World Cup in Qatar 2022

It is a travesty of corruption that the cup is even going to be held there at all. I remember a FIFA committee did a report that analysed all the bids and it basically said no way to Qatar because of the heat, lack of facilities, and medieval local laws. It won anyway and after they won they said it was going to be too hot even with air conditioned stadiums so they needed to move it to winter instead of summer.

It feels bad but I know I'll watch from afar like everyone else, which is what FIFA knew and was relying on. But ain't no way I'm going to pay money to travel there and support the event.

Today Costa Rica beat New Zealand to become the final team to make it. These are the groups:

A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
B: England, Iran, United States, Wales
C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, Korea Republic

It's a funny coincidence that Australia's group last world cup was also France and Denmark, along with Peru who they just knocked out this time.

Oh yes for sure. There is no way Australia are making it out of that group with the team we have at the moment. It is a minor miracle that we even got there. ... er ... hopefully that's enough for the reverse kiss of death! 😘🤞

That group A with Qatar in first spot as the seeded team ... 😞 They could end up being the weakest host nation ever in terms of playing ability not to mention all the rest. Though I guess they will have the big advantage of being very used to local conditions outside the air conditioned stadiums.

Australia has played several games there over the past 2 years too so maybe a tiny thing in our favour. Yep I am clutching at straws! 😂

Well it is still hard to believe we are actually going to get a world cup in Qatar but here we are and it starts on the weekend.

These are the current odds for the winner...

Brazil 5
Argentina 6.5
France 8.5
Spain 10
England 10.5
Germany 13
Netherlands 15
Portugal 18
Belgium 20
Denmark 34
Uruguay 52
Croatia 67
Serbia 126
Switzerland 131
Senegal 176
Mexico 210
USA 240
Poland 251
Ecuador 276
Morocco 301
Wales 301
Japan 426
Ghana 501
Canada 501
Cameroon 551
Iran 551
South Korea 551
Australia 751
Qatar 751
Saudi Arabia 901
Tunisia 901
Costa Rica 1001

There isn't much value there if you ask me. Brazil and France have squads that are absolutely stacked with talent, so I expect one of those to win it. As usual England are probably overrated, Argentina too I think.

If I had to pick an outsider I'd probably go for either Belgium at 20 (though they might be on the end of the run with their golden generation) or Denmark at 34. Also Croatia at 67 for a team that was in the last final looks generous at first glance. I don't think any of those teams will win, but if they make it through to the semi finals their odds would drop drastically and allow you to hedge.

What do you guys reckon? Anyone else that you fancy might win it?

Yeah it is really odd. Usually it is during the regular off-season, there is a few weeks build up after the leagues have ended and all the teams have time to get together, recover from injuries, and prepare. This time its smack in the middle and they all have less than a week, and big players are dropping out left and right with injuries. On the other hand at least they won't all be tired after playing a full season.

Check out these hilarious "English fans" who don't even know the tune of their song chants. There are already accusations of Qatar hiring people to pose as fans...

Oooh.. you can get 1.04 on France/draw now. Quick get in while you can! (sarcasm)

Obviously Australia are heavy underdogs but stranger things have happened before. I remember Cameroon beating Argentina in their opener many years ago, and France famously bombed out in the group stage a couple of cups ago as they started squabbling and team morale disintegrated. That's about the best we have to hope for because we sure as hell won't outplay them!

barbadosslim93 wrote:

I did see that Qatar changed their mind at the last minute and banned alcohol sales at the stadiums. That'll sit well with fans who're used to having a few drinks during the games...

Yeah that is going well..

Well Qatar (the football team) turned out to be as crap as I suspected they might be, even worse perhaps. They became the first host team in history to lose the opening match (2-0 to Ecuador), though the host hasn't always played the opener so maybe that's not as meaningful as it sounds. They have 2 more games against Senegal and Netherlands and they will be lucky to get no points.

I'd call this a disincentive to winning. Others may disagree! 😂

Well Saudi Arabia came up with the first big upset, defeating Argentina 2-1. Although they finished ahead of Australia in qualifying I was not very impressed at the time and would never have guessed that they had that in them. But they thoroughly deserved to win after that second half effort.

Australia... oh my that went about as well as expected. They played well for 20 minutes then sat back and copped a hell of a beating.

So we're at the crucial stage now where teams start going home. Qatar are gone already thank goodness and won't be missed. Ecuador, Iran, Wales and Canada are also out.

But what about little old Australia?!?! 😂👍

The USA did well but some of their defending in that final match against the Netherlands was awful. They left players completely unmarked in the box a couple of times and got punished for it. Sadly Australia weren't able to get past Argentina, but they had a mighty crack at it and ran them very close in the end.

We're down to the quarter finals now and sadly most of the underdogs have gone home. The final eight looks very familiar for world cups, Morocco excepted. These are the matches with odds to go through to the semis included:

(6.2) Croatia v Brazil (1.17)
(2.4) Netherlands v Argentina (1.65)
(3.8) Morocco v Portugal (1.33)
(2.18) England v France (1.8)

I'm tipping Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal and France to qualify for the semis. My commiserations to those nations that I have cursed with my famous kiss of death.

Is that a political statement about Qatar or you are just not interested sharpe?

CL-Ed wrote:

I'm tipping Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal and France to qualify for the semis.

Brazil... OUT
Netherlands... OUT

CL-Ed wrote:

My commiserations to those nations that I have cursed with my famous kiss of death.

😘

I agree completely that it is a disgrace that the event is being held in Qatar. I watched a series on Netflix a while ago that detailed all the corruption that went into both them and Russia winning the right to host it. Sepp Blatter is a crook who should be behind bars. And this Infantino fellow is not much better.

But how about the CEO of Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (yes that is the real name, not some fictitious James Bond villain organisation) when asked about the death of yet another "migrant worker" (Qatar-speak for slave) who said this...

Quote:

"Death is a natural part of life, whether it's at work, whether it's in your sleep," Khater said, voicing disappointment at journalists' questions about The Athletic report.

"We're in the middle of a World Cup. And we have a successful World Cup. And this is something you want to talk about right now?" he said.

These guys do not give a single flying eff do they? As far as they are concerned they bought the right to host the cup and they are gonna do whatever the hell they want and the rest of the world can get stuffed.

Well I eliminated 3 out of 4 with my previous round tips so here goes for the semi finals...

(3.25) Croatia v Argentina (1.4)
(4.33) Morocco v France (1.25)

I would most like to see a new winner of the world cup. It would be guaranteed if both Croatia and Morocco made the final. Therefore I am tipping Argentina and France to win their matches.