World Cup 2014 Thread

Discussion in 'General Football & Other Sport' started by nornironhorn, Oct 16, 2013.

  1. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    So, who does everyone think will win?

    I reckon Germany will win it

    I noticed england wont be seeded so might be up against someone like Brazil in the groups, would be tough. Switzerland would be the good draw
     
  2. reids

    reids First Team

    Germany or Brazil for me. Can't decide between them, may opt for Brazil with the home advantage.
     
  3. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Brazil I think will be the favourites but lots of pressure on them.
     
  4. nascot

    nascot First Team

    Belgium, Uruguay, Spain, Germany and Argentina will all be with in a shout. Predictable I know but an outsider never usually has a chance.

    England not being seeded won't be a problem, top 2 from the group go through anyway. And might get Brazil? Who cares, we've got a half decent record against them recently and they're not all that.
     
  5. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    Brazil was just an example of a team you might get... Try Spain or Germany then
     
  6. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    I think Spain will retain it; second choice is Germany.

    Both of those teams are head and shoulders above the other international sides right now.

    I don't think Brazil are as good as either of the aforementioned two, but home advantage might count for a lot if the home fans get behind the team. That's far from a sure thing, though; the Brazilian fans are very demanding, and it doesn't take much for them to turn on their side.
     
  7. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    Not sure if the seedings have been announced but heard France might be 3rd seeds

    They aren't seeded for the playoffs anyway, so could face Portugal
     
  8. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    If Iriney gets drafted in to play the Iriney role, then it has to be Brazil.
     
  9. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Just look who's won it when it has been in South America before? Always a South American team. It'll be Argentina.
     
  10. nascot

    nascot First Team

    The nightmare scenario for Brazil!
     
  11. Eloden

    Eloden Reservist

    England won it last night didn't they? :confused:

    Any of you lot gunna go out there? I have quite a few Watford mates who are for various amounts of time but don't think I can splash that many thousands at once. Hopefully get to one of the aways beforehand instead.
     
  12. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Wrong.

    Can't be bothered to explain why, do your own work, etc. etc. etc.
     
  13. Legends

    Legends Reservist

    I worked out after the qualifiers FIFA rankings should promote England up to 10th. Still not enough for top seeding but Italy and dutch would also be in that same pot.
     
  14. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Read elsewhere these are likely to be the seeded teams:

    Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, Colombia, Belgium, and Holland or Uruguay (who will beat Jordan)
     
  15. Legends

    Legends Reservist

    Well unless they were using data as of 3am this morning it would be wrong. Basically you can go to the FIFA site and work it yourself using their formula widget. I can guarantee one thing, FIFA will be drawing pools on 6th Dec with FIFA rankings, and they will be the latest at that time.
     
  16. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Which is wrong?

    Note I've put Holland OR Uruguay and the latter will win their play-off.

    As I say they are only what somebody put up so your probably right to say it will change.
     
  17. Legends

    Legends Reservist

    So regarding the current projected Fifa standings you would be right as the seeded teams, I also think Uruguay would qualify and beat the dutch to that seeding position.

    I see the french have complained about the ranking system with regards to the fact they were in a 5 team group and therefore play less matches in higher ranking games, which would offer more points and certainly would have affected their position. However I don't really feel sorry for them, we all still remember Henry!
    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/14/france-world-cup-seeding-ranking

    Would this also apply to the playoffs themselves for the ranking positions to the world cup itself?

    For instance at the moment (for October) Portugal would be below England in the Fifa ranking but if they win both of their play offs matches in Nov and England win both of the Friendlies they have planned potentially Portugal can rise above England for the Nov rankings. It probably wouldnt matter to the pot, as i expect we would still be in the same one but it made me think, does playing in the playoffs help your ranking, because those games are worth more than Friendlies are?
    Fifa ranking points = M x I x T x C
    M = Points for match result (3 for win,1 for draw, 0 for loss)
    I = Importance of Match
    T= Strength of team (200-Current Fifa Rank)
    C= Strength of Confederation

    So for the Importance of match its classified as:
    which is Friendly match (including small competitions): I = 1.0

    FIFA World Cup™ qualifier or confederation-level qualifier: I = 2.5

    Confederation-level final competition or FIFA Confederations Cup: I = 3.0

    FIFA World Cup™ final competition: I = 4.0


    So if your on a border position of the seeding pools in your Fifa ranking, your better off to play through the playoffs then to qualify straight off as you will most probably will find your in a better seeding pool for the actual world cup draw.
    Now that doesn't seem right to me unless Play Offs are deemed as small competitions??
     
  18. Pozzo Out

    Pozzo Out Squad Player

    Spain will retain it. The confederations cup defeat will have hurt them, and proved as a shock for major competition style games. With the potential addition of Diego Costa, I think they'll retain it.
     
  19. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Interesting point - have to see I guess but yes it would be unfair if another 2 wins greatly improved your position in the seedings.

    Maybe they will go by the ones that come out tomorrow?
     
  20. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    Read somewhere that friendlies aren't being considered between now and the draw date
     
  21. nascot

    nascot First Team

    I did the friendly in Rio instead of the World Cup (and made a little South American tour out of it). I don't fancy paying out thousands for over priced travel and hotels. If the friendly in Miami is on I'll do that.
     
  22. wfcwarehouse

    wfcwarehouse First Team Captain

    I have a few pals who I believe have booked up flights already.
     
  23. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

  24. nascot

    nascot First Team

    What a great little tool.

    I got Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ghana, England. Not the worst group. Germany got a bye to the next with Honduras, Algeria and Ukraine (assuming they qualify). Group C had Netherlands and Belgium :)
     
  25. Jellyman

    Jellyman Squad Player

    Germany, Mexico, Ivory Coast, England.

    Banana skin group.
     
  26. iamofwfc

    iamofwfc Squad Player

    Brazail will win it, cant see spain doing much, am going but just for the occasion, will take a risk and book at last minute.
     
  27. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Brazil are very vulnerable defensively. Just because they won the Confederations Cup does not mean they will walk this either. They will also be under enormous pressure each time they play. Any errors will be magnified and no doubt there will be demonstrations and unrest throughout the whole tournament.

    In fact no team has a great defensive unit so it may well be that this time around the sides that can outscore the opposition will take the title.

    Argentina can score at will, with the best set of forwards on the planet and a very solid midfield. Defence is the Achilles heel. The keeper is terrible and aside from Zabaleta the other three first choices are flaky although Sabella could bring in better players if he opened his eyes.

    Germany are also weak at the back. They ship goals when you get at their flanks and stretch games as their backline is ponderous and slow. Ditto for Spain. Sides need to get into their faces but most sides just tend to sit back and let them dictate.

    Don't think much of Holland. Uruguay are very fortunate to get through barely scraping past a second string Argentina this week thanks to another Suarez dive. Colombia could be a dark horse but again their defence is an ageing unit although with Torres and Rodriguez pulling the strings they could knock anyone out on their day. Italy always pull together in tournaments and are improving slowly and along with France should they qualify will also be on the fringes.

    The top four would thus be Spain, Argentina, Germany and Brazil for me. None of these are secure at the back but this may at last be the attacking festival of football we have so long desired to see at a World Cup. If Argentina win then it would also crown Messi's legacy and make him one of Argentina's greatest ever players.
     
  28. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    The UEFA playoffs over two legs to be played on the 15th & 19th of November will be between:
    Portugual v Sweden
    Greece v Romania
    Iceland v Croatia
    France v Ukraine.

    Sweden have a fairly good chance of turning Portugual over. Iceland will be looking to get to their first ever World Cup finals. Not bad for a country of a few hundred thousand and they also have a great chance. Croatia are all over the shop. All the more amazing considering what they have in defence as well.
     
  29. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Pratini is once again meddling in football. The sooner he is outside of football the better. Unfortunately he is the next FIFA President elect. I don't know whether his latest idea is an effort to gain more votes from other confederations with the offer of more final's spots but that is what it seems to me.

    He wants an extra eight teams added to the current 32: 'We can add two African, two Asiatic, two American and one from Europe. I support this idea totally.'

    Well I don't. It would further dilute qualification, mean that groups would have to actually take on two extra game days , five to be exact than the current three. And teams that play in the last game day of their group would have a slight disadvantage going into the knockout stages.

    When will this man ever have a good idea regarding the game ?
     
  30. wfcSinatra

    wfcSinatra Predictor Choker 14/15

    What do you think of Belgium Smudger? On paper they're stronger Holland and Uruaguay in my opinion.

    Courtouis and Mingolet
    Vermalen Verthonghen Kompany Alderweireld 3 of the best CB's in the EPL before Vermalen's injury
    Hazard Witsel De Bruyne Mirallas Mertens Dembele Fellaini Chadli
    Benteke and Lukaku two of the strongest strikers in the EPL aswell

    Lacking in a right back and left back but very good team!
     
  31. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    On their day they can beat most teams Squibba. I do rate them above Holland and on a par with Uruguay although their keepers are well above what Uruguay have at present.

    No one will like to meet them in the World Cup. Wilmots has a nice blend of experience with youth but it does tend towards the latter and none of these players apart from Simons has experience of a major tournament which will count against his side. The pressure is like nothing else. And there are a couple of hotheads in there who could sour things if they think they are being under appreciated or underused.

    Leftback is okay by me Lombaerts and de Bock are both pretty capable players and if they want they can play a back five although unlikely should they wish.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2013
  32. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    I reckon Belgium will flop massively

    The dark horses this WC will be Bosnia
     
  33. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    It's England's year!!
     
  34. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    I'll be watching the Argentina friendly against Bosnia. That might give a more accurate indication of where they are at. Dezko and Ibisevic are a pretty decent forward pairing and Pjanic is in scintillating form for club and country. Not too sure about the defence it can be got at with relative ease.
     
  35. reids

    reids First Team

    Alderweireld generally plays on the right for Belgium, their left back isn't too shabby, plays for Hannover in the Bundesliga (Pocognoli), although sometimes Vertonghen plays on the left as well. They'll reach the quarter finals at least I reckon, some great up and coming youth prospects as well (Januzaj if he decides to go for them, along with Bakkali and our own Rosenthal)
     

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