Sportsbet.io's FIFA World Cup 22 Prediction Pool Discussion thread

[darxiaomi]

Mmm yes CasperBDG i think like you but in this last moment we have a new here in Argentina, De Paul is injury and maybe he cant play the rest of the World Cup, this can change everything. Its the second player Argentina lost in his start midfield, first Lo Ceslo and now De Paul, and they are vital to the team, i dont know how this develop, plus we have Di maria between cottons.

In the other keys... i think France can pass to the next round but England have some chance if they wake up in good shape that day.

The other two i think its no chance. Brasil and Portugal are in Semis.

[buwaytress]

I'm really enjoying in the first day without football
It has been a bit of an overload, especially since I've watched almost all of the games so far.

Unfortunately, I don't feel we can parry Brazil in the QF - they are everybody's favorites for the title.

I'll give advantage to Netherlands, Portugal and England and hope for a miracle for Croatia.

Yeah, I get you, football's great but it does get tiresome even without watching all the games, just keeping an eye on them, plus we're all sort of "invested" in multiple events. Got to say it's well worth the entertainment, always living up to expectations.

I got money on Croatia qualification, pretty good odds. Of course I want Brazil through as the bulk of whatever money I have left is on them but I don't mind hedging a bit if they fall short.

@casperBGD @darxiaomi: Argentina, Morocco, France my picks for money. I know NL is set up precisely how they should, but Messi is enough, I think/hope. Pool is England, Portugal, Argentina, no sweat.

[swogerino]

I think the fruits of this Enrique experiment we are going to see no sooner than the other World Cup although I hope even in the Euro they will be a great show and not like this one.

I don't feel any emotion for them as always a boring team. But Germany should have qualified. They are 100 times better than Spain. It's their bad luck that even after playing such a good match in the last group match, they have to leave without anything from the group stage.

Let's look at the future matches.
Croatia vs Brazil: Easy win for Brazil.
Netherlands vs Argentina: Argentina will have real test in the match. But in case if they win then it will be a great match between Brazil and Argentina in the semi.

Morocco vs Portugal: May be the world cup for Morocco will come to an end. Portugal will not be another Spain. They will play the similar game like they did yesterday against Switzerland.
England vs France: This will be my match to watch. No idea who will win.

I don't like France that much despite everyone saying they will be one of the finalists or even winners of the World Cup,both France and England so far have not had any real test and their first test will be against each other,I like Johnson ex prime minister of UK quote "it's coming home Mandy" so I will be a fan of England during that game,never been a big fan of France anyway and they won the World Cup yes but against Croatia which is not the strongest of teams,let's see if they win it not by luck this time as there are a lot of strong teams to fight against.

[1miau]

Morocco vs Portugal: May be the world cup for Morocco will come to an end. Portugal will not be another Spain. They will play the similar game like they did yesterday against Switzerland.

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 
In general, Morocco has a great defensive, they have conceded only one goal against Canada in group stage (while Morocco was still winning that game) and I don't expect it will be easy for Portugal to score.

The best chance for Portugal is to score a goal in the first half. If not, Morocco is likely to speculate for a penalty shootout once again.
And Morocco can still be dangerous four counterattacks. A long-lasting 0-0 will make it very difficult for Portugal, similar as against Spain.

[Harkorede]

Morocco vs Portugal: May be the world cup for Morocco will come to an end. Portugal will not be another Spain. They will play the similar game like they did yesterday against Switzerland.

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 
In general, Morocco has a great defensive, they have conceded only one goal against Canada in group stage (while Morocco was still winning that game) and I don't expect it will be easy for Portugal to score.

The best chance for Portugal is to score a goal in the first half. If not, Morocco is likely to speculate for a penalty shootout once again.
And Morocco can still be dangerous four counterattacks. A long-lasting 0-0 will make it very difficult for Portugal, similar as against Spain.

The beauty of this Moroccan squad is that they don't look like they are parking the bus, and I really don't think that phrase or description is appropriate for their style, they played in one of the toughest group for their qualification chances but they had the most attempts on goal in every single one of those games, I don't think that's an achievable feat by a team typically just parking the bus, they had a joint-most goals scored and conceded in their group stage, while Spain dominated them in ball possession and goal attempts, as expected Morocco still had the most shots on goal. I see them as very disciplined and compact team, they play every with purpose and they stick to their discipline and game plan, they're fortunate for it to have brought them this far, however I think Portugal will neutralize their game approach and this round would be the end of their journey in this tournament.

[swogerino]

Morocco vs Portugal: May be the world cup for Morocco will come to an end. Portugal will not be another Spain. They will play the similar game like they did yesterday against Switzerland.

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 
In general, Morocco has a great defensive, they have conceded only one goal against Canada in group stage (while Morocco was still winning that game) and I don't expect it will be easy for Portugal to score.

The best chance for Portugal is to score a goal in the first half. If not, Morocco is likely to speculate for a penalty shootout once again.
And Morocco can still be dangerous four counterattacks. A long-lasting 0-0 will make it very difficult for Portugal, similar as against Spain.

The beauty of this Moroccan squad is that they don't look like they are parking the bus, and I really don't think that phrase or description is appropriate for their style, they played in one of the toughest group for their qualification chances but they had the most attempts on goal in every single one of those games, I don't think that's an achievable feat by a team typically just parking the bus, they had a joint-most goals scored and conceded in their group stage, while Spain dominated them in ball possession and goal attempts, as expected Morocco still had the most shots on goal. I see them as very disciplined and compact team, they play every with purpose and they stick to their discipline and game plan, they're fortunate for it to have brought them this far, however I think Portugal will neutralize their game approach and this round would be the end of their journey in this tournament.

Maybe they don't park the bus full time but yes they do park it and are really great in making killing counter attacks and based on this because I know the Portugal defense is not one of the best that there is out there so they should be extremely careful.We underestimate the Moroccon side but half of their players are playing in Premier League,Bundesliga and even in PSG where plays Hakimi which also played for Real Madrid and was always a key man for the games played.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

Morocco vs Portugal: May be the world cup for Morocco will come to an end. Portugal will not be another Spain. They will play the similar game like they did yesterday against Switzerland.

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 
In general, Morocco has a great defensive, they have conceded only one goal against Canada in group stage (while Morocco was still winning that game) and I don't expect it will be easy for Portugal to score.

The best chance for Portugal is to score a goal in the first half. If not, Morocco is likely to speculate for a penalty shootout once again.
And Morocco can still be dangerous four counterattacks. A long-lasting 0-0 will make it very difficult for Portugal, similar as against Spain.

Their keeper is one of the best so far. I can't believe he saved 3 constitutive penalty shots. In penalty it's basically a gambling for both shooter and keeper but the Moroccan keeper made it an art of being a great wall.

Portugal are better than Spain in attack. One of the main reason for Spain to finish their last match with 0 - 0 was their defensive mindset. The game Portugal played against Switzerland, I don't think they will change it against Morocco.

We underestimate the Moroccon side but half of their players are playing in Premier League,Bundesliga and even in PSG where plays Hakimi which also played for Real Madrid and was always a key man for the games played.

They never had the pressure because of being underdog. But since they are in quarters now, they will feel pressure. Time to see how they handle it.

[slaman29]

Only 8 matches left! This have been fun  I am surprised myself that I have been in first place for so long. I have to admit that I feel the pressure when I'm leading haha😂 I'm happy as long as I'm in the top 10 😁 But anything can happen when it comes to the last matches.. I wish everyone the best of luck 😁

24 points and only Morocco and Croatia as the potential upsets left... if they leave the tournament, the last games will be very very tight. You have a very strong cushion so can even afford taking 1 risk on the upset, win it and you have 2 game cushion!

See what I did there to try and convince you to take risk?

[swogerino]

Only 8 matches left! This have been fun  I am surprised myself that I have been in first place for so long. I have to admit that I feel the pressure when I'm leading haha😂 I'm happy as long as I'm in the top 10 😁 But anything can happen when it comes to the last matches.. I wish everyone the best of luck 😁

24 points and only Morocco and Croatia as the potential upsets left... if they leave the tournament, the last games will be very very tight. You have a very strong cushion so can even afford taking 1 risk on the upset, win it and you have 2 game cushion!

See what I did there to try and convince you to take risk?

24 points which I am pretty sure it will not make any difference to the people at the top if they keep hitting what most other people will hit,in fact it is exactly these other persons including me that should come out with "alternative" predictions in order to try and recover.I think though it will be very difficult for many people to try and fight their way up in the standings with just 24 points or 8 games left in the total,I personally do not expect anything despite being just 7 points away from the 10th place,I know it will be impossible for me to overtake them.

[KTChampions]

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 
In general, Morocco has a great defensive, they have conceded only one goal against Canada in group stage (while Morocco was still winning that game) and I don't expect it will be easy for Portugal to score.

The best chance for Portugal is to score a goal in the first half. If not, Morocco is likely to speculate for a penalty shootout once again.
And Morocco can still be dangerous four counterattacks. A long-lasting 0-0 will make it very difficult for Portugal, similar as against Spain.

I doubt the danger of Moroccan counterattacks - at least in the game with Spain, they were very much lacking in this component performing skills. And I don't think that the bus will help against Portugal - the Portuguese players, unlike the Spanish ones, are more courageous and will go to the dribling without fear of losing the ball. A few successful attempts are enough and the goal will be scored. In addition, there are enough tall players in the Portuguese national team to make crosses into the penalty area successful.

[buwaytress]

24 points which I am pretty sure it will not make any difference to the people at the top if they keep hitting what most other people will hit,in fact it is exactly these other persons including me that should come out with "alternative" predictions in order to try and recover.I think though it will be very difficult for many people to try and fight their way up in the standings with just 24 points or 8 games left in the total,I personally do not expect anything despite being just 7 points away from the 10th place,I know it will be impossible for me to overtake them.

Still plenty of points, though I daresay after QFs are done, everything will be more or less settled if people just stick with safe picks.

I'm thinking at least a draw and 1 final upset would shuffle the board a little for those daring to take the risks. Onus is definitely on us mid-tablers to take those risks heh. Remember, this is extra-time score so 0-0s to penalties would be a daring 3 pointer for those counting on some teams to just bore each other.

5.5 points away from a prize spot, but that's counting on them not getting points themselves. Almost impossible but hey, you never know.

[Ulven]

^^
If a miracle happens and Morocco and Croatia qualify for the final, who will be the champion? I know that the Brazilian national team is the favorite on paper to win the championship. What do you think, is Croatia capable of overthrowing the Samba team?

Who do you think will qualify for the semi-final match between Argentina vs Nederland?

[bullrun2024bro]

Only 8 matches left! This have been fun  I am surprised myself that I have been in first place for so long. I have to admit that I feel the pressure when I'm leading haha😂 I'm happy as long as I'm in the top 10 😁 But anything can happen when it comes to the last matches.. I wish everyone the best of luck 😁

Great performance so far buddy. You're right, anything can happen in the last eight matches. The gaps in our pool are so narrow... one result is enough and everything is shuffled again. I also hope to end up in the top 10. But even if not. The round has been a lot of fun so far - even without prize money.  

5.5 points away from a prize spot, but that's counting on them not getting points themselves. Almost impossible but hey, you never know.

I won't rule it out yet. Good luck for the last matches buddy.  

[Trofo]

^^
If a miracle happens and Morocco and Croatia qualify for the final, who will be the champion? I know that the Brazilian national team is the favorite on paper to win the championship. What do you think, is Croatia capable of overthrowing the Samba team?

Who do you think will qualify for the semi-final match between Argentina vs Nederland?

I sure hope we (Croatia) will rise up to the occasion and make it though for Brazil. They are much stronger side but I feel like we have our shot. This is the time when final goal justifies all means necessary and if I were in charge of Croatia I would try to provoke them and stop the game as much as possible. Not very popular tactics but could be very effective with some Brazilan players. Of course all that can only work if we stop Brazil from scoring in first 60 minutes or so.

I see Argentina getting trough tomorrow. I just believe Messi factor will be enough to tip the scales in the end.

[Joca97]

^^
If a miracle happens and Morocco and Croatia qualify for the final, who will be the champion? I know that the Brazilian national team is the favorite on paper to win the championship. What do you think, is Croatia capable of overthrowing the Samba team?

Who do you think will qualify for the semi-final match between Argentina vs Nederland?

I sure hope we (Croatia) will rise up to the occasion and make it though for Brazil. They are much stronger side but I feel like we have our shot. This is the time when final goal justifies all means necessary and if I were in charge of Croatia I would try to provoke them and stop the game as much as possible. Not very popular tactics but could be very effective with some Brazilan players. Of course all that can only work if we stop Brazil from scoring in first 60 minutes or so.

I see Argentina getting trough tomorrow. I just believe Messi factor will be enough to tip the scales in the end.

Really rough match for Croatia against Brazil,they will need to defend really hard and Croatia`s defence isnt at the very top. If Brazil scores first it will be gameover fast but at least they can make it hard for them. Argentina also has a difficult opponent and i think Argentina need to step up if they want to win

[notblox1]

5.5 points away from a prize spot, but that's counting on them not getting points themselves. Almost impossible but hey, you never know.

There are a lot more points in play in next eight matches so anything can happen and leaderboard can change quickly.
Well done Slissy for keeping first place but we are all coming for him, so he must ne under pressure.
I think this Superbru world cup competition is very interesting, and we should do it again for next big sport event, maybe for Australian Open in January.

[LTU_btc]

This 2 days break was great thing indeed to recharge batteries. We had very intensive marathong of football for past few weeks. And now it's time for most delicious part of World Cup.
Dear Croatians, sorry to say, but I don't see how your team can eliminat such force like Brazil. It's only pair in 1/4 finals where we have such big favorite. Against all other remaining teams Croatia would have much better chances.
It's most important to not concede early goal, but still, it will be so difficult to defend for whole 90 minutes. Offcourse, I don't pretend to be right.

I see Argentina getting trough tomorrow. I just believe Messi factor will be enough to tip the scales in the end.

Probably nobody would be very surprised if this game would go to extra time and penalties. But I agree that chances for Argentina is bigger, just because of Messi factor. I didn't liked how Argentina looked in group stage, but against USA they showed different face.

[darxiaomi]

This 2 days break was great thing indeed to recharge batteries. We had very intensive marathong of football for past few weeks. And now it's time for most delicious part of World Cup.
Dear Croatians, sorry to say, but I don't see how your team can eliminat such force like Brazil. It's only pair in 1/4 finals where we have such big favorite. Against all other remaining teams Croatia would have much better chances.
It's most important to not concede early goal, but still, it will be so difficult to defend for whole 90 minutes. Offcourse, I don't pretend to be right.

I see Argentina getting trough tomorrow. I just believe Messi factor will be enough to tip the scales in the end.

Probably nobody would be very surprised if this game would go to extra time and penalties. But I agree that chances for Argentina is bigger, just because of Messi factor. I didn't liked how Argentina looked in group stage, but against USA they showed different face.

I think this Netherlands is worst than the 2014 by far, and this Argentina its at the same level or above than the Argentina in 2014, so i think Argentina can go to semis in a good match.
But this its football and all can happen, more in a World Cup.

For today the day to assemble the christmas tree (i dont know if in the northern pole its the same) the AFA (Asociation of Football Argentina) make a really good video mixing the christmas the WC and Messi, and change the PAPA NOEL (Santa Claus here) for PAPA LIONEL in alusion to MESSI, and what are your wishes to this christmas/WC. I share with you the video.

https://twitter.com/lucasmalarcon/status/1600868993883164672

[1miau]

Most likely, Morocco will park once again their bus in front of their goal. 

The beauty of this Moroccan squad is that they don't look like they are parking the bus, and I really don't think that phrase or description is appropriate for their style, they played in one of the toughest group for their qualification chances but they had the most attempts on goal in every single one of those games, I don't think that's an achievable feat by a team typically just parking the bus, they had a joint-most goals scored and conceded in their group stage, while Spain dominated them in ball possession and goal attempts, as expected Morocco still had the most shots on goal.

Sure, Morocco is a very diciplined team and that's a great quality against a team like Spain with overally better individual players. They calculated it very well making Spain tired from their own game.
Morocco had some bright moments as well and I expect them to have some good attempts as well against Portugal.

Really rough match for Croatia against Brazil,they will need to defend really hard and Croatia`s defence isnt at the very top. If Brazil scores first it will be gameover fast but at least they can make it hard for them. Argentina also has a difficult opponent and i think Argentina need to step up if they want to win

Croatia needs to avoid what happened to South Koreas last game. Brazil scored 2 goals very quickly, so South Korea was already out of the game. But even a 0-0 at half-time would favor Brazil for the second half as Croatia will get tired. Going into 90+30 mins already against Japan doesn't really help Croatia in terms of fitness.

[swogerino]

I think in the game Brazil vs Croatia if Dalic the coach of Croatia is smart will put a team in a position to hold back and why not counter attack Brazil and I think he is smart so more than players game it is a coach game this one,Brazil never played against a strong opponent so far and Croatia is the strongest they will face compared to the teams that they already played.

The main event is in 8 a clock Pm Netherlands vs Argentina,the real test for both teams as they never have played against strong opponents so far,most likely for me Argentina to pass through because of Netherlands "bad" defending.