Jul 4
Ro16 Predictions:
Morocco over Canada
France over Paraguay
Norway over Brazil
Mexico over England
Spain over Portugal
Belgium over United States
Argentina over Egypt
Colombia over Switzerland
Can’t go worse than the Ro32. Hopefully…
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Sweden
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Netherlands
seen from Israel
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Israel
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Italy
seen from Ireland
seen from Spain
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
Ro16 Predictions:
Morocco over Canada
France over Paraguay
Norway over Brazil
Mexico over England
Spain over Portugal
Belgium over United States
Argentina over Egypt
Colombia over Switzerland
Can’t go worse than the Ro32. Hopefully…
Reviewing my Ro32 Predictions
Canada over South Africa ✅
Japan over Brazil ❌
Germany over Paraguay ❌
Morocco over Netherlands ✅
Côte d’Ivoire over Norway ❌
France over Sweden ✅
Mexico over Ecuador ✅
England over DR Congo ✅
Senegal over Belgium ❌
United States over Bosnia-Herzegovina ✅
Spain over Austria ✅
Croatia over Portugal ❌
Switzerland over Algeria ✅
Egypt over Australia ✅
Argentina over Cabo Verde ✅
Ghana over Colombia ❌
Over all I went 10/16 which is just over half. Not bad considering how wild this World Cup has been, but I definetly could have done better with some of these looking like head scratchers in hindsight. I take no responsibility for missing Paraguay though.
Ro32 2: Brazil v. Japan ❎ 1/2
I don’t mind getting this one wrong that much. Japan was the better team for the first hour, and then Brazil brought it back. What drama for Martinelli! These teams were pretty even coming in and I missed the 50/50.
Ro32 1: Canada v. South Africa ✅ 1/1
Whelp, that was a mostly nothing game. There is a difference between a low scoring slugfest and a game with little offense. This was the latter. Glad I was able to read Canada being a hair better than South Africa but neither team impressed much. Much like their performances in the group stage.
Round of 32 Predictions:
Canada over South Africa
Japan over Brazil
Germany over Paraguay
Morocco over Netherlands
Côte d’Ivoire over Norway
France over Sweden
Mexico over Ecuador
England over DR Congo
Senegal over Belgium
United States over Bosnia-Herzegovina
Spain over Austria
Croatia over Portugal
Switzerland over Algeria
Egypt over Australia
Argentina over Cabo Verde
Ghana over Colombia
Can’t wait to see how terrible this goes!
I’m not dead. It just became hard to write about 2 games and not have them just be reading the standings. Ro32 predictions coming once matchups are locked in.
Matches 59 & 60: Türkiye v. United States & Australia v. Paraguay
That finish to the U.S. v. Türkiye is the first time I’ve laughed at the result of a game this tournament. USA win the group with 2 wins, and an embarrassing loss, followed by the duo of Australia and Paraguay on 4 points who played a thrilling game which allegedly, had a shot. I’m happy that Türkiye got a win so that they don’t go home completely empty-handed by God this group is mid as hell.
Matches 57 & 58: Netherlands v. Tunisia & Sweden v. Japan
This group ended up having strong performances from 3 squads, but managed to go down exactly as they should. Netherlands electrically got 7, with a draw to Japan. Japan, who are also looking for a deep run, managing 5 points with 2 draws and the obligatory win against Tunisia. Sweden are the epitome of a 3rd place team, getting one of each result. Tunisia have a genuine argument for worst team of the tourney.