FIFA World Cup 2018 (Russia) Thread

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

1) Just want to say that I find Americans (like commentators on FOX) picking up the odd European verbiage for singular team unites (e.g., "England ARE going to advance") absolutely hilarious.  Not getting into a debate about it (though I stand firmly with the usual American way making more grammatical sense), it just sounds funny when a soccer announcer with a standard American accent does it, LOL.

We had a British exchange teacher in high school for some weeks. We were dealing with that subject in our English class at that time, and she told us not to use the plural form. It was grammatically correct, but it sounded too formal and too posh, she said, and only few Birtons would use the plural form in everyday English.

2) According to the New York Times, Mexico can still be eliminated and Germany and Sweden (the two teams I'm pullin' for because Fox told me to root for my roots!) can still advance if the following happens:

- Germany beats South Korea
- Sweden beats Mexico by at least two goals

Fingers crossed.

Actually, I hope that Mexico is going to advance to the knockout stage as I yearn for a return match to show them what we got. 😈

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Croatia has defeated Iceland and Nigeria has lost their match as well. That means Messi and Argentina have qualified, and Iceland is heading home.

Side Note: Croatia is only 1 of 2 teams so far to have a perfect 9-point score.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Unbelievable. Iceland dominated. So close. There goes my perfect bracket. I needed the opposite result in that match.

[mvd10]

Ok, I'm officially supporting Argentina now. They don't deserve it, but who cares. Messi deserves it for everything he's done the past decade. Sure, Ronaldo is a phenomenal talented player with an extreme drive, but Messi is just godly. Pure skill. Even though we haven't seen that so far .

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

Croatia and Argentina have classified to the Round of 16
Iceland and Nigeria are eliminated

Croatia will play against Denmark, and Argentina against France

[RINO Tom]

1) Just want to say that I find Americans (like commentators on FOX) picking up the odd European verbiage for singular team unites (e.g., "England ARE going to advance") absolutely hilarious.  Not getting into a debate about it (though I stand firmly with the usual American way making more grammatical sense), it just sounds funny when a soccer announcer with a standard American accent does it, LOL.

We had a British exchange teacher in high school for some weeks. We were dealing with that subject in our English class at that time, and she told us not to use the plural form. It was grammatically correct, but it sounded too formal and too posh, she said, and only few Birtons would use the plural form in everyday English.

2) According to the New York Times, Mexico can still be eliminated and Germany and Sweden (the two teams I'm pullin' for because Fox told me to root for my roots!) can still advance if the following happens:

- Germany beats South Korea
- Sweden beats Mexico by at least two goals

Fingers crossed.

Actually, I hope that Mexico is going to advance to the knockout stage as I yearn for a return match to show them what we got. 😈

Curious how that British teacher justified that.  I don't think it sounds pompous or correct, just strange.  "England is" is pretty clearly referring to the unit that is the team of England or the unit that is the country of England.  "England are" just seems like a really lazy, socially-normalized-in-soccer way of saying "the English are" to me.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind Germany beating Mexico in a rematch!  Just feel bad for Sweden, and I gotta give my mom's side of the ancestry equation some love, too!

[mvd10]

Yeah, I actually hope Mexico will be eliminated. Most Mexicans probably do too, since it means their national soccer team isn't actually cursed.

[NewYorkExpress]

Argentina/France should be a very good match.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Is there any reason why they are now playing 2 games at the same time at 4pm and 8pm ?

It's highly annoying if 2 games are starting at the same time ...

What's wrong with starting the 4 games at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm instead ?

You can thank your fellow Austrians for that, after that 1982 fixed match with the Germans.

[Coastal Elitist]

2) According to the New York Times, Mexico can still be eliminated and Germany and Sweden (the two teams I'm pullin' for because Fox told me to root for my roots!) can still advance if the following happens:

- Germany beats South Korea
- Sweden beats Mexico by at least two goals

Fingers crossed.

If Germany beats South Korea and Sweden beats Mexico 1-0 then Mexico are out.

[Tirnam]

Argentina/France should be a very good match.

France saved so much energy during the group phase, they better do a great match Saturday...

[Leinad]

Curious how that British teacher justified that.  I don't think it sounds pompous or correct, just strange.  "England is" is pretty clearly referring to the unit that is the team of England or the unit that is the country of England.  "England are" just seems like a really lazy, socially-normalized-in-soccer way of saying "the English are" to me.

It makes sense to me--I think of it as referring to "England" the team. Just like how you'd say "the Cubs are" you'd say "England are." Not sure if that's correct or it just /feels/ correct because of English soccer commentary and that's how I justify it.

Regarding the matches, I'm just glad I feel no hope about Argentina advancing to the knockout rounds, so I'm surprisingly calm, I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight

Did you stay calm?


It's funny how a quick glance at which teams advanced out of groups B and D makes it look like "business as usual," which is the opposite result of what you get if you watched the games. What is that? A re-upset?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Goodbye Iceland

[RINO Tom]

I have an "eye appointment" today that will start about 5 minutes into the second half of Germany's and Sweden's games.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Germany needs to win by 2 goals in order to definitely advance to the knockout stage.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

The Turk and Sultan Erdogan supporter Mesut Özil refused to sing our national hymn once again. 👎🏻😡

[RINO Tom]

Germany needs to win by 2 goals in order to definitely advance to the knockout stage.

Here it is, folks - RINO Tom's dream scenario that gets Germany and Sweden through!!  (I think...):

Germany 3
S. Korea 0

Sweden 2
Mexico 0

HERE WE GO!

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Germany needs to win by 2 goals in order to definitely advance to the knockout stage.

Here it is, folks - RINO Tom's dream scenario that gets Germany and Sweden through!!  (I think...):

Germany 3
S. Korea 0

Sweden 2
Mexico 0

HERE WE GO!

Germany only need a 2:0.
And Sweden only needs a 1:0 against Mexico.

[RINO Tom]

Germany needs to win by 2 goals in order to definitely advance to the knockout stage.

Here it is, folks - RINO Tom's dream scenario that gets Germany and Sweden through!!  (I think...):

Germany 3
S. Korea 0

Sweden 2
Mexico 0

HERE WE GO!

Germany only need a 2:0.
And Sweden only needs a 1:0 against Mexico.

I was going by the NYT article I read that listed Mexico's "nightmare scenario" as a Germany win and a Mexico loss by 2+.  I added the 3-0 win for Germany just to make sure that Sweden and Mexico didn't sneak in ... but I trust you.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

I was going by the NYT article I read that listed Mexico's "nightmare scenario" as a Germany win and a Mexico loss by 2+.  I added the 3-0 win for Germany just to make sure that Sweden and Mexico didn't sneak in ... but I trust you.

The nightmare scenario for Germany would be a tie against South Korea and a Swedish win against Mexico. 

[mvd10]

I was going by the NYT article I read that listed Mexico's "nightmare scenario" as a Germany win and a Mexico loss by 2+.  I added the 3-0 win for Germany just to make sure that Sweden and Mexico didn't sneak in ... but I trust you.

The nightmare scenario for Germany would be a tie against South Korea and a Swedish win against Mexico. 

Or just getting crushed by South Korea and then everything else doesn't matter. It won't happen, but it would be glorious.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Sweden has just scored a goal against Mexico, leading to a temporary knockout of Germany.

[RINO Tom]

Sweden has just scored a goal against Mexico, leading to a temporary knockout of Germany.

They just need another one, and we need one more, too!!

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Sweden has just scored a goal against Mexico, leading to a temporary knockout of Germany.

They just need another one, and we need one more, too!!

Never had I thought that I would be thankful for a Mexican goal.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

2nd goal for Sweden against Mexico.
Now we truly need to win.