From the last few games, I think Cahill has taken Gomez's place and he wouldn't be back in if he were fit.

 

Welbeck has always played really well for England.

 

Am a massive fan of this squad and continue to be hugely impressed by Southgate. The way he's dropped underachieving players from previous squads so quickly and easily - Rooney, Walcott, Smalling, Wilshere - and now Hart too. I understand why it looks a bit daft for him to have played him so often, but Butland spent most of last season injured and Pickford only started playing regularly part of the way through last season. The keepers in his first squad were Hart, Forster and Heaton. Realistically I don't think Heaton was ever going to be no.1, especially as he'd only been back in the PL for about half a dozen games, and Forster has always been in squads because there's no one else. Hart was first choice by default and never really did enough wrong for England following that.

 

Southgate is a massive fan of versatile players so no surprise to see the likes of Welbeck, Young, Delph and Alexander-Arnold included ahead of others which aren't.

 

I sort of get the Shelvey fuss, but seems like far more than performances and form are taken into account, not trustworthy and not the greatest influence on a squad who seem like a really close-knit group of players. I also think a player like him would be utterly useless against teams that'll have less possession and not sure he's disciplined enough against better teams.

 

Lallana is the one player I would like to have seen in the squad, but he's completed one 90 minutes all season so no complaints.

 

Yeah it's not a bad squad at all, and like you say if Lallana, Gomez and Ox were fit then you would expect they would take the places or probably Delph, Cahill and Loftus-Cheek. But these things happen and I think it's an interesting mix. I think our central defence is probably the weakest spot, there is a bit of a lack of consistency (I honestly don't get the hype around Maguire) but everyone has to start somewhere.

 

Exciting to think Sessengon and Sancho can't be too far away from the next squad either.

My predictions:

 

A: Uruguay, Egypt

B: Spain, Morocco

C: France, Denmark

D: Nigeria, Croatia (yes, Argentina out R1... can see them flopping big time)

E: Brazil, Serbia

F: Germany, Mexico

G: England, Belgium (I'm getting Euro 2012 vibes from this team)

H: Senegal, Poland (hardest group to predict)

 

QFS: Uruguay France, Spain Nigeria, Brazil England, Germany Belgium

SF: France Brazil, Spain Belgium

F: France Spain

 

Spain to win.

So Spain to start and end the tournament with a match against their neighbours :lol:

How far do people think England will go in the World Cup?

 

 

Last 16 at best.

I think England will get to the Round of 16 and get knocked out by Colombia.

Edited May 17, 20187 yr by Evil Houdini

Two factors when making predictions:

 

The darkhorses Peru will be without their captain Guerrero as he been suspended for doping and Iceland may or may not be without four of their top players as they are battling serious injuries and may not be fit.

That said my predictions:

 

A: Uruguay, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia

B: Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Iran

C: France, Denmark, Peru, Australia

D: Argentina, Croatia, Nigeria, Iceland

E: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Costa Rica

F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic

G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

H: Colombia, Poland, Senegal, Japan

 

Round of 16: Morocco over Uruguay, France over Croatia, Brazil over Mexico, Belgium over Poland, Spain over Egypt, Argentina over Denmark, Germany over Switzerland, England over Colombia

 

Quarterfinals: Morocco over France, Brazil over Belgium, Spain over Argentina, Germany over England

 

Semifinals: Brazil over Morocco, Spain over Germany

 

Final: Brazil over Spain

Morocco? Well I suppose there's always one team that defies the odds.

 

I also fear we would get torn to shreds by Colombia. I'm hoping Poland top that group I think we'd have a better chance against them!

My predictions:

 

A: 1st Uruguay, 2nd Egypt, 3rd Russia, 4th Saudi Arabia

B: 1st Spain, 2nd Portugal, 3rd Morocco, 4th Iran

C: 1st France, 2nd Peru, 3rd Denmark, 4th Australia

D: 1st Argentina, 2nd Croatia, 3rd Nigeria, 4th Iceland

E: 1st Brazil, 2nd Serbia, 3rd Switzerland, 4th Costa Rica

F: 1st Germany, 2nd Mexico, 3rd Sweden, 4th Korea Republic

G: 1st Belgium, 2nd England, 3rd Tunisia, 4th Panama

H: 1st Colombia, 2nd Poland, 3rd Japan, 4th Senegal

 

 

Round of 16: Uruguay, France, Brazil, Belgium, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Colombia

 

Quarter Finals: France, Brazil, Spain, Germany

 

Semi Final: France, Germany

 

Winners: France

 

Runners Up: Germany

 

3rd Place Bronze Medal: Spain

 

4th: Brazil

I'll just do my Group predictions for now:

 

A:

Uruguay, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

 

B:

Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Iran

 

C:

France, Peru, Denmark, Australia

 

D:

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

 

E:

Brazil, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Serbia

 

F:

Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden

 

G:

Belgium, England, Panama, Tunisia

 

H:

Colombia, Poland, Japan, Senegal

How far do people think England will go in the World Cup?

 

I think we can make the quarter finals.

My group selections:

 

A: Uruguay, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia

B: Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Iran

C: France, Denmark, Peru, Australia

D: Argentina, Croatia, Nigeria, Iceland

E: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Costa Rica

F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic

G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

H: Colombia, Poland, Senegal, Japan

I have two bets on for the World Cup so far. Morocco to qualify from the group, and Salah e/w top scorer. Could get a few in that group quite easily.

I have two bets on for the World Cup so far. Morocco to qualify from the group, and Salah e/w top scorer. Could get a few in that group quite easily.

 

Salah top scorer is definitely a great shout. I fancy Iran not to score a single goal, it's a good price.

I dont think Salah will be the top goalscorer because Egypt probably wont go far in the tournament, he'll probably score a few in the group stage though. I think Antoine Griezmann is the most likely person to win the golden boot.

I dont think Salah will be the top goalscorer because Egypt probably wont go far in the tournament, he'll probably score a few in the group stage though. I think Antoine Griezmann is the most likely person to win the golden boot.

 

You probably only need to score 3/4 goals though to be in the top 4 goalscorers. Most of Egypt's goals come through Salah and I think they have a fairly open group so potentially a bit of money to be made. Also fancy Mbappe to be top scorer ew (33/1).

 

Price is a little too short for me, but Iniesta to get the Golden Ball is a good shout too.

Yeah mainly going for the e/w. Last World Cup only two got more than 4, there were four players with 5 at 2010, and only Klose scored more than 3 in '06!

You probably only need to score 3/4 goals though to be in the top 4 goalscorers. Most of Egypt's goals come through Salah and I think they have a fairly open group so potentially a bit of money to be made. Also fancy Mbappe to be top scorer ew (33/1).

 

Price is a little too short for me, but Iniesta to get the Golden Ball is a good shout too.

It will probably be Iniesta's last World Cup and it would be a fitting way to end his legendary World Cup career if he won that award. The Golden Ball in general is really hard to predict, I don't think Lionel Messi deserved it at the last World Cup and it was probably only given to him due to him being the face of Adidas at the time. He was average by his standards at the World Cup four years ago.

 

A look at the World Cup fixtures

 

Group stages

Thursday 14 June

 

Russia vs Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 4pm - ITV

 

Friday 15 June

 

Egypt vs Uruguay (Group A) - Ekaterinburg - 1pm - BBC

Morocco vs Iran (Group B) - St Petersburg - 4pm - ITV

Portugal vs Spain (Group B) - Sochi - 7pm - BBC

 

Saturday 16 June

 

France vs Australia (Group C) - Kazan - 11am - BBC

Argentina vs Iceland (Group D) - Moscow (Spartak) - 2pm - ITV

Peru vs Denmark (Group C) - Saransk - 5pm - BBC

Croatia vs Nigeria (Group D) - Kaliningrad - 8pm - ITV

 

Sunday 17 June

 

Costa Rica vs Serbia (Group E) - Samara - 1pm - ITV

Germany vs Mexico (Group F) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 4pm - BBC

Brazil vs Switzerland (Group E) - Rostov-on-Don - 7pm - ITV

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 18 June

 

Sweden vs South Korea (Group F) - Nizhny Novgorod - 1pm - ITV

Belgium vs Panama (Group G) - Sochi - 4pm - BBC

Tunisia vs England (Group G) - Volgograd - 7pm - BBC

 

Tuesday 19 June

 

Colombia vs Japan (Group H) - Saransk - 1pm - BBC

Poland vs Senegal (Group H) - Moscow (Spartak) - 4pm - ITV

Russia vs Egypt (Group A) - St Petersburg - 7pm - BBC

 

Wednesday 20 June

 

Portugal vs Morocco (Group B) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 1pm - BBC

Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Rostov-on-Don - 4pm - BBC

Iran vs Spain (Group B) - Kazan - 7pm - ITV

 

Thursday 21 June

 

Denmark vs Australia (Group C) - Samara - 1pm - ITV

France vs Peru (Group C) - Ekaterinburg - 4pm - ITV

Argentina vs Croatia (Group D) - Nizhny Novgorod - 7pm - BBC

 

Friday 22 June

 

Brazil vs Costa Rica (Group E) - St Petersburg - 1pm - ITV

Nigeria vs Iceland (Group D) - Volgograd - 4pm - BBC

Serbia vs Switzerland (Group E) - Kaliningrad - 7pm - BBC

 

Saturday 23 June

 

Belgium vs Tunisia (Group G) - Moscow (Spartak) - 1pm - BBC

South Korea vs Mexico (Group F) - Rostov-on-Don - 4pm - ITV

Germany v Sweden (Group F) - Sochi - 7pm - ITV

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 24 June

 

England vs Panama (Group G) - Nizhny Novgorod - 1pm - BBC

Japan vs Senegal (Group H) - Ekaterinburg - 4pm - BBC

Poland vs Colombia (Group H) - Kazan - 7pm - ITV

 

Monday 25 June

 

Uruguay vs Russia (Group A) - Samara - 3pm - ITV

Saudi Arabia vs Egypt (Group A) - Volgograd - 3pm - ITV

Spain vs Morocco (Group B) - Kaliningrad - 7pm- BBC

Iran vs Portugal (Group B) - Saransk - 7pm - BBC

 

Tuesday 26 June

 

Denmark vs France (Group C) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 3pm - ITV

Australia vs Peru (Group C) - Sochi - 3pm - ITV

Nigeria vs Argentina (Group D) - St Petersburg - 7pm - BBC

Iceland vs Croatia (Group D) - Rostov-on-Don - 7pm - BBC

 

Wednesday 27 June

 

South Korea vs Germany (Group F) - Kazan - 3pm - BBC

Mexico vs Sweden (Group F) - Ekaterinburg - 3pm - BBC

Serbia vs Brazil (Group E) - Moscow (Spartak) - 7pm - ITV

Switzerland vs Costa Rica (Group E) - Nizhny Novgorod - 7pm - ITV

 

Thursday 28 June

 

Japan vs Poland (Group H) - Volgograd - 3pm - BBC

Senegal vs Colombia (Group H) - Samara - 3pm - BBC

England vs Belgium (Group G) - Kaliningrad - 7pm - ITV

Panama vs Tunisia (Group G) - Saransk - 7pm - ITV

 

Taking this over from the Champions League thread:

I just hope Salah doesn't miss the World Cup after picking up that shoulder injury.

 

Gah, I agree! He was one of the players I was most looking forward to seeing in action when I turn up for watching international football matches. Egyptian FA is saying they're hopeful but from what I hear it was a fairly nasty injury. Best of luck for him recovering.