I can not see England or Colombia getting it done. Colombia has not gotten in done against Argentina when it matters for years and I cannot see that changing now.
If Argentina struggled this much against Cabo Verde and Egypt, Colombia and England can most definitely get it done. Colombia needs to get their shooting boots on though. They miss too many chances. England does have a mental block against big named teams. They gotta get over that. Can't remember them ever getting passed one. Heck, they could fall against Norway.
I see both of them as capable of winning, but they also have issues. Colombia, as pointed out, haven't been scoring. There's also the rivalry/psychological aspect. England have a number of injuries and a suspension, so their roster is depleted and they are probably going to be relatively tired. If they do make the semi, at least that match will be in an indoor stadium, though that also helps Argentina.
Once it went to PKs ... there was only gonna be one result. Colombia had the miss of the tournament at the end of ET. Story of their campaign ... not hitting the target.
France definitely the team to beat. Beat Morocco comfortably. Neymar can claim he is still a better PK taker than Mbappe and Messi.
France are really good, but I do feel like they are overrated a bit until they are seriously tested. Senegal was a solid test but the rest of the group phase was easy, especially with Norway playing a reserve team. Morocco was their biggest test in the knockout stage, but they were hampered by injuries -- including their top scorer at the WC. France has also been more fortunate than most teams in the tournament when it comes to injuries. Their biggest loss was losing Tchouameni in the Sweden game.
France is the scarier/ "sexier" team, but I think Spain rock paper scissors them again. only 1 goal conceded in 6 matches is impressive.
True But that goalie looked off today, made some questionable decisions late in the game and I thought he should've done better with goal they conceded.
France have taken a while to score in the last two games. That can be a problem if Spain is successful in holding the ball for most of the match. So France may need to be more aggressive to steal the ball in good positions since they won't have it often. Which may give Spain the space they need to break through. I think the rock paper scissors shorthand is very relevant here.
yes. That play with Doku and Saelemaekers at 90+1 minutes. what the hell was he thinking. France will punish those errors.
At the end of the day, the SF is composed of the top 4 ranked teams in FIFA ranking. No surprise teams. All 4 were touted among the group of favorites for the title. Although there have been upset draws in the tournament, I don't think there has been a big upset win all tournament long. Probably the biggest one is Paraguay taking out Germany but that did happen in PKs. Which by German standards, it is a bit of an upset that they lose a PK shootout. Not sure if it's recency bias, but I think this WC KO round seems to have produced more dramatic games than other editions.
What annoys me is that we were known for the possession play but know it's attributed to Spain but to be fair they took it up a level with pressing, off the ball & intelligent movement, tactical nous. A very well oiled machine, the possession equivalent to Dunga 2007-2010 team.
Brazil were more exciting when they played this way. Spain are ********ing boring but if I was their fan, wouldn't complain.
I have consistently said Spain is one team that could hurt France, what surprises me more is that France didn't seem to have a different plan for that. They've lost to Spain multiple times since the last World Cup so you would think they would prepare better for that. Maybe they should have start Cherki and Doué instead of Olise and Barcola, since they didn't have space to run, but that's easier to say in hindsight and it's not like it changed the match radically today.
Yep. I thought the same thing. Spain has what it takes style wise and psychologically to beat France. Although I did think France would take it this time as they were looking a bit too good and Spain seemed to be at 80%. But styles matter, and Spain absolutely neutered France's attack. But if I am being honest, I didn't think Spain even deserved the win on attacking merit. Just a boring SF overall. Spain got their goal lead and shut the game down.
The Porro goal was nice, but also happened because one side of France's defense shut off. Thinking back to the game, you're right, I cant think of many moves that stood out.
People back home still don't get this. They are shocked at the result, as if this was some sort of freak occurrance, and not totally predictable. Some have compared this to Brasil 82 vs Italy even. Looking flashy, that's what it's all about, man.