 and expected better from them. I am not as thrilled with their team this time around and found their players a bit unexpectedly and uncharacteristically rude in a friendly we played against them a couple years ago. But if there is a side from the AFC besides Iran that I want to see do well and help the confederation's standing, it is Japan. (I am okay with Australia too, but the rivalry with South Korea makes it hard for me to genuinely root for them and Saudi Arabia tops my list of sides I hate. Dislikes: 1- SAUDI ARABIA. It is not good to admit to hating anything or anyone and hate might be a bit over the top. But I just don't like anything about them. Not their football, not anything else. Not since World Cup 1994, which was the last time I rooted for Saudi Arabia in anything. To get a sense of what I mean, lets just say that I doubt any German fan enjoyed their 8:0 against Saudi Arabia in World Cup 2002 as much as I did! 2- Uruguay. I like the little guy do well but Uruguay stands for dirty football to me. I sometimes enjoy their football but I don't like their antics any support. 3- South Korea. Iran and South Korea are rival sides in the AFC and their success sometimes comes back to haunt us. Not so much in terms of the results they get against us, but in having to suffer the arrogance of some of their fans -- that is until they face Iran and get beaten again 4- Panama - I like to see Concacaf do poorly and again become the confederation that the AFC can point to in order to hide its own faults and blemishes. Panama seems the best candidate to fulfill that role. 5- Costa Rica - Same as for Panama, except Costa Rica certainly did very well in 2014 and would appear less of a candidate than Panama for embarrassing Concacaf. But I am almost certain Costa Rica will not show well in Russia.
A mixture of things. If I like the players, the play style, the history, if I have a personal connection with that country, want to meet the fans. For the teams I listed that I don't want to see I have only ever seen two games each on TV from Tunisia, Saudi, Iran and Panama so for me I just don't know enough about those teams. Peru I really liked them in qualifying but bitter about all the shady things their country did to the NZ team off the pitch in the days around the recent game. I'm happy to watch any team though. I plan on going to two or three matches that are between teams not in Pot1 so no doubt now that I've listed these teams I'll end up drawing at least one of them and end up with them as my new favourite
Favs 1.Mexico. The GOAT 2. Germany. I fux w dem **********s 3.Brasil. Neymar does work 4.Spain. 2010 was dope 5.Iceland. Underdog story WOAT 1.Korea. 2.Japan. 3.Iran 4.Saudi Arabia 5.Morocco Too shook to give reasons for the WOAT becos dont know what mods be on.
Liked: 1. Poland 2. Germany 3. Iceland 4. Croatia 5. Serbia Disliked: Actually, I do not hate any teams and wish all good luck
I think you meant 1997. Or, to be more precise, that memorable match between Iran and Australia in Melbourne. I will never forget that match. It began for me expecting Iran to play well, as we had done in the first leg despite the 1:1 draw that favored the Socceroos. But things looked totally different from the get go and from the opening the whistle -- Iran seemed to be nervous and was playing arguably the worse game of its life, while the Socceroos were clicking on all cylinders. Iran trailing 2:0 and looking it was going to be slaughtered, not any threat from Iran up to the around the 70th minute mark, none at all, while Iran was dodging bullets left and right. And then: BOOM:...it was 2:2 and Iran had booked it ticket to France 98 on the away goal rule. Unbelievable game and the shock for Australian fans must have been no less than how shocking the whole thing was for Iranian fans. A game that requires its own movie and more.
Yup - was it that long ago. Wow. Anyway don't forget the "serial pest" who invaded the pitch and tried to cut down the nets just before Iran came back. J
Tunisia bought themselves an easier qualifying path than they deserved. Egypt was ranked 5th in CAF and therefore a Pot 1 team in both the June and July FIFA rankings, but Tunisia got a mid month special version of the rankings made that put them into 5th. Egypt appealed and got another special ranking made that put them back into 5th, but then Tunisia paid off enough people to get the 2nd special ranking overturned and they were back in Pot 1. Tunisia aren't good enough to be there on merit and wouldn't have likely made it if in a tougher qualifying group where they belonged.
Top likes 1)Iran 2)Germany-Lahm was my idol when I played RB 3) Nigeria-many friends from here 4)Croatia- always loved watching them. Same as my answer for 2.. Darijo Srna is a god. 5) Japan/SK-- long history of respect between Iran and them. Top dislikes 1) Saudi Arabia(hoping they get Germany/Spain/Senegal something like that ) 2) England(overhyped/arrogant media+ team ) 3)Argentina(a few players on the team just bad attitudes man.. not Messi). 4) Uruguay -Suarez should not have played a minute of soccer after biting Chiellini (3strikes you are out). The whining after Copa America was too much. 5) Ehhh...Mexico I guess to fulfill my US fan duties
Here is my list in terms of who I’d like and wouldn’t like to see play. Likes: (USA would’ve been #1) 1. Belgium: So much talent. 2. Iceland: The super minnows have a chip on their shoulder, and the whole country will travel there. I sat with them in France for the Portugal game, and I lost my voice for 1.5 weeks. I wouldn’t mind doing that again! 3. Egypt: Sure, they’re relying a lot on Salah, but what a talent he is. Plus, did you see that game against Congo? Their fans are mad excited to see their boys in it for the first time in 28 years. 4. Peru: First time at WC in 36 years. I think Argentina and Uruguay will decline after this tournament. I think this is the first step in them moving up the SAm pecking order. 5. Brazil: I think seeing them play live is a rite of passage, yet I’ve never seen them play in person. Dislikes: 1. Panama: Yes, I’ve accepted that my country won’t be in the WC, but there’s still a bitter taste in my mouth. Congrats on qualifying though. 2. Saudi Arabia: I haven’t seen them play much, but what I did see bored me. I also can’t name a single player on their team. 3. Tunisia: See above. 4. Morocco: See above, plus they eliminated Ivory Coast. I loved that golden generation. 5. Portugal: I can’t stand CR7.