2018 FIFA World Cup

[Meta not Meta]

Just to be clear regarding the knockout stage, we are counting a victory on penalty kicks as a one-goal margin win, right?

 

[Meta not Meta]

France 2 Argentina 1
Uruguay 1 Portugal 0
(Habs v. Nordiques, 1984-style ...)
Spain 2 Russia 1
Croatia 1 Denmark 0
Brazil 2 Mexico 1
Belgium 2 Japan 0
(the Js deserve a bollocking after today's travesty ...)
Switzerland 1 Sweden 0
England 1 Colombia 0
(little hope for C. without a healthy James)

 

[EagerBeaver]

Sammy,

What about the Belgium and Spain goalies? They are very good
and should not be ignored!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Spain's goalie had a huge blunder that cost them a goal and the win against Portugal ( the easy shot from Ronaldo that went through his hands off his legs because he didn't put his body behind the ball )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pUY5JT11E

I guess shit happens even for the best goalies. He definitely should have saved that one

 

[The Nature Boy]

Argentina over France in penalties.
portugal Vs uraguay--> 2-1

 

[jalimon]

Do we say "a dry shot" in english Sam? As in french it was "une frappe seche" that goaltender should stop. Still once in a while they miss one mostly due to the high speed of the shot.

I would put Iniesta as a midfielder in your team Sam. Isco plays left forward at international level no? At least he was against Portugal.

I like Spain's line up. They have no striker and in my opinion it's kind of ideal

Cheers,

 

[sharkman]

Here are my picks for the Round of 16 on Saturday:

France 2 Argentina 1
Uruguay 2 Portugal 1
Spain 1 Russia 2
Croatia 2 Denmark 1
Brazil 2 Mexico 0
Belgium 2 Japan 0
Sweden 2 Switzerland 1
Columbia 2 England 1

 

[EagerBeaver]

Like you for me Iniesta, and Messi, I would also add Modric to that list are my favourite players, they are playmakers they don't need to think what to do, the team revolves around them, they are the engines of their teams.

Modric is the top ranked player at the World Cup, Iniesta and Messi are not even top 10:

http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...onaldo-to-top-world-cup-player-power-rankings

The above players are the real deal

 

[jalimon]

These kind of ranking tend to put to much focus on strikers...

That said I completely agree with midfielder Modric being #1. I would put Quintero as #2. Then Lukaku, Gimenez, Ronaldo, Coutinho , Isco, Hazard, Kane and Costa.

Although Messi scored the most difficult and most beautiful goal so far of this WC against Nigeria. He was not particularly dominant beside that.

 

[EagerBeaver]

France 4-2 lead on Argentina, 4 goals on 4 SOGs which is not what you want if you are Argentina.

19 year old Mbappe with 2 goals.

 

[jalimon]

Wow France that was quite disappointing their first 3 game until half time today but they did open the machine second half with some beautiful goals. Second one for Mbappe was from defense to the net just perfect play from all players. Especially Giroux who gave a perfect easy ball for Mbappe.

Men was I wrong in my prediction!! I really suck haha!

 

[gaby]

Yep brillante victoire de la France 4-3.....enfin un match à la hauteur de nos attentes.....BRAVO les BLEUS......CHEERS

 

[sharkman]

Allez les Bleus!...victoire amplement mérité de la France...ils ont démoli la piètre défense de l'Argentine!

 

[Meta not Meta]

Mbappe created the first goal, too, with his amazing run through the Argentina midfield and into the box. The guy just exudes happy self-confidence and more than lived up to the hype today ....

 

[sharkman]

France is a great team that plays with grit...they can turn it on on a dime!...a team masterminded by the great Didier Deschamps!

 

[gaby]

WOW....Portugal is out....Uruguay 2-1.....preuve que le travail et l'effort collectif rapportent plus que les talents individuels......en résumé 2 bons matchs today avec de beaux buts.

 

[Titilleur]

L'autre jour, quelqu'un disait que si l'Argentine ne gagnait pas le Mondial, Messi ne pourrait jamais s'en remettre et on le descendrait au plus bas niveau de l'Olympe des grands joueurs de l'histoire...

Heu... Où était Ronaldo aujourd'hui?

Je pense que Messi pourrait l'inviter à prendre un verre et ça serait à Ronaldo de payer la première tournée...

 

[Versaute]

Mbappe is a phenom. He's got another gear that no other football player in the world has. The end to end run that led to France's first goal and the last goal that he scored for France are just off the charts!

 

[Titilleur]

Mbappe is a phenom. He's got another gear that no other football player in the world has. The end to end run that led to France's first goal and the last goal that he scored for France are just off the charts!

En 2026, il aura 27 ans... Il devrait être dans son "prime"... Le Mondial de 2026 sera en Amérique du Nord. Ça serait vraiment l'fun d'avoir un match de la France à MTL. Ça serait fou!

 

[EagerBeaver]

Uruguay has given up its first goal of the tournament but it’s on to the quarters.

Ronaldo and Portugal go home.