FIFA World Cup 2022 Discussion Thread

[nullama]

~snip~
Yes exactly, we have to not forget that Croatia as the runner up the world cup 2018 in Russia. He was able to beat 3-0 Argentina on the group stage, then won a penalty shoot versus Denmark (16 round) and Russia (8 round), then won versus England 2-1 in Semi-Final. So I think even they have the old squad, Croatia is still worth it as a tough opponent of Brazil. And if Brazil Underestimate them, we can see croatia will hold the match to be draw to make a strategy - Penalty shoot - like in 2018.

Yeah, I think not many people are confident that Croatia can beat Brazil, but it can actually happen.

Stranger things have happened already, Saudi Arabia win against Argentina for example, Tunisia win against France, Morocco win against Spain, South Korea win against Portugal, Japan win against Spain, Cameroon win against Brazil, etc...

I mean, if Cameroon was able to win against Brazil, then Croatia does have a chance.

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[Pandu Geddon]

Yeah, I think not many people are confident that Croatia can beat Brazil, but it can actually happen.

Stranger things have happened already, Saudi Arabia win against Argentina for example, Tunisia win against France, Morocco win against Spain, South Korea win against Portugal, Japan win against Spain, Cameroon win against Brazil, etc...

I mean, if Cameroon was able to win against Brazil, then Croatia does have a chance.

of course, the opportunity is there for Croatia. even in the previous world cup, Croatia surprised all the spectators. it is not impossible that Croatia can make Brazil carry the suitcase in the quarter-finals. although it's not what I expected.

I still bet on the odds of Brazil winning. although it won't be with a big score. I hope Brazil will qualify for the semi-finals and meet Argentina.

[Minor Miner]

Brazil's team is very strong. But they are also often wrong. Brazil's performances against Serbia and Cameroon were not very good. So there is no reason to say that a win against Brazil is impossible. Croatia may not be as strong as Brazil. But Croatia is very tricky. And their defense is strong. If Croatia somehow managed to score the first goal of the match against Brazil. Then it will be difficult for Brazil to win this match. But Brazil is an experienced team. They look like they will do no wrong against Croatia. Maybe Brazil and Argentina will meet in the semi-finals. Looking forward to seeing how the Brazilian players will resist Messi.

It may not be great, but we all know how good they are normally, and they were missing some key players, specially Neymar who is already back which is a great news for PSG to be fair.
I think the best thing we could do right now is bet on Brazil, to say that it is impossible for them to lose against anyone would be wrong of course, because we all know anyone could lose against anyone, but just because there is a "possibility" of them losing doesn't mean that they will lose, there is still a bigger possibility that they will win, and that is a bit more important to me. This means that we are going to end up with a Brazil win for all intends and purposes, and I will bet on them.

Neymar is back in the squad. He is not completely healthy though. However, Brazil's players are more confident with Neymar in the squad. Winning against any team becomes easier if a player like Neymar is in the squad. However, Brazil's next match is against Croatia. Croatia's team is not weak. However, Croatia does not have a strong squad to win against Brazil. I think Brazil will have no problem beating Croatia. I will also bet on Brazil winning the next match in Brazil. And I want to see Argentina vs Brazil in the semi-finals. I think both Brazil and Argentina will win the quarter-finals and qualify for the semi-finals.

Croatia is a very complicated team to play against, if Brazil can score early then the game can become way easier as Croatia will be forced to try to get a score, but if the minutes keep going by and Brazil is unable to score then it would not surprise me if the match will have to be decided by kicking penalties, and as we have seen during the game of Spain and Morocco once you get to that instance anything could happen and Brazil could get eliminated by Croatia.

Yeah, Croatia is a very complicated team. It is very difficult to predict their performance. However, in general, it seems that there is no chance for Croatia to win against Brazil. Still, Croatia has the potential to surprise. Luka Modrich is in the Croatia team. He has the ability to perform well and bring victory to the team when the team needs it. Modrich has to be careful with Brazil. I will say that if Brazil can stop Modrich then Brazil can dominate the match.

[Sithara007]

Yeah, Croatia is a very complicated team. It is very difficult to predict their performance. However, in general, it seems that there is no chance for Croatia to win against Brazil. Still, Croatia has the potential to surprise. Luka Modrich is in the Croatia team. He has the ability to perform well and bring victory to the team when the team needs it. Modrich has to be careful with Brazil. I will say that if Brazil can stop Modrich then Brazil can dominate the match.

This world cup has been full of surprises, so far with some of the heavyweights going down. If Saudi Arabia can defeat Argentina, then it is possible for Croatia to defeat Brazil. But so far Brazil looked as if they are one level ahead of all the other teams in this tournament, both in terms of skills and team bonding. But no one can predict an assured victory for Brazil. Croatia do have some really good players and the outcome can become unpredictable if Luka Modrić or Ivan Perišić can score a goal in the first half and upset the match equilibrium.

[CryptocurencyKing]

There's no lots of goals being made by both. Both have equal power but morocco was winning the match caused by it has a great goal keeper. I didn't even expect morocco will able to force the match become draw. Morocc is good enough preventing any attack from spain. Spain itself was also feeling so hard to prevent morocco to attack it. I could not believe about how spain was not even able making a single goals during penalty against morocco. The world cup becomes very interesting caused by more big team gone as it was lose against underrated team.
Morocco can beat spain easily in the penalty which makes so many people surprised with the result

Spain had more than 75% possession during the regular time + extra time. They completely dominated the match. Also, they were quite unfortunate that some of their shots narrowly missed the goal post. But in the end, Moroccan defense performed exceptionally well and luck was also on their side. What surprised me is the fact that Spanish players missed so many of their spot kicks. Historically they have performed well in shootouts, but I don't know what happened yesterday. All credit to the Moroccan keeper (Yassine Bounou). He was just unbelievable.

Spain were totally dominant in game and field in terms of ball possession and even strike they tried many times failed in all of them ,Morocco on other hand they were defensive and alert and they stopped all Spains attempts to goals.
The penalty shootout worked for them because at that time Spain was already nervous and under alot of pressure.
This is a big thing for morocco now we have to see how they  will play against Portugal.

Spain averaged over 80% possession in that game. They have the ability to frustrate teams; similarly to the team of the recent past, they can wear down the opposition by playing the ball around them repeatedly. But Morocco had the mental and physical strength to maintain concentration during Spain’s lengthy spells of possession. But possession without penetration has been their biggest flaw and led to their downfall against Morocco.

[Captain Corporate]

They may keep the ball and take it home like Mourinho said, it is about the goals and Spain keeps the ball but they fail to attack properly and can't score. This was a problem with late Messi era problem of Barcelona as well, they didn't had Xavi and Iniesta anymore and they just had Messi and tried to pass around and failed because not a lot of layers knew what to do. You can't just use tiki-taka as a way to keep the ball and hope that you will win games, its not that easy and it will take a long time before you ma realize this but as long as you score just once, the other team could have %90 possession and still lose if they fail to score.

[Maidak]

It is not a matter of the CR7 not being in the match and the Portuguese scoring that high number of goals, rather I think Switzerland is not a better side at yesterday's match and they Portuguese capitalized on that. They barely had shots on target at the first half, Portugal did all the attacking and of course the reason for the goals. Well whatever was the reason for not playing Ronaldo worked for them.

Setting  aside sentiment, Goncalo Ramos performed far better than Ronaldo in the match against Switzerland. Ronaldo is in that team because of his experience and the respect the country has for him and not because of his performance. It is true that the Swiss team defended very poorly but Ronaldo's absence was not felt at all.

There are speculations that Ronaldo was benched because of his wrong gesture when he was substituted. Portugal coach Fernando Santos is very matured and experience, hence he cannot be intimidated by Ronaldo's achievement.  I am even suggesting that he should still remain in the bench against Morocco. He needs to learn humility and selflessness.    

I think at this point what Portugal should do is utilize Cristiano Ronaldo from time to time, I mean rotate him in and out of the game and play other players who are performing more effectively.

I thought Ramos played really well in the last game compared to Cristiano Ronaldo throughout the whole tournament. It would be more beneficial for them to start Ramos in the next game and maybe get Ronaldo in the second half as a backup. Moreover, I agree that Bernardo Silva should have started every game from the beginning of the tournament as well. While I believe that he did a fine job in the last game, I am grateful that the coach played him in that game.

[Mate2237]

OP, I just discovered that you have changed you subject (topic) to FIFA World Cup 2022 Discussion Thread and I know that topic was not like this. The topic was something world cup stage highlights. Now the one you have changed to is conflicting with this topic ⚽ FIFA World Cup 2022: Tournament Discussion Thread for Qatar 2022. You would've kept it in the former title. May I ask you why you changed the topic? I advise you to change it back to the original topic because the original topic was okay. But this topic is contradicting with JollyGood thread.

[hahay]

They may keep the ball and take it home like Mourinho said, it is about the goals and Spain keeps the ball but they fail to attack properly and can't score. This was a problem with late Messi era problem of Barcelona as well, they didn't had Xavi and Iniesta anymore and they just had Messi and tried to pass around and failed because not a lot of layers knew what to do. You can't just use tiki-taka as a way to keep the ball and hope that you will win games, its not that easy and it will take a long time before you ma realize this but as long as you score just once, the other team could have %90 possession and still lose if they fail to score.

Basically if they apply the tiki-taka style of play then what must be built strong, or the initial capital that must be possessed is a strong and good chemistry between players. That way they will be able to make the right moves and passes, because to implement such a style of play seems difficult if it doesn't involve Messi who can pass and make very good movements to deceive opponents.
Meanwhile in the Spain squad there are no players who have the abilities of Messi and also, the absence of Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield, of course, playing games like tiki-taka is difficult to implement properly.

Indeed, Luis Enrique gave the best for Barcelona with that style of play, but it will certainly be different when applied to different squads too.
But yes, I personally feel this result is not only about Luis Enrique's badness or mistakes, but also maybe Morocco did play so well that the big effort that Morocco put in really brought them a big result for them too.

[rahmad2nd]

Yeah, Croatia is a very complicated team. It is very difficult to predict their performance. However, in general, it seems that there is no chance for Croatia to win against Brazil. Still, Croatia has the potential to surprise. Luka Modrich is in the Croatia team. He has the ability to perform well and bring victory to the team when the team needs it. Modrich has to be careful with Brazil. I will say that if Brazil can stop Modrich then Brazil can dominate the match.

This world cup has been full of surprises, so far with some of the heavyweights going down. If Saudi Arabia can defeat Argentina, then it is possible for Croatia to defeat Brazil. But so far Brazil looked as if they are one level ahead of all the other teams in this tournament, both in terms of skills and team bonding. But no one can predict an assured victory for Brazil. Croatia do have some really good players and the outcome can become unpredictable if Luka Modrić or Ivan Perišić can score a goal in the first half and upset the match equilibrium.

If we talk Head To Head between these two teams, Croatia is below Brazil's level. both individually and in teamwork. Brazil is one of the teams that has a depth of players above average, especially the front line that Brazil has. naturally, if Brazil is more favored than the other teams competing in this world cup championship. with the exception of France, the French squad will be even more formidable if some of its stars are not injured and must be absent from this world cup.

this fight, it will be very hard for Modric and his friends. but what we should appreciate, the enthusiasm and mentality of the Croatian players is really high even though it has to be paid for with hard work from match to match.
on paper this fight, belongs to Brazil. but we'll see how Croatia will provide their resistance, by appearing all out to offset the game from this samba team. so, let's enjoy this moment.

[Silence Scream]

They may keep the ball and take it home like Mourinho said, it is about the goals and Spain keeps the ball but they fail to attack properly and can't score. This was a problem with late Messi era problem of Barcelona as well, they didn't had Xavi and Iniesta anymore and they just had Messi and tried to pass around and failed because not a lot of layers knew what to do. You can't just use tiki-taka as a way to keep the ball and hope that you will win games, its not that easy and it will take a long time before you ma realize this but as long as you score just once, the other team could have %90 possession and still lose if they fail to score.

Spain had trouble shooting on target throughout the match.  They shot 13 times and only 1 was on target.  There is a 77% rate of playing ball.  This is an incredible rate.  Despite this, being ahead in all statistics after failing to score a goal does not gain you anything.  Such an end was not expected for the Spanish national team.  Morocco had a big qualifier.  It's time for Spain to see where it went wrong.

[mendace]

They may keep the ball and take it home like Mourinho said, it is about the goals and Spain keeps the ball but they fail to attack properly and can't score. This was a problem with late Messi era problem of Barcelona as well, they didn't had Xavi and Iniesta anymore and they just had Messi and tried to pass around and failed because not a lot of layers knew what to do. You can't just use tiki-taka as a way to keep the ball and hope that you will win games, its not that easy and it will take a long time before you ma realize this but as long as you score just once, the other team could have %90 possession and still lose if they fail to score.

Spain had trouble shooting on target throughout the match.  They shot 13 times and only 1 was on target.  There is a 77% rate of playing ball.  This is an incredible rate.  Despite this, being ahead in all statistics after failing to score a goal does not gain you anything.  Such an end was not expected for the Spanish national team.  Morocco had a big qualifier.  It's time for Spain to see where it went wrong.

Spain hasn't been very competitive in the last few championships, even in the European championships it hasn't shone much.  It has long since lost its character but this can also be seen in the La Liga championship which has lost many champions and the strongest teams are not winning anything in recent years.

[CryptocurencyKing]

They may keep the ball and take it home like Mourinho said, it is about the goals and Spain keeps the ball but they fail to attack properly and can't score. This was a problem with late Messi era problem of Barcelona as well, they didn't had Xavi and Iniesta anymore and they just had Messi and tried to pass around and failed because not a lot of layers knew what to do. You can't just use tiki-taka as a way to keep the ball and hope that you will win games, its not that easy and it will take a long time before you ma realize this but as long as you score just once, the other team could have %90 possession and still lose if they fail to score.

Spain had trouble shooting on target throughout the match.  They shot 13 times and only 1 was on target.  There is a 77% rate of playing ball.  This is an incredible rate.  Despite this, being ahead in all statistics after failing to score a goal does not gain you anything.  Such an end was not expected for the Spanish national team.  Morocco had a big qualifier.  It's time for Spain to see where it went wrong.

Spain hasn't been very competitive in the last few championships, even in the European championships it hasn't shone much.  It has long since lost its character but this can also be seen in the La Liga championship which has lost many champions and the strongest teams are not winning anything in recent years.

I’m sorry but you win tournaments with a blend of experience and talents. I saw all Spain games, except the Costa Rica game that it seems like they had a free run. The remaining games was just pass and pass and have zero impacts going forward. Most of there attacks came from wings. You have a midfield that consisted of Sergio who I can't remember last time he moved the ball forward to create much. Gavi, which all he knows or does his run helter skelter. Only midfielder there was Pedri, he was the only one trying so hard to make something put of that midfield. If you like pass the ball 200 million times, and do not create chances or give key passes into the final third, you will just pass in vain.

[8rch7]

Yeah, I think not many people are confident that Croatia can beat Brazil, but it can actually happen.

Stranger things have happened already, Saudi Arabia win against Argentina for example, Tunisia win against France, Morocco win against Spain, South Korea win against Portugal, Japan win against Spain, Cameroon win against Brazil, etc...

I mean, if Cameroon was able to win against Brazil, then Croatia does have a chance.

Comparison with Cameroon beaten Brazil at last match in group stage I don't think better way because Brazil starting eleven dominance by substitutes player, look at last match when Brazil playing with regular player composition and success beat South Korea 4-1. Although Croatia more surprised national team not only in this World Cup but also last time edition Croatia are most surprised national team until success lead to final before beating by France.

Croatia's chances of qualifying for the semifinals are very difficult looking with Brazil have consistency performance and they have the same quality level between regular and reserve player.

[Theones]

Yeah, I think not many people are confident that Croatia can beat Brazil, but it can actually happen.

Stranger things have happened already, Saudi Arabia win against Argentina for example, Tunisia win against France, Morocco win against Spain, South Korea win against Portugal, Japan win against Spain, Cameroon win against Brazil, etc...

I mean, if Cameroon was able to win against Brazil, then Croatia does have a chance.

Comparison with Cameroon beaten Brazil at last match in group stage I don't think better way because Brazil starting eleven dominance by substitutes player, look at last match when Brazil playing with regular player composition and success beat South Korea 4-1. Although Croatia more surprised national team not only in this World Cup but also last time edition Croatia are most surprised national team until success lead to final before beating by France.

Croatia's chances of qualifying for the semifinals are very difficult looking with Brazil have consistency performance and they have the same quality level between regular and reserve player.

I am very sad on Japan defeat. But the good thing was even after they loosing the match the players cleared their dressing room and the fans cleared the stadium
This world cup has brought so much colour and amazing memories to the history. The world has witnessed the other religion and the other culture.

[Fakhrulenclix]

Yeah, I think not many people are confident that Croatia can beat Brazil, but it can actually happen.

Stranger things have happened already, Saudi Arabia win against Argentina for example, Tunisia win against France, Morocco win against Spain, South Korea win against Portugal, Japan win against Spain, Cameroon win against Brazil, etc...

I mean, if Cameroon was able to win against Brazil, then Croatia does have a chance.

Comparison with Cameroon beaten Brazil at last match in group stage I don't think better way because Brazil starting eleven dominance by substitutes player, look at last match when Brazil playing with regular player composition and success beat South Korea 4-1. Although Croatia more surprised national team not only in this World Cup but also last time edition Croatia are most surprised national team until success lead to final before beating by France.

Croatia's chances of qualifying for the semifinals are very difficult looking with Brazil have consistency performance and they have the same quality level between regular and reserve player.

Brazil's defeat against Cameroon cannot be used as a reference because at that time Brazil did not play at full strength and they had already confirmed themselves as group winners so the match was not that important.

but right now the match against Croatia will of course be very meaningful because Brazil is targeting the champion in this Qatar world cup event, they will do everything to qualify for the semifinals with the squad they have of course that is not in doubt.

if you look at the material of the players from these two teams I am very sure that Brazil will be able to qualify for the semifinals, I don't mean to belittle Croatia, but I see the strength of the two teams on paper and there is a significant difference.

[Zanab247]

Yesterday's games gave me many surprises

morocco - spain

honestly i even thought that morocco could already win this game within the 90 minutes, they wasted so many opportunities that even i was already irritated with them, it was just strange how morocco wasted opportunities to score a goal, now spain didn't even seem like that there are so many good players, they played so badly that honestly this spain coach has to be fired, about penalties, it was a great shame to see many spain players missing penalties

Morocco really surprised people in this game that made them to beat Spain through penalties shoot out, because many Spain fans hope that there will be an opportunity for Spain to win Morocco in the penalty shoot out, but the penalties shoot out turned for the favour of Morocco. Spain coach really deserved a sack letter from this mistakes they made in penalties shoot out that made Morocco goalkeeper to catch their balls because they are not too good in penalty shoot out which their country need to do something about it so that it will not repeat itself again.

[Cryptolove20015]

Currently 90% people support Brazil and Argentina. When leaving the current house, only 2 parties can be heard talking. Many times it is seen that 2 groups fight.2 teams are very strong. But Brazil has won 5 World Cups and Argentina has won 3 World Cups.Currently Brazil is ahead of all teams because no other team has won more World Cups than Brazil.
Now which team do you support and why?  Which team do you think can win the World Cup this time?

                        

[coinerer]

Yesterday's games gave me many surprises

morocco - spain

honestly i even thought that morocco could already win this game within the 90 minutes, they wasted so many opportunities that even i was already irritated with them, it was just strange how morocco wasted opportunities to score a goal, now spain didn't even seem like that there are so many good players, they played so badly that honestly this spain coach has to be fired, about penalties, it was a great shame to see many spain players missing penalties

Morocco really surprised people in this game that made them to beat Spain through penalties shoot out, because many Spain fans hope that there will be an opportunity for Spain to win Morocco in the penalty shoot out, but the penalties shoot out turned for the favour of Morocco. Spain coach really deserved a sack letter from this mistakes they made in penalties shoot out that made Morocco goalkeeper to catch their balls because they are not too good in penalty shoot out which their country need to do something about it so that it will not repeat itself again.

Their fortunes turned as Morocco made the better of the penalty.  Morocco's goalkeeper was very active during the penalty shootout and was able to save Spain's attempts. But Spain's goalkeeper couldn't do it.  There are some reasons behind this such as the Moroccan players also made many technical penalties so that the Spanish goalkeeper could not understand the movement of the ball.

[emrecemsan]

Which team do you think can win the World Cup this time?

Comparing the recent performances, I see Brazil one step ahead of the others now. I really admire their very impressive performance in offense especially. They have so many solid alternatives for missing players that they can still continue to stay strong in different situations. Neymar's absence was a nice example for that. Their match against South Korea would have ended like 10-0 or even worse. I know that South Korea were highly the underdog but they didn't get a this much bad result in their previous matches.

It seems easy for Brazil attackers to penetrate the defense of their opponents no matter what team they are. Argentina is going to be a huge test for them. The defenders will have a big responsibility to stop Messi here. If Messi has a bad game then Brazil's chance of advancing to semi finals would increase a lot.