World Cup Quarterfinals July 7 Quick Guide

      The round of 16 concluded two days ago with England breaking their world cup curse and defeating Colombia in a penalty shootout. The 2018 World Cup has been exciting to watch, the drama is unmatched and it seems as if this world cup is scripted, the writers have no idea of continuity. There are 8 teams left after the round of 16 and the matches will only become more tense and dramatic. Russia, Croatia, Sweden, England, Uruguay, France, Brazil and Belgium are among the 8 world's best international teams in the 2018 world cup edition.

July 7

     Sweden vs England

     Saturday will be an all European affair. The first quarterfinal match of the day will be between Sweden and England. Sweden with their defensive approach to the game has taken this side to the quarterfinals. I see Sweden as a poor man's Italy and I don't mean it as an insult to either nation. Sweden defends tight and compact with 11 players, but lack the quality to create anything threatening to their opponent. The counter attack and pouncing on their opponents mistakes is what Sweden does well and have been doing since the qualifying stage. 

    England has finally one a penalty shootout in a World Cup! The curse is finally broken. Now to "bring it home." As mentioned earlier post I am not really sold on the idea that the English national team is one of the best in the world even in historical contexts. They are a footballing nation that has everything to be the best from money, infrastructure, and great players. They just are not the best. However, I like this English side and think the their coach, Gareth Southgate, has done a great job managing the English national team. I want England to go through. Yet, they have a poor record against teams that defend well (Italy) and haven't necessarily dominated Sweden in recent history either. England are favorites, but I am going to use my upset call on this match. I wouldn't be surprised at all if  Sweden win sending home the English side with only their luggage in hand.

    Russia vs Croatia 

    The host are still in it. Russia will attempt to beat Croatia to reach the semifinals of the tournament. I do not see that happening as I rank Croatia as a much better team than the awful Spanish side that the Russians defeated in the round of 16 on penalties. Russia can go through, this is why the game is played, however, the only way I can confidently say Russia will go through is if they hold the Croatian side for 120 minutes and force a penalty shoot out. From their I will favor the Russian side to go through due to the Croatian sides poor display in shooting penalties against Denmark.

   Croatia are one of the better teams in this World Cup. They have a very talented midfield that can control the tempo of the match and dominate the other side. The only sides to score against Croatia in this world cup were Iceland and Denmark with a goal a piece. Croatia are clear favorites and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be. The only way I will jump ship is if this match does to a penalty shootout.        

2018 FIFA Men's World Cup (Group G)

Group G

Belgium (3)

Panama (55)

Tunisia (14)

England (13)

              I have been discussing teams based on the order in which the national team was drawn. Hence the order is not alphabetical or based on FIFA world rankings, but in the order in which the teams were plucked from the designated pots into the groups. I will break away from my short tradition on this group. Why? England, that’s why. For those who read or more likely discuss sports with me in person understand that I see England a bit different then most of my anglophone speaking people. To some, especially supporters of The Three Lions, will see me as having ill will or some sort of hostility towards the English. I can assure them and to one and all that I have no such feelings. I study history of sports and my emphasis and main focus is football (soccer). From what I gathered I don’t see England as elite or a world class footballing national team. Are they good? Yes. Excellent and memorable players? Definitely. But, to place them in the same historical category as Brazil, Italy, Germany, France, and Argentina is a stretch too far for even the most bias supporter. I see them closer to Uruguay. For those who are upset or disagree with that statement by all means lets discuss it. Chances are I already know who and why, but that will be for another time and I prefer in person discussions.

              The reason for the clarification on my English stance will come to fruition in my closing statements. Moving on. Belgium is national team that at the moment has players to win a World Cup. Whether they can or can’t will be based on how they perform in Russia this summer. A “golden generation” is what Belgium has and if they fall short of a semi-final it will be seen as a failure.

              This will be Panama’s first World Cup appearance. Well-earned and deserved. Unfortunately, I don’t see Los Canaieros playing a fourth game. Tunisia won their two most recent friendlies with a score of 1-0 for both games. They were against Iran and Costa Rica, both world cup qualified teams. As impressive as that may seem I don’t see the Tunisians beating the English or Belgium for the first and second spot to advance to the knockout stage.

              Now who will win group G? England! I predict England finishes first and the lack of experience from the Belgium national side will cause them to slip up and finish behind their former EU partner. I am a fan of Gareth Southgate, the English national team’s coach, and think he is did an excellent job managing England during the world cup qualification stage. I mean this sincerely, I am rooting for England to win the World Cup as my underdog team.