2018 World Cup discussion and information thread

[DIA7]

So Italy lost.
What an embarrassing, dreadful, abysmal performance from Italy. The gameplan? defend the draw, play long balls, and pass the ball to candreva/darmian then wait for a cross and hope for the best, good job Ventura, great tactics. And then Insinge replaces Verrati in the last 20 min? and Parolo played the whole game? again, good job Ventura.
Sweden on the other hand, they played their hearts out today, you could see that this was THE game where they had to play their best and they did so.
1-0 isn't the worst result for Italy, but after their display today, no Verrati in the next game (he didn't do anything today but still), and urgency to score a goal the I can see Italy leaving some spaces and if Sweden manages to score a goal, then I dare to say 'game over Italy'.

No Italia, no siesta, so I guess their exclusion from the World Cup should mean better entertainment for everyone - given the way they performed last night. I get that Italy has to play defence, it's part of their psyche and national identity. But the long balls punting up field in the hopes of some miracle isn't pretty, isn't exciting, isn't world standard.

But agree, if Sweden scores just one goal, that'll be the end of it. So maybe we get the chance to see Zlatan one more time on the big stage next year, huh?

P.S. Welcome back, Senegal!

Although I am not a fan of the Italian naional team but I respect him and like the composition of players they have and it will be a great loss for the World Cup and the world of football if they do not to qualify for the World Cup we already lost the Netherlands we can't lose Italy either thy still have the return game but surely it would be a difficult one as Verrati will be suspended and i'm afraid of their midfield as their preparation for the game from them was very modest and yesterday the chances were over when the ball was passed to the striker as the pass is so bad and don't reach them
Unfortunately this situation wouldn't work well for the Attzuri and it will hurt them in the WC if they managed to reach it.

[Dux2K]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

[Juggy777]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is really playing bad football, once the leaders the creators they just don't have it in them anymore to play any good kind of football, they had all Stars and current team looks so messy, look at last night what we're they playing, is this really the Italy we all once knew. Another match was Germany can you believe they are held to a draw by the England team, which is not even playing full strength, I am really surprised to see good teams fail these days. Club football has taken over at County football for sure.

[grermezter]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is really playing bad football, once the leaders the creators they just don't have it in them anymore to play any good kind of football, they had all Stars and current team looks so messy, look at last night what we're they playing, is this really the Italy we all once knew. Another match was Germany can you believe they are held to a draw by the England team, which is not even playing full strength, I am really surprised to see good teams fail these days. Club football has taken over at County football for sure.

The Italian FA is at fault for sticking with their current manager Giampero Ventura. Even though they were in the same group as Spain, they played very badly and I can't believe this is the same team that was managed by Conte in the Euros. It will suck if Italy is not at the upcoming World Cup.

[Vasilije69]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is playing very bad in this qualification. Don't be surprised if they don't manage to qualify for the WC next year.

[ralle14]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is playing very bad in this qualification. Don't be surprised if they don't manage to qualify for the WC next year.

It's only the 1st leg of the qualification giving up one goal is still manageable for them. They need to have at least two goals to qualify and make sweden scoreless until the end of the 2nd leg.

Switzerland to win against Northern Ireland is a great bet today to take and one sportsbook is offering odds up to 2 for them if they win.

[jjacob]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is playing very bad in this qualification. Don't be surprised if they don't manage to qualify for the WC next year.

It's only the 1st leg of the qualification giving up one goal is still manageable for them. They need to have at least two goals to qualify and make sweden scoreless until the end of the 2nd leg.

Switzerland to win against Northern Ireland is a great bet today to take and one sportsbook is offering odds up to 2 for them if they win.

Switzerland have already won the first leg against Northern Ireland 1-0. Northern Ireland have a tough task ahead of them, trying to beat Switzerland and overcoming this deficit. I would go for Switzerland in this match too.

[Pab]

If tomorrow Italy will not win it can be very sad the end of Buffon carrera

[tomahawk9]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is playing very bad in this qualification. Don't be surprised if they don't manage to qualify for the WC next year.

It's only the 1st leg of the qualification giving up one goal is still manageable for them. They need to have at least two goals to qualify and make sweden scoreless until the end of the 2nd leg.

Switzerland to win against Northern Ireland is a great bet today to take and one sportsbook is offering odds up to 2 for them if they win.

Switzerland to win is probably the safest bet, and Over to 2.5 goals @2.30. Considering the poor display of football from Northern Ireland last tuesday, i don't think they have a chance on winning today, but this is football so, who knows.

Greece vs Croatia - thoughts? Playing at home could make a difference, i've seen a few Olympiacos FC games, and that stadium is absolute madness, imagine having the national team playing the most important match in the last 4 years. I think if Greece manages to score at least one goal in the first 20min, and maybe two in the first half, then we're in for a fun game.

[DIA7]

Italy lost in the first game against Sweden 1-0. They controlled the ball possession from the opponent with but they didn't manage to create any threats worth the mention as they didn't get a single shot on goal in first half while in the second they got 2 shots on target. But now Italy will be playing at home and they are a strong fortress their record at home with 5 wins and 3 draws while Sweden are not doing well when  it comes in visits as they are unstablets. Also Italy have 5 won from last 6 head to head games against Sweden at home so Italy wins should be expected if they want to qualify.

[Lucius]

With Italy losing last night this match will be very interesting in rematch in Italy.
To be honest Sweden played better and Italy is playing so boring and predictable in last several years.

Italy is playing very bad in this qualification. Don't be surprised if they don't manage to qualify for the WC next year.

It's only the 1st leg of the qualification giving up one goal is still manageable for them. They need to have at least two goals to qualify and make sweden scoreless until the end of the 2nd leg.

Switzerland to win against Northern Ireland is a great bet today to take and one sportsbook is offering odds up to 2 for them if they win.

Switzerland to win is probably the safest bet, and Over to 2.5 goals @2.30. Considering the poor display of football from Northern Ireland last tuesday, i don't think they have a chance on winning today, but this is football so, who knows.

Greece vs Croatia - thoughts? Playing at home could make a difference, i've seen a few Olympiacos FC games, and that stadium is absolute madness, imagine having the national team playing the most important match in the last 4 years. I think if Greece manages to score at least one goal in the first 20min, and maybe two in the first half, then we're in for a fun game.

Switzerland is a big favorite in this game and since they win in first game even draw it's enough for them.The only thing that can make this game interesting is that Northern Ireland score first.Switzerland does not have injured / suspended players,and Northern Ireland Corry Evans is suspended for tonight game and Stuart Dallas is doubtful.

Greece need to attack from start and try to score as soon as possible,which will open opportunities for quick Croatia counterattacks.If Croatia score then game is over for Greece.Miracles are possible in football,but Greece need to play best match and Croatia to be extremely bad.Considering how the Greeks looked a few days ago their game needs a general reconstruction and new coach.Two new players are expected for Greece,Manolas and Torosidis,and for Croatia we may see Mandzukic.

[BitcoinSupremo]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

[bering]

i missed small team who able went to world cup 2018 Panama and this is good achievement from them and probably won't repeatable by this team again in the future although really heavy to them went to knockout round because too many strong team on world cup but at least people in that country will be proud

[grermezter]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

[Vasilije69]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

Well, they didn't need more goals so they were just focused on defence.
Croatia is definitely going to qualify as well.

[tomahawk9]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

Northern Ireland had some clear chances to score, and those last 8 minutes were very intense, Embolo almost scoring, and that goal line clearance from Rodriguez in the last minute, amazing. Norther Ireland played way better today, but i feel like they wasted the first half doing nothing. It was a fun 0-0 match.

Croatia had everything under control, though i think the match was underwhelming. I was expecting to see Greece going all out today but actually, they played awful, i was watching the game and once the first half ended 0-0 i knew it was over, didn't bother to watch the second half.

No we have 28 national teams qualified.
Tomorrow, Italy - Sweden. Can't wait for this one.

[megynacuna]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

Well, they didn't need more goals so they were just focused on defence.
Croatia is definitely going to qualify as well.

That's correct and Croatia finally made it to Russia after their impressive first leg in Greece, I think they deserve it and i hopoe the ojther plays offs will be able to produce worthy winners as this and not nations Fifa seems to benefit from their marketing value.

[JJriver]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

Well, they didn't need more goals so they were just focused on defence.
Croatia is definitely going to qualify as well.

That's correct and Croatia finally made it to Russia after their impressive first leg in Greece, I think they deserve it and i hopoe the ojther plays offs will be able to produce worthy winners as this and not nations Fifa seems to benefit from their marketing value.

Today let's see how the national team of Italy will play. The first match ended with the victory of Sweden. Will the Italians today to take revenge?

[steveabrahams]

Today a great bet is Switzerland to win to nil against Northern Ireland. Switzerland didn't concede a goal away and I think tonight they will want to play carefully as this are the last 90 minutes before world cup so any error it is not acceptable. I think they will have a narrow win against Northern Ireland today and that they will not concede a goal.

Quite surprised that there wasn't any goal in the game between Switzerland and Northern Ireland today, even though it was goalless, Switzerland have officially qualified for the World Cup and am sure Croatia is bound to qualify as well.

Well they only need draw to qualify to World Cup 2018 in Russia, because they win 0-1 in the first leg. Actually the can make goals though, even the asian handicap is -1 goal.

Today match is Italy vs Sweden, this is really big for Italy. They lose 0-1 on the first leg and they need to win this to qualify to the world cup. I'm sure they will go all-in to win this match. Italy record at home match is unbeatable on 2017, let's see if they can make it today.

[buwaytress]

Northern Ireland had some clear chances to score, and those last 8 minutes were very intense, Embolo almost scoring, and that goal line clearance from Rodriguez in the last minute, amazing. Norther Ireland played way better today, but i feel like they wasted the first half doing nothing. It was a fun 0-0 match.

Croatia had everything under control, though i think the match was underwhelming. I was expecting to see Greece going all out today but actually, they played awful, i was watching the game and once the first half ended 0-0 i knew it was over, didn't bother to watch the second half.

No we have 28 national teams qualified.
Tomorrow, Italy - Sweden. Can't wait for this one.

Switzerland were probably still the better team over the two legs, but only just, although on the evidence of those intense minutes, it wouldn't have been unfair either had O Neill's side nicked the goal and pushed the tie to extra time/penalties. Controversial penalty or not, the Swiss won't care how they managed to qualify for their fourth straight finals. And yeah on Rodriguez. I think that save was when every heart in NI sank!

So this just leaves Eire to qualify, at the expense of Denmark, but I won't rue either's exclusion. Croatia was fully expected to be a snorefest, so I didn't even follow. Greece going all out? Never saw that in my lifetime =D