2022 FIFA World Cup - Qatar, November 21-December 18

[parochial boy]

Can we talk about that absolutely brilliant fake fans video though?

Really begs the question as to how dumb the Qataris think we all are?

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Can we talk about that absolutely brilliant fake fans video though?

Really begs the question as to how dumb the Qataris think we all are?

Fake German fans of real football:

https://twitter.com/SabjiHunter/status/1592148211103420416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Real German fans of fake football:

[buritobr]

European countries are better to host the World Cup because they have good soccer teams, they can be reached by bus or train by citizens of other European countries which have also good soccer teams, they have good infra-structure for tourism, they don't have the same kind of human rights violations and restrictions of alkohol and some kind of clothes, like Middle Eastern countries do, and they don't have the same problem of crime like Latin American countries do. Besides, Europe has a better time zone for the TV audience for the whole world.

I think the time when 1 in every 2 World Cups took place in Europe was better.

[buritobr]

My forecasts

Group A
Qatar 0 Ecuador 1
Senegal 0 Netherlands 3
Qatar 1 Senegal 2
Netherlands 2 Ecuador 1
Netherlands 4 Qatar 0
Ecuardor 2 Senegal 1
1. Netherlands, 2. Ecuador, 3. Senegal, 4. Qatar

Group B
England 2 Iran 0
USA 0 Wales 0
Wales 1 Iran 0
England 1 USA 1
Wales 0 England 1
Iran 1 USA 1
1. England, 2. Wales, 3. USA, 4. Iran

Group C
Argentina 4 Saudi Arabia 0
Mexico 1 Poland 1
Poland 2 Saudi Arabia 0
Argentina 2 Mexico 1
Poland 1 Argentina 1
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 1
1. Argentina, 2. Poland, 3. Mexico, 4. Saudi Arabia

Groupd D
Denmark 1 Tunisia 0
France 2 Australia 0
Tunisia 0 Australia 1
France 1 Denmark 1
Tunisia 0 France 3
Australia 0 Denmark 0
1. France, 2. Denmark, 3. Australia, 4. Tunisia

Group E
Germany 3 Japan 0
Spain 2 Costa Rica 0
Japan 0 Costa Rica 1
Spain 1 Germany 1
Japan 0 Spain 1
Costa Rica 0 Germany 2
1. Germany, 2. Spain, 3. Costa Rica, 4. Japan

Group F
Morocco 1 Croatia 2
Belgium 2 Canada 0
Belgium 3 Morocco 0
Croatia 2 Canada 0
Croatia 1 Belgium 1
Canada 1 Morocco 0
1. Belgium, 2. Croatia, 3. Canada, 4. Morocco

Group G
Switzerland 2 Cameroon 0
Brazil 2 Serbia 1
Cameroon 2 Serbia 1
Brazil 1 Switzerland 0
Cameroon 0 Brazil 3
Serbia 0 Switzerland 0
1. Brazil, 2. Switzerland, 3. Serbia, 4. Cameroon

Group H
Uruguay 1 South Korea 0
Portugal 2 Ghana 0
South Korea 1 Ghana 1
Portugal 1 Uruguay 1
South Korea 0 Portugal 3
Ghana 0 Uruguay 2
1. Portugal, 2. Uruguay, 3. South Korea, 4. Ghana

[Santander]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/football/qatar-world-cup-beer-stadium-spt-intl/index.html

Doha, Qatar
CNN
 —
Just two days before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, soccer’s world governing body FIFA confirmed that no alcohol will be sold at the eight stadiums which will host the tournament’s 64 matches.

“Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeter,” said the FIFA statement.

😍 Inspiring to see a pious Muslim nation standing up to Budweiser and FIFA.

[Mike88]

Portugal: Aximage poll for JN/DN newspapers and TSF radio on the World Cup 2022:

Q1: How far will Portugal go in the World Cup?

23% Quarter-finals
18% Semi-finals
16% Final
15% Round of 16
10% Group stage
  8% Champion
10% Undecided

Q2: Because of the weather in Qatar, for the first time National leagues were interrupted for the World Cup. How do you rate this decision?

44% Good
39% Bad
17% Undecided

Q3: Is Fernando Santos the right man to lead Portugal to win the World Cup?

42% No
37% Yes
21% Undecided

Q4: Who would be the best to lead Portugal to win the World Cup?

54% José Mourinho
15% Abel Ferreira
  6% Jorge Jesus
  3% Vítor Pereira
  3% Sérgio Conceição
  5% Other
14% Undecided

Poll conducted between 26 and 30 October 2022. Polled 812 people. MoE of 3.44%

[Lechasseur]

My final prediction for the World Cup Group Stage:

Group A:
1. Netherlands
2. Ecuador
3. Senegal
4. Qatar

Group B:
1. England
2. USA
3. Wales
4. Iran

Group C:
1. Argentina
2. Poland
3. Mexico
4. Saudi Arabia

Group D:
1. France
2. Denmark
3. Australia
4. Tunisia

Group E:
1. Germany
2. Spain
3. Japan
4. Costa Rica

Group F:
1. Belgium
2. Croatia
3. Morocco
4. Canada

Group G:
1. Brazil
2. Switzerland
3. Serbia
4. Cameroon

Group H:
1. Portugal
2. Uruguay
3. Ghana
4. South Korea

[Lechasseur]

My final prediction for the World Cup Knockout Stage:

Second Round:
Netherlands vs USA
Argentina vs Denmark
Germany vs Croatia
Brazil vs Uruguay
England vs Ecuador
France vs Poland
Belgium vs Spain
Portugal vs Serbia

Quarter Finals:
Netherlands vs Argentina
Germany vs Brazil
England vs France
Belgium vs Portugal

Semi Finals:
Argentina vs Brazil
France vs Portugal

Match for Third Place:
Argentina vs Portugal

Final:
Brazil vs France

[Lechasseur]

For the winner, imo it will be one of Brazil, Argentina and France (my gut went with Brazil). I really can't see past those three teams.

[buritobr]

Brazil is a very free country to buy alkoholic drinks in most places, but the sell of alkoholic drinks inside sport venues in Brazil is forbidden. The prohibition was set in order to reduce hooligan activities.

But 2 years before the 2014 World Cup, the Congress approved the "General World Cup Law", in order to create an exception for the 2014 World Cup, after FIFA's request. So, the sell of Budweiser inside venues was allowed during the 2014 World Cup.

[Suburbia]

I will be watching the World Cup to see how far US men go in soccer.

American men in general don't care for soccer, looking at the way American sports personalities like Mike Francesa, Craig Carton, etc. have been making fun of the sport.

Look at how US women's soccer gets made fun of.

American men like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR.

Shows how exceptional America is, because we ARE different than the world.

Like how baseball is the Dominican Republic's sport, hockey is Canada's sport, soccer is the rest of the world's sport.

When you have rightwingers like Alexi Lalas pushing for his fellow rightwingers to get into the sport, shows how far US men's soccer has to go..

[Helsinkian]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/football/qatar-world-cup-beer-stadium-spt-intl/index.html

Doha, Qatar
CNN
 —
Just two days before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, soccer’s world governing body FIFA confirmed that no alcohol will be sold at the eight stadiums which will host the tournament’s 64 matches.

“Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeter,” said the FIFA statement.

😍 Inspiring to see a pious Muslim nation standing up to Budweiser and FIFA.

You can still get alcohol in the stadiums if you pay $19,000 for a VIP ticket. I guess it isn't a sin if you're rich enough.

[buritobr]

I will be watching the World Cup to see how far US men go in soccer.

American men in general don't care for soccer, looking at the way American sports personalities like Mike Francesa, Craig Carton, etc. have been making fun of the sport.

Look at how US women's soccer gets made fun of.

American men like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR.

Shows how exceptional America is, because we ARE different than the world.

Like how baseball is the Dominican Republic's sport, hockey is Canada's sport, soccer is the rest of the world's sport.

When you have rightwingers like Alexi Lalas pushing for his fellow rightwingers to get into the sport, shows how far US men's soccer has to go..

You have very political competitors in your group

One of them is a geopolitical enemy of yours, member of the "Axis of Evil"
The other is a former imperialist superpower which colonized you
And the other is... a neighbor of this former imperialist superpower which according to UN and not FIFA belongs to the same nation state

[Suburbia]

I will be watching the World Cup to see how far US men go in soccer.

American men in general don't care for soccer, looking at the way American sports personalities like Mike Francesa, Craig Carton, etc. have been making fun of the sport.

Look at how US women's soccer gets made fun of.

American men like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR.

Shows how exceptional America is, because we ARE different than the world.

Like how baseball is the Dominican Republic's sport, hockey is Canada's sport, soccer is the rest of the world's sport.

When you have rightwingers like Alexi Lalas pushing for his fellow rightwingers to get into the sport, shows how far US men's soccer has to go..

You have very political competitors in your group

One of them is a geopolitical enemy of yours, member of the "Axis of Evil"
The other is a former imperialist superpower which colonized you
And the other is... a neighbor of this former imperialist superpower which according to UN and not FIFA belongs to the same nation state

True. It is a truly crazy thing.

America hosted the Cup in 1994 and that was supposed to the break out for the country to be interested in men's soccer....

28 years later, it's still a tall task, but I think by 2040, soccer will be a favorite in America.

Gridiron football is still king in America

[Santander]

I will be watching the World Cup to see how far US men go in soccer.

American men in general don't care for soccer, looking at the way American sports personalities like Mike Francesa, Craig Carton, etc. have been making fun of the sport.

Look at how US women's soccer gets made fun of.

American men like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR.

Shows how exceptional America is, because we ARE different than the world.

Like how baseball is the Dominican Republic's sport, hockey is Canada's sport, soccer is the rest of the world's sport.

When you have rightwingers like Alexi Lalas pushing for his fellow rightwingers to get into the sport, shows how far US men's soccer has to go..

Baseball is the leading sport in a hell of a lot more than just the Dominican Republic. Ice hockey is the leading sport in Finland and Latvia (maybe Belarus?) and basketball is the #1 sport in Lithuania and the Philippines (lol). Australia and Ireland have both indigenous sports and English sports. And South Africa has the racial divide that supports multiple sports. America is hardly exceptional.

Not to mention the US is actually a huge market for watching soccer. It's just playing professionally that is not on the radar.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I will be watching the World Cup to see how far US men go in soccer.

American men in general don't care for soccer, looking at the way American sports personalities like Mike Francesa, Craig Carton, etc. have been making fun of the sport.

Look at how US women's soccer gets made fun of.

American men like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR.

Shows how exceptional America is, because we ARE different than the world.

Like how baseball is the Dominican Republic's sport, hockey is Canada's sport, soccer is the rest of the world's sport.

When you have rightwingers like Alexi Lalas pushing for his fellow rightwingers to get into the sport, shows how far US men's soccer has to go..

Baseball is the leading sport in a hell of a lot more than just the Dominican Republic. Ice hockey is the leading sport in Finland and Latvia (maybe Belarus?) and basketball is the #1 sport in Lithuania and the Philippines (lol). Australia and Ireland have both indigenous sports and English sports. And South Africa has the racial divide that supports multiple sports. America is hardly exceptional.

The common thread re: baseball is "former American and Japanese colonial empires". For cricket it is "former British possessions".

[LAKISYLVANIA]

In Belgium i would say cycling is 1 and football is 2. Outside of that gymnastics, athletics, tennis, eastern fighting sports like judo & karate and skateboarding are pretty popular too.

All cycling sports are pretty popular: mountainbike, dirt cycling, gravel cycling, road cycling, time trial, track cycling.

The french speaking belgians like say cycling is our religion.



world champion road cycling is now belgian



world champion gravel cycling is also belgian now



for dirt cycling most world champions are either beloian or dutch, sometimes czechia and lately UK do well where the sport is getting more popular.

USA also traditionally also often has some dirt cycling races in early season, usually 2 or 3 top tier level in Iowa and somewhere in North Carolina or Kentucky.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

This year there were cyclocrosses in Fayetteville in Arkansas and in Waterloo in Wisconsin. Both were won by a Belgian.



Usually since a lot of Belgian sponsors already signed to sponsor the organisation, they will usually promote their products in those cyclocrosses.

A lot of those sponsors are belgian beer producers, so if you like want to drink real belgian beer, this is probably the best place you should go to, when there is such a sports event.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

There a verrrrry much-talked about interview by German sports journalist Jochen Breyer within the framework of the documentary report "Geheimsache Katar" by state-TV broadcaster ZDF.
During the interview, Qatar's World Cup ambassador and former international soccer player Khalid Salman has described homosexuality as "haram" (a word that every German got to know in the meantime thanks to Islamisation) and as a "damage in the mind". The interview was immediately abandoned by the spokesman for the World Cup Organizing Committee by "proposing" that they should take a walk...

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

No offense to either of the two nations, and it may turn out to be a great match, but has there ever been, on the surface, a less compelling opener than Qatar vs Ecuador? Of course this partly because the World Cup is usually held in a country with a strong football pedigree and history.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

FIFA bans Danish World Cup team from wearing jerseys with with the inscription "Human rights for all" during training (!) at the soccer World Cup in Qatar.
The Danish Football Association Dansk Boldspil-Union had spoken out against hosting the World Cup in Qatar. They wanted to set an example when it came to defending human rights during the tournament and had announced "critical messages" on the training jerseys. Two sponsors had agreed to forgo their logo on the shirts in favor of such messages.
Fifa, which bans all political messages, last week urged teams participating in the World Cup to "focus on football" and not drag the sport "into any ideological or political battle".
The DBU denies that the slogan "human rights for all" is a political message, but says it will abide by FIFA's decision in order to avoid fines and sanctions.

In the meantime, a Danish camera team was prevented from filming in Doha during a live connection. Security guards covered the camera lens, subsequently even threatening to destroy the device.
The Danish television journalist Rasmus Tantholdt from TV2 was apparently being interrupted in his live reporting in the run-up to the World Cup in Qatar, even though they were filming in a public place and even though he was able to produce an upgrade pass and his accreditation. Images that the broadcaster published on its website prove that incident.
According to the broadcaster, the reporter team had to wait half an hour before they were allowed to resume their work. The Qatari organizers of the FIFA World Cup apologized; the journalists were "accidentally interrupted," it said in a statement.

[buritobr]

No offense to either of the two nations, and it may turn out to be a great match, but has there ever been, on the surface, a less compelling opener than Qatar vs Ecuador? Of course this partly because the World Cup is usually held in a country with a strong football pedigree and history.

South Africa vs Mexico in 2010 was close

In 1994, the host was USA, a country which doesn't have a strong men's football pedigree. But at that time, the opener match wasn't of the host, but of the winner of the previous edition. So, the opener match in 1994 was Germany vs Bolivia.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

And here is a snippet of FIFA President Gianni Infantino's infamously bizarre press conference, where he claimed he felt "Qatari", "Arab", "African", "gay", "disabled" and like a "migrant worker". Further, he accuses the Western World of double standard, insistently calling for Europe to apologize the next 3,000 years for what we have been doing the last 3,000 years instead of giving other countries moral lessons.

Oh, did I mention that Infantino is going to be re-elected as FIFA President next year owing to lack of opposition?

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I'm glad someone's finally holding Italy to account for the Roman Empire.

[Santander]

No offense to either of the two nations, and it may turn out to be a great match, but has there ever been, on the surface, a less compelling opener than Qatar vs Ecuador? Of course this partly because the World Cup is usually held in a country with a strong football pedigree and history.

Qatar are reigning Asian champions, beating South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia, the traditional powers in Asia along with Iran, enroute. They did not have any pedigree when awarded the World Cup, but they built it real fast.

Let's not forget Japan never qualified for a World Cup when awarded co-host status...