The albiceleste should win the group, although it should be way more of a challenge than the group they got in Qatar. I'd take Austria and Algeria over those versions of Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Even over Australia.
Depends on who makes it out of the UEFA playoff. If Italy gets through, I could see Canada ending up in third place.
Honestly, if Turkey makes it, we'd have a pretty evenly matched group, specially when the US aren't that intimidating at home as they were ten-fifteen years ago.
From my point of view there are three winnable matches for us, but also three loseable matches. I guess that means that I agree it's a pretty evenly matched group.
I would not rule out Wales doing a number on Canada either. On their day they are a difficult opponent and I think the Swiss will win that Group. I don’t think the US should be getting too cocky either about topping their Group, but we will see next Summer.
Yes... Refs won't let us down... They need to make up for that Mali ref in South Africa... They owe us a couple goals
I could definitely see France finishing second in their group, and that will probably cause an early clash with a big team. If Morocco are as good as they were last time around, Brazil will have a hard time against them. No idea how good Colombia are because I don't watch CONMEBOL, but Portugal have to take them seriously.
Some more projections. Quite good chances to have a new champion: 39%. Most likely new champion is Portugal (5,3%). Last time - 2010 (Spain). 64% chance for a final to contain at least one team that has never been in the WC final before. Again Portugal (10,5%) then Colombia (9,2%) and Norway (7,1%). Last time - 2018 (Croatia). 13,5% of a final with both of the teams that has never been in the final before (most likely Colombia against Portugal - 0,63% of happening). Last time - 1934 (!) (Italy-Czechoslovakia).
I really like our draw. Evenly matched teams. Glad we avoided one of the powerhouses as we always get smashed against them. Hopefully Turkey get through as your guaranteed a full on atmosphere when they play. Very very happy to be playing host nation USA in Seattle. Stadium there goes nuts from what I've seen. And lastly Paraguay in San Francisco to probably decide our position in the group. Have r32 tickets for New York so if we finish 3rd and other things go our way we could maybe play there. Have tickets for this one so it'll be one less thing stress over.
As for Scotland, I think we will likely need 4pts to be sure to make it as a best eight 3rd place, unless we can avenge the thumping we got in St Etienne. Opening against the supposed weakest team is not Scotland’s forte, and our lack of goal scoring threat does not make me confident in a GD ranking scenario, given the other opponents in the group. Hope the last game is in Atlanta, as I don’t think Steve Clark or the boy’s will fancy getting a chasing from Brazil in the heat and humidity in Miami.
The last three Euros have had 24 teams, effectively the same system as this World Cup. It always goes to 3 points and goal difference. 4 points will get teams through. There will be some teams that get battered in this World Cup. If Scotland can do that to Haiti they will probably get through. Beat Haiti and grab a point against Morocco or Brazil will ensure it. What they can't afford to do is beat Haiti but let Brazil pile the goals up. I hope Scotland gets through, good luck. It's getting exciting now!
Don’t underestimate Switzerland. Many people tend to forget about them, but they always perform consistently at major tournaments. They always make it out of the group stage and are a reliable quarter-final team. USA’s group is exciting. If Turkey qualifies through the play-offs, then it’s a very even group where everyone can take points off each other. Again, Australia is a team that tends to surprise at major tournaments. Iran’s group consists of some of the weakest teams from each seeding pot. Belgium is the weakest non-host nation from Pot 1. Iran is the weakest from Pot 2 together with Australia and South Korea (although South Korea performs better at major tournaments than Iran). Egypt from Pot 3 is neither the best nor the worst. However, Salah has gotten older, and they tend to underperform at World Cups. From Pot 4, New Zealand is among the weaker sides, together with the North American teams. Belgium, Egypt, and Iran are all on a downward trend and are playing the worst football they have in a long time. This could work to New Zealand’s advantage, even though they are the weakest on paper. I really like Germany’s group. Aside from Curaçao, every team can win the group. I’m looking forward to seeing Ecuador.
That's what they did in 2022 though, remember? Initially at least. Then they moved the start date of the tournament up a day so that the hosts could be in the opener.
So which team/teams will disappoint and get knocked out in the group stage? There is always atleast one big team that doesnt make the knockout rounds. I know its easier now because of the expansion and 8 best 3rd place teams. But still I am sure there will be atleast one big team that gets knocked out. If not a pot 1 team then atleast a good team from the other pots. Like Norway, Italy, Ecuador and so on. Who Will it be
I think they peaked 3-4 years ago when they were the second hottest team on the planet. Diaz is also a bit passed his prime. Portugal is at another level if Penaldo doesn't mess up their chemistry.
I dont really agree. I get that they have gotten an easy group on paper, but Belgium isnt great either. I dont trust Them enough to say they for sure will get 9 points. In the Euros they had the easiest group with Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine but only managed 4 points. In trust Spain to win their group alot more than Belgium. Both because of Spains level but also because of the opposition. Cape Verde isnt better than Egypt and Saudi isnt better than Iran. Uruguay are of course better than New Zealand but I still think spain will beat them
No contender or big team will get knocked out that early this time, imo. The format is too forgiven now. At most, I can see a team like Senegal crashing out. They'll spend six months focussed on the France match and it could be very depressing when they lose that, then they have to pick themselves up for 2 more tricky games.