Pre-tournament odds: Spain: 9/2 France: 9/2 England: 7/1 Brazil: 8/1 Portugal: 8/1 Argentina: 9/1 Germany: 14/1 Netherlands: 20/1 Norway: 30/1 Belgium: 33/1 Colombia: 33/1 Japan: 50/1 Morocco: 50/1 Mexico: 66/1 USA: 66/1 Uruguay: 66/1 Switzerland: 80/1
Lets goo 2nd in 2018 3rd in 2022 Still odds 100/1 for Croatia. Bellow the 17 mentioned teams above...
PROBABLE LINEUPS SPAIN Simón Llorente Laporte Cubarsi Cucurella Pedri Rodri Fabian Yamal Oyarzabal Williams FRANCE Maignan Kounde Upamecano Saliba Theo Rabiot Tchouameni Doue Olise Mbappe Dembele ENGLAND Pickford R.James Stones Guehi Spence Anderson Rice Saka Bellingham Rashford Kane BRAZIL Alisson Danilo Marquinhos Gabriel A.Sandro Guimaraes Casemiro Rapinha Paqueta Vinicius Cunha PORTUGAL Costa Dalot Dias Inacio Mendes Neves Vitinha B.Fernandes Neto Ronaldo Leao ARGENTINA Martinez Molina Romero L.Martinez Tagliafico De Paul Enzo Mac Alister Messi Almada J.Alvarez GERMANY Baunmann Kimmich Schlotterbeck Tah Brown Pavlovic Nmecha Sane Musiala Wirtz Undav NETHERLANDS Verbruggen Dumfries van Hacke Van Dijk van de Ven De Jong Gravenberch Reijnders Summerville Malen Gapko NORWAY Nyland Ryerson Ajer Heggem Wolfe Odegaard Berge Aursnes Nusa Sorloth Haaland BELGIUM Courtois Meunier Debast Theate De Cuyper Tielemans Onana De Bruyne Trossard De Ketelaere Doku COLOMBIA Vargas Muñoz Sanchez Lucumi Mojica Lerma Rios Arias J.Rodriguez L.Diaz Suarez JAPAN Suzuki Tomiyasu H.Ito Watanabe Doan Kamada Endo Nakamura J.Ito Ueda Kubo MOROCCO Bono Hakimi Diop Riad Mazraoui Bouaddi El Aynaoui Ounahi Brahim Saibari Rahimi MEXICO Rangel Sanchez Montes Vasquez Gallardo Alvarado Lira Fidalgo Gutierrez R.Jimenez Quiñones USA Freese Scally Mckenzie Ream Robinson Tillman Adams Weah McKennie Pulisic Balogun URUGUAY Rochet Varela Araujo Gimenez Olivera Valverde Ugarte Betancur Pellistri Nuñez Araujo SWITZERLAND Kobel Widmer Elvedi Akanji Rodriguez Freuler Xhaka Manzambi Vargas Embolo Ndoye
More like : Maignan ? Upamecano Saliba ? Tchouaméni? Rabiot Olise Dembélé Doué Mbappé It will depend on each game anyway + since the k-o stages, an attacker should be dropped for a third midfielder. Mbappé can't play on the left just for that one good reason (to start with) that the left flank (LB) is one weakness. Like the right flank too, so it won't be that surprising that Zaïre-Emery ends up there at the RB position at some point (except if he becomes a starter at MF*). At midfield, there will be a turnover with only Rabiot being a clear starter. Tchouaméni is in the doldrums since some time if ever he's been that good one day. He'll have to make no mistake to preserve his starting player status. Koundé-Theo... could be right... up to one point, or for there are really no proven better options. We know that Dembélé can't play every games too. It also can be right that Olise would be in the middle : in this case, Dembélé would be on the wing...
You might be right, french forwards are very versatile. Mbappé against Ivory Coast played all across the front line, although he mostly drifted out to the left wing with Thuram as the center forward. This makes me think that at times Mbappé will play on that side and Dembélé will be the center forward. Cherki could also come into the starting lineup. France has many attacking options.
The Northern Ireland game confirmed that for now. Koundé-Théo were the starters and should start against Senegal but well, we'll see on the long run. And also the doubts about Dembélé (but I did not quote my post in its entirety). It just could be another midfielder instead of him at one point... Lacroix is clear CB #3 too. In case of...
I dont think Deschamp will rotate the first eleven much. He will probably find the one selection he trusts the most and perhaps rotate one or max two players for big profile games towards more conservative line up. He is a conservative coach so I dont expect him to radically change line ups on a match basis and experiment with different combinations. When he finds out what works in his eyes, which might be the game one or already firmly decided, he will be very reluctant to tinker with it further.
If you read post #7 in addition, you'll see I don't say much different. Just, it could take some time before he obtains something like a first 11, more likely since the K-O stages and then, there's another factor that could be the injuries. It's a long tournament. Playing the Q/F's it is already 6 games (against different types of teams, although France must find their best possible 11, there always could be at least one little/ big variant). It will be refined step by step and then (if they go further) it can slightly change again (due to the individual performances/ form of the players, possibly according to the opponent, due to injuries, suspensions...) so they'll never be such a thing as an 11 that is carved in stone. Again, especially in a 48-team tournament with a round of 32 (and especially with a 9 forwards squad). A core of 9 players why not, we never know (would be cool...?) ... but in the current state of the team, apart from the keeper (who's subjected to injuries btw), the central defense (with Saliba LCB, who is not always at his ease there), Rabiot at midfield, Olise and most likely Doué to bring some balance on the sides and of course Mbappé upfront (automatically), DD still has a lot on his plate. So we're far from that, a 11 or even a sure 9 (+2). I doubt he will find what would be considered ultimately as the "first 11" during game one. Just due to the two full-back positions, to start with. There is maybe even not a solution to this problem in the squad. Most of all since Zaire-Emery stands a chance to impose himself at midifeld (Cornelian choice). More or less "pseudo" tactical choices and rotation can also help at having everyone involved and be ready to play at any moment. Having 26 people on fire should be difficult, even in a 48-team tournament, but around something like 22 is a necessity too. Deschamps also likes to cover his tracks sure... but I think he's getting himself all confused, for now. Then, of course, he will find the solution... hopefully. I understand that you think that Deschamps has already his 11 to play the final in the head... if everything goes like in a dream, why not, but it is doubtful that it will meet reality. He doesn't even know what to do with Dembélé. It's rubbish to say, but if he got injured (well him or... Mbappé), it would make things easier for DD. He somehow knew, but Dembélé doesn't want anymore : playing on the wing that was. And behind the CF, not that much either (a sort of compromise against Northern Ireland... unless Dembélé loves that and was poor just because he wanted to avoid getting injured...). Well, he might have to drop one. For another midfielder to protect that defense too... Cherki remaining a supersub. "Changing just 1 or 2 players but nothing radical" as you wrote : if Dembélé is one of them, it is radical. We'll see, nothing is written. Dembele LW in a 4-3-3 is not impossible. Edit : + Mbappé LW with Dembélé CF in in a 4-3-3 is not 100% impossible either. But we're far from it (if it's really the best solution).
Those odds look about right at the top, but I think Brazil at 8/1 and Argentina at 9/1 are more interesting than people might admit. Spain and France are probably the safest picks because of depth, but tournament football is rarely that clean. Argentina still know how to suffer through knockout games, and Brazil have enough individual quality to suddenly look terrifying if they click. The 50/1 range is where it gets fun. Morocco and Japan both feel like teams nobody wants to draw in a knockout match.
Spain has the easiest path in the World Cup. In theory, they wouldn't face any top teams until the semifinals. If things go as expected, they would play Austria in the Round of 32, Colombia or Croatia in the Round of 16, and Belgium or the USA in the quarterfinals. The only downside is that they have Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay in their group. However, they should beat them and finish first in their group.
Top scorer: Mbappe: 6/1 Kane: 8/1 Oyarzabal: 14/1 Haaland: 15/1 Messi: 18/1 Vinicius Jr: 20/1 Yamal: 22/1 Cristiano: 22/1 Julian Alvarez: 28/1
Like always - since 1984. We are 15 enthuastic football nerds. We watch every match and hand out player ratings. The rules are simple. We don´t leave the table before we all agree on a rating for every player. The scale is from 4 (should not have gone the the WC) to 10 (Out of this world). Let´s go. MEXICO vs SOUTH AFRICA 2-0 ** Rangel 5, Reyes 6, Gallardo 6, Montes 5, Vasquez 6, Lira 7, Gutierrez 6, Fidalgo 5, Alvarado 7, QUINONES 8*, Jimenez 7. Subs: Chavez 6, Mora 6, Alvarez, Gonzalez, Vega WILLIAMS 8*, Sibisi 5, Okon 6, Mbokazi 7, Mudau 6, Modiba 6, Sithole 5, Mokoena 7, Adams 5, Rayners 5, Foster 6 Subs: Mbatha 6, Zwane 4, Makgopa, Appollis MAN-OF -THE-MATCH: JULIAN QUINONES SOUTH KOREA vs CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1 *** S-G Kim 8, H-B Lee 7, M-J Kim 7, K-H Lee 6, Seol 6, T-S Lee 6, I-B HWANG 8*, Se-H Paik 7, K-I Lee 8, J-S Lee 7, Son 6 Subs: H-C Hwang 6, Oh 7, Eom 7, J-G Kim, J-S Park Kovar 8, Chaloupek 6, Hrnac 5, Kreji 6, COUFAL 8*, Soucek 7, Sojka 6, Zeleny 6, Sulc 6, Provod 5, Schick 5 Subs: Chory 5, Sadilek 5, Hlozek 5, Chytil MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: IN-BEOEM HWANG
Some Mexico ratings and write-ups here for the game vs South Africa: Mexico Player Ratings vs. South Africa: World Cup Curse Emphatically Snapped I don't know whether they'll be doing them for all teams and all games or not. I thought perhaps Lira was the top performer, for the general quality and composure (as well as in effect an assist), though Gutierrez seems to have potential to play better going forwards from here maybe.
Gutierrez has the potential for sure but he really didn´t play a good match - not in my book anyway. Six of us handed out an 8 for Lira (just short of getting an 8 overall) - he could have been MOTM for sure.
I see DBS Calcio has the Mexico-South Africa match ratings (from Italian press I guess) loaded up now - I guess the other games' ratings will be following fairly regularly although I haven't checked with vyncy: Match Formations All the 6.5 and above ratings going to Mexicans: 7.5 to Quinones, 7 to Reyes, Lira, Alvarado, Jimenez, 6.5 to Vasquez, Gallardo, Fidalgo, Gutierrez.
CANADA vs BOSNIA 1-1 *** Crepeau 7, Johnston 6, Laryea 8, Cornelius 7, de Fougerolles 8, Eustaquio 7, Kone 6, Buchanan 5, Miller 5, David J 4, Oluwaseyi 5. Subs: Schaffelburg 6, Ahmed 7, David P 6, LARIN 8*, Osorio Vasijl 7, Dedic 6, Kolasinac 8, Katic 7, MUHAREMOVIC 8*, Tahirovic 6, Basic 7, Bajraktarevic 6, Memic 6, Demirovic 5, Lukic 7 Subs: Gigovic 6, Bazdar 6, Sunjic, Alajbegovic, Burnic. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: CYLE LARIN USA vs PARAGUAY 4-1 **** Freese 6, Freeman 6, Richards C 7, Ream 7, Dest 7, Robinson A 7, Adams 7, McKennie 8, Tillman 8, BALOGUN 9*, Pulisic 9. Subs: Berhalter 6, Weah, Pepi, Reyna Gill 5, Caceres 5, Alonso 5, Alderete 5, Gomez G 5, Gomez D 6, Bobadilla 4, Cubas 5, Almiron 5, ENCISO 7*, Sanabria 6. Subs: Mauricio 7, Arce 6, Kaku, Sosa, Velazquez. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: FLORIN BALOGUN
I will also try to update the post by publishing the player ratings from the various newspapers for each match. AS Mundo Deportivo Diario Marca
At a very early stage of the championship, with very few complete sources, and without weighting or penalties, these are the top players so far (minimum 45 minutes): 1. Balogun (United States): 8.58 2. Hwan In Beom (Korea): 8.40 3. Quiñones (Mexico): 7.99 4. Tillman (United States): 7.71 5. Pulisic (United States): 7.66 6. Kang In Lee (Korea): 7.54 7. McKennie (United States): 7.51 8. Adams (United States): 7.42 9. Raúl Jiménez (Mexico): 7.37