Bust out the vuvuzelas

Applo

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The whistle has been blown and the 2018 FIFA World Cup is underway and it is expected that nearly half the world's population will be tuning in to watch the footy at some point. Will you be one of them? Do you have any predictions about who is going to win? Are there any match ups you are particularly excited or hoping for? Or could you not give a flying fig and wish people would shut up about it?​
 
I'll only be able to catch the weekend games, unfortunately.

My prediction (more, my 'bet', cause I actually think they're maybe only the second or third strongest squad) is a France win. Darkhorse pick is Argentina, but I don't consider them amongst the top 6-7 teams. They just happen to have the best player. We'll see.

If groups and round of 16 go the way I expect them to, some juicy match-ups:

- Portugal/Argentina for the juicy C. Ronaldo/Messi showdown.
- Either of them against Germany.
- Uruguay/Russia will probably be a fun match in the groups; volatile attacking player vs host team.
- I have a sneaky suspicion Belgium/England will be an okay group match as well.
 
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I'm not a soccer :p fan in general, in fact I didn't even know the world cup was going out.

That being said, if there's a game going on where I can't change the channel, I'll watching it- probably even cheer for a team.
 
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ATTENTION EVERYONE:

On behalf of the sports-apathetic, sports-disliking, or sports-hating crowd of Iwaku with no skin in the game, you can now safely continue having no skin in the game, by vaguely supporting IWAKU'S OFFICIAL PICK.

Jorick, Norse God of Deviancy - Today at 8:46 PM
I used a random number generator to pick a number from 1 to 32. Used a bracket with left side top to bottom being numbers 1-16, right side top to bottom being 17-32.
Shizuochan - Today at 8:46 PM
SHUT UP JORICK IS PICKING
Jorick, Norse God of Deviancy - Today at 8:47 PM
I got a 28, so South Korea.

good luck everyone korea's not making it out of groups btw
 
Awesome.

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I don't follow closely, but I do enough so that I can chat about it with my 14-year old little brother, who follows FIFA intensely! We both hope Spain will sink another win one day
 
good luck everyone korea's not making it out of groups btw

Hmmmm Korea or England? Neither are likely to go far so I might sort of apathetically support both.
 
England actually has a decent shot. I mean they'll make it out of groups for sure.
 
Wow we must of got a cushy group. Comedy writers up and down the country are banking a lot of material on us failing in typical fashion.
 
England is in Group G - Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England.

I'm not much of a gambler but I have a rough idea of how the betting lines work here.

England's odds of winning the world cup are 15-1. Belgium is a slightly better favorite at 11-1.

The other two teams, Panama and Tunisia, are at 1000-1 and 750-1 respectively.

So I'm PRETTY SURE England is making it out of groups.
 
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If we project England as group runner-ups, their expected opponent is one of Colombia/Poland, both teams that are actually reasonably comparable. It's possible for England to storm a path into the quarterfinals.

My expectation for them is to do the traditional England blunder in the Group stages, barely slither out, and then bottle it in the round of 16.

South Korea, on the other hand, is likely not making it out of groups, and thus picking them allows you even less vaguely held skin in the game.
 
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Any one call Germany doing that?
 
As part of a Mexican family. I was awoken early a few weeks ago by the sound of "GOAL!" followed by a lot of other celebratory loud sounds. It even made two of my younger brothers, who were no longer on speaking terms, high five each other. So while I don't care for watching it. I can appreciate that they enjoyed it so much as to forget their resentment of each other.

Here's hoping Mexico beats Sweden or whoever is next. >.>
 
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Yeah, I was really surprised how it turned out! I wasn’t expecting that at all. Either way I’m happy my country did so well! ❤️

I also thought it was pretty funny seeing both Mexico and Sweden celebrating at the end.
 
Here's hoping Mexico beats Sweden or whoever is next. >.>

They didn't, but they made it through to the next stage regardless! YAY! Here's to you (or, I guess more likely, your brothers) and continued enjoyment ^^

Any one call Germany doing that?

Nop! Funnily enough, they were on quite a streak of conceding goals before the World Cup, so some particularly savvy betters may have latched onto that.

But more importantly, always remember the day when Iwaku's chosen pick vanquished the defending champions.
 
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the what is doing what now
 
the what is doing what now

A bunch of people are kicking around a black and white sphere, and then everyone screams.
 
A bunch of people are kicking around a black and white sphere, and then everyone screams.

Oh that sounds rather nice, very peaceful. I bet it's an excellent team building exercise.
 
With Spain having lost today: one of Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Colombia or England will play in the WC final.

With the exception of Sweden and England, who've been there before, those would otherwise be first-time appearances. Historic!
 
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I'm hoping for Switzerland, get a bit of patriotism on, ofc this probs means they will get steamrolled by Sweden