Last. Man. Standing. Or the opportunity of a lifetime

[Devil-Dick Willie]

Italy, Chile, Netherlands. These teams never made it to Russia, and for the other football giants the world cup wuld have looked that much more atainable without them.

Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, gone. Some of the odds on favorites, the European champions and the best players in the world are all headed home. The only remaining 'favorites' are France, Brazil and to a lesser extent Belgium.

 

Belgium, Croatia, England and Uruguay. This is far and away the best chance of our lifetimes for these teams. Almost all the biggest nations are gone, and France nor Brazil have looked exactly bulletproof. I wouldn't at all have expected ay of these teams to win a world cup this decade.

 

Go on and fucking grab it cunts!!!!

 

[El Profesor]

In some ways, this World Cup reminds me of 2002. 

Holland didn´t qualify.

The defending champions eliminated in group stage. 

Spain eliminated by a weaker home team. 

Back then, Turkey and South Korea reached semi-finals. Russia is only one win away from a semi-final. 

It´s certainly a very surprising World Cup. The most interesting aspect of it is that nothing seems to come easy for the traditional nations. Every game is a struggle. 

Is this just a coincidence or is this the beginning of a trend where we start to see international football more balanced?

 

 

[Dave]

South Korea making the semi finals was so fixed it was cringeworthy.