Day 3: Argentina vs Saudi Arabia | Denmark vs Tunisia | Mexico vs Poland | France vs Australia

Samid

He's no Bilal Ilyas Jhandir
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
50,208
Location
Oslo, Norway
ARG
255711
KSA

Match 5
Tuesday 22 November, 10.00 GMT @ Lusail Stadium
Group C



DEN
255711
TUN

Match 6
Tuesday 22 November, 13.00 GMT @ Education City Stadium
Group D



MEX
255711
POL

Match 7
Tuesday 22 November, 16.00 GMT @ Stadium 974
Group C



FRA
255711
AUS

Match 8
Tuesday 22 November, 19.00 GMT @ Al Janoub Stadium
Group D​
 
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Can players be replaced at this point? What are the rules on that?
 
Giroud-Griezmann-Mbappe will bring us a third star, no doubts. Or we won't get out of the groups :nervous:
 
The Mexico team during recent times including the last qualification cycle and in friendlies against the likes or Uruguay is the worst that I've ever seen. I follow the team quite a lot and support them as my second favourite NT as my better half is Mexican. I remember there were concerns about the team going in the 2014 World Cup and they ended up performing very well, but they had a noticeably stronger squad of players back then they had have now.

Within CONCACAF their arch-rivals the USA look to be pulling away from them, and the lack of their Mexican players getting regularly minutes in top European leagues (the only regular starter at a club in a top European league this season has been Lozano at Napoli).

It will be interesting to see if they can reach the knockout stage at an 8th consecutive World Cup. Their opener against Poland is of course hugely important for both countries' chances.
 
duffer said:
That was the 3 in 2018, wasn't it? If it's not broke, don't fix it!
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Yes, that was the formula after we saw the Griezmann-Mbappe-Dembele debacle. Hopefully Deschamps doesn't try to be too smart again with the first group game.
 
VorZakone said:
Mexico or Poland?
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As Mexican I think Poland will win and Argentina is gonna thrash us. Mexican players are as undisciplined as Brazilian players but without the technical skill to have the right to be so. They frequently have scandals before or after internacional games. Making huge parties with prostitutes, drugs, etc.
There are a few decent players but if they don't become a compact high work rate team they will never even reach quarter finals.
 
Boyle is a big out, Australia does not have the depth to replace him.

Need to be very disciplined to beat France and hope that they meltdown.
 
While I'm never happy that someone gets injured, France missing so many key players is great for Denmark. Coupled with our good record against France, we have a very good chance of topping the group. In all likelihood, the winner of this group will face Poland and the 2nd place faces Argentina, and it's clear which one is preferable. In the event of making it to the semis, the group winner would probably face one of Portugal, Spain or Belgium whereas the 2nd placed team would meet one of Germany or Brazil. The winner of group D has a much easier route to the final, assuming the favorites win each stage.
 
Tuesday 21 November, 10.00 GMT @ Lusail Stadium
Tuesday 21 November, 13.00 GMT @ Education City Stadium
Tuesday 21 November, 16.00 GMT @ Stadium 974
Tuesday 21 November, 19.00 GMT @ Al Janoub Stadium
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By the way, @Samid, Tuesday is the 22nd.
 
GuybrushThreepwood said:
The Mexico team during recent times including the last qualification cycle and in friendlies against the likes or Uruguay is the worst that I've ever seen. I follow the team quite a lot and support them as my second favourite NT as my better half is Mexican. I remember there were concerns about the team going in the 2014 World Cup and they ended up performing very well, but they had a noticeably stronger squad of players back then they had have now.

Within CONCACAF their arch-rivals the USA look to be pulling away from them, and the lack of their Mexican players getting regularly minutes in top European leagues (the only regular starter at a club in a top European league this season has been Lozano at Napoli).

It will be interesting to see if they can reach the knockout stage at an 8th consecutive World Cup. Their opener against Poland is of course hugely important for both countries' chances.
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For the first time in nearly 30 years I don’t think they will. They simply lack a critical mass of top quality players. Corona’s injury was devastating for them too.
MX league club owners ruined the chances for Mexico’s national teams when they allowed limitless foreign players. There’s really only 5 or 6 teams that do proper youth player development. It’s just too easy and cheap for those clubs to just buy players from all over Latin America.
The worst thing is that they’ll blame it all on Martino.
 
Cooksen said:
Boyle is a big out, Australia does not have the depth to replace him.

Need to be very disciplined to beat France and hope that they meltdown.
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He plays for my local team Hibs and I’m absolutely gutted for him that he’s got injured at the worst possible time. Would have been amazing to see him play against France & Denmark.
 
Mediocre day this. You've got 3 good teams against 3 teams who are 3rd division level. And then Mexico and Poland are both very mediocre IMO (let's call them both championship level). But at least that one is hard to predict.

Same with these opening 4 games so far. Qatar and Iran no better than 3rd division. Wales and USA both championship level probably. Ecuador championship level at best. Senegal decent at least to compete with Netherlands and make it an interesting game. That's the group stage for ya though.
 
Do I want to get up and watch this game at 5am tomorrow.... Painfully early, but could watch that game before I head to work. Meh. Normally I'd be up at 5:45, so an extra hour...
 
bosnian_red said:
Mediocre day this. You've got 3 good teams against 3 teams who are 3rd division level. And then Mexico and Poland are both very mediocre IMO (let's call them both championship level). But at least that one is hard to predict.

Same with these opening 4 games so far. Qatar and Iran no better than 3rd division. Wales and USA both championship level probably. Ecuador championship level at best. Senegal decent at least to compete with Netherlands and make it an interesting game. That's the group stage for ya though.
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When’s the first tasty unmissable affair scheduled for?!
 
I'm sure the first game will just be yet another middle eastern side getting bummed, unfortunately.

Quite looking forward to Mexico/Poland. Mexico seem to punch above their weight in tournaments pretty often, wouldn't be surprised to see them turn up in a bit way,
 
Just had a look at Tunisia squad....

Think Denmark could put 4 or 5 past them if they quickly get their wingbacks into the game.
 
V.O. said:
If only it were so few.

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That number is not for the stadiums. Guardian could have done much better job separating all deaths in Qatar and deaths related to actual WC. Not that it matters much in general but it is lazy journalism
 
TheReligion said:
When’s the first tasty unmissable affair scheduled for?!
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Wednesday and Thursday look good! Germany v Japan, morocco v Croatia, even Belgium v Canada should be decent games. Then you have Uruguay v South Korea, Portugal v Ghana, Brazil v Serbia.
 
bosnian_red said:
Wednesday and Thursday look good! Germany v Japan, morocco v Croatia, even Belgium v Canada should be decent games. Then you have Uruguay v South Korea, Portugal v Ghana, Brazil v Serbia.
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Thanks mate.

Germany Japan, Portugal Ghana. Always fun watching Brazil too especially with Casemiro and Antony.
 
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