The World Cup Final will play host to France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia after 30 other teams have all bowed out of the competition! We have two nations who some may have predicted but the majority would have not chosen Croatia to be the opponents of France in this tournaments grand finale.
France got here on the back of very impressive wins and displays against Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium scoring 6 goals in the process and keeping clean sheets in the last 2 matches. They ooze confidence the French and rightfully so, their squad is jam packed full of stars in the offensive part and anchoring the whole thing together is the little genius that is Ngolo Kante. The small, humble Frenchman 3 years ago was playing in Ligue 2! (French second Division) before a move to Leicester, then Chelsea winning back to back premier league titles. He frees up Paul Pogba who has looked in fine form and with Greizmann and Mbappe freely roaming and terrorizing defenses upfront they are a very hard team to stop scoring. Belgium did give them food for thought in the last match, but whilst they scored from a set piece they did create chances from open play...as well as conceding chances too. Their defense is their weak point even with Umtiti and Varange with vast amounts of experience in the middle, they just don't seem set right and rely on the Kante and Matuidi sitting in front of them mopping everything up. Croatia get here on the back of beating England in extra time and before that dispatching both Denmark and touranment hosts Russia on penalties. They had a great groupstage which saw them humble Argentina 3-0 and put them on the brink of elimination in the group stages. The issue with Croatia is they look so good in spells of matches, but it has only been in spells since the last 16 began. vs Denmark they were second best for a large part same with vs Russia and against England, however they also had stages in all 3 games where they look fabulous. However this is not what you want your team to be like when they are playing against an offense like France, they need to be on it for 90 minutes, can they give that after playing 3 matches in a row for 120 minutes. Can the Croatians dig deep and put a fight up against France for 90 minutes and lift the World Cup for the first time? They will need Modric and Rakitic to get a hold of the ball and keep it away from the French for a start, they will need Perisic and Rebic using their pace to push the French fullbacks back and then, they will need the big man Mandzukic dominating the two CBs of France. This is possible, even though you might not think it, it is possible for Croatia to do. However they must be tired now for sure, whilst France won't exactly be fresh as a daisy they have had 24 hours more rest and played way less tournament minutes. That being said, i have to side with France and i am going for a comfortable win.
Prediction: France 3-0 Croatia
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The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
^ just english things xD you people will never learn :D
edit: i honestly think this England team deserved at least couple of sentences on TL, and a very warm welcome when they come home. even Germany or Brasil would not call a chance at medal "shit and irrelevant" but i guess they're not as great footballing nations like England is
On July 14 2018 05:00 ppp87 wrote: Croatia cant win, it's just not possible (0,000001% at best), those who think otherwise are delusionals.
I think otherwise. Let's bet on those odds?
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
Well, as they are actually giving Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, and given that it's the absolute biggest football tournament, I think it is better to keep the 3rd place match.
It meant the world to Croatians when we won that medal in 98. For big countries, especially for the accomplished ones, it might not be that big of a deal. But it might be the best chance England has to win a medal :p --------------------------- This game could be an epic midfield battle. The power of Kante, Pogba and Matuidi vs the silk of Modric, Rakitic & co.
France is really admirable in Kante, Pogba, Griezman and Mbappe. Croatia can still win, as it's 1 game, and such a big moment. It's much more complex and delicate than adding up individual players' worths.
3rd place match is so irrelevant who cares for 3rd place? Biggest club football tournament is Champions league, name me the last 3 seasons semi finalists? Don't try big up that game when it is just a money grabbing scheme. Name me a top sport competition that isn't the world cup which has a 3rd place match?
NFL, MLB, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, Snooker, Pool, Darts....i don't know any more sports haha, but there is no 3rd place match because it is irrelevant, lose semi finals u go home. FIFA? Naa lets milk some more cash xd
Man, poor Pande. Not even showing that English bias anymore for the third place match. Someone needs a long break from football! haha.
Also, Croatia will win this WC. They are going to come into this match realizing that everything is on the line, especially when they consider all those ET wins that they had to go through. Do they crush France? nah but seeing people ride them off is silly. This is a single game and it could easily hinge on a single goal from Croatia for them to win 1-0 and shut off France. Not to mention there are expectations that France wins this while Croatia have less of that pressure.
On July 14 2018 08:39 Pandemona wrote: 3rd place match is so irrelevant who cares for 3rd place? Biggest club football tournament is Champions league, name me the last 3 seasons semi finalists? Don't try big up that game when it is just a money grabbing scheme. Name me a top sport competition that isn't the world cup which has a 3rd place match?
NFL, MLB, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, Snooker, Pool, Darts....i don't know any more sports haha, but there is no 3rd place match because it is irrelevant, lose semi finals u go home. FIFA? Naa lets milk some more cash xd
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
I love third place matches and many others do too. Why is it a money grabbing scheme when it's actually something important in WC's terms? I can easily tell you the last 3rd finishes without googling because I love the world cup more than anything in football. But thats something the English will never understand
EDIT: IIHF ice hockey world championships, FIBA basketball world championships all have third place matches. I think it comes from Olympic system, because of "medal system". However indeed, the Pro-leagues dont have this tradition, as there are no gold/silver/bronze medals there.
As someone said in this thread before, 3rd place matches mean a lot to black horse nations that had a fantastic surprise run and overachieve to get that 3rd. However, i can definitely see how its a painful experience for the likes of England and Belgium