Rob1981

Only the third game out of 29 where both teams have scored before HT.

New keeper going well

Should be 2-0

Serbia in a similar position to Germany yesterday tbh. If Brazil win all three games then the group can finish 9-3-3-3 and Serbia can still get through on GD if they beat Switzerland. Whereas if Cameroon lose, the only way they get through with three points is if they beat Brazil and have Switzerland beat them too.

Serbia should be quite comfortable here. They looked good in patches against Brazil, and Cameroon being hopeless is fast becoming a WC staple.

To reduce the change of a stitch up, you probably want Seed 2 v Seed 3 playing on the final match. Even if they’ve both lost to the top team they both go into the final game knowing they can beat the other and qualify. But unless the strongest team has had a shocker in both games, the likelihood is they will have some points on the board as well. So harder for Seed 2 and Seed 3 to play out a draw in that scenario because likely one of them would still finish 3rd. You want to avoid the situation where the weakest team least likely to pick up points is the one that finishes first. I very much doubt FIFA will match the schedule to the seedings though, almost certain to just be a random draw.

Yeah assume they will have 12 days for the groups stage with four games per day. Same as Qatar. And your group plays on Day 1, 5, 9. Or Day 2, 6, 10 etc. But you’re right. Come the final matchday in a group one team will have had four days off and one team will have had eight days off. Same in the R32 I suppose. You might get an R32 tie where one team has only had four days since their last group match. Whereas their opponent maybe didn’t play on matchday 3 in their group and has therefore had over a week off.

It’s set to be held over 32 days, same as Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. New Group Stage plus R32 is 64 games. So assume it is four matches a day for the first 16 days, then into the same schedule for the R16 onwards. Days 1-12: Group Stage Days 13-16: R32 Days 17-20: R16 Days 21-22: Off Days 23-24: QF Days 25-26: Off Days 27-28: SF Days 29-30: Off Days 31-32: 3PP and final And on days 1-12 they only play two of the three matchdays for their group and get the other one off. Just about works. tbh, I’d rather they made it a longer tournament and had the “double Euros” format. 12 groups of four, then top two in each group and the best 8/12 third place teams into a R32. But then the eventual finalists need to play eight games instead of seven and you probably need 36-37 days to hold it instead of 32.

12 groups of four or 8 groups of six sounds great in theory, but there just isn’t the space in the calendar. No way that they can add another week or so onto the length of the tournament without all the top clubs kicking off. The 16 x 3 format is the best compromise, gets more teams in and gets you from 56 TV slots to 80 TV slots which is huge in commercial terms. But doesn’t take up any more room in the diary.

Might be more chance of collusion on the last matchday if they do that? If the weakest team has dropped points and already finished their games. Plus you’d have the first four or five days of the tournament without any of the big names playing.

Yeah definitely, plus you may not get as many dead rubbers in the groups or teams going into games thinking a draw is enough. I’m in favour overall. Not sure you can dispute there is a drop in quality though. Not if the group stage is throwing up ties like Ukraine v Jamaica, Sweden v Iraq and Peru v Burkina Faso. There are quite few matchups here between countries that didn’t even qualify this year. Always kind of assumed the “extra” teams would get distributed out by the seedings and then wouldn’t necessarily have to play each other.

Remember the new Group Stage format is 16 groups of three... top TWO in each group go into a new Round of 32. So 48 matches here... to get from 48 teams back down to 32 that we normally start with.

Lots of chat earlier about the move to 48 teams... came up in a couple of the match threads, and there was a bit of sneering on one of the TV commentaries. Talking about how many lesser players and how many lesser teams they would have to cover... not that they will do much research either way. But always the fear that it dilutes the quality, and we will get loads of group games where it's just two no-hopers playing each other. So. Earlier on I thought I would try and prove the doubters wrong. And frankly I'm not sure whether it's gone well. But this is what a 48 team group stage could look like. QUALIFYING For ease, I've had to base this on the current FIFA rankings. But just humour me and assume that all the highest-ranked teams qualify from each part of the world. Then this is who is getting through... based on the new increased allocations for each confederation. ASIA (8+1) Qualifiers: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates Playoffs: Oman CAF (9+1) Qualifiers; Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast Playoffs: Burkina Faso CONCACAF (3+3+2) Hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA Qualifiers: Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica Playoffs: El Salvador, Honduras CONMEBOL (6+1) Qualifiers: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Chile Playoffs: Ecuador OCEANIA (1+1) Qualifiers: New Zealand Playoffs: Solomon Islands UEFA (16) Qualifiers: Belgium, France, England, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Wales, Serbia, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine PLAYOFFS So if you're keeping count, that's 46 places filled automatically. Then six teams left playing for the two remaining playoff spots. Playoff teams are Ecuador (FIFA ranking 44), Burkina Faso (54), Oman (77), El Salvador (74), Honduras (80), Solomon Islands (136). Effectively these playoffs are two mini-tournaments of three teams to decide the last two places. The two top seeds get a bye to their 'final' while the other two teams in their section playoff first. A bit like the National League playoffs but with probably some weaker teams involved. But let's just assume that the two highest-ranked teams get through. And therefore it's Ecuador and Burkina Faso off to the World Cup. DRAW SEEDING Standard stuff here. The three co-hosts in Pot 1 automatically, then below that everything is done according to FIFA rankings: Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Brazil (1), Belgium (2), Argentina (3), France (4), England (5), Italy (6), Spain (7), Netherlands (8), Portugal (9), Denmark (10), Germany (11), Croatia (12), Uruguay (14) Pot 2: Switzerland (15), Colombia (17), Senegal (18), Wales (19), Iran (20), Serbia (21), Morocco (22), Peru (23), Japan (24), Sweden (25), Poland (26), Ukraine (27), South Korea (28), Chile (29), Tunisia (30), Costa Rica (31) Pot 3: Nigeria (32), Algeria (37), Australia (38), Egypt (39), Cameroon (43), Ecuador (44), Mali (46), Ivory Coast (48), Qatar (50), Saudi Arabia (51), Burkina Faso (54), Panama (60), Jamaica (64), Iraq (68), United Arab Emirates (70), New Zealand (105). THE DRAW \o/ And now the big reveal. Yes, I actually did my own "draw" in the lull before the Croatia-Canada game. Using Excel and one of those internet randomisers. And working from these Pots above, but also respecting the rules that keep teams from the same confederation apart. So the 16 European teams are split across each of the 16 Groups; then beyond that you can't have two CONMEBOL teams meeting or two CONCACAF teams meeting etc. GROUP A: Canada, Switzerland, Egypt GROUP B: Mexico, Wales, Nigeria GROUP C: USA, Sweden, Iraq GROUP D: Italy, Chile, Saudi Arabia GROUP E: Croatia, Colombia, Mali GROUP F: Brazil, Ukraine, Jamaica GROUP G: Spain, Tunisia, Australia GROUP H: Uruguay, Poland, Cameroon GROUP I: Belgium, South Korea, Ecuador GROUP J: Denmark, Morocco, Qatar GROUP K: Argentina, Serbia, New Zealand GROUP L: England, Japan, Ivory Coast GROUP M: Germany, Senegal, Panama GROUP N: France, Peru, Burkina Faso GROUP O: Netherlands, Iran, Algeria GROUP P: Portugal, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates

Happened with Denmark at the last Euros, I think that was the first Euros or WC group that finished 9-3-3-3. Before that nobody had lost two out of three and still gone through.

Not sure I'm defending him, it would have been better if we'd gone and won the game against USA and then we could have rested a load of players against Wales. But I think you saw an England performance like that because he had set up to avoid defeat, not because we are suddenly incapable of playing any better against a half decent team. That's all. You are the one comparing England and Croata, not me. Anyway, go and watch Spain-Germany pal. Plenty of time for this on the rest days

So.... not done then.

Where have I even said Croatia played badly? Just said that the UK coverage of Canada is embarrassing, they are talking about them as if they've never played football before. Just a basic lack of research from our so-called pundits. And since Croatia aren't as strong as they were four years ago, on another night they could have got a result tonight.

Is there any thread on any topic that you can't bring back to Southgate ffs? Go and have a lie down.

Not as good as they were in 2018, but good enough to beat Canada. Think that covers it.

This is the best side Canada have ever had, up against a Croatian group that are fading and looked totally ordinary last week. It's only a "seismic shock" if you've taken the BBC's money to work as a pundit but then failed to do even the most basic research.

Martin Keown "Could be a surprise package" today apparently, after they breezed through CONCACAF qualifying and then dominanted Belgium.

Yeah, Uruguay are going in with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Think that's got to be the favourite, or at least it's the sentimental choice. I thought Spain/Portugal was a decent alternative if they don't want to have three WCs in a row outside of Europe... but Ukraine joining that bid is ludicrous. Not least because they will have to make a decision in only about 18 months, and there's every chance Ukraine will still be a warzone then.

Morocco bidding again for 2030 iirc, but I can't see them getting it. Probably would have had a shout if they'd gone in with Spain and Portugal; that was a combined UEFA/Africa "Mediterranean" bid that was on the table at one point. But now Spain and Portugal look like going in with Ukraine (), and Morocco are either going it alone or maybe teaming up with another north African country.

Thoroughly deserved, Morocco First WC win since they thumped Scotland

Another 'victory' for VAR, even though without VAR that gets correctly called offside straightaway.