The_jagster

Barb rating are mad, Strictly and GBBO blow everything else out of the water. Then it's Doc Martin (had no idea this was that big) and the soaps in the low millions next highest.

And USA in their much better domestic slot

Always a chance I'm wrong but I don't think broadcasters will just blindly pay loads more for more matches. ITV (or any other worldwide commercial broadcaster) will know what audience they get for Costa Rica-Senegal and if every team plays the same maximum number of games then the big guns will not play any more often. Raw total is probably higher but fee per game takes a hit.

Group A 15:00 Ecuador v Senegal 2-1 15:00 Netherlands v Qatar 3-0 Group B 19:00 Iran v USA 1-2 19:00 Wales v England 0-0 Wednesday 30th November Group C 19:00 Poland v Argentina 0-2 19:00 Saudi Arabia v Mexico 1-2 Group D 15:00 Australia v Denmark 1-2 15:00 Tunisia v France 0-2 Thursday 1st December Group E 19:00 Costa Rica v Germany 0-3 19:00 Japan v Spain 0-2 Group F 15:00 Canada v Morocco 2-1 15:00 Croatia v Belgium 2-0 Friday 2nd December Group G 19:00 Cameroon v Brazil 0-3 19:00 Serbia v Switzerland 1-2 Group H 15:00 Ghana v Uruguay 2-1 15:00 South Korea v Portugal 0-0 @Sons FC Are yellows and reds for subs and coaches included in the bonus totals?

Portugal are still so utterly boring. Their approach surely isn't maximising their chances of winning games like this, where they have been lucky not to concede from two one on ones and a sharp Suarez chance.

They only make you retake it if the encroaching player gets a rebound

In general there is so much football on that I have basically ignored the studio pundits, would much rather listen to journalists for the nations playing that you get on 5live. Thought Wright was good on the Brazil match tbf

How do Portugal look so open and so poor on the counter too

Sorry Ally but he does the right thing, just gets a bit of elevation on it rather than keeping it right on the ground.

Valverde not in this at all

Such a pointless yellow for Bentancur

This is going to be very boring and Ronaldo will blast one in from 25 yards, it would be very satisfying to see Portugal lose. Mexico-Argentina was hard fought but still a rubbish game on the whole.

In fairness they were still playing it out from the back and so on. I think they were bad at capitalising when they won the ball back rather than overly negative, Brazil weren't taking too many risks either.

Could be feisty, could be very defensive, could be both. Sort out your graphic design, Uruguay, far too busy. Their results so far: Urguay drew 0-0 with Korea, Portugal beat Ghana. The consequences? Portugal are through if they win. Uruguay would need to beat Ghana if they don't win today, and could still qualify if they lose, but are relying on Portugal getting a result on matchday 3 as well. History at the World Cup? Uruguay won it twice in 1930 and 1950, and after a fairly barren spell have done better in the past 20 years, finishing 4th in 2010. Portugal finished 4th in 1966 with Eusebio, despite being 3-0 down to North Korea in the quarters. After being pretty useless they are now considered a big side but have still only got past the last 16 once since qualifying for every 21st century world cup, finishing 4th in 2006. Past meetings? Uruguay knocked out Portugal in the last 16 in Russia with a 2-1 win Culture? I am not familiar with any musicians from either country and I don't need to hear Portugal the Man again. You could read some Eduardo Galleano if you like left wing politics, the Uruguayan even wrote a book on football.

Switzerland have been bad at testing the defence, I think better sides (of which there aren't that many I guess) cause them quite a few problems.

Sommer was moving right and it looked like he was still hitting it to his left?

Great hit, something happened!

Holland don't even have a lot of big names in the same way they used to

A difficult flick that could have put a player through is not "giving the ball away cheaply" Sam.

I have no recollection of the Fernandes playing for West Ham, my first thought was "Gelson Fernandes can't still be playing can he?"

Switzerland so lucky there.

A lot of periods to reflect on this game... Not sure what Embolo is there for, doesn't even run much to test the defence. Switzerland in general have been poor when breaking, but also quite passive defending and giving a lot of time to players centrally outside their box. Doing well to close down Vinicius and Raphinha when they get it. Both teams very slow on the ball.

Matterface moaning about what might become the narrative which he contributes to

Darn... Another reasonable game imo, ITV certainly consider it a good one so have Sam and Lee on commentary. Neymar is injured so will be unable to dedicate a first goal of the tournament to Jair Bolsonaro as he stated he would do, in case you had run out of reasons to dislike him. Their matches so far? Switzerland beat Cameroon and Brazil beat Serbia. The consequences? The draw earlier in the day means that a defeat wouldn't be disastrous for either team. If Switzerland fail to win then a defeat to Serbia would likely see them out, Brazil have a bit more leeway unless they lose heavily thanks to their 2 goal margin in game 1, but only a win guarantees progression. History in the World Cup? Switzerland - one of the few teams that played regularly in the first editions so got to a few quarter finals, including 5-7 loss to Austria in 1954 which holds the record for most goals in a single game. Between 1966 and 2006 they qualified once, thanks to Roy Hodgson, but this is their 5th successive tournament. Due to better opposition and Haris Seferovic, they are less well-known for high scoring matches. Brazil - Five time winners and perennial favourites. Garrincha, Pele, Socrates, Zico, Rivaldo, Ronaldo... too many legends to count. Past meetings? 2 meetings in World Cups, 2-2 in 1950 and 1-1 in 2018. I have no memory of the 2018 match despite a brilliant Coutinho strike but this means Switzerland are unbeaten against the South Amercan giants in competitive games (Brazil have the edge when you include friendlies). Surely the ball was out of play in 1950? The Swiss were robbed. Music? Two songs heavily linked to football, either Brazilian or sample Brazilian music. Switzerland have the GOAT font but less pop culture

This is the stuff. Endless pumping of the ball into the box, bodies charging down Son, ball looping up dangerously. That shuffle Son does to try and make space is pretty unique to him.