If Germany don't beat Spain they're out. Japan will surely beat Costa Rica
Day 4: Morocco vs Croatia | Germany vs Japan | Spain vs Costa Rica | Belgium vs Canada
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Oh yes.
Although, to be fair, he celebrated a meaningless 7th goal exactly the way a competition winner would!
Lets do this:
Yeah that's nuts.
@adexkola one for you.
He probably surprised himself he scored.
Excited to see Jonathan David. Let's see if the transfer muppets are right about him.
So, Qatar isn't going to be the worst team in the tournament.
Costa Rica getting a result against Japan wouldn't be a big surprise. Germany-Spain is the later match so they will know if it is a must win
Feels like I've seen the same Belgium team for like 10 years
Costa Rica needed to at least press more from the start.
Seems like a month ago England last played with all these games and the extra time played.
Seems like a month ago England last played with all these games and the extra time played.
First team to do this since themselves in 1990.
This is a sign of things to come with a 48 team World Cup. At least half them extra teams will be as bad as Costa Rica were there. The standard in some matches will be diabolical.
All its missing is Kompany and it could be the 2014, 2016 team.
CR needed a mercy rule.
Weird feelings in football
How does Batshuayi (or even Hazard) gets to start instead of Trossard is beyond my understanding.
I really hope it is the last tournament with Martinez as our coach
I really hope it is the last tournament with Martinez as our coach
1043 passes for Spain 
Is that a record ?
Is that a record ?I know Rom is injured but is Batsman the best Belgium can do?
African and Asian teams seem to be getting better bit by bit and closing the gap but the America's (both North and South) are really getting worse.
Said it earlier in the thread, 6 of today's starters began their opening match at WC2014.
Spain’s highest ever World Cup win.
Openda will probably come on later in the game. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Benteke is off to MLS and Origi didn't make the squad.
1043 passes for Spain
I am convinced that "total passes" is a totally made up stat because nobody is ever going to check.
I'm working so probably shouldn't. Could go for a beaver tail right now.Poutine and beer ready? I mean its only 11:00 when its kick off!
Yep looking at that lineup, it’s a 2014 rewind.
I'm up to 145. Will get back to you to confirm.
I tend to agree, though Australia were pretty bad last night. Iran this year are a special case -- I do think they're much better than what we saw on Monday.
Honestly puts Messi and his Copa America win in context. I wonder if modern football doesn’t mesh well with how South American want to play as a whole
I've never watched both of them live, was not even born then but that isn't many world-class strikers.
I wish I could remember a couple days ago where on here I saw someone talking about Pedri and Gavi being bang average and how they'll be reserves at West Ham in a couple years
Toby and Jan at the back? If the Canadian forwards can manage a brisk walk they will outpace them.
I really think Canada will win this.
I mean Costa Rica were horrendous but that was still one hell of a display. Spain v Germany will give us a better idea but these guys are scarily good in possession.
Wouldn't surprise me if Japan loses to Costa Rica, they have a habit of making things hard for themselves and I think they thrive more as the underdog role but agreed that things are not looking good for Germany.
Belgium will destroy Canada.
There's also Portugal (if they learn that they'll need to bench Ronaldo). For Portugal, having Bruno, Bernardo Silva, Cancelo and Joao Felix who can consistently make plays makes them really dangerous. Rafael Leao is such a dangerous player as well. Bruno being the risk taker he is, yet constantly producing is a threat to any game. We've seen it at United, even in games that we have no control, Bruno can be the difference. Defensively they also have really strong and physical players and I can see them being a major threat in big games. Their midfield has some strong combative players, with playmakers ahead of them.
A darkhorse would be Belgium. Everyone is pretty much discounting them as the defence has aged. However, they are playing in a system that might be able to hide those deficiencies similar to how it did with Italy. Debruyne is the best player in the world for me, and can drive, shoot and create chances on a consistent basis. If Hazard can show a little bit of some of his previous ability and Lukaku can come back quickly enough, they can pose a real threat.
Really? This Belgium team looks awful. How the feck is Eden Hazard starting?
No they are not, I can tell when people just make knee jerk statements like this both Musiala and Bellingham have been better than Pedro and Gavi.