⚽ FIFA World Cup 2022: Tournament Discussion Thread for Qatar 2022

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Today Spain plays against Japan, in what should be an easy match for the Spaniards, and even if the unexpected result happens and they lose, they still have an easy chance to qualify, as to be eliminated, Costa Rica would have to win Germany or Germany would have to win by at least 7 goals.

All these circumstances are unlikely, so if Spain were to be eliminated it would be a surprise, and this is reflected in the betting odds.

[mv1986]

Results from the games in Group C and D:

Australia 1-0 Denmark
Tunisia 1-0 France
Poland 0-2 Argentina
Saudi Arabia 1-2 Mexico


In Group C Argentina and Poland qualify for the next stage. In Group D Tunisia shocked the world by beating France but they and Denmark will not qualify. France and Australia are through to the next stage.

Here is the final tables for Group C and D :

Poland had a nice sweat after the whistle was blown for them. Everyone watching the stream Mexico against Saudi Arabia! Also the chances Argentina had in the game to score a third goal. Lewandowski said he has never been happier about a loss and never felt more satisfaction going home with a 0-2! I believe that. But ranking 2nd and meeting France isn't quite the best scenario, though better than being kicked out of course.

I am interested in your guys' opinions: is France' behavior, changing players on 9 positions and not only that, but also let players play positions that they usually don't play (e.g. Camavinga), a distortion of competition?

Camp A says that France earned themselves that luxury during the first two games by winning them both, putting them into a position to do or not do whatever they want in the third game.

Camp B says that changing positions is fine, but out of respect towards the whole competition there should be a limit, an unwritten rule to be followed by every single participant. Changing 9 positions goes too far when it comes to fair competition.

I personally tend to adhere towards camp B. The reason being that if a lottery would have led to another schedule, meaning that France would have first met Tunisia and instead Denmark in the last game, chances are high that Denmark would have made it to the next round. But a world cup shouldn't involve moments of luck in that regard. The best teams should qualify. Imagine Tunisia would have made it if Australia vs. Denmark would have been a draw. I really think that changing 9 positions and letting players play where they usually never play is too much of so called "deserved luxury". When Dechamps sent his stars onto the pitch, the game took a turn and it was 9-0 attempts in favor of France whereas in the first half I believe it was 11-1 in favor of Tunisia. Although I get the point of deserved luxury and reducing risk for star players to get injured, I do see distortion in competition when Tunisia dominates France as if France was only half as good as Faroe Islands... Watching that game even hurt my eyes.


What do you guys think?

[Pierre 2]

Today Spain plays against Japan, in what should be an easy match for the Spaniards, and even if the unexpected result happens and they lose, they still have an easy chance to qualify, as to be eliminated, Costa Rica would have to win Germany or Germany would have to win by at least 7 goals.

All these circumstances are unlikely, so if Spain were to be eliminated it would be a surprise, and this is reflected in the betting odds.

I also feel like it will be rather easy match for Spanish. They shouldn't lose and that's it. No issue if they can score 1-2 goals. I think its impossible for Costa Rica to beat Germany. Germans may seem terrible as they got only a point in 2 matches but I am sure they will be much more motivated and consistent against Costa Rica.  I think draw won't be enough for Japanese. They made a mistake getting defeated by Costa Rica. They should have secured 1 point.

[JollyGood]

Ecuador had a disappointing run...... they have themselves to blame

Well, they celebrated like crazy when they beat host nation Qatar in the opening game. If they had celebrated a win it would have been fine but for them to have over-celebrated akin to humiliating the host nation - for that a lot of people thought Ecuador unfortunately deserved to be knocked out.

I think there could be another Brazilian World Cup victory. Brazil's team is exceptionally strong in every line, and they balance their offense and defense quite well that makes them more threatening and can aid in their fast development. Their defense can reverse the game even with or without the help of Neymar, they have a lot of attackers and playmakers, that make them a perfect team.
In a game against Switzerland, we witnessed the iconic players like Ronaldo Nazario, Robert Carlos, Kaka, and Cafu. They helped the team to win the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.

I have to say, it is possible but the way they just about managed a win against Switzerland did not give me a lot of confidence in their display. They will be able to demonstrate their skills in their final group game and that might be enough to convince more people they are serious contenders to win the tournament.

I personally tend to adhere towards camp B. The reason being that if a lottery would have led to another schedule, meaning that France would have first met Tunisia and instead Denmark in the last game, chances are high that Denmark would have made it to the next round. But a world cup shouldn't involve moments of luck in that regard. The best teams should qualify. Imagine Tunisia would have made it if Australia vs. Denmark would have been a draw. I really think that changing 9 positions and letting players play where they usually never play is too much of so called "deserved luxury". When Dechamps sent his stars onto the pitch, the game took a turn and it was 9-0 attempts in favor of France whereas in the first half I believe it was 11-1 in favor of Tunisia. Although I get the point of deserved luxury and reducing risk for star players to get injured, I do see distortion in competition when Tunisia dominates France as if France was only half as good as Faroe Islands... Watching that game even hurt my eyes.


What do you guys think?

Do you think Deschamps was being disrespectful to Tunisia by fielding an over the top weakened side or he was just resting some players and giving a chance to others? The Tunisians deserved their victory overall because the French did not play with a sense of urgency until it was too late. They were strolling and it was not impressive which allowed the Tunisians to play strongly and win. I think Deschamps did disrespect Tunisia by fielding that starting eleven. Even the Faroe Islands would have played better than France that game 

[nullama]

~snip~
I also feel like it will be rather easy match for Spanish. They shouldn't lose and that's it. No issue if they can score 1-2 goals. I think its impossible for Costa Rica to beat Germany. Germans may seem terrible as they got only a point in 2 matches but I am sure they will be much more motivated and consistent against Costa Rica.  I think draw won't be enough for Japanese. They made a mistake getting defeated by Costa Rica. They should have secured 1 point.

Well, against all the odds, Japan ended up doing it again, now against Spain.

They started losing 0 - 1 but then just like against Germany, they scored the equalizer and then the second goal.

It was an incredible match, at some point both Germany and Spain were about to be kicked out of the group of 16, when Costa Rica scored their 2 -1.

At the end of the day it was Germany the one that couldn't go through, and Japan ended up as number one.

Lucky for Spain, Costa Rica couldn't defeat Germany in the end.

What a finish for this group!

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Well, against all the odds, Japan ended up doing it again, now against Spain.

<...>

What a finish for this group!

With all due respect to Japan, Spain embarrassed me, especially in the second half. The first half was fine, but in the second we were overwhelmed and in the blink of an eye we were suffering because we were one goal away from elimination if Costa Rica scored another.

Congratulations to Japan, who were the surprise package, the revelation of the group. Those who bet on them will have made good money.

Spain Morocco will be interesting. There are a lot of Moroccans living in Spain, we'll see how this translates in terms of fan rivalry.

[Sithara007]

Spain Morocco will be interesting. There are a lot of Moroccans living in Spain, we'll see how this translates in terms of fan rivalry.

I appreciate the good showing from Morocco, but their fans need to learn how to behave. Especially when they are residing in some foreign nation. There was rioting and hooliganism by Moroccan fans in France, Belgium and Netherlands after their recent wins. The Japanese fans on the other hand, volunteered to clean the stadium of empty cans and thrash after their win against Germany. Asia and Africa represent the future of football. The most important thing here is not to antagonize people from other regions and stay within their limits.

[fennic]

I am currently playing On Binance that is offering One million dollars. And also those players who will suggest accurate points of game will be rewarded more but still.my.luch has not came and but still I will be safe from big loss by playing free. But only we have to buy Football Fan tokens. Betting can make someone millionaire by chance if he is not becoming so much greedy.

[KTChampions]

With all due respect to Japan, Spain embarrassed me, especially in the second half. The first half was fine, but in the second we were overwhelmed and in the blink of an eye we were suffering because we were one goal away from elimination if Costa Rica scored another.

Congratulations to Japan, who were the surprise package, the revelation of the group. Those who bet on them will have made good money.

Spain Morocco will be interesting. There are a lot of Moroccans living in Spain, we'll see how this translates in terms of fan rivalry.

In fact, all this looks suspicious. It is rather strange that after the first half, when Spain saw a "reliable" score in the game Costa Rica - Germany (0-1), then everything immediately turned upside down and Spain "suddenly" turned from a winning side into a losing side. Given that Spain only benefited from this turn of events, this looks suspicious. The ideal option would be if Costa Rica won and Japan and Costa Rica advanced to the next round.

[Slow death]

For today's games:

Republic of Korea - Portugal

this is a game in which portugal is already in the other phase but they need to ensure that they are in first place in the group, because if ghana wins in the game against uruguay then portugal could have the risk of being in second place in this group because the ghana has the same number of goals as portugal, so portugal needs to win in this game against south korea, looking at the players scheduled for this game:



some portugal players are not playing, so i don't understand to what extent portugal will take this game seriously, but anyway it won't be an easy game for portugal because they don't have all their best players on the pitch

Ghana - Uruguay

I honestly don't understand why bookmakers are underestimating ghana so much? this odd of @4.30 for ghana is as if they were saying that ghana is not as strong as uruguay, in my opinion ghana will win this game, they play very well and so far they have been much better than uruguay, i bet on ghana to win in this game



if ghana manages to win in this game then they will be able to pass to another stage of the world cup, without a doubt that would be excellent news because we would have many african teams in the next stage of this world cup

Serbia - Switzerland

this is a very important game for switzerland they need to win this game to be able to move to another stage, if they can't win this game then they go home, but looking at serbia i would say that serbia doesn't have many chances to win in this game being so i believe that switzerland can win in this game

Cameroon - Brazil

brazil will play with gabriel jesus, rodrygo and other good players so i hope they create a lot of difficulties for the prawns, maybe they even manage to win this game, although for them it is not so important that they win this game, but in the case of prawns they need to win this game

[JollyGood]

Results from the games played yesterday from Group E and Group F:

Canada 1-2 Morocco
Croatia 0-0 Belgium 
Costa Rica 2-4 Germany 
Japan 2-1 Spain

From Group E Japan and Spain have qualified. From Group F Morocco and Croatia have qualified. It means Belgium and Germany have both been knocked out in the group stages. Here is how the final tables for Group E and F look like.

[el kaka22]

It is going to keep being an interesting world cup for sure, but at the end of the day do we really think that teams like France or Brazil would have a shocking result? Nobody considered Germany or Spain to be favourites, they believed that England would be, France would be and of course Brazil would be these are the high favourites and they are doing fine if you ask me, still some unexpected results by some of them, but they look good.

I believe one of those three will win the title and that is what matters. I am believing that we are going to end up with a good result in the long run and the winner will not be a team like Japan, that is not possible at all.

[Igebotz]

Ecuador had a disappointing run...... they have themselves to blame

Well, they celebrated like crazy when they beat host nation Qatar in the opening game. If they had celebrated a win it would have been fine but for them to have over-celebrated akin to humiliating the host nation - for that a lot of people thought Ecuador unfortunately deserved to be knocked out.

No, you can't blame them for celebrating their first win in such a big way. It was a big game with a lot of media attention, and everyone thought Qatar would have an advantage because they were the hosts, but we all saw what happened. I guess the celebration was also because they broke the long-standing record of the hosting always winning the first game. But, to be honest, they deserve it be eliminated because they failed the other two difficult tests.

From Group E Japan and Spain have qualified. From Group F Morocco and Croatia have qualified. It means Belgium and Germany have both been knocked out in the group stages. Here is how the final tables for Group E and F look like.

Morocco has been the most surprising team for me so far. I never trusted them because they were in a tough group and their chances of qualifying were slim. It's a feat that they went on to win Belgium and Canada and become the group leader; I'm sure no one saw that coming. Belgium is so unlucky to have Lukaku as their top striker; he had six sitters and missed them all in one of the country's' most important game; I can't believe we paid such a high price for him last season. He hasn't changed much. The team is, without a doubt, old, but he had the opportunity to send his country through but failed. So far, Belgium, Denmark, and German have been my biggest flops.

Kai Havertz prevented the most embarrassing scene last night... spoiled the party for Costa Rica

[JollyGood]

Results from the games played:

Ghana 0-2 Uruguay
Korea Republic 2-1 Portugal
Cameroon 1-0 Brazil 
Serbia 2-3 Switzerland

From Group G, even though Cameroon beat Brazil today it was not enough because Switzerland beat Serbia to go through to the next stage. In Group H Portugal and South Korea are though whereas Uruguay and Ghana are knocked out.

Here are the final Group G and Group H tables:

[JollyGood]

Ecuador had a disappointing run...... they have themselves to blame

Well, they celebrated like crazy when they beat host nation Qatar in the opening game. If they had celebrated a win it would have been fine but for them to have over-celebrated akin to humiliating the host nation - for that a lot of people thought Ecuador unfortunately deserved to be knocked out.

No, you can't blame them for celebrating their first win in such a big way. It was a big game with a lot of media attention, and everyone thought Qatar would have an advantage because they were the hosts, but we all saw what happened. I guess the celebration was also because they broke the long-standing record of the hosting always winning the first game. But, to be honest, they deserve it be eliminated because they failed the other two difficult tests.

I still feel they over-celebrated and that was a mistake on their part.

Morocco has been the most surprising team for me so far. I never trusted them because they were in a tough group and their chances of qualifying were slim. It's a feat that they went on to win Belgium and Canada and become the group leader; I'm sure no one saw that coming. Belgium is so unlucky to have Lukaku as their top striker; he had six sitters and missed them all in one of the country's' most important game; I can't believe we paid such a high price for him last season. He hasn't changed much. The team is, without a doubt, old, but he had the opportunity to send his country through but failed. So far, Belgium, Denmark, and German have been my biggest flops.

Kai Havertz prevented the most embarrassing scene last night... spoiled the party for Costa Rica

Belgium, Denmark and Germany have all disappointed but Morocco I think will beat Spain, I think they will do it. Morocco and Senegal are the only African teams left in the tournament and they will go all out to win as they are knockout games. In an otherwise meeting Senegal would stand very little chance of beating England but this is the world cup and anything can happen. The same goes for Morocco, Japan and South Korea.

It would be great to see nations other than the regular successful ones going far in the tournament too.

[mendace]

Belgium, Denmark and Germany have all disappointed but Morocco I think will beat Spain, I think they will do it. Morocco and Senegal are the only African teams left in the tournament and they will go all out to win as they are knockout games. In an otherwise meeting Senegal would stand very little chance of beating England but this is the world cup and anything can happen. The same goes for Morocco, Japan and South Korea.

It would be great to see nations other than the regular successful ones going far in the tournament too.

This tournament is absurd, Germany out and Japan moving into first place.  Uruguay out, Argentina losing against Arabia in a nutshell an absurd world tournament.  And you want to tell me that Morocco will win with Spain?  Ok maybe when the Europeans play in the winter season it's possible that everything turns upside down otherwise I don't understand.

[Juggy777]

Belgium, Denmark and Germany have all disappointed but Morocco I think will beat Spain, I think they will do it. Morocco and Senegal are the only African teams left in the tournament and they will go all out to win as they are knockout games. In an otherwise meeting Senegal would stand very little chance of beating England but this is the world cup and anything can happen. The same goes for Morocco, Japan and South Korea.

It would be great to see nations other than the regular successful ones going far in the tournament too.

This tournament is absurd, Germany out and Japan moving into first place.  Uruguay out, Argentina losing against Arabia in a nutshell an absurd world tournament.  And you want to tell me that Morocco will win with Spain?  Ok maybe when the Europeans play in the winter season it's possible that everything turns upside down otherwise I don't understand.

@JollyGood honestly Germany and Belgium player’s need to ask themselves are they even worthy enough to play for their respective countries, because their performances were terrible and if possible both countries should change their entire squad for the next World Cup. Furthermore Japan is one team that’s stunned me, and if they go on to win the World Cup then I’ll truly regret not wagering on them when the odds were insanely high.

[Kakmakr]

I have to say, Morocco stunned me.... This World Cup has featured some of the biggest upsets in history! ...and it totally messed with my multi bets... it's red all over for me.    Japan, topped the group with six points from their two upset games.   

So who do you think will cause some upsets in the knockout rounds, because I cannot afford to lose much more? Will the best teams in the world assert their dominance?

[mendace]

Belgium, Denmark and Germany have all disappointed but Morocco I think will beat Spain, I think they will do it. Morocco and Senegal are the only African teams left in the tournament and they will go all out to win as they are knockout games. In an otherwise meeting Senegal would stand very little chance of beating England but this is the world cup and anything can happen. The same goes for Morocco, Japan and South Korea.

It would be great to see nations other than the regular successful ones going far in the tournament too.

This tournament is absurd, Germany out and Japan moving into first place.  Uruguay out, Argentina losing against Arabia in a nutshell an absurd world tournament.  And you want to tell me that Morocco will win with Spain?  Ok maybe when the Europeans play in the winter season it's possible that everything turns upside down otherwise I don't understand.

@JollyGood honestly Germany and Belgium player’s need to ask themselves are they even worthy enough to play for their respective countries, because their performances were terrible and if possible both countries should change their entire squad for the next World Cup. Furthermore Japan is one team that’s stunned me, and if they go on to win the World Cup then I’ll truly regret not wagering on them when the odds were insanely high.

In my opinion we have to take various factors into consideration, for example a world championship has never been played in recent months, secondly some players come from cold countries and were sent to Qatar with high temperatures over 40° and go from one extreme to the other.  This is not a justification or criticism but I just want to point out that although we are talking about professional players accustomed to these changes, this time it probably didn't go like this.  Maybe someone couldn't handle the "jeetlag"... or probably had a physical drop and didn't perform well.

[Daniel91]

Belgium, Denmark and Germany have all disappointed but Morocco I think will beat Spain, I think they will do it. Morocco and Senegal are the only African teams left in the tournament and they will go all out to win as they are knockout games. In an otherwise meeting Senegal would stand very little chance of beating England but this is the world cup and anything can happen. The same goes for Morocco, Japan and South Korea.

It would be great to see nations other than the regular successful ones going far in the tournament too.

This tournament is absurd, Germany out and Japan moving into first place.  Uruguay out, Argentina losing against Arabia in a nutshell an absurd world tournament.  And you want to tell me that Morocco will win with Spain?  Ok maybe when the Europeans play in the winter season it's possible that everything turns upside down otherwise I don't understand.

@JollyGood honestly Germany and Belgium player’s need to ask themselves are they even worthy enough to play for their respective countries, because their performances were terrible and if possible both countries should change their entire squad for the next World Cup. Furthermore Japan is one team that’s stunned me, and if they go on to win the World Cup then I’ll truly regret not wagering on them when the odds were insanely high.

In my opinion we have to take various factors into consideration, for example a world championship has never been played in recent months, secondly some players come from cold countries and were sent to Qatar with high temperatures over 40° and go from one extreme to the other.  This is not a justification or criticism but I just want to point out that although we are talking about professional players accustomed to these changes, this time it probably didn't go like this.  Maybe someone couldn't handle the "jeetlag"... or probably had a physical drop and didn't perform well.

I would not say that these are the reasons for the disastrous results of some favorites at this world championship, such as Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Uruguay etc.
The same weather conditions, and even worse, were at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, and yet there were not as many unexpected results and surprises as now.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Italy failed to qualify for two consecutive World Cups, and Germany failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the World Cup twice in a row.
Also, has anyone noticed that we've never had more teams from Asia, Africa and North America and Australia in the knockout stages of a world cup competition?
I think that these results are not accidental or the result of weather conditions, but an indication of major changes on the football map of the world.