Official FIFA 2018 Russia World Cup

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I would love to see England make a run but they are a cursed nation in international soccer lately.

Second favorite would be Mexico but I don’t think they are very good.

I say this every time, but England and Wales are dummies for not playing with each other as a unified team. For all I know one of the teams would like to play with the other. Wales hasn't made a world cup since the 50s. It seems like the English team could use a player like Gareth Bale.

[jay santos]

I say this every time, but England and Wales are dummies for not playing with each other as a unified team. For all I know one of the teams would like to play with the other. Wales hasn't made a world cup since the 50s. It seems like the English team could use a player like Gareth Bale.

And Aaron Ramsey. That probably moves them up to the the top 5.

[jay santos]

Usually there's one team with a lucky draw once they hit the knockout stage. If any of the top six find themselves in that kind of situation, I'd bet on them. I think there's enough parity at the top, it could be any of them. Germany's a juggernaut and their team work is fun to watch, but they're aging a bit. Brazil is peaking at the right time and probably the favorite. France is an exciting team to watch with young, fast, athletic guys. Spain is old but solid. Belgium will be fun to watch with Hazard and DeBruyne. Argentina has Messi and some other greats but bad team chemistry.

I watch Premier League some, so I'll go for England, but outside of Harry Kane, I don't like their players much.

For dark horse, I'll go with Uruguay with Godin anchoring strong backline and Suarez and Cavani up front.

[falafel]

You're easily confused. That is my world rankings top 10. notice in parenthesis "failed to qualify" after Italy.

The "failed to qualify" was what confused me.

I didn't follow qualifying. Did something crazy happen with Italy that they didn't qualify, but still deserve a top 10 ranking?

[jay santos]

The "failed to qualify" was what confused me.

I didn't follow qualifying. Did something crazy happen with Italy that they didn't qualify, but still deserve a top 10 ranking?

It happens. If I did a top 20, I'd also add Netherlands, Chile, and Wales as teams that didn't qualify. South America qualifying was pretty wild. Going into the last game, Argentina looked like they might not make it. Chile ended up the one on the outs.

[Topper]

It happens. If I did a top 20, I'd also add Netherlands, Chile, and Wales as teams that didn't qualify. South America qualifying was pretty wild. Going into the last game, Argentina looked like they might not make it. Chile ended up the one on the outs.

So the US is in good company of the failed to qualify bunch.

[jay santos]

So the US is in good company of the failed to qualify bunch.

Yeah, I'd say there's at least 7-8 teams better than us or same level that didn't qualify. In addition to those: Ecuador, Czech, Ivory Coast probably a couple others.

[jay santos]

Table from a list of top 100 players poll published by the Guardian. They poll 100+ journalists and former players. It's probably a little slighted towards European players and especially Premier League or English players, but it's interesting. https://www.theguardian.com/football...17-interactive


Here is the list of countries with most players in the top 150, pulled from the raw data. For a tie, second sort is the average ranking for the player(s). Pulisic came in at #77. Not too shabby when he's in the same general company as guys like Diego Costa, Mesut Ozil, Koke.

Rank, Country, # of players in top 150
1 Spain 18
2 Brazil 17
3 France 16
4 Germany 13
5 Italy 11
6 Argentina 9
7 Belgium 8
8 England 7
9 Croatia 4
10 Netherlands 4
11 Uruguay 3
12 Portugal 3
13 Poland 2
14 Denmark 2
15 Chile 2
16 Senegal 2
17 Bosnia-Herzegovina 2
18 Sweden 2
19 Slovakia 2
20 Algeria 2
21 Gabon 1
22 Egypt 1
23 France 1
24 Slovenia 1
25 Colombia 1
26 Wales 1
27 Guinea 1
28 Serbia 1
29 USA 1
30 Costa Rica 1
31 Armenia 1
32 Austria 1
33 Nigeria 1
34 DR Congo 1
35 Peru 1
36 UAE 1
37 Iceland 1
38 Mexico 1
39 Paraguay 1
40 Turkey 1

[Topper]

Table from a list of top 100 players poll published by the Guardian. They poll 100+ journalists and former players. It's probably a little slighted towards European players and especially Premier League or English players, but it's interesting. https://www.theguardian.com/football...17-interactive


Here is the list of countries with most players in the top 150, pulled from the raw data. For a tie, second sort is the average ranking for the player(s). Pulisic came in at #77. Not too shabby when he's in the same general company as guys like Diego Costa, Mesut Ozil, Koke.

Rank, Country, # of players in top 150
1 Spain 18
2 Brazil 17
3 France 16
4 Germany 13
5 Italy 11
6 Argentina 9
7 Belgium 8
8 England 7
9 Croatia 4
10 Netherlands 4
11 Uruguay 3
12 Portugal 3
13 Poland 2
14 Denmark 2
15 Chile 2
16 Senegal 2
17 Bosnia-Herzegovina 2
18 Sweden 2
19 Slovakia 2
20 Algeria 2
21 Gabon 1
22 Egypt 1
23 France 1
24 Slovenia 1
25 Colombia 1
26 Wales 1
27 Guinea 1
28 Serbia 1
29 USA 1
30 Costa Rica 1
31 Armenia 1
32 Austria 1
33 Nigeria 1
34 DR Congo 1
35 Peru 1
36 UAE 1
37 Iceland 1
38 Mexico 1
39 Paraguay 1
40 Turkey 1

Not all players are created equal. Egypt has Mohamed Salah, a top ten rated player.

Why is France entered twice, once at number 3 and then again at number 23?

[jay santos]

Not all players are created equal. Egypt has Mohamed Salah, a top ten rated player.

Why is France entered twice, once at number 3 and then again at number 23?

Salah's very good. The France thing must a be a glitch with space or special character that messed up my pivot table.

[PaloAltoCougar]

i've never been a soccer fan--growing up, it was the four-week sports segment I hated in P.E., in part because faster, little dudes kept kicking me in the shins. And though I enjoyed watching my kids and nephews play (two played for BYU), it's never held that much appeal for me. But this morning I listened to a Freakonomics podcast ("How to Catch World Cup Fever") about the World Cup and I'm now more onboard with tuning in over the coming days/weeks . (Go Iceland!!!). Nothing remarkable for dedicated fans, but some interesting stuff for people like me, including comparisons of Messi with Ronaldo, how crowds affect soccer refs and home field advantage, cheating within the FIFA organization (an investigation into how Russia was awarded hosting duties the World Cup revealed that, shockingly, all of Russia's computer records regarding the bid had been destroyed), etc. I suppose the target audience for the podcast won't even be reading this thread, but still...

[Topper]

i've never been a soccer fan--growing up, it was the four-week sports segment I hated in P.E., in part because faster, little dudes kept kicking me in the shins. And though I enjoyed watching my kids and nephews play (two played for BYU), it's never held that much appeal for me. But this morning I listened to a Freakonomics podcast ("How to Catch World Cup Fever") about the World Cup and I'm now more onboard with tuning in over the coming days/weeks . (Go Iceland!!!). Nothing remarkable for dedicated fans, but some interesting stuff for people like me, including comparisons of Messi with Ronaldo, how crowds affect soccer refs and home field advantage, cheating within the FIFA organization (an investigation into how Russia was awarded hosting duties the World Cup revealed that, shockingly, all of Russia's computer records regarding the bid had been destroyed), etc. I suppose the target audience for the podcast won't even be reading this thread, but still...

Welcome aboard. Btw, the cheating in Russia didn't just stop with an award of the bid. Notice how Russia got by far and away the easiest group. In terms of FIFA rankings, that group is the outlier. Strange how the host seed also got a virtual walk through out group stage. I imagine the computer records have been destroyed too.

[Walter Sobchak]

i've never been a soccer fan--growing up, it was the four-week sports segment I hated in P.E., in part because faster, little dudes kept kicking me in the shins. And though I enjoyed watching my kids and nephews play (two played for BYU), it's never held that much appeal for me. But this morning I listened to a Freakonomics podcast ("How to Catch World Cup Fever") about the World Cup and I'm now more onboard with tuning in over the coming days/weeks . (Go Iceland!!!). Nothing remarkable for dedicated fans, but some interesting stuff for people like me, including comparisons of Messi with Ronaldo, how crowds affect soccer refs and home field advantage, cheating within the FIFA organization (an investigation into how Russia was awarded hosting duties the World Cup revealed that, shockingly, all of Russia's computer records regarding the bid had been destroyed), etc. I suppose the target audience for the podcast won't even be reading this thread, but still...

[BlueK]

Welcome aboard. Btw, the cheating in Russia didn't just stop with an award of the bid. Notice how Russia got by far and away the easiest group. In terms of FIFA rankings, that group is the outlier. Strange how the host seed also got a virtual walk through out group stage. I imagine the computer records have been destroyed too.

Uruguay is going to kick their butts.

[Eddie]

How did this not get covered earlier?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-1...-women/9769980

Argentina's Football Federation is trying to contain an embarrassing scandal after it handed out a manual that includes advice on how to seduce Russian women during the World Cup.

The manual was handed out to journalists, players and coaches during a free course about Russian language and culture organised by the national federation.