* Official World Cup 2022 Thread *

189,367 Views | 2611 Replies | Last: 3 mo ago by TRM
jeffk
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Yep. England on Black Friday.
Mathguy64
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txam92 said:

That's not a gift for those of us who will be there. 2 of the 3 will be in Al Khor, which is the only stadium that doesn't have pseudo metro access from Doha. USA got Manaus'd again if this is true.


This is the only stadium with working artificial clouds, where alcohol will be sold and allows minorities to enter. It's all about compromises.
SydB92
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If it's like previous WC, the alcohol is Budweiser based and not something to fawn over. But the way Qatar controls booze, stadium beer might be the best thing since sliced bread.
bigjag19
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The question isn't will Black Friday eclipse viewers for any USWNT game ever, it's by how much?
swc93
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Can not wait! Netherlands have been looking good; easy group for them. USA should finish 1 or 2. Poland can thump Mexico. Group E and G look like they are going to be a lot of fun.
txam92
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Mathguy64 said:

txam92 said:

That's not a gift for those of us who will be there. 2 of the 3 will be in Al Khor, which is the only stadium that doesn't have pseudo metro access from Doha. USA got Manaus'd again if this is true.


This is the only stadium with working artificial clouds, where alcohol will be sold and allows minorities to enter. It's all about compromises.
Yes... I anxiously look forward to the floating clouds to protect us from the sun, alcohol freely available from everywhere (LOL), and Unicorns and rainbows for the everyone in the World Cup, but after several World Cups, I know better (hence the Manaus'd comment).

BTW... I just saw it's confirmed that all US games will be at 10pm Qatar time. This includes 2 of the 3 games located in stadiums that are at best, a 1.5 hour walk from the closest Metro station(the only two not directly on the Doha metro system).
Faustus
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swc93 said:

Can not wait! Netherlands have been looking good; easy group for them. USA should finish 1 or 2. Poland can thump Mexico. Group E and G look like they are going to be a lot of fun.


England went 8 wins and 2 draws in the final round of qualifying, so the two draws obviously raise flags.

Snark aside I'd be thrilled if we finished second. Iran has only won two games at the World Cup, one of which was against us in '98. Can't have a repeat.
concac
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txam92 said:

Mathguy64 said:

txam92 said:

That's not a gift for those of us who will be there. 2 of the 3 will be in Al Khor, which is the only stadium that doesn't have pseudo metro access from Doha. USA got Manaus'd again if this is true.


This is the only stadium with working artificial clouds, where alcohol will be sold and allows minorities to enter. It's all about compromises.
Yes... I anxiously look forward to the floating clouds to protect us from the sun, alcohol freely available from everywhere (LOL), and Unicorns and rainbows for the everyone in the World Cup, but after several World Cups, I know better (hence the Manaus'd comment).

BTW... I just saw it's confirmed that all US games will be at 10pm Qatar time. This includes 2 of the 3 games located in stadiums that are at best, a 1.5 hour walk from the closest Metro station(the only two not directly on the Doha metro system).
Sounds like it's going to be a terrible experience for you. Maybe you should cancel the trip and stay home. I hate to think about how miserable you'll be attending the World Cup.
PatAg
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So I imagine we expect friendlies against teams that we think will prep us to play England, Iran, and maybe a wales/scotland combo?
fig96
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I'd hope so, at least a couple Euro teams. Not who we could look at style wise that plays similarly to England.
jeffk
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I saw that Argentina had expressed interest in playing us for a friendly. Not sure how official that speculation was.
JJxvi
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bigjag19 said:

The question isn't will Black Friday eclipse viewers for any USWNT game ever, it's by how much?
That's going to be the most watched game in the history of American soccer.
tysker
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And would we play the games in Europe or back in the states? Probably depends on the window. September window is a two game window iirc
akm91
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bigjag19 said:

The question isn't will Black Friday eclipse viewers for any USWNT game ever, it's by how much?


Didn't know the women were playing on the same day
"And liberals, being liberals, will double down on failure." - dedgod
bigjag19
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akm91 said:

bigjag19 said:

The question isn't will Black Friday eclipse viewers for any USWNT game ever, it's by how much?


Didn't know the women were playing on the same day


At no time did my post indicate they were…
jeffk
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You kinda did tho.
bigjag19
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Not in a thread dedicated to the men…
jeffk
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Ah, okay - I see what you're driving at now.
bigjag19
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Exactly.
bagger05
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When do we find out who we are playing in friendlies leading up to the tournament (if we don't know already)?
fig96
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RealTalk said:

Dre_00 said:

This English football team has a lot of genuinely likable players. Some English football fans are genuinely likable. Many are not (and the immense amount of racist abuse that Sancho, Saka, and Rashford endured proved that). Pretty much the entirety of English football media is a complete **** show.

My personal opinion of course.
Man, eff Harry Kane.

And Harry Maguire, too.

If there's another Harry I'm missing, eff him, too.

Styles and Potter.
jeffk
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No opponents have been announced yet. The open data are in the OP.
dmart90
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RealTalk said:

Dre_00 said:

This English football team has a lot of genuinely likable players. Some English football fans are genuinely likable. Many are not (and the immense amount of racist abuse that Sancho, Saka, and Rashford endured proved that). Pretty much the entirety of English football media is a complete **** show.

My personal opinion of course.
Man, eff Harry Kane.

And Harry Maguire, too.

If there's another Harry I'm missing, eff him, too.
Harry Kane is really good.

Harry Maguire has one of the most punchable faces in English football.
oh no
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I think Harry Kane is a pretty genuine and good dude. I don't know enough of their players, nor do I know which ones are projected to make Southgate's roster for Qatar, but I think Harry Maguire is the only one I can think of that is easy to dislike. Maybe Pickford, Mount, or Sterling are up there.

I think I like a bunch of them though: Kane, Shaw, Rice, Alexander-Arnold, Grealish, Sancho, Chilwell, Foden, Reece James, Kyle Walker, Abraham, Trippier, Hudson-Odoi. I think Rashford and Lingard are out or on the way out.
jeffk
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I mean Kane repeatedly gets away with trying in injure opposing defenders, but other than that, yeah, he's super-likable.
SpreadsheetAg
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What are our chances of making it out of this bracket to the round of 16?

Group B:
England
USA
Iran
European Playoff (Wales/Scotland/Ukraine)

Also, what a damn bracket...
England vs USA - Revolutionary War themes should be rampant - I expect a lot of George Washington featues
England vs Scotland/Wales/Ukraine - BRAVEHEART!
USA vs Iran - the political hostility is taken to the pitch. Should ramp up the stakes...

If somehow Ukraine makes it in (don't see how given the current War with invading Russia) that also will add a different somber dynamic to the bracket.

England is clearly #1. But I am confident USA can likely beat Iran and Scotland/Wales/Ukraine and get 6 pts...

My Guess would be:
USA 0 - England 2
USA 2 - Iran 1
USA 2 - Scotland/Wales/Ukraine - 1

6 pts and +0 GD
ChipFTAC01
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I'd counter that Grealish has an infinitely more punch able face than Slabhead.

Edit: and Phil Foden
wangus12
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jeffk said:

I mean Kane repeatedly gets away with trying in injure opposing defenders, but other than that, yeah, he's super-likable.
Not to mention swearing on his daughter's life to steal a goal from his teammate that everyone knows he didn't touch
jeffk
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When we advance from group play, we'll be matched with Group A for the first knock-out round - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup#Knockout_stage

Here's my guess on finishing positions there:

1. Netherlands (I'd be shocked if they didn't finish first, but stranger things have happened)
2. Ecuador (I wouldn't be surprised if Senegal took 2nd really)
3. Senegal
4. Qatar (bye bye, thanks for playing)

So, obviously the US winning the group gets us a far easier matchup. Taking second probably gets us the Dutch in the first knock-out game. I think 7 points wins our group, 5-6 gets you second. We have to find a way to score goals sometime in the next couple of months.
caleblyn
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jeffk said:

We have to find a way to score goals sometime in the next couple of months.
We need to go ahead and pick our lineup and have them play 20 friendlies between now and November. Those friendlies could be against MLS teams. Doesn't matter. We need to gel!
wangus12
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caleblyn said:

jeffk said:

We have to find a way to score goals sometime in the next couple of months.
We need to go ahead and pick our lineup and have them play 20 friendlies between now and November. Those friendlies could be against MLS teams. Doesn't matter. We need to gel!
Good luck getting any professional team to release players for an extra 20 matches in an already crazy congested 2022 calendar. They'll probably play 6 total matches from now till November. 4 in the summer, 2 in the fall. Maybe an extra 1 here or there.
akm91
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Since we play on Day 1 of the WC, there isn't time to get the players released from their clubs and play a friendly prior. Looks like 6 matches are the only ones we can get.
"And liberals, being liberals, will double down on failure." - dedgod
jeffk
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Yeah, and just so we're clear - two of those summer matches will be CONCACAF Nations League games. No idea if GB will use those for his WC squad or if we'll see some sort of hybrid roster that rests key pieces. The draw for that tournament takes place today, btw.

https://www.concacaf.com/nations-league/news/concacaf-confirms-procedures-for-2022-23-concacaf-nations-league-presented-by-qatar-airways-draw/
Aston94
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jeffk said:

Yeah, and just so we're clear - two of those summer matches will be CONCACAF Nations League games. No idea if GB will use those for his WC squad or if we'll see some sort of hybrid roster that rests key pieces. The draw for that tournament takes place today, btw.

https://www.concacaf.com/nations-league/news/concacaf-confirms-procedures-for-2022-23-concacaf-nations-league-presented-by-qatar-airways-draw/
I read/heard that Berhalter intends having the full squad called up for the 4 matches this summer, no hybrid--B team this summer, we need the game time for our A team.

I also heard Argentina might be one of the summer friendlies, as they are looking at playing two games in the US this summer (US and Mexico).

For the Nations League our two matches this summer will be one of the following:

Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, Honduras

and one of the following:

Martinique, Curaao, Suriname, Grenada

One match should be home and the other away.
jeffk
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Yeah, I posted the Argentina thing earlier. That'd be awesome, but I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere official yet.

Glad that we'll see the full WC roster for those two windows. I expect we'll see a heavy dose of rotation between games during those four summer matches though, so hopefully no one overreacts when CP10 doesn't start all four.
 
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