Houdini

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group I: 1st France 9 pts 2nd Norway 4 pts 3rd Senegal 4 pts 4th Iraq 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group H: 1st Spain 9 pts 2nd Uruguay 6 pts 3rd Saudi Arabia 3 pts 4th Cape Verde 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group G: 1st Belgium 9 pts 2nd Egypt 6 pts 3rd Iran 1 pts 4th New Zealand 1 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group F: 1st Netherlands 9 pts 2nd Japan 6 pts 3rd Tunisia 1 pts 4th Sweden 1 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group E: 1st Germany 9 pts 2nd Ivory Coast 4 pts 3rd Ecuador 4 pts 4th Curacao 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group D: 1st Turkey 7 pts 2nd Paraguay 5 pts 3rd USA 4 pts 4th Australia 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group C: 1st Brazil 9 pts 2nd Morocco 6 pts 3rd Scotland 3 pts 4th Haiti 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group B: 1st Switzerland 7 pts 2nd Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 pts 3rd Canada 3 pts 4th Qatar 0 pts

These are my rough predictions for the final standings of group A: 1st Czech Republic 7 pts 2nd Mexico 5 pts 3rd South Korea 4 pts 4th South Africa 0 pts

Switzerland - Probably the favourites on paper for Group B, it would be a surprise if they didn't make it out of the group. Ivory Coast - Could possibly get 2nd in group E, the match against Ecuador will be really key for them. Colombia - I expect them to finish 2nd in group K. Anything less than that would be an embarrassment for them. Norway - With Erling Haaland up front they should make it out of group I and could go quite far in the tournament. Morocco - I think they will finish 2nd in group C and could get to about the round of 16 or quarter finals. Belgium - The nearly men of European international football. I suspect they will make it 3 wins out of 3 in the group stage but beyond that they'll most likely underachieve again. Senegal - They'll be in the top 3 in group I no doubt about that. If they are to finish 3rd in the group they'll likely have done enough to be among the highest 3rd placed teams and qualify for the knockout stage. Croatia - Possibly the most consistent team to have never lifted the World Cup trophy. Reaching the latter stages is what they do regularly and they could do it again this time. I'd expect them to top group L. Netherlands - Another team that have never lifted the trophy that have also reached the latter stages on multiple occasions. They'll make it out of group F with maximum points I would imagine. Brazil - It's quite hard to believe that their last World Cup win was 24 years ago now. More World Cup wins that any other country on the planet, they'll top group C but I've got a gut feeling that the 6th star won't be going on their shirt this year.

As Dobbo touched upon it's the Arsenal fanbase on social media that is mainly the driving force behind it as historically they have tended to get cocky being in winning situations before success is confirmed which is why the term "bottlers" has been thrown at them so much when they eventually fall short. But in the case of this match it was the fact that they have never won the Champions League that united fans of everyone who doesn't support Arsenal together. Them winning the Premier League is not something that is unprecedented and unless you are very young it's something that has happened in people's lifetimes. Winning the Champions League on the other hand would have broken new ground and especially to combine it with the Premier League title that really would have been something else. Their style of football and the way they approached the final was another reason why so many people wanted them to lose. "You'll never sing that, you'll never sing that, champions of Europe, you'll never sing that" will always remain the chant aimed at Arsenal and a chant that feels like it was specifically made for them until they can prove everyone wrong.

Maybe Mbappe was the curse for PSG lol

From PSG's perspective they went all those years without winning a European Cup and now two have come along at once. You wouldn't bet against them making it 3 next season either.

Better team on the day won, Arsenal defended very well but it was basically just attack vs defence for the whole match.

Arsenal have got their parade tomorrow, the atmosphere there will be intriguing

The Champions League trophy is going nowhere!

Almost forgot to mention there was also a cup competition which was won by Herbs by defeating me in the last gameweek 54-45. Congrats to Herbs!

This shows how much can change in the space of a year. Who would have predicted this a year ago?

We'll see how it goes I guess. If Portugal manage to pull it off it would be a lovely tribute to Diogo Jota who most likely would have been in their World Cup squad if he was still alive.

Every time I've seen Liverpool play Konate tends to make defensive errors that lead to goals for the opposition so maybe Liverpool are better off without him.

Yeah in most cases that's how it is although I think they may have been favourites before the 2018 World Cup?

I've heard some Arsenal fans describing this match as a "free hit". There's no such thing as a free hit when you get to a Champions League final, winning is the only option otherwise there's no point being there in the first place. Using Man United as an example the two Champions League final losses to Barcelona were a painful experience even though we had secured the Premier League title earlier on in both years. Just getting to the final didn't feel like it was enough when both of those matches came to an end.

I've gone with France because of how overpowered their attacking options are. It was a toss up between them and Spain but went with France in the end.

Number 25 please Let's see if this number can make it back-to-back wins in the World Cup sweepstake!

Poor Wolves. The gear remained the same for them all season long haha.