FIFA WORLD CUP 2018?

[DIA7]

Brazil is every time favorite because they have good record in World Cup Matches but we can watch some good underdogs as well because now time is changing very quickly and many teams can give shock to these bigs

There are quite a few underdogs, who can give big shock to the favorites. Belgium is one of such underdogs. Others that come to my mind right now are Colombia, Uruguay, and Croatia.

IMO, Croatia isn't an underdog. They qualified to the WC by playing the playoffs, in one of their recent friendlies they lost against Peru (an inferior team), they only have two or three top players, the rest are just average...overall, it's very hard to put Croatia among the underdogs when they're clearly inferior to such underdogs.

About Belgium, i'm having a déjà vu when people mention Belgium, same thing happened in the WC 2014 and Euro 2016 and both times they were a complete dissapointment.

true Croatia is in first tier right now, maybe 2nd behind Germany, France and Spain and in their group Iceland is a very physical team they can be a surprise again. And for Argentina i really still can't figure out what they're going to do the team have the best player and a of the best strikers so in my opinion group D looks the toughest group because the level is close between the teams while the others groups have one or two weak teams that's why I think group E is the weaker group Brazil is far superior team then the rest and it will be though to see who will join them in 2nd place.

[yoseph]

Brazil is every time favorite because they have good record in World Cup Matches but we can watch some good underdogs as well because now time is changing very quickly and many teams can give shock to these bigs

There are quite a few underdogs, who can give big shock to the favorites. Belgium is one of such underdogs. Others that come to my mind right now are Colombia, Uruguay, and Croatia.

IMO, Croatia isn't an underdog. They qualified to the WC by playing the playoffs, in one of their recent friendlies they lost against Peru (an inferior team), they only have two or three top players, the rest are just average...overall, it's very hard to put Croatia among the underdogs when they're clearly inferior to such underdogs.

About Belgium, i'm having a déjà vu when people mention Belgium, same thing happened in the WC 2014 and Euro 2016 and both times they were a complete dissapointment.

Roberto Martinez has definitely made one of the most biggest mistake i have ever seen a manager make by not select Naingolan for the upcoming world cup whiles the likes of Fallaini and Januzaj all made the squad.He has since then retired from international football as a result.

[tomahawk9]

Argentina has made official the 23-man squad for the WC:

GK: Sergio Romero, Wilfredo Caballero and Franco Armani.

Defenders: Gabriel Mercado, Cristian Ansaldi, Nicolás Otamendi, Federico Fazio, Marcos Rojo, Nicolás Tagliafico and Marcos Acuña.

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano, Eduardo Salvio, Lucas Biglia, Giovani Lo Celso, Ever Banega, Manuel Lanzini, Maximiliano Meza, Ángel Di María and Cristian Pavón.

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuaín and Sergio Agüero.

Surprisingly, no Icardi, and they went for Ansaldi (who?)...the midfield looks average, probably one of the weakest I've seen from Argentina. I would've left Mascherano and Higuaín for Paredes and Icardi, but I guess Messi wanted his friends in the team so the manager had to comply to his requests.

Btw, in the press conference, Sampaoli said that he's looking to use a 2-3-3-2 system in the WC...what?

Overall, if Messi wants to play the final, they will reach the final, if he doesn't play at 100%, they'll probably reach the QF at best.

Roberto Martinez has definitely made one of the most biggest mistake i have ever seen a manager make by not select Naingolan for the upcoming world cup whiles the likes of Fallaini and Januzaj all made the squad.He has since then retired from international football as a result.

Yeah, choosing Fellaini over Nainggolan is just stupid but, to leave one of the best midfielders in the world out of WC is a disgrace, Martinez probably had a personal problem with Radja and that's he didn't call him to the squad, that's the only reason that could explain his decision. About Januzaj, he had a good season in Spain, I think he deserves a spot in the squad.

[HugoStiglitz]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

[babygun]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

Jep, Martinez is not really found of Radja, which is why he didn't select them. Stupid choice as Naingolan can really make the difference.
What I also don't understand why they prolonged the contract of Martinez, he is not really the best coach for Belgium.

[Jating]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

Jep, Martinez is not really found of Radja, which is why he didn't select them. Stupid choice as Naingolan can really make the difference.
What I also don't understand why they prolonged the contract of Martinez, he is not really the best coach for Belgium.

Been asked many times as well since 2016. Lol. And that one of the weirdest decisions that I ever seen in recent memories.

However, that stage is step and let's see if he is really going to help the Belgian team. I just hope though that Belgian Federation has made the right choice though, because for me extending him for another 2 year coaching stint is a mistake.

[Pettuh4]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

I bet you are right, I don't know why at this age and time coaches pitch camps against players on morality and other non-footballing events. It goes to show how weak these managers are in managing attitudes and behaviors of their players. I will put all of those coaches on the same level of stupidity though.

[tomahawk9]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

Yeah, that's what I heard, and if true, then that's a shitty move from Martinez, he should consider what's best for the team, and the fact that he doesn't even consider Nainggolan to be among the list of 28 players (let alone, the list of 23)...that's just disrespectful. He's leaving one of the best midfielders in the team (above Fellaini, Witsel, Chadli, Tielemans) out of the world cup because of his personal feud with the player. And I wonder how's the morale of the team right now, they know Radja can be a key player in the golden generation of Belgium, not having a warrior like Radja is mental.

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

Jep, Martinez is not really found of Radja, which is why he didn't select them. Stupid choice as Naingolan can really make the difference.
What I also don't understand why they prolonged the contract of Martinez, he is not really the best coach for Belgium.

Maybe the players like Martinez as the coach? Tbh, the team was pretty shite back when Robert Wilmots was the manager. Martinez came in and the team improved a bit, mainly because of the players (most of them play in top clubs so that helps), not because of the manager. I honestly think Begium is wasting their talents with Roberto Martinez, just my opinion.

[Sithara007]

@yoseph, @tomahawk9, I heard that the only reason Martinez doesn't like Nainggollan is that Radja smokes. If it's truth, I think the decision to not select him is twice stupider as it could be in compare with the cases like Deschamps vs Benzema or Sampaoli vs Icardi.

Jep, Martinez is not really found of Radja, which is why he didn't select them. Stupid choice as Naingolan can really make the difference.
What I also don't understand why they prolonged the contract of Martinez, he is not really the best coach for Belgium.

Just read the news a few hours back and I was shocked, to be honest. I never expected the Belgians to let off Radja Nainggolan from their squad. IMO, he is a better player when compared to others such as Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini. 

[bering]

recently i have checked Spain team for world cup 2018 and i didn't see Morata name will playing for this tournament even he lose out to compete with Celta Vigo forward player Iago Aspas and apparently expensive price don't guarantee he will playing good in Chelsea and being an main option in Spain team

[Rinsend]

recently i have checked Spain team for world cup 2018 and i didn't see Morata name will playing for this tournament even he lose out to compete with Celta Vigo forward player Iago Aspas and apparently expensive price don't guarantee he will playing good in Chelsea and being an main option in Spain team

sometimes coaches look more on the other side of the players, maybe Spain with a squad already in form, does not need a typical player like morata. believe the spearhead Celta Vigo will be more effective when in pairs with players who are in the form now for Spain face the world cup

[yvesp110]

Lots of people are undoubtedly going to make a lot of money out of this World Cup but what scares me the most is that, Bribery from betting companies may influence the games a lot in the tournament this year.

There has never been an incidence of match fixing in the FIFA world cup. No one is going to put money over his home nation's victory (at least no one with proper mental balance). But then, illegal betting can be an issue.

No one will do match fixing in FIFA world cup because it is the completion of nations, so no player or a manager would like to see his nations facing regrets and shame just because of the trash of this world. FIFA cup is more important than money for every single nation that is participating in this cup. However, little countries which have least chances of winning this cup can do match fixing. 

[Sithara007]

Lots of people are undoubtedly going to make a lot of money out of this World Cup but what scares me the most is that, Bribery from betting companies may influence the games a lot in the tournament this year.

There has never been an incidence of match fixing in the FIFA world cup. No one is going to put money over his home nation's victory (at least no one with proper mental balance). But then, illegal betting can be an issue.

No one will do match fixing in FIFA world cup because it is the completion of nations, so no player or a manager would like to see his nations facing regrets and shame just because of the trash of this world. FIFA cup is more important than money for every single nation that is participating in this cup. However, little countries which have least chances of winning this cup can do match fixing. 

There are no "little" countries in this edition of world cup. They were eliminated during the qualifiers. Countries such as Panama and Costa Rica can be considered as "little" nations, but I don't think that even they will think about fixing matches.

[Biggapp]

IMO, Croatia isn't an underdog. They qualified to the WC by playing the playoffs, in one of their recent friendlies they lost against Peru (an inferior team), they only have two or three top players, the rest are just average...overall, it's very hard to put Croatia among the underdogs when they're clearly inferior to such underdogs.

About Belgium, i'm having a déjà vu when people mention Belgium, same thing happened in the WC 2014 and Euro 2016 and both times they were a complete dissapointment.

I would disagree with you on Croatia. They have a history of causing upsets, within the world cup and outside it. But I agree that their recent form has been terrible. Hopefully they will be able to find success in Russia and my hope is that they will be able to reach at least the quarter-final stage.

This FIFA cup has always been a great entertainment for all the football lovers and that it is one of the most favorite game which is always watched all over the world. There are likely chances that Germany or Portugal will be the champions at the end as these are the most capable teams having a good mixture of the players. Still you never know what will happen and that I am very much excited to witness.

[yoseph]

Sergio Romero is going to miss the World Cup after suffering a knee injury that requires surgery, Maybe this is the time for Icardi to join the team as a goalkeeper lol.

[aysha9872]

I think Germany is the heavy favourite. But who knows maybe spain can surprise everyone.

[tomahawk9]

Sergio Romero is going to miss the World Cup after suffering a knee injury that requires surgery, Maybe this is the time for Icardi to join the team as a goalkeeper lol.

I read somewhere that the two times Argentina won the world cup they had a GK playing in River Plate. Franco Armani, who everyone keeps saying should be in the starting XI in the WC, plays for River Plate 

I think Germany is the heavy favourite. But who knows maybe spain can surprise everyone.

There are a few favorites, and Spain is one of them so it wouldn't that surprising if they manager to win the WC.

[bearexin]

Lots of people are undoubtedly going to make a lot of money out of this World Cup but what scares me the most is that, Bribery from betting companies may influence the games a lot in the tournament this year.

There has never been an incidence of match fixing in the FIFA world cup. No one is going to put money over his home nation's victory (at least no one with proper mental balance). But then, illegal betting can be an issue.

There are certain things which happen but never reported as things happen under the table and that you never know what is going on. However, it is really a good thing that no such thing has happened so far and that people really enjoy the game as it is being played fair without any kind of betting. This year, FIFA will be interesting as all the teams are well prepared and will try their best to grab the trophy.

[tokeweed]

Hey guys...  I don't mean to spam or anything but we need more players for BCT's World Cup betting pool.  Enough talking, start testing your skills and win prizes!  

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[Sithara007]

I think Germany is the heavy favourite. But who knows maybe spain can surprise everyone.

If you talk about the top 2 teams who have the greatest chance to lift this edition of the world cup, then it is going to be Germany and Brazil. And in my opinion Germany is having the advantage because their record in Russia is quite good.