Who are the favorites to win the WC 2022?

Discussion in 'World Cup 2022 - Qatar' started by MIGkiller, Mar 31, 2021.

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Who will win in 2022?

  1. Germany

    19 vote(s)
    11.2%
  2. France

    33 vote(s)
    19.5%
  3. Brazil

    54 vote(s)
    32.0%
  4. Argentina

    36 vote(s)
    21.3%
  5. Portugal

    17 vote(s)
    10.1%
  6. Spain

    10 vote(s)
    5.9%
  7. England

    14 vote(s)
    8.3%
  8. Netherlands

    16 vote(s)
    9.5%
  9. Italy

    5 vote(s)
    3.0%
  10. Belgium

    6 vote(s)
    3.6%
  11. Other

    24 vote(s)
    14.2%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    No mystery there. Paredes got pissed because he felt that the Dutch players kept fouling Messi and the ref was not protecting him. Right before the incident there was a collision in midfield between Messi and a player twice his size, with Messi getting the worst of it, and Paredes felt that a foul should have been called, so he fouled the Dutch player who wound up with the ball and then took his frustration out on the ball.

    Teammates tend to be protective of their superstar.
     
  2. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Anyone remember if VAR called on Lahoz to have another look at that incident? We know that they do look at potential red-card offenses during skirmishes, given that the referee was called to review footage of the scuffle at the end of the Mexico-New Zealand game in the 2017 Confed Cup.
     
  3. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    My recollection - and I watched that match a couple of times - is that there were no VAR interventions in the match. At the very least, the Spanish announcers did not mention any.
     
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  4. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    :D

    So, jinxes and curses underpin your predictions? No wonder the NED-POR final never panned out. :ninja:
     
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  5. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    #2055 Kamtedrejt, Feb 1, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2023
    We will never know how the tournament would have panned out if the bounce of the ball would have been a bit different and a couple circumstances (also favourable arbitrage towards them) wouldn't have enabled Argentina to win it. I believe Brazil getting eliminated prematurely was a major gift to Argentina. It opened the doors for them to go all the way. Croatia played a huge part in determining how this World Cup panned out. First they got passed the group thanks to Lukaku having a nightmare of a performance. Then scraped past Japan on penalties when Japan looked like more threatening. Then eliminated Brazil miraculously. Then didn't turn up at all for the semi-final against Argentina. I don't have any prove but I still believe that that match was fixed. Argentina better sent some tons of mate tea to Croatia as a recompensation lol.

    This was the first World Cup with Nations League football in-between. It was not clear how much you could read into the results and performances of that competition. I did read in it quite a lot hence my Nethelands - Portugal pick for the final. I'm not sour. I believe my final could have happened if some details would have went the other way round.

    And don't try to reply to this post. I will not reply to any Argentina related stuff anymore.
    Just enjoy your World Cup win and let's move on.
     
  6. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    This is a very one-dimensional analysis. Using the same logic, I can show how Peru almost reached the round of 16 (and yes I know they didn't even qualify).

    You have to review all the matches played in Croatia's group as a whole. Its not all about what happened in the last 30 minutes of the Belgium match.

    Portugal perhaps. Holland is a massive stretch! They already received a good dose of luck to win their group and get to extra time with Argentina. And if they finish 2nd they'd be lined up against England followed by France and its good night Irene. Even with the luck Holland received, they weren't that close to the final. Your whole spiel about Croatia's "miraculous" run being a gift to Argentina, also applies to Holland. It was a gift for Holland too, they just didn't take advantage of it.
     
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  7. almango

    almango Member+

    Sydney FC
    Australia
    Nov 29, 2004
    Bulli, Australia
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Why the hate on Netherlands? They won their group with 7 points. Only two other teams got 7 points in the group stage. They won their 2nd round match comfortably and were beaten on penalties by the eventual winners. Not sure why you think they were lucky.
     
  8. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    I don't get your argument. If a team gets 0 points then it would be hard to say they were lucky.

    Its how they got the 7 points and nearly to the semis that struck me as lucky.
     
  9. It's a matter of fact we almost always do it, getting out of a group without defeat. It's a consistant MO of the Orange Squad.
    So it can't be luck, when you do it like us.
     
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  10. almango

    almango Member+

    Sydney FC
    Australia
    Nov 29, 2004
    Bulli, Australia
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    My argument is that they had a reasonably successful world cup and that success was in line with how they played. Played five games, 3 wins by 2 goals and 2 draws. They also produced one of the cleverest and well executed set pieces to get one of those draws. I don't think they were lucky. If they were they would have gone further in the tournament.
     
  11. fixed your post;)
     
  12. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    :rolleyes:

    So you're alleging that Argentina's FA - which in recent memory was so cash-strapped that Messi and co. had to pay their travel expenses out of pocket - managed to bribe a team full of Champions League regulars still fighting for their first international trophy? And that that's a more likely explanation than the Croatians just being gassed after running themselves into the ground in their previous matches?

    I mean, Gvardiol got thrown off by Messi pulling out an old-man-at-a-pickup-game move... and not a single defender could get a decent clearance on Álvarez's slalom run for the goal prior. That's pure exhaustion right there.
     
  13. ganapordiego

    ganapordiego Member

    Estudiantes de La Plata
    Argentina
    Jul 10, 2021
    Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
     
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  14. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    lol I said all that in jest. :sneaky:
    And yet I was correct without trying to be. :laugh:
     
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  15. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    I haven't thought about exhaustion yet to be honest.
    Maybe it was indeed only exhaustion. But Croatia were soooooo tame and toothless. It's just sad that one World Cup semi-final was like that. It never felt like a one. The way Croatia all game and France played for the first half (I can't comment on the rest of the match since I didn't watch it) gave me the vibe that they were playing a friendly.

    Maybe everything was clean and Argentina just rode the fortunate circumstances and capitalised on that.
    But I will never rate Argentina 2022 as a great team.
     
  16. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    In 2018 Croatia had to go through two penalty shoot-outs before they faced England in the semi-finals. England scored early on with a Tripper free-kick. Croatia fought back and won it in extra time.

    In 2022 it was the same story with Croatia having to go through two penalty shoot-outs again before they came up against Argentina. Argentina scored early and finished the game basically in the first half. Why was Croatia not able to put up at least a better fight? I mean they were probably as much exhausted in 2018 but that didn't prevent them from chasing the game against England and beating them even in extra time. That's why I don't buy the "exhaustion excuse". Something was fishy. I hope one day it comes out....
     
  17. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    #2067 Kamtedrejt, Feb 2, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2023
    There is a lot of hate for the Nethelands here as that quarterfinal against Argentina was a very heated one. All the build-up to that match brought some animosity between these two squads. We all saw what happened during and after the match. Another reason why people here try to undermine the Netherlands is that it was me Kamtedrejt himself who picked them as champions. People want my pick to look worse by making the Dutch performance worse than it was. I never came up with a ranking but what I saw from some guys who placed the Nethelands near the bottom of the top ten and some even lower is not a fair projection of the Dutch performance. They weren't great but they were efficent and took the eventual champs to penalties. And they scored probably the best team goal of the tournament against the USA.

    From a neutral point of view you would say their tournament was alright. But I can't hide that I'm disappointed since I expected better play from them. I took some of their performances in qualfying and Nations League as a benchmark. While they showed flashes of brilliance in some of these matches they were much more pragmatic in Qatar. I guess Van Gaal doubted his squad's capability to play more proactive football against big nations hence he decided to play all the tournament in a very pragmatic style regardless of the opposition.
     
  18. And the best free kick execution:inlove:

    I warned you and the rest in here before the start that there would be no jogo bonito, but efficient, effective boring play from the Orange Squad:)
     
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  19. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Maybe, just maybe Argentina dictated play and didn't allow Croatia to put up a better fight.
    I know that may be a reach, but anything is possible.

    Yes, we've heard your mantra quite often. Before, during and after the World Cup..
    To be honest I doubt many, if anyone, cares how you rate them.

    We already established that knock out tournaments are not always won by the best, or even great, teams..
    We can look at KO tournaments throughout history and find winners who likely aren't rated highly at all.
    All they do is achieve what is required to lift the trophy.

    We also established that it's much better to be listed last on a list of 'World Cup winners' (and I personally always refer to teams that win KO Cup tournament as "winners' and not "champions", but that's just me) than be rated first on a list of "Best Teams that have never won the World Cup' (Netherlands '74, Brasil '82, etc...).
     
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  20. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    For Qatar 2022, I agree.
    Arguable regarding all-time.

     
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  21. Not as good, as the Weghorst one penetrated through the centre without step overs.
     
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  22. Christina99

    Christina99 Member+

    Argentina
    Sep 22, 2013
    Buenos Aires
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

    :notworthy: quoting my post from september 2021
     
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  23. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    The core of the team was much older in WC 2022. They also had a less stressful group stage in 2018. They were already through to the KO stage before their third group game in 2018 and rested several key players, while also subbing Modric off early.

    Also, England wasn't that good in 2018 like they are now.
     
  24. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    I'll take Argentina's for both execution and finish.
     
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  25. The Argie kick was at the end minutes of the first half, the Weghorst one was in the last few seconds of the match.
    Perfect execution in cold blood. to do this at that moment you need nerves of steel.
     
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