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***Official World Cup 2018 Thread***

https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/tv-schedule

June 14, 11:00a ET Russia vs. Saudi Arabia FOX
June 15, 8:00a ET Egypt vs. Uruguay FS1
June 15, 11:00a ET Morocco vs. Iran FOX
June 15, 2:00p ET Portugal vs. Spain FOX
June 16, 6:00a ET France vs. Australia FS1
June 16, 9:00a ET Argentina vs. Iceland FOX
June 16, 12:00p ET Peru vs. Denmark FS1
June 16, 3:00p ET Croatia vs. Nigeria FS1
June 17, 8:00a ET Costa Rica vs. Serbia FOX
June 17, 11:00a ET Germany vs. Mexico FS1
June 17, 2:00p ET Brazil vs. Switzerland FS1
June 18, 8:00a ET Sweden vs. Korea Republic FS1
June 18, 11:00a ET Belgium vs. Panama FS1
June 18, 2:00p ET Tunisia vs. England FS1
June 19, 8:00a ET Colombia vs. Japan FS1
June 19, 11:00a ET Poland vs. Senegal FOX
June 19, 2:00p ET Russia vs. Egypt FOX
June 20, 8:00a ET Portugal vs. Morocco FS1
June 20, 11:00a ET Uruguay vs. Saudi Arabia FOX
June 20, 2:00p ET Iran vs. Spain FOX
June 21, 8:00a ET Denmark vs. Australia FS1
June 21, 11:00a ET France vs. Peru FOX
June 21, 2:00p ET Argentina vs. Croatia FOX
June 22, 8:00a ET Brazil vs. Costa Rica FS1
June 22, 11:00a ET Nigeria vs. Iceland FOX
June 22, 2:00p ET Serbia vs. Switzerland FOX
June 23, 8:00a ET Belgium vs. Tunisia FOX
June 23, 11:00a ET Korea Republic vs. Mexico FOX
June 23, 2:00p ET Germany vs. Sweden FOX
June 24, 8:00a ET England vs. Panama FS1
June 24, 11:00a ET Japan vs. Senegal FOX
June 24, 2:00p ET Poland vs. Colombia FOX
June 25, 10:00a ET Uruguay vs. Russia FOX
June 25, 10:00a ET Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt FS1
June 25, 2:00p ET Iran vs. Portugal FOX
June 25, 2:00p ET Spain vs. Morocco FS1
June 26, 10:00a ET Denmark vs. France FOX
June 26, 10:00a ET Australia vs. Peru FS1
June 26, 2:00p ET Nigeria vs. Argentina FOX
June 26, 2:00p ET Iceland vs. Croatia FS1
June 27, 10:00a ET Korea Republic vs. Germany FS1
June 27, 10:00a ET Mexico vs. Sweden FOX
June 27, 2:00p ET Serbia vs. Brazil FOX
June 27, 2:00p ET Switzerland vs. Costa Rica FS1
June 28, 10:00a ET Senegal vs. Colombia FOX
June 28, 10:00a ET Japan vs. Poland FS1
June 28, 2:00p ET Panama vs. Tunisia FS1
June 28, 2:00p ET England vs. Belgium FOX

Round of 16 (June 30-July 3)
TBD
Quarter-Finals (July 6-7)
TBD
Semi-Finals (July 10-11)
TBD
Third Place Play-Off (July 14)
TBD
Final (July 15)
TBD
 
Betting line for today's match:

Russia -256
Saudi Arabia +750
Draw +330

O/U 2
over -145
under +120

Given a host nation has never lost the opener, I sort of get it, but KSA is ranked 67th and RUS is ranked 70th. I'm going with a contrarian pick here and saying it will be a draw. I would also lean under 2 goals, as of course, 2 itself is a push.
 
Betting line for today's match:

Russia -256
Saudi Arabia +750
Draw +330

O/U 2
over -145
under +120

Given a host nation has never lost the opener, I sort of get it, but KSA is ranked 67th and RUS is ranked 70th. I'm going with a contrarian pick here and saying it will be a draw. I would also lean under 2 goals, as of course, 2 itself is a push.

2 being a push I would risk the over, just me though. God I wish it was legal everywhere right now. Sitting across from a casino in Illinois with no sports book.
 
tenor.gif
 
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The cheers and high fives just erupted in the West Wing.
The best case scenario is Russia wins so their goon fans don't murder random foreigners in the streets.
 
Not sure yet, but they will on the top of the list. They have several players from Tottenham, my EPL team.

Huge-Iceland-Supporter-1001.jpg
If Iceland moves to the next round they will be a Cinderella team in the NCAAT times a billion. I am rooting for this. Who doesn't like a good story, and they are a decent team.
 
Who is everyone adopting as their team this year? I have settled on England.

Father's side came to Iowa from Denmark, so pulling for the Danes. The Roligans (Danish fans) are a lot like Hawkeye fans. Great travelers, big partiers, famous for their good natured rowdiness. Denmark punches above its weight too. They were the smallest country ever to win the European Championship ('92) until Portugal in 2016.

Also, I want CONCACAF to do well, so I will be pulling for Panama (in their first World Cup) and Costa Rica. Lots of MLS players on those two squads.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/06/04/mls-players-named-2018-fifa-world-cup-squads
 
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Father's side came to Iowa from Denmark, so pulling for the Danes. The Roligans (Danish fans) are a lot like Hawkeye fans. Great travelers, big partiers, famous for their good natured rowdiness. Denmark punches above its weight too. They were the smallest country ever to win the European Championship ('92) until Portugal in 2016.

Also, I want CONCACAF to do well, so I will be pulling for Panama (in their first World Cup) and Costa Rica. Lots of MLS players on those two squads.


I've got a bad feeling CONCACAF will struggle this year
 
Betting line for today's match:

Russia -256
Saudi Arabia +750
Draw +330

O/U 2
over -145
under +120

Given a host nation has never lost the opener, I sort of get it, but KSA is ranked 67th and RUS is ranked 70th. I'm going with a contrarian pick here and saying it will be a draw. I would also lean under 2 goals, as of course, 2 itself is a push.
tenor.gif
 
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Putin is probably trying to force FIFA to allow them to play Saudi Arabia three times in the first round.
 
Betting line for today's match:

Russia -256
Saudi Arabia +750
Draw +330

O/U 2
over -145
under +120

Given a host nation has never lost the opener, I sort of get it, but KSA is ranked 67th and RUS is ranked 70th. I'm going with a contrarian pick here and saying it will be a draw. I would also lean under 2 goals, as of course, 2 itself is a push.
How much did you lose?
 
Check the FIFA rankings though - they had Saudi 67th, Russia 70th (or at least I read that earlier today)

Yeah, why do you think Russia got them first? That might be the only game Russia doesn't lose. They wanted to give the hosts at least one win to keep local interest at least until the knockout stage.
 
I've got a bad feeling CONCACAF will struggle this year
I think this version of Costa Rica is significantly weaker than the last World Cup. I don't like Panama's chances either. I think Mexico should handle South Korea and Sweden. But will likely match-up with Brazil in the knock-out rounds.
 
You have to take Russia's FIFA ranking with a grain of salt because it's all a mathematical formula. This is true of any host because they do not get the multipliers applied for each World Cup Qualifying win or draw, they are simply playing friendlies while everyone else plays WCQs. I believe Brazil actually fell out of the top 10 in late 2013 and into 2014, which is obviously ridiculous.
 
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You have to take Russia's FIFA ranking with a grain of salt because it's all a mathematical formula. This is true of any host because they do not get the multipliers applied for each World Cup Qualifying win or draw, they are simply playing friendlies while everyone else plays WCQs. I believe Brazil actually fell out of the top 10 in late 2013 and into 2014, which is obviously ridiculous.

Yeah, FIFA rankings make NCAA FB pre-season polls look scientific.
 
You have to take Russia's FIFA ranking with a grain of salt because it's all a mathematical formula. This is true of any host because they do not get the multipliers applied for each World Cup Qualifying win or draw, they are simply playing friendlies while everyone else plays WCQs. I believe Brazil actually fell out of the top 10 in late 2013 and into 2014, which is obviously ridiculous.

Yeah, FIFA rankings make NCAA FB pre-season polls look scientific.

Yeah, no way is Russia that far down on the world scale. I think it was 2 WC cycles (fairly recently) they were considered a top team. Injuries and inconsistent play have hurt them as of late. Considering their group there is no reason why they don't easily make the KO round.
 
You have to take Russia's FIFA ranking with a grain of salt because it's all a mathematical formula. This is true of any host because they do not get the multipliers applied for each World Cup Qualifying win or draw, they are simply playing friendlies while everyone else plays WCQs. I believe Brazil actually fell out of the top 10 in late 2013 and into 2014, which is obviously ridiculous.
Poland did the opposite stopped playing friendlies and as a result they ended up seeded. Which is why they are going to change the formula.
 
Yeah, no way is Russia that far down on the world scale. I think it was 2 WC cycles (fairly recently) they were considered a top team. Injuries and inconsistent play have hurt them as of late. Considering their group there is no reason why they don't easily make the KO round.
Advancing is easier when things are fixed to give you the easiest possible group.
 
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Uruguay vs Egypt at 7 am tomorrow. Egypt has Amro Tarek of Orlando City and Omar Gaber of LAFC while Uruguay had Nicolas Lodeiro of Seattle Sounders.
 
KSA looked absolutely horrible. By the start of the 2nd half they had given up. Russia could have scored another 2-3 goals if they wanted.
 
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