Allow me to get slightly ahead of myself.
Saturday 30th June
15:00 - France vs Argentina
19:00 - Uruguay vs Portugal
Sunday 1st July
15:00 - Spain vs Russia
19:00 - Croatia vs Denmark
Monday 2nd July
15:00 - Brazil vs Mexico
19:00 - Belgium vs Japan
Tuesday 2nd July
15:00 - Sweden vs Switzerland
19:00 - England vs Colombia
Here is a visual representation of the knock out stage:
Last edited by dino; 29-06-2018 at 06:18 AM.
As has been observed by everyone, the bottom half of the draw is clearly "weaker" than the top half. If Spain cock it up, one of the world cup finalists will be Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Japan, Senegal or Colombia. That is wild.
Brazil 2-1 Mexico
Hazard’s pissing this.
Seven straight last 16 exits from Mexico is a really mightily impressive feat.
Portugal v France
England v Brazil
Spain v Denmark
Sweden v Belgium
This would be a great quarter-final lineup, and confirm the utter supremacy of European football.
Colombia in the final then.
Portugal Vs Mexico final and then 90 minutes of them passing the ball around in midfield, just for the Simpsons to be right yet again.
Edit- Damn, just realised Mexico fucked that earlier. Semi will have to do.
Last edited by Browning; 27-06-2018 at 10:24 PM.
Sterling scores a goal against Brazil so powerful it brings his dad back to life, empowering the whole squad.
We'll destroy Brazil.
It really is amazing, especially considering both that we've had some tough groups and that we have played some shit teams in the 16s.Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
Sweden v Switzerland is going to make Ukraine v Switzerland 2006 look like a barn burner.
I was against it with every fibre of my being right until I saw that bracket, England need to make sure they lose tomorrow. If we got knocked out in the semis by Spain I'd be over the moon with that result.
If people are going to be pleased with us going out against the first good team we play then what does it matter what round it's in? If you're cynical enough to want us to get the easy side if the drawer then you'll be cynical enough to "Yeah, but" any crowing about the success of a hypothetical semi final or whatever.
Just try and win every game. Nobody in this tournament looks anything special so if we're good enough to do anything the momentum and confidence is going to be more useful given we have neither most of the time.
Will you update the graphic when the remaining group matches are done?
I'm a twit
That last minute Iranian penalty really has screwed Ronaldortugal over.
Well played Paraguay.
Sure thing, Baz. Just for you.
Trying to game the draw sounds like exactly the kind of thing that we'd get wrong and end up screwing ourselves over.
What I'm more interested in is is there a betting opportunity I'm missing?
The cards one is quite obvious, but will be academic if either side builds up any sort of lead in the game.
Penalties is the other obvious bet, but the players will get wise to it at some point.
I highly doubt there is going to be any gamesmanship to try and come second from the players. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Martinez were to make 11 changes though.
I'd like us to start off by hoofing the kickoff into our own net. We can excuse it by saying we were trying to make sure Belgium couldn't just play out a 0-0 draw. I basically want the game to turn into this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbad...qualification).
Sod maintaining momentum, lets shit our way through as easily as possible. I'd like to see us get past the quarters at least once in my lifetime.
The bottom half of the draw isn't actually that much easier tbh.
Top: Japan -> Brazil -> Uruguay/Portugal/Argentina/France.
Bottom: Colombia -> Sweden/Switzerland -> Spain.
That's one "easy" game in both paths to the final.
What if Colombia top their group though?
Colombia are likely to top their group, and will play the runner-up of England's group.
Sorry, got mixed up. What if Japan top the group?
Then the bottom half is indeed a bit easier.
The idea that there will be any gamesmanship is ludicrous though.
I'd reckon it's more likely that Japan top the group, though, which is why I think this whole discussion is happening.
France v Portugal
Brazil v Belgium
Spain v Croatia
Sweden v England
Portugal v Brazil
Spain v England
Brazil v Spain
1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. England
4. Portugal
I want Brazil and France to lose really, really badly. Then I want Uruguay and Argentina to lose.
Everything else is grand.
If anyone but Spain makes the final from the bottom half it'll be fucking massive.
The last loser nation to make a World Cup final was Czechoslovakia in 1962. It really has been a remarkable stranglehold for the big powers.
Portugal losing horribly is #1, Brazil losing is #2. If France keep playing like shit then I want them out too.
I've always enjoyed playing against England for some reason. The 2-2 in the '06 groups with Joe Cole scoring an absolute beauty is one game that comes to mind.
What I'm saying is let's get this done and meet in the quarters.
Have we ever beaten you? It doesn't feel like we have.
3-2 in Euro 2012.
Zlatan arse raped us a while back
Back when I was an avid fan I always found tomorrow a shock to the system. First without football for 2 weeks. Scary prospect.
Also, I note we are on ITV for the Colombia match, so we are as good as out.
Weirdly after watching a (very good) Sky documentary about the last season at Upton Park, I'm now quite looking forward to the club season, which is very rare for me at this time of year.
Ray Winstone came across even worse than Sullivan and Gold, which is some going by him.
I clocked that earlier. Have we ever won a knockout match on ITV?
Belgium and Cameroon in 1990 were on ITV. It's a sign.
Actually scratch that, it seems both channels showed all the England games then.
I'm a twit
It'll be interesting to see if Gary's boys are able to do it against Colombia. Sweden and Switzerland will be thinking the same though and think it's an easy route to the semi.
Croatia to win it.
Last time we played Switzerland we somehow got this perfectly fine goal disallowed. Time for revenge.
Didn't realise my week off runs all the way up to the semis. Whoop. Oh, that Dahlin goal is amazing.
Last edited by Shindig; 29-06-2018 at 08:18 PM.
I know it's every four years but only seven winners ever is mental. When you consider Denmark won the Euros without even qualifying for it.
Not that it changes your point, but it's 8 winners.
Can't even pretend it was a typo because of my dedication to proper grammar.
I actually had the exact same thought before responding.
8 different finalists since 1966.
Even the semi finals are basically always the same bunch.
A Croatia vs Uruguay final does sound awful though.
Success breeds success.
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