2018 World Cup

[TheLocalYokel]

It seems that Gareth Southgate is taking this match seriously. I remain unconvinced as to its value. The England management and playing squad have re-connected with the fans as Southgate has pointed out. That in itself is an extremely positive outcome. With the semi finals and final of Euro 2020 being played at Wembley England would be at home if they (a) qualify for the tournament and (b) get that far in the finals. Depending on the team's performance over the next 12 months expectations for Euro 2020 could be much higher than they were before this World Cup.

Looking further ahead to 2022, what a contrast in country size between Russia and Qatar. I read that Qatar's remotest stadiums are just 90 miles apart. contrast that with the vast distances teams and fans had to travel around Russia and will have to do so again in 2026 when the World Cup is held jointly in Mexico (the third time since 1970 - how come?), USA (the second time since 1994 and it's not a major footballing country) and Canada.

I shall be fascinated to see how a country as tiny as Qatar can cope with 32 countries' teams and their fans. The real snag with Qatar is the fact that the tournament will be held in November/December because of the intense summer heat. Traditionally it's always taken place in June/July. This will cause real problems across the major European leagues for probably two seasons.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It seems that Gareth Southgate is taking this match seriously. I remain unconvinced as to its value, although I like to see England win every match including friendlies. The England management and playing squad have re-connected with the fans as Southgate has pointed out. That in itself is an extremely positive outcome. With the semi finals and final of Euro 2020 being played at Wembley England would be at home if they (a) qualify for the tournament and (b) get that far in the finals. Depending on the team's performance over the next 12 months expectations for Euro 2020 could be much higher than they were before this World Cup.

Looking further ahead to 2022, what a contrast in country size between Russia and Qatar. I read that Qatar's remotest stadiums are just 90 miles apart. Contrast that with the vast distances teams and fans had to travel around Russia and will have to do so again in 2026 when the World Cup is held jointly in Mexico (the third time since 1970 - how come?), USA (the second time since 1994 and it's not a major footballing country) and Canada.

I shall be fascinated to see how a country as tiny as Qatar can cope with 32 countries' teams and their fans. The real snag with Qatar is the fact that the tournament will be held in November/December because of the intense summer heat. Traditionally it's always taken place in June/July. This will cause real problems across the major European leagues for probably two seasons.

 

[jfy1999]

Thus endeth our World Cup. Predictable result to be honest given the quality of the Belgians.

Question of the day: does Kane deserve the Golden Boot? At least, that seems to be the topic of the day among commenters on the BBC Sport website who are claiming that six goals are somehow "undeserved" when three of them were from the penalty spot and five of them came in the first two games (against nations referred to by a few commenters as "pub teams").

The idea that this was somehow not an "ordinary" World Cup is being suggested as the reason England got as far as they did (presumably an "ordinary" World Cup would have been one where Germany advanced ahead of Sweden and eliminated us in the quarter-finals). Well, Germany were a big name on paper, but football isn't played on paper.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Harry Kane shone like a diamond in the group stages but faded quickly. In fairness I think he played a very unselfish role against Sweden taking players with him to create space for others. Whether he deserves the golden boot is irrelevant, he scored the goals and you can only play what is in front of you, pub team or not.

That said I know it will not be a popular view but I'm afraid that I just don't get this England frenzy that seems to be sweeping the nation.

Some positives are that we now have an England manager who oozes class, he has the confidence and respect of his players and has got the national team back in the 'good books' of the general public. Kieran Trippier has been my stand out player of the tournament, John Stones and Harry Maguire look, in the most part, a solid defensive partnership and Jordan Pickford had goalkeeping displays that I'm sure even the great Peter Shilton would have been proud of.

But

England played two decent teams in this tournament and lost to both of them! Had we faced Croatia in the round of 16 and gone out would the media frenzy be totally different?

Would Germany, Argentina or Brazil demand an open top bus tour if they went out to Croatia in the semi-finals? Not a chance, they are there to win and anything less is deemed failure, this is the mentality I want England to have!

We beat Tunisia (injury time winner needed), Panama (a team that would likely struggle in League 1), Columbia (penalties needed, which can be a lottery) and Sweden (a post Ibrahimovic team now well past their best). Hardly the cream of footballing nations. The games against Belgium and Croatia both showed the gulf that exists between having young players with potential and genuine, well established, real quality.

Today's game had lots of tippy tappy football around the box but very little quality in it, I believe one commentator said that only Iran had created less chances from open play than England. We do however seem to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition when it comes to set pieces which is definitely not a bad thing.

After some very bad years for our national team the green shoots of recovery are definitely showing but there is till a very long way to go. Ensuring that our young squad are getting regular, first team league football would be a start. We also need to somehow find an English Luka Modric or Kevin De Bruyne, a player that can turn a game on it's head with one moment of sheer class. I look at Mbappe with envy just wishing that he was English.

Russia 2018 looks to have stopped the rot and finally steered the England team back on to the path of enlightenment but there is still a huge amount of work to do. So it's over to you Mr Southgate.......Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium, let's actually bring it home

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Harry Kane shone like a diamond in the group stages but faded quickly. In fairness I think he played a very unselfish role against Sweden taking players with him to create space for others. Whether he deserves the golden boot is irrelevant, he scored the goals and you can only play what is in front of you, pub team or not.

That said I know it will not be a popular view but I'm afraid that I just don't get this England frenzy that seems to be sweeping the nation.

Some positives are that we now have an England manager who oozes class, he has the confidence and respect of his players and has got the national team back in the 'good books' of the general public. Kieran Trippier has been my stand out player of the tournament, John Stones and Harry Maguire look, in the most part, a solid defensive partnership and Jordan Pickford had goalkeeping displays that I'm sure even the great Peter Shilton would have been proud of.

But

England played two decent teams in this tournament and lost to both of them! Had we faced Croatia in the round of 16 and gone out would the media frenzy be totally different?

Would Germany, Argentina or Brazil demand an open top bus tour if they went out to Croatia in the semi-finals? Not a chance, they are there to win and anything less is deemed failure, this is the mentality I want England to have!

We beat Tunisia (injury time winner needed), Panama (a team that would likely struggle in League 1), Columbia (penalties needed, which can be a lottery) and Sweden (a post Ibrahimovic team now well past their best). Hardly the cream of footballing nations. The games against Belgium and Croatia both showed the gulf that exists between having young players with potential and genuine, well established, real quality.

Today's game had lots of tippy tappy football around the box but very little quality in it, I believe one commentator said that only Iran had created less chances from open play than England. We do however seem to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition when it comes to set pieces which is definitely not a bad thing.

After some very bad years for our national team the green shoots of recovery are definitely showing but there is till a very long way to go. Ensuring that our young squad are getting regular, first team league football would be a start. We also need to somehow find an English Luka Modric or Kevin De Bruyne, a player that can turn a game on it's head with one moment of sheer class. I look at Mbappe with envy just wishing that he was English.

Russia 2018 looks to have stopped the rot and finally steered the England team back on to the path of enlightenment but there is still a huge amount of work to do. So it's over to you Mr Southgate.......Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium, let's actually bring it home

I agree with much of that which is why I see no need for celebration when, for example, a British athlete wins a silver or bronze medal at the Olympic Games. Only the gold is worth winning in my view. Perhaps it's a national characteristic that our nation is prepared to say, "Jolly well done but bad luck", when someone does well bit fails to win. Many other countries want to win and anything else is not worth shouting about.

I think there might be two reasons for the wild celebrations in England (I don't think the rest of the UK joined in which perhaps is an indication of the polarisation within the UK to a degree):

First, the England team did far better than at any time in the living memory of many supporters having gone to Russia with the lowest expectation for an England team that I can ever recall and my first memory of England and the World Cup was Switzerland in 1954 when some of the games were televised rather shakily by the infant Eurovision with connections frequently dropping out.

Second, with the UK divided over Brexit the country (England) just wanted an excuse to let its hair down and the amazing weather also helped the good mood. Probably the football World Cup is the only event that could have brought the English people together like this, other than something like VE Day and we don't want anything like that again.

I would be a bit more charitable regarding the overall performances. A team can only beat the opposition that it faces and in the group matches England should have beaten Tunisia far more easily given their display versus that of the Tunisians, and late important goals are often the mark of a determinedly successful if not necessarily outstanding team. Panama were disposed of ruthlessly and the group match against Belgium was one that the virtual reserve sides of either country could not make up their mind whether they wanted to win or not given the likely respective subsequent paths to the Final.

Columbia was a very unfortunate affair with the England team continually disrupted by the antics of the Columbians (unnecessarily given that when they did decide to play properly towards the end of the 90 minutes they looked a very decent side) and I was very pleased that the young England team did not react in the way the Columbians were hoping with their non-footballing behaviour.

Sweden were despatched competently. They are always difficult to beat and I was impressed by England that day.

The semi final could, should and almost certainly would have seen a different result had England made the most of their first half dominance. They had chances - Kane would normally gobble up the one he had and missed - to have put them out of sight by half time. I ascribe no importance to the unnecessary game yesterday. To me it was like a friendly fixture that no-one wants. Had England won 6-0 I would have taken no particular pleasure given its relevance, although as I said in another post I always like to see England win even in friendly matches that are little more than public practice games such as those pre-tournament games we sat through, or some of us did anyway.

The Golden Boot is one of those silly and unimportant things like Man of the Match or Goal of the Month where a freak 30-yard overhead volley that a player might do once in a lifetime is considered worthier than a free-flowing move involving numerous players that ends in a tap-in.

In general, I'm very encouraged by the England squad and management but, as Southgate is quick to point out, it is very much a work in progress and still needs much polishing with the understanding that there is a nucleus but still a need to find top players to support that nucleus. The outstanding displays of the Under 20s and Under 17s in winning their World Cups in recent years shows the talent is in the pipeline. These youngsters need proper development which includes top flight game time at club level, something that is desperately hard for many of them to achieve in the Premier League.

 

[Aviador]

I win by default as I was allowed to change my vote early on. Congratulations to France on winning the FIFA World Cup!

 

[jfy1999]

France 4–2 Croatia

A highly entertaining but controversial game and sadly the referee (and VAR) took centre stage for a significant part of it.

France's first goal came from a free-kick which Griezemann apparently won by diving, although I haven't seen the replays. Perhaps VAR should be expanded to include free-kicks won within a certain distance of the opposing goal. In my opinion, it should definitely include corner/goal-kick disputes in future. Croatia should have had been awarded a corner at 2-1 when a cross-shot grazed two French players and went unnoticed. England were also on the wrong end of a similar decision in the semi-final.

Perisic's arm was raised for the penalty decision and blocked the ball from going into the danger area, but he was in mid-air, so the position of his arm was hardly unnatural. Under the letter of the law the referee should have given the defending team the benefit of any doubt in a penalty VAR review, and the referee's body language suggested he was in a lot of doubt.

France's back four were solid apart from the three consecutive headers won by Croatia in the build-up to the equaliser. The performance of Croatia's back four is hard to assess as they had very little defending to do in between the French goals, but they were all positioned poorly for the first goal, which could have gone in off anyone. I don't remember either side creating many good chances outside of those they scored. Neither goalkeeper distinguished himself and I don't think I could pick out a "man of the match".

A strange game in the end but a splendid tournament that ought to live long in the memory, especially because this could mark the end of the World Cup as we know it. Qatar 2022 will be just before Christmas and disrupt at least one league season. After that will come the new 48-team layout - and I have no idea how they could solve all the problems of 3-team groups without resorting to the dreaded penalty shoot-out.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

First-class summary of the match, jfy1999. I thought that Croatia were marginally the better side through most of the game although France had their moments and took advantage of two monumental pieces of luck: the free kick that led to the first goal (replays showed a clear dive and the former actor who was refereeing ought to be able to recognise good acting) and the penalty which was not a clear and obvious error by the referee so VAR should not have been involved. In fact, the ref's initial decision not to award a penalty was correct and the VAR confused matters by encouraging him to look again and to change his mind and erroneously award a penalty.

As has been shown on occasions with rugby union internationals, tv replays sometimes get things horrendously wrong.

France only really looked good when Croatia were pressing up field when two down leaving gaps that the French ruthlessly exploited.

I've seen all World Cup finals live on the tv from 1954 onwards and this was amongst the best four for entertainment, if not for pure quality and few finals are classic football displays anyway because of what is at stake. Congratulations France and commiserations to Croatia after a marvellous display which might have carried the day on another occasion but winning is what counts.

The 2018 World Cup competition was one of the best I can remember - so FIFA will believe they got it right when they awarded the finals to Russia after England thought they themselves had an extremely strong case.