***Offishul Qatar World Cup 2022 Thread***

[Cade]

Seeing as it's now November, and the World Cup starts on the 20th, I thought now would be a good time to start the build-up.

 

This is a World Cup like no other. 

 

We all know the various controversies surrounding the host nation, Qatar.

The bribery and corruption that landed them the gig in the first place.

The millions of slave labourers "employed" (and I use that term loosely) to build the stadiums and other infrastructure.
The 6,500 deaths in the construction teams (an educated guess made by charities, as Qatar doesn't really bother keeping track of its slaves)
The tens of thousands of injured construction workers.

The appalling human rights record of Qatar as a whole (it practises Sharia law). 

But it's here now, so all we can do is hope that this kind of shite never happens again.

 

The timing of the event is different to any other World Cup, coming as it does slap-bang in the middle of the regular European football season.
This was to avoid the worst of the heat in Qatar. Even in November it's going to be hotter than hades down there, and the air conditioned stadiums will only go so far.

All players that play in Europe won't be coming off the back of a 50-game regular season, so they should all be in peak form and fitness. The regular excuse of being tired after a long season won't exist.
But then, the national teams won't have had the benefit of being together in a training camp for a month before the World Cup starts. What impact this will have remains to be seen.

 

The format is the same as last time out, with 32 qualified teams being split into 8 groups of 4 teams.

Each team plays every other team in their group once, for a total of three group games each.

Top two in each group go through.
Bottom two go home.

Then it's straight into knock-out games for the rest of the tournament; a round of 16, then quarter finals, semi finals, a 3rd place playoff and the final on 18th December.

As to who is favourites, bookies seem to have these teams as the top 8 contenders, in order of odds {FIFA ranking in brackets};

{1} Brazil 4/1 
{3} Argentina 13/2 
{4} France 6/1
{5} England 15/2
{7} Spain 8/1
{11} Germany 10/1
{8} Netherlands 12/1
{9} Portugal 14/1

 

What's your predictions?

[JimmyCant]

Brazil for me. Haven’t lost for 18 months. Score a lot of goals. Won’t be bothered by the weather. Easy looking group.

Edited November 1, 2022 by JimmyCant

[Snorri1]

Would love to see Argentina win and Messi play well. 

[Smoked-Glass]

Who's boycotting watching it?

[i8hibsh]

Can't ****ing stand Brazil.  

 

France for me.

[Homme]

I'm backing Argentina this time around. Messi to inspire them all the way.

[Heartsofgold]

This is the 1st World Cup in my memory that I honestly could not give 2 shits about.

[Lovecraft]

£10 on France and Germany.

 

Would like to see Messi win it though.

[Masonic]

9am noon 3pm 6pm are kick off times if anyones no sure

Edited November 1, 2022 by Masonic

[Cade]

7 minutes ago, Masonic said:

9am noon 3pm 6pm are kick off times if anyones no sure

Clocks changed.
Qatar is 3 hours ahead of GMT, so according to the times I've seen, this means the kick offs are 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm GMT.

[heartandsoul]

29 minutes ago, Heartsofgold said:

This is the 1st World Cup in my memory that I honestly could not give 2 shits about.

Same here

[Cade]

The Groups:
 

Top 8 favourites in underlined italics

 

Group A            
Qatar
Ecuador
Senegal
Netherlands

 

Group B
England
Iran
United States
Wales

 

Group C
Argentina
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Poland

 

Group D
France
Australia
Denmark
Tunisia

 

Group E
Spain
Costa Rica
Germany
Japan

 

Group F
Belgium
Canada
Morocco
Croatia

 

Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon

 

Group H
Portugal
Ghana
Uruguay
South Korea
 

[iantjambo]

1 hour ago, Heartsofgold said:

This is the 1st World Cup in my memory that I honestly could not give 2 shits about.

I’m the same to be honest. Even when Scotland are not competing, I’ve always looked forward to the World Cup.

 I’m not going pretend that I’m pissed off that it’s being held in Qatar, I honestly couldn’t give a **** about that. Just doesn’t feel right, playing it in the winter.

 

EDIT: All the above will probably be forgotten when it kicks off though

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by iantjambo

[Malinga the Swinga]

Scottish media in disbelief as only Maeda makes Japanese world cup squad. 

Kyoto misses out as he is a diving cheat who will be found out by VAR. Hatate also out despite him playing for Celtic. It's almost as if they are overrated in Scotland and failed in European games.

[Cade]

Aye it doesn't feel right having a World Cup in November, and the controversies surrounding this one cannot simply be put out of mind.

I've been struggling to generate any enthusiasm about this tournament..........but I'm sure it'll arrive when it kicks off.

 

 

[The Gorgie]

Would like Holland or Portugal to win it, highly unlikely however. 

[Rogue Daddy]

10 minutes ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Scottish media in disbelief as only Maeda makes Japanese world cup squad. 

Kyoto misses out as he is a diving cheat who will be found out by VAR. Hatate also out despite him playing for Celtic. It's almost as if they are overrated in Scotland and failed in European games.

Hatate is the best of them IMO... aye, Scottish 'media' will need a lie down and a cup of tea after that announcement! Surely their entire team of world beaters should be at the WC!

 

1 hour ago, Cade said:

Seeing as it's now November, and the World Cup starts on the 20th, I thought now would be a good time to start the build-up.

 

This is a World Cup like no other. 

 

We all know the various controversies surrounding the host nation, Qatar.

The bribery and corruption that landed them the gig in the first place.

The millions of slave labourers "employed" (and I use that term loosely) to build the stadiums and other infrastructure.
The 6,500 deaths in the construction teams (an educated guess made by charities, as Qatar doesn't really bother keeping track of its slaves)
The tens of thousands of injured construction workers.

The appalling human rights record of Qatar as a whole (it practises Sharia law). 

But it's here now, so all we can do is hope that this kind of shite never happens again.

 

The timing of the event is different to any other World Cup, coming as it does slap-bang in the middle of the regular European football season.
This was to avoid the worst of the heat in Qatar. Even in November it's going to be hotter than hades down there, and the air conditioned stadiums will only go so far.

All players that play in Europe won't be coming off the back of a 50-game regular season, so they should all be in peak form and fitness. The regular excuse of being tired after a long season won't exist.
But then, the national teams won't have had the benefit of being together in a training camp for a month before the World Cup starts. What impact this will have remains to be seen.

 

The format is the same as last time out, with 32 qualified teams being split into 8 groups of 4 teams.

Each team plays every other team in their group once, for a total of three group games each.

Top two in each group go through.
Bottom two go home.

Then it's straight into knock-out games for the rest of the tournament; a round of 16, then quarter finals, semi finals, a 3rd place playoff and the final on 18th December.

As to who is favourites, bookies seem to have these teams as the top 8 contenders, in order of odds {FIFA ranking in brackets};

{1} Brazil 4/1 
{3} Argentina 13/2 
{4} France 6/1
{5} England 15/2
{7} Spain 8/1
{11} Germany 10/1
{8} Netherlands 12/1
{9} Portugal 14/1

 

What's your predictions?

...what price is Qatar? 🤪... anything is possible with this one!

[joondalupjambo]

Ok what team do folks think will be the surprise package and either get to the semi's or get knocked out via penalties in the quarter final?

 

Portugal for me.

[briever]

ABE of course.

 

Would kind of like to see Messi finish with a winners medal.

[Morgan]

Brazil or the Netherlands for me, with England and France as my dark horses.

[joondalupjambo]

6 minutes ago, jonesy said:

I'm sure the refs will assist Qatar. Remember Korea.

 

Last chance for Belgium's golden generation may seem them actually trying.

 

Would love to see USA and Iran go far  

A good range there Jonesy but push is shove now, which team, which one? 😃😃

 

Be brave now 😃😃

[Morgan]

17 minutes ago, joondalupjambo said:

Ok what team do folks think will be the surprise package and either get to the semi's or get knocked out via penalties in the quarter final?

 

Portugal for me.

England.

 

But they could potentially get to the final.

[Taffin]

Hope England go deep into it. Reckon Brazil to win it.

 

Really looking forward to it now

[Cade]

41 minutes ago, Rogue Daddy said:

Hatate is the best of them IMO... aye, Scottish 'media' will need a lie down and a cup of tea after that announcement! Surely their entire team of world beaters should be at the WC!

 

...what price is Qatar? 🤪... anything is possible with this one!

250/1

 

[neilnunb]

Will be supporting the Dutch as always, got a good feeling they'll do well.

 

Think Argentina might win it though.

[Australis]

Hopefully England or Germany.

If not, one of the other European sides.

 

[Ribble]

3 minutes ago, neilnunb said:

Will be supporting the Dutch as always, got a good feeling they'll do well.

 

Think Argentina might win it though.

 

Depends on whether or not they have their usual race related falling out or not

 

Overall I doubt i'll watch all that much of it with games being on at 10am, 1pm and 4pm and 7Pm meaning that during the week it's only the last game of the day that i'll be free to watch

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

I'll watch some of it but 1st WC I've not really bothered about. I'll also be working through most of the games.

 

Usually it's great to have in the off season,  Usually I'm on holiday sipping a cock....tail, enjoying myself.

 

This  has just Interrupted the normal football season,  it's in a shite country and it's full of corruption,  chuck in winter and it's just a bit shite.

 

In saying that, Hopefully the Hearts lads involved do well and England get knocked out in the funniest way possible.

 

More and more of these game are  attended by neutrals as well, same as European finals,  it's making it all a bit shite on top of the other shite I already mentioned. 

 

Plus Italy aren't there, Halaand isn't there and Scotland aren't there.

 

****ing booooo

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Bazzas right boot

[JimmyCant]

2 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

I'll watch some of it but 1st WC I've not really bothered about. I'll also be working through most of the games.

 

Usually it's great to have in the off season,  Usually I'm on holiday sipping a cock....tail, enjoying myself.

 

This  has just Interrupted the normal football season,  it's in a shite country and it's full of corruption,  chuck in winter and it's just a bit shite.

 

In saying that, Hopefully the Hearts lads involved do well and England get knocked out in the funniest way possible.

 

More and more of these game are  attended by neutrals as well, same as European finals,  it's making it all a bit shite on top of the other shite I already mentioned. 

 

Plus Italy aren't there, Halaand isn't there and Scotland aren't there.

 

****ing booooo

 

 

With you on this. Normally for a World Cup I’d be camped in front of the telly for 4 weeks and the wife fecks off on holiday for some of it with her pals and busies herself the rest of the time.

 

This year it’s in winter which rules out girls holidays. looking at the fixtures it’s hard to get excited for too many of the group games and the kick off times aren’t going to work great for me even though I’m semi retired.

 

I imagine I’ll get into it when it starts but a new telly, 40 bags of Doritos and 10 cases of Bud are not required this time around. Repeat that in a million households and that’s a big hole in the retail economy ! 😂

[AndyNic]

Netherlands for me although I doubt they'd beat any of the big boys.

 

Would love to see an African team win it so I'll be supporting Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia.

 

[Pasquale for King]

Brazil simply have the best squad of players, whether the manager can get the best out of them with formation and tactics is the question. 
England to scrape past Iran and US but get beat off Wales 😆. 

[Masonic]

think a few teams who play in warm humid conditions will do half decent 

[Bazzas right boot]

10 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

With you on this. Normally for a World Cup I’d be camped in front of the telly for 4 weeks and the wife fecks off on holiday for some of it with her pals and busies herself the rest of the time.

 

This year it’s in winter which rules out girls holidays. looking at the fixtures it’s hard to get excited for too many of the group games and the kick off times aren’t going to work great for me even though I’m semi retired.

 

I imagine I’ll get into it when it starts but a new telly, 40 bags of Doritos and 10 cases of Bud are not required this time around. Repeat that in a million households and that’s a big hole in the retail economy ! 😂

 

The economy will be just fine, Folk will waste their money on other things....

Rent, mortgages,  food, heat...etc.

 

OK, maybe not then.

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Bazzas right boot

[Pasquale for King]

48 minutes ago, briever said:

ABE of course.

 

Would kind of like to see Messi finish with a winners medal.

Against that bench warning absolute Ronaldo in the final would be good 😆

[The Old Tolbooth]

Actually quite looking forward to it for no other reason than it gives Hearts a chance to get players off the treatment table and back onto the pitch, it's a very unusual mid season break which really works in our favour, and I'm grateful for that, so feel I should enjoy the tournament because of that. 

 

ABE 

Edited November 1, 2022 by The Old Tolbooth

[Mikey1874]

France have lost some players such as Pogba. But their game is electric if it works.

 

Argentina and Brazil are favourites. Good luck to the European teams making an impact. 

[gregzy2k7]

Looking forward to this even though we are not there again, I feel like it will be decided between the top nations again, I feel like Spain have improved in recent times and wouldn't be surprised if they got to at least the semi,England as much as we joke about them will easily get out that group but will probably get knocked out against any half decent side they meet in the knockouts, I will be supporting Australia as I'm sure we will have at least 2 if not 3 hearts players In the squad, so it should be good fun watching Cammy Devlin and Co on the big stage 😀 

If I could pick a winner I would like Argentina to win it, just to see Messi lift the world cup.

[ri Alban]

Argentina. But if they don't win Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Iran.

[dav1e]

Not my circus , be happy if Hearts players don't suffer any injuries. 

[Rogue Daddy]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

250/1

 

😆 very!.... maybe an each way (4 places)... who knows what diamond encrusted envelopes will be changing hands!

[Malinga the Swinga]

Quite like Brazil to win it. As long as it isn't Wales or England, I don't really care.

Can't see any African side doing anything as the standard of their own continental championship was poor.

Winner to come from Europe or South America, as per usual.

[Mikey1874]

 

[Samuel Camazzola]

Argentina or Brazil to win. 

 

Not so much a surprise package due form in recent years, but an 'unheralded' side to go far - Switzerland. 

[GBJambo]

Argentina v Portugal final would be nice .

 

Fancy Argentina to win this.

[Irufushi]

Would love Messi to get his hands on the World Cup, Argentina for me. 
 

Hard to see past Brazil or Germany though.

[gnasher75]

Australia v France. 22nd November 7pm. Would love to see Cammy playing but doubtful if he makes the squad never mind the team. Squad due to be announced on 8th November.

[gnasher75]

Australia could almost field a side of players who have played in Scotland

 

                         GK

Atkinson Rowles H. Souttar Behich

   McGowan Devlin Mooy Irvine

             Boyle Cummings

[Naisys Tackle]

Anyone wanna set up a JKB sweepstake?

[Farmer1]

1 hour ago, gnasher75 said:

Australia could almost field a side of players who have played in Scotland

 

                         GK

Atkinson Rowles H. Souttar Behich

   McGowan Devlin Mooy Irvine

             Boyle Cummings

Let’s be honest if that was a club side it’s likely to be mid table spl and would get pumped in Europe.

 

Hoping the Aussies do well but I can’t see it 

[Muppetboy]

Been thinking about who could be the dark horses could be. I think Canada won’t be anyones whipping boys, came through a tough qualifying