ponsaelius

Kinda poor keeping for me. Although definitely unsighted.

Yurssss

Definitely miss Di Maria. He's the one who drives forward momentum so much.

Fuck me this is dull. Team happy to pass around slowly at the back and team that doesn't press at all makes for an awful game.

Big blow that. I'd be tempted to play both Lautaro and Alvarez instead

Aye don't mark the bloke who's set up two goals and entire game is based around arriving at the back post.

Brilliant - this should be a great finish now.

I think he sets up his teams based on the players he's got to be honest.

And that's that I reckon.

USA squad is bizarre because it's definitely the strongest squad I can remember them having in general but equally they don't have a forward with the character and quality of a Donovan/Dempsey and are without a quality goalkeeper which has always been a given in the past.

Only one that wasn't built for the tournament IIRC. Agree in part but at least it looks slightly different to all the others. Reminds me of Japan/Korea a bit.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi were horrendously dull I thought. Can't imagine how bad a more boring version would be.

Shaping up to be a really good game this.

Great finish.

I get that the Dutch squads strength is in the CBs but it's such a passive system they play

The fact that Brazil won the group with 3 goals and Serbia went out bottom with 5 is nuts. Defending from Serbia was terrible throughout - regardless of how they set up.

Xhaka was celebrating at the end with Swiss #26 Ardon Jashari's shirt on back to front (so the name on show). His namesake Adem Jashari was also the founder of the Kosovan Liberation Army and symbol of Kosovar independence. Big brain way around getting punishment from FIFA. Wouldn't be surprised if that bloke is in the squad purely for this reason

There's no doubt as the tournament expanded from 16 to 24 and then 32 teams it was justified. Not only did you have Balkanisation of Eastern Europe which created a much deeper European pool of quality teams but the growth and professionalization of the sport elsewhere also drastically improved the depth of quality. An example I always note is how Turkey went from a side that lost to England 8-0 on two separate occasions in the late 80s to making the semi final of a World Cup in 2002. However I really don't like the idea of now jumping straight from 32 to 48 teams. 16 extra teams is a huge leap and will IMO significantly dilute the overall quality - before you even talk about the issues with the format. Even acknowledging the depth of global football small-medium sized countries will always have peaks and troughs in generations (e.g. where are Bulgaria and Romania these days?). That is what qualifying is there for - to cut out sides that don't quite have it at that point in time. Japan/Korea hosting the thing was obviously great for development of the sport in that region. However the real steps had already begun long before the World Cup with the development of the club game in the 90s - particularly in Japan. It's a balance obviously and you don't want a closed shop mentality that blights other sports but equally developing countries should have to work towards the world stage - not be handed it on a plate. I really am not sure what the likes of Vietnam, Oman, UAE would add to a World Cup at this point.

By contrast 2018 was: UEFA 10 CONMEBOL 4 CONCACAF 1 AFC 1 Much more Europe/South America centric. England's side of the draw that year in particular felt basically like a Euros. Shows perhaps that hosting it in different locations can impact performance. It must be of relevance that the Asian countries will have been used to playing in Qatar and other Gulf states in the past.

Made this point before but great to see a decent mix of regions represented: UEFA 8 AFC 3 (basically an Oceania rep in there) CAF 2 (1 West African and 1 North) CONMEBOL 2 CONCACAF 1 Very similar to 2002 in that sense. Poland through over the other teams in that group only real disappointment for me. Pressure on a South American side to win it in a way. Peru going out in the play-off and both Uruguay/Ecuador crashing out in the groups is a big underperformance for the continent.

Brazil are really lucky that the Swiss didn't bag a 4th goal towards the end there. Would have gone from a likely South Korea - Japan/Croatia - Netherlands/Argentina run to the final to likely Portugal - Spain - France/England. Definitely would rather have the former - even acknowledging that anything can happen in this tournament.

They are indeed both impossible.

Even the teams getting through with 6 points early added to the chaos, as their reserves were shafted (France, Portugal and Brazil) which allowed outsiders either through or back in with a shout.

Type of player who absolutely should have had a spell at PL club at some point. Indeed almost unfathomable that he hasn't.

Would have made the doomsday quarter final more likely though. Swings and roundabouts