The Official FIFA World Cup 2018 Thread

[kacklord]

absolutely can't believe the croatia v denmark game... so much in the first five minutes and then, just... absolutely nothing. for ages. this world cup is getting odder and odder with every match.

 

[345ash-greninja]

absolutely can't believe the croatia v denmark game... so much in the first five minutes and then, just... absolutely nothing. for ages. this world cup is getting odder and odder with every match.

Well penalty shootout are more intense and mouth-watering to watch after all, it always leaves us at the edges of our seats in excitement. I enjoyed it fully....2 penalty shootouts in a day....in short it was amazingly intense stuff to watch.

 

[345ash-greninja]

And Brazil destroyed Mexico!! They didn't fell to the sucker punches delivered by comparatively underweight teams like the many other big teams in this competition fell for, showing their true class, and more importantly showed Mexico who is the true boss!!! Really enjoyed one of my most favourite footballers Neymar score, though his theatrics were....a bit too much.

 

[Frozocrone]

Brazil still in it boooo

Japan to cause an upset and win. Our first Asain champions woo!

 

[345ash-greninja]

Brazil still in it boooo

Japan to cause an upset and win. Our first Asain champions woo!

I guess you mean Asian.

Well, truth be told, it'd in all probability need a miracle of a miracle from Japan to beat this red-hot Belgium team.

 

[345ash-greninja]

Well...looks like your prediction almost looked like coming true...but Belgium showed incredible display of character to get themselves out of a crazy jam...from 2-0 behind to a 3-2 win, leaving the Japanese heart-wrenched!!! What an absolute stunner of a game that was!

 

[kacklord]

wow, last couple seconds. crazy how it's been coming down to the wire so often. a bit unfortunate as i was rooting for japan, but oh well. belgium sure deserved that win.

 

[buskalilly]

I had Mexico and Japan in a sweepstakes, so that was me out of the running all in one night!

That Japan/ Belgium game was absolutely tremendous. Both teams can hold their heads high after that one. I was rooting for Japan, obviously, but it was still a wonderful match.

 

[Darthlord7]

The games for the Top 8:

Uruguay-France
Brazil-Belgium
Russia-Croatia
Sweden-England

The first two will probably be the most interesting ones.

 

[Frozocrone]

Wait, did we actually just win a penalty shootout?

This World Cup though

 

[345ash-greninja]

And England win!!! What an intense and nailbitingly close showdown that was as England broke their long going tradition of loosing in penalty shootouts to overcome the Colombian challenge and got to the Top 8!! Would've really felt disappointed if England left the World Cup this early, and glad that didn't happen. Loved seeing one of my favourite players in this World Cup Harry Kane score and get further ahead in the race for the Golden Boot.

Anyway, my updated list of Top 5 players of FIFA World Cup 2018 as of the end of Top 16:

1) Harry Kane: 10/10

2) Romelu Lukaku: 9.5/10

3) Kylian Mbappe: 9/10

4) Edinson Cavani: 8.5/10

5) Cristiano Ronaldo: 8/10

Note: Mbappe and Cavani automatically leapfrogged into the list because of their phenomenal performances in the knockout matches.

 

[buskalilly]

Wait, did we actually just win a penalty shootout?

This World Cup though

It's been days and I'm honestly still struggling to believe it. I can't believe I'm saying this but . . . it's coming home!

Loved seeing one of my favourite players in this World Cup Harry Kane score and get further ahead in the race for the Golden Boot.

I was at Wembley with my mum in January, just before I moved to Japan, for the match when harry became Tottenham's highest ever scorer in the Premier League. The whole stadium started singing "one season wonder". It was a great moment!

 

[345ash-greninja]

It's been days and I'm honestly still struggling to believe it. I can't believe I'm saying this but . . . it's coming home!

Obviously it's a bit hard to sink in...especially when England finally broke a long, long going tradition of suffering heart wrenching losses in penalty shootouts. TBH how much nervous did you feel when Henderson missed a penalty strike to give Colombia a 3-2 lead?

I was at Wembley with my mum in January, just before I moved to Japan, for the match when harry became Tottenham's highest ever scorer in the Premier League. The whole stadium started singing "one season wonder". It was a great moment!

I see. Anyway Harry Kane sure is one of the upcoming greats/legends in the world of Football, I don't think there should be any doubt about this after this World Cup at least. He makes sure never to miss a penalty! At this point it just seems unlikely to even think about the Golden Boot going to anyone other than Kane. Even the nearest still active player in this World Cup, a.k.a. Lukaku trails him by 2 goals and I highly doubt that Belgium would make it past Brazil.

 

[Pipneary]

I am still really happy about the England game, hopefully we get another win, this time against Sweeden.

 

[buskalilly]

Obviously it's a bit hard to sink in...especially when England finally broke a long, long going tradition of suffering heart wrenching losses in penalty shootouts. TBH how much nervous did you feel when Henderson missed a penalty strike to give Colombia a 3-2 lead?

My heart stopped beating entirely between then and the end of the shoot out!

 

[345ash-greninja]

So France beats Uruguay 2-0. Quite a one-sided affair that match was, especially for a quarterfinal matchup. Have to say that Uruguay were....simply not up to the mark. Granted, they were a depleted side because of Cavani's injury, but their offence was simply outperformed by a significant margin by France's offence. Also the mishap by Muslera which led to France's second goal was really jarring; frankly speaking that was a regulation save at international level. Anyway, the match lacked the excitement of a World Cup quartfinal matchup, hope the Brazil-Belgium match turns out to much more in terms of intensity and excitement.

 

[345ash-greninja]

And Brazil lose to Belgium 2-1! I felt that Brazil played better Football than Belgium in the game mostly and created more chances of scoring goals with their attacking, but the failure to convert those ready good chances(I felt that at least 1 or 2 of them should have been definitely converted into goals) and that very stupid moment of that own goal cost Brazil the game. Feeling really sad that one of my most favourite teams ever are knocked out of this World Cup, but I guess it's now better to accept the cold and hard truth and move on!

 

[Frozocrone]

European champions.

Safe to say Europe is king of football lolololol

Wanted Brazil to win because of Courtois' comments. Hoping France wins against them.

Or we beat them in the final

 

[buskalilly]

And just like in everything, the real enemy is capitalism!
The fact is, the European Leagues are taking players away from South America and Africa as soon as they show any sign of professional level talent, so the youth aren't staying in those countries to cultivate a team spirit or national identity. England Players mostly play in England, or at worst a short plane ride away in Spain. Brazil or Uraguay's players are spending most of their year half a world away.

 

[CyberBlaziken]

And just like in everything, the real enemy is capitalism!
The fact is, the European Leagues are taking players away from South America and Africa as soon as they show any sign of professional level talent, so the youth aren't staying in those countries to cultivate a team spirit or national identity. England Players mostly play in England, or at worst a short plane ride away in Spain. Brazil or Uraguay's players are spending most of their year half a world away.

That's cool and all, but when has England last won a major competition?