I reckon that Equatorial and Burkina will win their games. More of a feeling than an informed, intellectual prediction. They both play with pure passion and that has carried teams far in this.
So they did. I still think that the age of Brazilian dominance of the World Cup Finals is over. They are mentally weak under pressure now.
I hope Ivory Coast gets over Egypt so we get to see this clash. I think it would be an extremely interesting game to watch. I give Ivory Coast a slight edge on the attack but Morocco's defense is clearly better imo.
Maybe, maybe not. I don't think that they will have their usual Samba party fans in high numbers, though and that is where their juice comes from. A lot of the "party fans" nations might struggle, I reckon. England. No rolling about the streets drunk and being bellends. Fans have a huge impact on how a team plays. Iran and Qatar's fans will be going mental in the stands. All the stadiums are close to each, the closest they have ever been. You can drive from the furthest away stadium to Doha, the capital in 45 minutes in normal traffic, so you won't even need to get planes as your team advances. It's too hard to call anything. Only in the last group games will you have an idea who has shit the bed or will at some point. Weaknesses only come out under pressure. But it will be fun as hell to watch the WC in winter evenings! The pubs will be bouncing!
Congratulations to Morocco. They were the better side, not just in name and ranking, but also on the pitch. Which ordinarily wouldn't be saying much as their opponent, Malawi, isn't merely poorly ranked but on the transfer market their entire squad worth under $5 million (with their most expensive player worth well less than $1 million). Still, this hasn't been an ordinary tournament and, in this AFCON, showing better than the likes of Malawi on the pitch has itself been an accomplishment which has eluded many of CAF's top ranked sides..
As I mentioned a few months ago, don't be surprised if the World Cup winner isn't one of the usual suspects. Even if I might give the list of past-winners/favorites, collectively, slightly more than 50% odds to win the World Cup, I actually give the rest of the field, collectively at least 40% chance to have the next WC winner in their ranks.
Some people here think that Asian World Cups provide some magic. Some people believe in the trend that every 12 years a new winner emerges. We'll see but my short list has five teams in it. I would be surprised if the eventual winner is someone else.
Just found out that the great Feyenoord and Holland national team player, Wim Jansen died today at 75 from complications from dementia. Great player! And he stopped Rangers getting 10 league titles in a row when he managed Celtic. I hope we don't lose more football legends this decade. Pele is very frail, it will be a very sad time when O Rei leaves us. There should be a massive celebration of Pele when he leaves us, a massive 11 v 11 8-hour match with unlimited substitutes and let all great players, even retired players play in it, live on TV.
I believe that the possibility of a new WC champion is helped by the following: 1- Venue: we have had only 2 World Cups in history outside UEFA/CONMEBO/CONCACAF: 2002, 2010. This will only be the 3rd. In 2002, the surprise was S.Korea making the semis but also Turkey. In 2010, we had a new winner, Spain. In 2022, we might find not just a new winner from UEFA/Conmebol (e.g., Holland, Colombia etc), but from an unexpected place (e.g., the US, or Morocco, or maybe even Nigeria, or S.Korea or maybe even....). 2- Lack of a dominant side: never mind against other elite sides, but is there a single team in the world that is close to being a "sure bet" to beat the best sides from CAF, CONCACAF, AFC? No. Not IMO. 3- Winter World Cup: the fact that there will be little preparation will hurt all sides, but on balance, it will deprive the better teams the opportunity to build up a cohesive enough unit from individual players, giving extra added weight to intanfibles such as passion, drive, and momentum. 4- Time for a new chapter: with World Cup expansion in the horizon, its time for new stories, trends and legends..
It is very unlikely Brazil will win world cup this year. No team who was won the football Olympics gold has ever won the world cup straight after that tournament certainly not in modern era. France won world cup 2 decades after 1998 but I don't think that omen will repeat again and be the same for Brazil. I think a 2026 world cup victory is much more likely for Brazil or Argentina as it will be held in the Americas. I think a European team again in Qatar will win maybe it is finally finally England's Year but it may could be a European team not France Italy and Germany .If there is a south American that I think can win world cup it will be Argentina but again don't think so.
I know that stat. I think if there´s a team who could break that curse it´s Brazil. Anway, I see Brazil if not winning getting very close to win it. I set my sights on England as potential winners too. It would be logical actually if they win.
Personally I don´t read much into your first, and third point. As for the second point I agree. The fourth point I regard as wishful thinking. Some powerhouses might not be at their best from the get go but they will get better as the tournament progress. The time is not ripe for a new winner. The ROW teams need to improve more. Brazil and England are for me the front-runners as they both possess the squad and both will be the most hungry teams among the powerhouses.
26 out of the 28 Comorian players are born and raised in France. So basically the Comorian team is mostly made of pro or semi-pro players developped in French training centers and playing in the French lower leagues. Obviously that won't make of it a favourite, but that's good enough to make it a consistent and well-organized team. As such, I agree with you that it's ridiculous to compare with Saint-Lucia or Grenada which are mostly made of amateurs rarely playing outside of the Caribbeans.
It is wishful thinking on my part. That's true. But I really don't see insurmountable obstacles on the way of such wishful thinking, especially in the setting and environment of a winter season World Cup in Qatar.
I would be thrilled if Turkey switched to the AFC, especially with World Cup expansion to 48 teams. But the idea needs to be sold to the Turks, not me. I haven't read anything to show Turkey looking in that direction.
Ivory v Egypt Hard to call this one. Ivory might just edge it, but Egypt are a very good side. Should be a great match. 16 mins: Tremendous strike onto the bar from 35 yards by Egypt! Still 0-0.
Scoreless at HT but a very good game. Both sides doing well. Egypt might have had better chances but CIV has had better build ups and usually more articulate with ball.
This game deserves much more importance than a 2nd round match in a tournament with some mediocre match ups even in the quarter finals. The bracket is very uneven.
Ivory 0-0 Egypt Close game. Egypt have pressed forward more, but Ivory have had good chances. Yeah, this is more like a semi-final or final. Egypt might be a team to watch in the World Cup, not to win it, just to be hard to beat. I feel that way about Iran and Qatar, too. Those nations will be jazzed for the World Cup, they won't let their fans down. The group games will be very tense, I reckon.
Congratulations to Egypt. Both sides played well, showed quality and class, and neither really deserved to lose. Or bow out so early.