2018 FIFA World Cup

The Chronicler · **Reply #20 on:** June 27, 2018, 10:00:47 PM

Two more groups are now finished.

Serbia vs Brazil 0 - 2
Finally we got to see Brazil play just as well as we had been expecting. Serbia put up a good effort at first, but as Brazil scored their two goals, Serbia simply lost their spirit and have now been eliminated.

Switzerland vs Costa Rica 2 - 2
Switzerland was in a good position to advance, while Costa Rica was already eliminated. Switzerland scored in the first half, Costa Rica equalized in the second half, then Switzerland scored again near the end, only to concede an own goal minutes later. (I've heard rumors that the own goal may have been deliberate in order to ensure Switzerland would end up on the more favorable half of the knockout round bracket.) Either way, the tie is enough for Switzerland to advance.

The Final results for Group E:
1, Brazil
2, Switzerland
3, Serbia
4, Costa Rica

Mexico vs Sweden 0 - 3
Both teams played very well in the first half, but then Sweden was able to score three goals in the second half. This match certainly had some high stakes, but thanks to the result in the other final match of Group F, both of these teams will be advancing.

South Korea vs Germany 2 - 0
All Germany had to do was not lose, but that team was just terrible in this match, and ultimately South Korea was able to score two goals in the last few minutes, arguably one of the biggest upsets of this World Cup. Even though South Korea did have a chance to advance, the result of the other final Group F match meant that it wasn't enough, and both teams in this match have been eliminated. (The last time Germany was eliminated in the group stage was way back in 1938.)

The final results for Group F:
1, Sweden
2, Mexico
3, South Korea
4, Germany

With the results in for these two groups, we now know who will be playing in two more of the upcoming knockout stage matches.

Brazil vs Mexico
(This one could be close, but as much as I'd like to see Mexico win, I think it'll more likely be Brazil.)

Sweden vs Switzerland
(This one's a complete tossup, but I think it'll be Sweden that wins.)

Six groups done, two more to go.

Nick22 · **Reply #21 on:** June 27, 2018, 10:38:47 PM

Germay gooing out is the bigest upset so far, and guarantees there will be a new champion this time around.

The Chronicler · **Reply #22 on:** June 28, 2018, 09:00:22 PM

And now the last two groups have finished.

England vs Belgium 0 - 1
Both of these teams were already guaranteed to advance, so this match would determine where on the knockout round bracket they would be placed. With both teams sitting out their best players for this one, not much really happened, with Belgium scoring the only goal early in the second half. (With the way the bracket has been forming, some say that the loser of this match actually has the easier path to the finals, so that might explain the lack of effort of both teams today.)

Panama vs Tunisia 1 - 2
Both of these teams were already eliminated, so this one was just for bragging rights. Panama got a goal in the first half, but Tunisia scored two goals in the second half, allowing them to win a World Cup match for the first time since 1978.

The final results for Group G:
1, Belgium
2, England
3, Tunisia
4, Panama

Senegal vs Colombia 0 - 1
Both of these teams had a chance to advance and needed a win, though a tie could've suited them both depending on the outcome of the other match. Despite having to remove their best player early due to an injury, Colombia was eventually able to score a goal, giving them the win.

Japan vs Poland 0 - 1
Poland has already been eliminated, while Japan still had a chance of advancing. Japan sat out most of their best players, which apparently helped Poland eventually score a goal. However, despite losing this match, Japan is able to advance thanks to a very close tiebreaker. (Though it's certainly rather questionable how Japan seemed to make no effort to improve their chances, despite the high stakes.)

The final results for Group H:
1, Colombia
2, Japan
3, Senegal
4, Poland
(Japan and Senegal ended up tied in every way except for yellow card accumulation, with Japan getting fewer than Senegal, so Japan will advance and Senegal is eliminated.)

With the results in for these two groups, we now know who will be playing in two more of the upcoming knockout stage matches.

Belgium vs Japan
(I'm confident that Belgium will win this one.)

Colombia vs England
(This could be a close one, but I think England might be the winner here.)

All groups are done, and now it's on to the knockout round. Now the the starting matches of the bracket have been filled in, how about we speculate which team is likely to win each of those matches and eventually win the championship. I've already shared who I think will be the winners in the Round of 16, so I'll make the rest of my predictions tomorrow.

The Chronicler · **Reply #23 on:** June 29, 2018, 08:24:22 PM

Okay, here are my predictions for the knockout stage of the 2018 World Cup.

First, I've already mentioned who I think will win in the Round of 16:
Uruguay vs Portugal (Portugal)
France vs Argentina (France)
Brazil vs Mexico (Brazil)
Belgium vs Japan (Belgium)
Spain vs Russia (Spain)
Croatia vs Denmark (Croatia)
Sweden vs Switzerland (Sweden)
Colombia vs England (England)

Of course, some of these predictions could turn out to be wrong, so the following match-ups are not sure to happen, and are simply what I think could probably happen.

My predictions for the Quarterfinals:
Portugal vs France (This could be rather close, but I think Portugal has the best chance of winning this one.)
Brazil vs Belgium (Maybe not quite a close one, but I think Brazil will win here.)
Spain vs Croatia (Again, it could be surprisingly close, but I think Spain will win this one.)
Sweden vs England (Both teams have been surprisingly impressive, but I think England will probably win here.)

My predictions for the Semifinals:
Portugal vs Brazil (Things could change by this point, but from what I've seen of these teams so far, I think Portugal could win this one.)
Spain vs England (Spain has a good chance here, but we've seen upsets before, and I think England could pull one off here.)

My predictions for the Finals:
Third-place match: Brazil vs Spain (I think by this point, Brazil will be most likely to win such a match-up.)
Championship match: Portugal vs England (Both of these teams I'd love to see them win a championship, but I think Portugal will have what it takes to win.)

Well, those are my predictions. Tomorrow is the start of the knockout stage, and unlike the group stage, I will be actually watching all of these matches. It'll be very interesting to see how well these sixteen remaining teams will do.

Nick22 · **Reply #24 on:** June 29, 2018, 10:03:22 PM

England the Chronicler has not been past the quarterfinals since `1990, when they finished 4th. I dont expect England to advance past the quarters, although I also have them winniong their round of 16 match.

Sneak · **Reply #25 on:** June 30, 2018, 05:11:20 AM

Only I know that Russia will be disgraced again, only these money bags can do is slowly walking not running and kick ball to the sky when nobody except goalkeeper stands on front of them.
so Spain will win.

Anyway, I will be for our team. *rollseye*

And since the most adverted skillful players and their teams didn't show very good football on group stage, I don't even know now who will win. I love intrigue!!!

Nick22 · **Reply #26 on:** June 30, 2018, 11:58:00 AM

France holds on to beat Argentina 4-3.

Nick22 · **Reply #27 on:** June 30, 2018, 04:22:56 PM

Urugary upsets Portugal 2-1. its only the second time since 1970 that urugary has gotten this far at the world Cup, they also reached the quarters in 2010. So half your WC Final is gone chronicler.

The Chronicler · **Reply #28 on:** June 30, 2018, 09:00:18 PM

For the record, Nick, I had chosen England for the final because I just didn't want to see a rematch of Spain vs Portugal, which we already saw in the group stage. Either way, I'll definitely be changing my predictions, which I'll explain after the summaries of today's matches.

France vs Argentina 4 - 3
This sure was quite an exciting match, and while Argentina certainly showed some talent, they also left a lot of open spaces that France was able to take advantage of. France scored early, then Argentina equalized before halftime. Argentina took the lead early in the second half, but then France was able to score three more goals in only a dozen minutes (two of which came from Kylian Mbappe, who is now the youngest person to ever score more than one goal in a knockout stage match since Pele did so for Brazil in 1958). Argentina eventually got another goal in extra time, but it was too little too late, and Lionel Messi's World Cup career comes to an end.

Uruguay vs Portugal 2 - 1
I did say I hadn't watched any of the group stage matches, and that could explain why I seriously underestimated Uruguay, which displayed some incredibly great defense that you'd have to actually see it to really understand just how effective it is (in complete contrast to Argentina). Not to mention, Uruguay's two best players, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, displayed some excellent teamwork, with the latter scoring both of Uruguay's goals. Portugal may have been able to equalize early in the second half, but they just couldn't get any more past that strong defense, and Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career comes to an end. (Though I will say that, unlike the previous match, the referee in this match seemed to miss a lot of fouls, especially that rather obvious one near the end, and the only yellow card he gave out was to Cristiano Ronaldo for arguing that he missed that aforementioned foul. Just unbelievable.)

(Quite ironic that the two biggest names of this World Cup ended up with their teams eliminated on the same day.)

With these results, we know which teams will be playing in one of the Quarterfinal matches:
Uruguay vs France

And now my new predictions:
Quarterfinal; Uruguay vs France (Uruguay's excellent defense could make this a close one, but I think France might pull off a win here.)
Semifinal; France vs Brazil (France has done well, but I think Brazil will be the more likely winner of this one.)
Semifinal; Spain vs England (Now that I don't have to be concerned with a rematch of a group stage match, I'm going to be more realistic here and say Spain will win.)
Third-Place; France vs England (I have a feeling that France will have a better chance of winning this match.)
Final; Brazil vs Spain (Unless I see proof that Brazil really is improving, I'm going to say that Spain will win the Championship.)

Two matches done in the Round of 16, six more to go.

Sneak · **Reply #29 on:** July 01, 2018, 12:48:43 PM

Spain - Russia

the worst match.
Because in my opinion, Spain was in level ZERO, comparing to their usual good plays. And our team, Russia, was UNDER ZERO.
As result - I thought BOTH of them deserved to lose, but Russia - didn't even deserved to win.

And it lasted till the penalty series, where... well, it was just unhonest Russia's win, me think.

Nick22 · **Reply #30 on:** July 01, 2018, 12:55:43 PM

Penalties are always a crap shoot, where 1 miss can kill you. Spain missed twice. you don;t win penalties when you miss twice very often. Spain, on whole completely outplayed Russia, but we've seen several games like thatr in this WC where one team completely outplays the other, in terms of possession and shots, yet they dont win. Russia did what it had to do, play bend but dont break, and get it to penalties.

Nick22 · **Reply #31 on:** July 01, 2018, 05:55:20 PM

Croatia hangs to beat Denmark 3-2 in Penalties.

The Chronicler · **Reply #32 on:** July 01, 2018, 09:00:14 PM

Well, looks like I'll have to revise my predictions again, including the winner of the final. But first, my summaries of today's matches.

Spain vs Russia 1 - 1 (penalty kicks: 3 - 4)
Another consequence of not watching the group stage matches, I had no idea Spain was said to have so many problems. Although Spain got a rather lucky goal early on, Russia was able to equalize before halftime. For the second half and both halves of overtime, it was all the same; Russia held back with a solid defense and didn't bother much with offense, while Spain struggled to find a way forward and instead spent most of their time simply passing the ball back and forth between each other (making them the first team to make over a thousand passes in a single World Cup match). To me, it seemed as if both teams preferred to just take their chances with the penalty kicks. The gamble payed off for Russia, and after their first Round of 16 appearance since 1986, they're now going to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 1970. (In both cases, this is obviously the first time they're doing so as "Russia" rather than "Soviet Union", with their best finish ever being fourth place in 1966, the only time they had reached the semifinals.)

Croatia vs Denmark 1 - 1 (penalty kicks: 3 - 2)
Both of these teams proved to be solidly good in both defense and offense (much better than either team in the previous match). There was a very exciting start with Denmark scoring after just one minute and Croatia equalizing after just four minutes (the fastest first two goals in World Cup history), but after that, not much happened. Despite many good attempts, neither team could score anymore goals, so it went all the way to penalty kicks. Again, both teams proved evenly matched right up until the final set of penalty kicks. Although Croatia was the heavy favorite to win this one, I have to admit that Denmark definitely proved themselves to be surprisingly talented.

(Interestingly, this is only the second time ever in a World Cup that two knockout stage matches on the same day went all the way to penalty kicks. The first one was in 1974.)

With these results, we know which teams will be playing in one of the Quarterfinal matches:
Russia vs Croatia

And now my new predictions:
Quarterfinal; Russia vs Croatia (Based on today's performances, I'd say that Croatia has the better chance of winning this one.)
Semifinal; Croatia vs England (I think I'll go back to my previous pick and go with England on this one.)
Third-Place; France vs Croatia (They're both solid teams, but I think the young talent will help France win this match.)
Final; Brazil vs England (I think I'll go with Brazil for the Championship, though knowing my luck so far, that prediction could easily change tomorrow.)

Four matches done in the Round of 16, four more to go.

The Chronicler · **Reply #33 on:** July 02, 2018, 08:00:20 PM

Looks like my predictions still stand after today, though I certainly now have a better idea of the two teams that'll advance.

Brazil vs Mexico 2 - 0
No results in the first half, but Brazil was able to score the goals they needed in the second half. Perhaps the most impressive part of this match was just how many saves were made by Mexico's goalkeeper, Ochoa (I actually remember him from the previous World Cup, when he got the nickname "Fortress of Fortaleza"), but even with so many incredible saves, he just couldn't catch them all. Mexico's coach (who will almost certainly be fired after this loss) essentially behaved like a sore loser afterwards by blaming the referees. Though I will admit that Brazil's star player, Neymar, seemed completely pathetic for flopping around like a fish just from someone stepping on his ankle (not exactly the first time he's behaved in such a silly way in a match, as he's apparently gaining a bad reputation for his theatrics out on the field). Anyway, quite remarkably, the result of this match keeps two streaks going for the seventh World Cup in a row: Brazil advances to the Quarterfinals, and Mexico goes out in the Round of 16.

Belgium vs Japan 3 - 2
I have to admit, Japan was remarkably good in this match for two reasons I noticed; they're very good at taking away possession, and they like to make long passes with impressive accuracy. The first half went by with no results, but it was the second half where things got very interesting. Japan managed to score two goals only minutes apart, then after a pair of substitutions, Belgium did the same thing to equalize. Then, in the very last minute, an incredible ten-second dash from one goal to the other gave Belgium the winning goal, preventing this match from going into overtime. Although Belgium will advance, it was still amazing just how close we came to yet another stunning upset, and just how close Japan came to reaching the Quarterfinals for the first time ever.

With these results, we know which teams will be playing in one of the Quarterfinal matches:
Brazil vs Belgium

Like I said, my predictions that I revised yesterday still stand. (With the way Belgium struggled against Japan, I'm more confident now that Brazil will win this Quarterfinal match.)

Six matches done in the Round of 16, two more to go.

Nick22 · **Reply #34 on:** July 03, 2018, 11:57:31 AM

sweden holds off Switzerland 1-0 to advance.

Nick22 · **Reply #35 on:** July 03, 2018, 04:55:12 PM

England wins 4-3 in Penalties over Columbia

The Chronicler · **Reply #36 on:** July 03, 2018, 07:00:23 PM

It got really close in both of today's matches, but my picks still remain. (So it seems I got 6 out of 8 correct, so far.)

Sweden vs Switzerland 1 - 0
This was another one of those matches where both teams seemed evenly matched and not much happened for a while. Sweden managed to score a goal in the second half, thanks to a deflection off a Swiss player's foot. Even so, both teams played very well, so Sweden certainly won't be an easy team to beat in their next match.

Colombia vs England 1 - 1 (penalty kicks: 3 - 4)
Wow... Now this particular match is one I'll definitely remember for a long time. The way Colombia played was just brutal, getting so many yellow cards that I lost count, and more then once I was actually concerned a fistfight might break out. England scored in the second half with Harry Kane on a penalty kick, but Colombia incredibly was able to equalize at the very last minute, sending the game into overtime. With no further goals, it then went to penalty kicks (the third Round of 16 match to do so, a World Cup record). England has traditionally lost every match that ended this way, but not this time. For the first time ever, England actually won a match on penalty kicks, and will move on to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2006.

(I have to admit, my favorite of the eight remaining teams now is definitely England.)

With these results, we know which teams will be playing in one of the Quarterfinal matches:
Sweden vs England.

My remaining predictions in the Round of 16 came true, so there's no need for me to make any further revisions today.

All eight matches of the Round of 16 are now done. Next, the four Quarterfinal matches, which will be on Friday and Saturday.

Nick22 · **Reply #37 on:** July 03, 2018, 08:21:56 PM

England got EXTREMELY lucky to advance
if that kick by the Columbian player is just 100th of an inch further in on the bar, it goes in and Columbias up 4-2 and has things basically wrapped up.

The Chronicler · **Reply #38 on:** July 05, 2018, 07:50:20 PM

A quick recap of my current predictions...

Quarterfinals:
Uruguay vs France (France)
Brazil vs Belgium (Brazil)
Russia vs Croatia (Croatia)
Sweden vs England (England)

Semifinals:
France vs Brazil (Brazil)
Croatia vs England (England)

Third-Place:
France vs Croatia (France)

Final:
Brazil vs England (Brazil)

By the way, remember Brazil player Neymar's silly antics on the ground that I mentioned a few days ago? Apparently, "Neymar rolling" has become the latest internet meme, from what I've heard.

The Chronicler · **Reply #39 on:** July 06, 2018, 06:45:42 PM

One of my predictions was correct, and the one I got wrong is one that I probably should have expected.

Uruguay vs France 0 - 2
With Cavani out due to an injury, Uruguay wasn't at its best, and while its defense did well, the same could not quite be said of their goalkeeper, who made a serious error that allowed the second goal for France. The goalkeeper for France, on the other hand, did an excellent job with a lot of saves. The way I see it, France seems like a solid team that stands a very good chance of winning the championship.

Brazil vs Belgium 1 - 2
Just a few minutes in when Belgium scored their first goal, I realized that it was rather obvious Belgium was going to win (contrary to my original prediction). Belgium was much better organized than Brazil, and Brazil kept losing possession rather frequently. In addition, it seems Neymar and in fact his whole team has now faced the consequences of his antics, because virtually every time he tried to deliberately force a foul in favor of his team, the referee simply waved him off and kept the game going (and thus a fine demonstration of that old moral of the boy who cried wolf). Belgium have definitely proven that this team is arguably one of the best they've ever had, so it'll be interesting to see how they'll do next.

(Here's another interesting statistic: This is now the very first World Cup in which neither Brazil, Argentina, or Germany made it to the semifinals.)

With these results, we know which teams will be playing in one of the Semifinal matches:
France vs Belgium

Time once again for me to revise my predictions:
Semifinal; France vs Belgium (I'm going to go with France for this one, but that's probably because I just don't want to see a rematch of a Group stage match, though that could change if my picks in tomorrow's matches turn out wrong.)
Third-Place; Belgium vs Croatia (I think Belgium would very easily win this.)
Final; France vs England (I'll admit I might be biased here, but I'd like to see England win the Championship.)

Two Quarterfinal matches done, two more to go.