On 2022-04-01 6:30 p.m., 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
> As most of you are interested in football, I thought I will post the
> groups decided by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar in November this year.
> It is in November because of heat in the Middle East and it is not a
> good idea to play football in 50 degrees Celsius!!
>
> Anyway the groups are:
>
> Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Netherlands and Senegal go through.

> Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine

England goes through as well as Scotland. I'm assuming they make it into
the group.

> Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Argentina and Poland through, but don't underestimate Poland's ability
to screw things up and Mexico might make it.

> Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

France and Denmark through. Tunisia will fight to the finish though.

> Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Germany and Spain through but Japan will be lots of fun to watch.

> Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Belgium and Morocco through. I'm just going to be happy to see Canada
play at that level. Their success will depend entirely on Alphonso Davies.

> Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Brazil and Switzerland through.

> Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

Uruguay and Portugal through but Portugal will probably just scrape by.
South Korea is fun to watch and can pull off a real upset. This is
probably going to be the most enjoyable group to watch.

> Group B is the most interesting one with England, USA and Iran in the
> same group. Infidels playing the people of Allah is never heard of in
> sporting history!!

I never found England to be all that exciting of a team. USA is also not
too interesting most of the time. I like their heart but the skill just
isn't there: they play too standard a game and lack creativity.

> Group H is also interesting where Ghana and Uruguay are together again.
> Uruguay eliminated Ghana in the previous tournament when Suarez handled
> the ball to stop Ghana from scoring a decisive goal but alas Uruguay
> went through and Luis Suarez was kicked out of the world cup for
> un-sportsmanship!

I expect to watch Poland (my ancestor's country), Canada (my country)
and Portugal (my wife's ancestors' country) the most but I have to admit
that I am a fan of this group and will probably check them out regularly
as well. Either way, this tournament is going to make November a lot
more fun than it usually is and I do appreciate them playing during a
time when people aren't melting to death.

--
rabidR04CH
Red Cross donor, supporter of independent media, proud Catholic and free
speech absolutist
Zephyrus G14 GA401QM on Windows 11
"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than
men.'" - Acts 5:29
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On 02 Apr 2022, rabidR04CH wrote
(in article <VpV1K.73394$4T.62960@fx24.iad>):

> On 2022-04-01 6:30 p.m., 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
> > As most of you are interested in football, I thought I will post the
> > groups decided by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar in November this year.
> > It is in November because of heat in the Middle East and it is not a
> > good idea to play football in 50 degrees Celsius!!
> >
> > Anyway the groups are:
> >
> > Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
>
> Netherlands and Senegal go through.
>
> > Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine
>
> England goes through as well as Scotland. I'm assuming they make it into
> the group.

England will step all over Scotland. Ukraine is going to be busy elsewhere.
Wales will be thumped, hard, if they make it in. US is going to fall apart,
except vs Iran, they’ll beat Iran badly.

>
>
> > Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
>
> Argentina and Poland through, but don't underestimate Poland's ability
> to screw things up and Mexico might make it.

I’d say that Mexico would definitely get in. Poland, not so much. If only
Mexico could play a Group game or two in Azteca, they’d be through to the
next level. It’s _hard_ to beat Mexico in Azteca. Argentina probably sails
through the Group undefeated.
>
>
> > Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia
>
> France and Denmark through. Tunisia will fight to the finish though.
>
> > Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan
>
> Germany and Spain through but Japan will be lots of fun to watch.
>
> > Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
>
> Belgium and Morocco through. I'm just going to be happy to see Canada
> play at that level. Their success will depend entirely on Alphonso Davies.
>
> > Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
>
> Brazil and Switzerland through.

Cameroon have a chance ahead of Switzerland. Brazil is hard to beat.
>
>
> > Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
>
> Uruguay and Portugal through but Portugal will probably just scrape by.
> South Korea is fun to watch and can pull off a real upset. This is
> probably going to be the most enjoyable group to watch.

Ghana might slap Portugal around a bit. Maybe.
>
>
> > Group B is the most interesting one with England, USA and Iran in the
> > same group. Infidels playing the people of Allah is never heard of in
> > sporting history!!
>
> I never found England to be all that exciting of a team. USA is also not
> too interesting most of the time. I like their heart but the skill just
> isn't there: they play too standard a game and lack creativity.

USA just isn’t very good, they lose to Mexico and Costa Rica all the time.
I think that they’re something like 1-16 against Mexico in Azteca (though
they’re about 10-7 when playing in the US) and are 1-12 against Costa Rica
in Costa Rica, including the final qualifier for the current World Cup, which
they lost 0-2. (If Costa Rica would have managed to hang 6 goals on them,
they wouldn’t have qualified.) In 2017 US lost to _Trinidad_, who’re not
exactly footie powerhouses, and failed to qualify for the 2018 WC. The
current US team may well be worse than that team... The Iranians will get
thumped, hard, and won’t win a game unless Wales is in, they might beat
Wales. Maybe.
>
>
> > Group H is also interesting where Ghana and Uruguay are together again.
> > Uruguay eliminated Ghana in the previous tournament when Suarez handled
> > the ball to stop Ghana from scoring a decisive goal but alas Uruguay
> > went through and Luis Suarez was kicked out of the world cup for
> > un-sportsmanship!
>
> I expect to watch Poland (my ancestor's country), Canada (my country)
> and Portugal (my wife's ancestors' country) the most but I have to admit
> that I am a fan of this group and will probably check them out regularly
> as well. Either way, this tournament is going to make November a lot
> more fun than it usually is and I do appreciate them playing during a
> time when people aren't melting to death.

Portugal will have trouble. Uruguay is good, Ghana is good, South Korea is
good. If they slip, they don’t advance. Canada doesn’t have a hope,
they’re worse than USA. Poland’s not going to beat Argentina and will be
in a fight with Mexico.

Mexico would prefer to be playing in Azteca in July or August, they’d be
just about certain of victory then. (Yes, I like Mexico, they’re the only
team in North America which is worth a damn.)

On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 14:46:41 -0400, Wolffan <akwolffan@zoho.com>
wrote:

>On 02 Apr 2022, rabidR04CH wrote
>(in article <VpV1K.73394$4T.62960@fx24.iad>):
>
<<<SNIP>>>
>>
>> > Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
>>
>> Belgium and Morocco through. I'm just going to be happy to see Canada
>> play at that level. Their success will depend entirely on Alphonso Davies.
>>

I think you might be underestimating Canada.

Davies is not the only good player on the team (perhaps the best, but
not the only one).

Don't forget, they finished at the top of the table in CONCACAF
without Davies.

<<<SNIP>>>>

On 2022-04-02 2:46 p.m., Wolffan wrote:
> On 02 Apr 2022, rabidR04CH wrote
> (in article <VpV1K.73394$4T.62960@fx24.iad>):
>
>> On 2022-04-01 6:30 p.m., 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
>>> As most of you are interested in football, I thought I will post the
>>> groups decided by FIFA for the World Cup in Qatar in November this year.
>>> It is in November because of heat in the Middle East and it is not a
>>> good idea to play football in 50 degrees Celsius!!
>>>
>>> Anyway the groups are:
>>>
>>> Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
>>
>> Netherlands and Senegal go through.
>>
>>> Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine
>>
>> England goes through as well as Scotland. I'm assuming they make it into
>> the group.
>
> England will step all over Scotland. Ukraine is going to be busy elsewhere.
> Wales will be thumped, hard, if they make it in. US is going to fall apart,
> except vs Iran, they’ll beat Iran badly.

The US never tends to do too well in these kinds of competition so I am
tempted to agree with your assessment. However, I see them merely
defeating Iran, not thumping them.

>>> Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
>>
>> Argentina and Poland through, but don't underestimate Poland's ability
>> to screw things up and Mexico might make it.
>
> I’d say that Mexico would definitely get in. Poland, not so much. If only
> Mexico could play a Group game or two in Azteca, they’d be through to the
> next level. It’s _hard_ to beat Mexico in Azteca. Argentina probably sails
> through the Group undefeated.

In any other decade, I'd be convinced that Mexico will make it through
but they weren't too dominant in the most recent CONCACAF competition so
I don't expect them to do too well unless Poland screws up as they
always manage to do.

>>> Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia
>>
>> France and Denmark through. Tunisia will fight to the finish though.
>>
>>> Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan
>>
>> Germany and Spain through but Japan will be lots of fun to watch.
>>
>>> Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
>>
>> Belgium and Morocco through. I'm just going to be happy to see Canada
>> play at that level. Their success will depend entirely on Alphonso Davies.
>>
>>> Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
>>
>> Brazil and Switzerland through.
>
> Cameroon have a chance ahead of Switzerland. Brazil is hard to beat.

Brazil sometimes has an off game where they become very easy to defeat
so we'll see how things go with them. However, I think everyone is
expecting them to get through regardless of which group they end up in.
This should be an interesting group to watch since Serbia is generally
solid and can take teams to the limit while Cameroon's speed might take
a team like Switzerland by surprise.

>>> Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
>>
>> Uruguay and Portugal through but Portugal will probably just scrape by.
>> South Korea is fun to watch and can pull off a real upset. This is
>> probably going to be the most enjoyable group to watch.
>
> Ghana might slap Portugal around a bit. Maybe.

I don't disagree. Considering how old Portugal's team is, I don't expect
that they will have an easy time here. Ronaldo is still a great player
but he's no longer the guy who will run circles around you.

>>> Group B is the most interesting one with England, USA and Iran in the
>>> same group. Infidels playing the people of Allah is never heard of in
>>> sporting history!!
>>
>> I never found England to be all that exciting of a team. USA is also not
>> too interesting most of the time. I like their heart but the skill just
>> isn't there: they play too standard a game and lack creativity.
>
> USA just isn’t very good, they lose to Mexico and Costa Rica all the time.
> I think that they’re something like 1-16 against Mexico in Azteca (though
> they’re about 10-7 when playing in the US) and are 1-12 against Costa Rica
> in Costa Rica, including the final qualifier for the current World Cup, which
> they lost 0-2. (If Costa Rica would have managed to hang 6 goals on them,
> they wouldn’t have qualified.) In 2017 US lost to _Trinidad_, who’re not
> exactly footie powerhouses, and failed to qualify for the 2018 WC. The
> current US team may well be worse than that team... The Iranians will get
> thumped, hard, and won’t win a game unless Wales is in, they might beat
> Wales. Maybe.

Well, I'll still watch their matches in the hope that they manage
something miraculous since I love rooting for the underdogs.

>>> Group H is also interesting where Ghana and Uruguay are together again.
>>> Uruguay eliminated Ghana in the previous tournament when Suarez handled
>>> the ball to stop Ghana from scoring a decisive goal but alas Uruguay
>>> went through and Luis Suarez was kicked out of the world cup for
>>> un-sportsmanship!
>>
>> I expect to watch Poland (my ancestor's country), Canada (my country)
>> and Portugal (my wife's ancestors' country) the most but I have to admit
>> that I am a fan of this group and will probably check them out regularly
>> as well. Either way, this tournament is going to make November a lot
>> more fun than it usually is and I do appreciate them playing during a
>> time when people aren't melting to death.
>
> Portugal will have trouble. Uruguay is good, Ghana is good, South Korea is
> good. If they slip, they don’t advance. Canada doesn’t have a hope,
> they’re worse than USA. Poland’s not going to beat Argentina and will be
> in a fight with Mexico.

Actually, Canada is better than the United States and Mexico at the
moment if the CONCACAF standings mean anything. Canada has 28 points and
more victories than Mexico and three points more than the United States.
Of course, they tend to do well as long as Alphonso Davies is around and
not so much when he isn't.

> Mexico would prefer to be playing in Azteca in July or August, they’d be
> just about certain of victory then. (Yes, I like Mexico, they’re the only
> team in North America which is worth a damn.)

I don't disagree but I'll be rooting for Canada despite that. I've got
my wife's team of Portugal to root for, my own Poland and our country's
team of Canada. None has a significant chance of winning the World Cup
but their presence will give us a good amount of shows to watch and
that's all that really matters.

As long as we all remember that our own life won't change whether our
favourite team wins or loses, we can appreciate the sport a lot more.

--
rabidR04CH
Red Cross donor, supporter of independent media, proud Catholic and free
speech absolutist
Zephyrus G14 GA401QM on Windows 11
"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than
men.'" - Acts 5:29
For fans of message boards, I invite you:
https://retalk.com/invite/rabidR04CH