Well 4 years later we start another new World Cup.
Not sure who you guys are rooting for, mine will be England... Would like them to go all the way through to the final... So far in qualifying and the friendly matches have done very very well indeed. Though realistically will see in the QF or SF. Injuries, Referees and bookings play a big part in these games, some counties faking more injuries then others. 
Good luck with England, although frankly I don'think they will get very far. But neither will my team, Australia, or hubby's team Sweden (England are his team as well so he has three teams)! I have some German ancestry so I can support Germany when they win it, which I think they will.
Would love England to do well but they always struggle at these tournaments. The sides they are expected to beat cause us so many problems. On the plus side the side is a lot younger than normal so hopefully will play with more freshness. Here's hoping for a good one!!
Would love England to do well but they always struggle at these tournaments. The sides they are expected to beat cause us so many problems. On the plus side the side is a lot younger than normal so hopefully will play with more freshness. Here's hoping for a good one!!
One reason we lost also last time round, as you said genesis1964, is we relied on veteran players like Wayne Rooney. I was never a huge fan of his in the first place, though I do respect his talent. With a lot of young players in our team, I'm hoping for a good surprise.. I'm glad they did not pick Joe Hart as our goal keeper in this WC. He was useless playing for West Ham.
Hoping Marcus Rashford has a lot of game time in this World Cup, after last night's match, he was the Man of the Day.
I always root for England when the US aren't in. I lived in England for the last two WCs, and some of the "quite desperation" (as Pink Floyd accurately called it) has set in. For those still living there, has this feeling that it is a fait accompli that they won't win it existed since 1970, or it a remnant of the pain of 1990? (Or is it something else?)
If/when England are knocked out, I'll pull for Argentina or Belgium.
And we're off. I got up at 4 in the morning to watch Spain-Portugal. Great game & kudos must be given to Cristiano Ronaldo, though I don't like him.
Australia tried hard against France last night but France benefited from the first use of the VAR technology. Well, it had to be used some time. I get the impression from some comments I have seen that Australians think it should only be used to benefit Australia. That is not what it's for.
Congratulations to Iceland for holding Argentina to a draw.
A couple of significant results last night in Japan becoming the first Asian side to beat a South American side, and Senegal beating Poland. Also for all the sneering about the host team they've scored more goals than anyone else so far. I was hoping Egypt with one of my Liverpool heroes Mo Salah might beat them but it wasn't to be.
Congratulations to Iceland for holding Argentina to a draw.
Yes! Well done Iceland! No hand ball to stop them in their tracks
England have the best draw imaginable and even if Belgium win the group, as runners up England would play the winners of group H. No one there looks too daunting but then again we said that about Iceland back in the Euros and we all know how that ended don’t we?
I always root for England when the US aren't in. I lived in England for the last two WCs, and some of the "quite desperation" (as Pink Floyd accurately called it) has set in. For those still living there, has this feeling that it is a fait accompli that they won't win it existed since 1970, or it a remnant of the pain of 1990? (Or is it something else?)
It's fuelled by this weight of expectation based on being the 'home' of football, the Premier League is regarded as probably the toughest to play in, and likely various other factors, one of which is almost certainly "We've won it before, why can't we win it again?" but which don't take into account the fact that the results achieved in these tournaments are probably appropriate for those teams. If we don't get out of the group stage, it's generally because the team isn't good enough to do so.
We played with some grit against Tunisia but it was inconsistent. If the team can harness and maintain the sort of energy and commitment shown in the first half hour or so, that would be encouraging.
Gareth Southgate is in a good position. There doesn't seem to be the sort of crushing expectation other managers have faced, and he seems generally well-regarded.
Sticking with international football, if not World Cup, can anyone name the result, place and year this happened?
Looks like June 1977, Wembley, England 1 Scotland 2.
Ah, the Home Championship, I loved it.
Correct! I miss it too!!
Wembley 1977, England 1 : Scotland 2 (making it a record 3 consecutive international defeats at Wembley that year for England - they would subsequently fail to qualify for WC ‘78 whilst Archie Gemmill went on to score one of the tournament’s finest ever goals )
Once we get beyond the group stage, then goal difference won’t matter any more. It’s sudden death and whoever plays best on the day.
For me the best result has been Croatia 3 Argentina 0. Poor Sweden came so close to knocking Germany out! We will be watching my husband's other team England hopefully beating Panama this evening.
As for Australia if they can only score goals through penalties then they really don't deserve to be there any longer. We will see how they go against Peru.
For me the best result has been Croatia 3 Argentina 0. Poor Sweden came so close to knocking Germany out! We will be watching my husband's other team England hopefully beating Panama this evening.
As for Australia if they can only score goals through penalties then they really don't deserve to be there any longer. We will see how they go against Peru.
Good luck against Peru. I was very happy you beat Honduras to qualify for the World Cup; they didn't belong there, and if we had performed as we should have in our last qualifying match, we would have been in the World Cup instead, and you would have played Panama in the playoff game (whom, IMHO, you still would have beaten).
Croatia looks really strong. And, unfortunately for Sweden, Germany proved they are still a force to be reckoned with - they scored that miracle goal despite being down to 10 men. If I were a betting person, I'd still be putting my money on Belgium - they seem to be peaking and gelling right now.
I'm surprised Southgate allowed Alli to play almost the entire game with England. He now suffers a major injury, though not severe is a factor in these games. Looking forward to tomorrow .
England & Hamilton(F1) 
Oh dear. That's it, Germany is out. They sucked so bad this time. 
Oh dear. That's it, Germany is out. They sucked so bad this time.
yeah, they were a real pain in the arse. I wouldn`t have bet on them, when they played against Sweden.
