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Post by paulgilb on Dec 2, 2017 0:29:15 GMT 1
5th time in 7 World Cups that Argentina and Nigeria have been drawn in the same group - and Nigeria didn't qualify for one of the other two!
The only time Nigeria have avoided Argentina was in 1998, when they clinched top of their group with a game to spare (coming from behind to beat Spain in their opening game) before being thrashed by Denmark in the last 16.
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Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
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Post by Tom on Dec 2, 2017 10:58:10 GMT 1
Was fortunate to be able to see some of the draw (though I did almost forget). Started watching when they were going through the Pot 2 teams. We didn't get Poland but I stopped watching after we got Belgium feeling that whatever happens it will be pretty good. As it turns out it couldn't have gone better, starting late could work out quite well.
Obviously playing Tunisia in the opening game brings back memories of France 98 with Southgate mentioning that he played in what was his first game in the World Cup. But also interesting to discover that the Panama coach was in charge of Columbia that tournament and we beat them 2-0.
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Post by paulgilb on Dec 3, 2017 0:17:50 GMT 1
Using the latest Elo ratings (which are generally believed to be better than the FIFA rankings):
Group with lowest total rating: Group A (due to Russia receiving a seeding as hosts - Uruguay are the only team ranked in the top 40) Group with highest total rating: Group B (Spain and Portugal are both ranked in the top 4) Smallest rating difference between 2 teams in the same group: Belgium and England Largest rating difference between 2 teams in the same group: Germany and South Korea Smallest rating difference amongst all 4 teams in a group: Group H Biggest rating difference between top 2 and bottom 2 in a group: Group G
4 highest-rated teams not to qualify:
Italy Netherlands Chile Wales
These 4 teams have a higher combined rating than any of groups A, D, G and H.
Other observations:
Uruguay, Spain, England, and Colombia are all ranked higher than their respective groups' seeded teams. Brazil and Germany are in groups E and F, meaning that if one of them finishes 2nd in their group and the other one tops their group, they will play each other in the last 16.
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Post by Panda on Dec 4, 2017 17:44:07 GMT 1
BBC to show England's first two games against Tunisia and Panama. ITV to show the Belgium game and will have first pick of the last 16 matches. BBC has first pick in the quarter-finals. ITV will show the opening match of the tournament between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Both channels will show the final live.
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