OT: World Cup Draw Discussion Thread

Submitted by TrueBlue2003 on

Getting bored of all the coaching search threads so figured I'd get this going.

FIFA ranks in ():

  • Group A: Russia (65), Uruguay (17), Egypt (30), SaudiArabia (63)

  • Group B: Portugal (3), Spain (8), Iran (34), Morocco (48)

  • Group C: France (7), Peru (10), Denmark (19), Australia (43)

  • Group D: Argentina (4), Croatia (18), Iceland (21), Nigeria (41)

  • Group E: Brazil (2), Switzerland (11), Costa Rica (22), Serbia (38)

  • Group F: Germany (1), Mexico (16), Sweden (25), South Korea (62)

  • Group G: Belgium (5), England (12), Tunisia (28), Panama (49)

  • Group H: Poland (6), Colombia (13), Senegal (32), Japan (44)

Maybe it's just me but even putting aside the fact the USMNT isn't in it, this looks like a really down WC.  No Italy and Netherlands and a host country that wouldn't have otherwise made it means fewer "sexy" matchups and groups.

 

I don't even see a "group of death" here.  Maybe F with Sweden pushing Mexico for a spot?

 

Other than the battles between Coatia and Iceland, and Switzerland and CR, I don't see a whole lot of groups out of which we could see a surprise team.

 

Group A is a bit of tossup since there isn't a true top seed.

 

Thoughts?

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ST3

December 1st, 2017 at 6:24 PM ^

     My high school soccer team had a guy who was 6' 7" and very athletic on a soccer field (not as much on a basketball court, for whatever reason.) He scored about half our goals on headers off of corner kicks. The key was kicking well enough to get in position to draw corner kicks. It was an effective strategy as we won the state championship my senior year. (I was merely a fan watching from the sidelines.)

Joined: 09/11/2010

MGoPoints: 52790

iforaneye

December 1st, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^

But I think from top to bottom the best games will come from group D.

 

Also, what is the point of the FIFA rankings anyway? I've always hated them.

Joined: 12/19/2015

MGoPoints: 304

Westside Wolverine

December 1st, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^

If you look at the average ranking of each group, there really isn't any group of death. There is an outlier on the other end; Group A is complete trash. Is there any doubt that the Russian Government has some influence on the selection process?

Joined: 12/24/2011

MGoPoints: 3800

BursleysFinest

December 1st, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^

Apparently the pots were made purely off FIFA rankings aside from the host nation.  Probably why there's no 'Group of Death".   (Those unbalanced groups a lot of times came from rules that tried to separate teams from the same qualifying region as much as possible). 

Joined: 08/24/2011

MGoPoints: 6470

chatster

December 1st, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^

The Field: Chile (10), Italy (14), Wales (19), Netherlands (20), USA (24), Northern Ireland (24), Slovakia (26), Austria (29), Paraguay (30), Ireland (32), Scotland (32), Ukraine (35).
 
Chile, Italy, Wales and Netherlands have byes to the quarterfinals.
 
First Round Matches: Ukraine vs. Northern Ireland; USA vs. Scotland; Ireland vs. Slovakia; Austria vs. Paraguay.
 
To be broadcast on ESPN the Ocho. Note that the combined rankings of the top eight teams (156) are lower than the combined rankings of the teams in Russia's World Cup Group A (175). Luxury accommodations to be provided by Motel Shistj (that’s “Six” in Ukrainian) --  positively not affilated wih Hotel Putingrad.
 
* International Invitation Tournament

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 27014

AA2Denver

December 1st, 2017 at 5:18 PM ^

I think group D is the most wide-open.  ARG seems to play down to their opponents in major tournaments. Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria are all pretty equal and could surprise. 

 

 

Joined: 02/01/2011

MGoPoints: 2257

jmblue

December 1st, 2017 at 6:09 PM ^

The draw is pretty meh but I think the problem is more that the field just seems weaker than usual, with a couple of heavyweights (Italy and the Netherlands) out, not to mention some other countries that have recently been solid, such as Chile, Algeria, Ghana and the USA (hey, we do usually manage to make it out of the groups).  

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102954

Night_King

December 1st, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^

It’ll be fucking awesome if Russia doesn’t make it out of the group stages in that dog shit group. Although the group draw seems a bit underwhelming, it may create better matchups in the knock out rounds. I’m really looking forward to this.

Joined: 03/02/2016

MGoPoints: 25672

Solecismic

December 2nd, 2017 at 4:28 AM ^

If group A is any indicator, four years from now, Qatar is going to play in a group that includes Tonga, the Vatican City and Hope Solo's college intramural squad. The most interesting group this time around could be C. Based on ELO rankings, it includes 5 (France), 12 (Peru), 19 (Denmark) and 33 (Australia) (FIFA rankings 9, 11, 12 and 39). Only three of the groups look relatively easy for the top two nations. Mexico/Sweden in F was saved for the end - that will be fun (and no, those aren't nasty Mexican fans with the bags of whatever - that's just part of Amazon Prime's expansion south). Croatia/Iceland is also at the end of group play. What's neat about that one, other than it may well determine the second-place team in D, is that they played in the same group in UEFA qualifying (each won the home match).

Joined: 11/27/2016

MGoPoints: 7433