DJHazey

ESPN FC Projected Starting XI for every team. Qatar (3-5-2): Al Sheeb; Al Rawi, Khoukhi, Hassan; Miguel, Hatem, Boudiaf, Al Haydos, ElAmin; Afif, Ali Netherlands (3-4-3): Cillessen; Ake, Van Dijk, Timber; Blind, De Jong, Koopmeiners, Dumfries; Gakpo, Memphis, Bergwijn Senegal (4-3-3): E Mendy; Ballo-Toure, Koulibaly, Diallo, Sabaly; Kouyate, N Mendy, Gueye; Mane, Dia, Sarr Ecuador (4-3-3): Dominguez; Preciado, Torres, Hincapie, Estupinan; Franco, Gruezo, Caicedo; Mena, Estrada, Valencia USA (4-3-3): Steffen; Dest, Zimmerman, Long, Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Musah; Weah, Ferreira, Pulisic England (3-4-3): Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Bellingham, Rice, Shaw; Foden, Kane, Sterling Wales (3-4-3): Hennessey; Ampadu, Rodon, Davies; Roberts, Allen, Ramsey, Williams; Bale, Moore, James Iran (4-3-3): Beiranvand; Moharrami, Kanaani, Hosseini, Hajsafi; Ezatolahi, Amiri, Ansarifard; Jahanbakhsh, Taremi, Azmoun Mexico (4-3-3): Ochoa; Gallardo, Moreno, Montes, Sanchez; Alvarez, Guardado, Gutierrez; Lozano, Antuna, Jimenez Argentina (4-3-3): Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Di Maria Poland (3-4-2-1): Szczesny; Bednarek, Glik, Kiwior; Frankowski, Krychowiak, Linetty, Zalewski; Zielinski, Szymanski; Lewandowski Saudi Arabia (4-5-1): Al Owais; Abdulhamid, Al-Amri, Al-Bulaihi, Al-Shahrani; Al-Faraj, Al-Hassan, Al-Najei, Al-Dawsari, Bahebri; Al-Shehri France (3-4-1-2): Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Kimpembe; Pavard, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Theo Hernandez; Griezmann; Mbappe, Benzema Denmark (3-4-1-2): Schmeichel; Christensen, Kjaer, Andersen; Skov Olsen, Hojbjerg, Delaney, Maehle; Eriksen; Braithwaite, Poulsen Australia (4-1-4-1): Ryan; Behich, Souttar, Sainsbury, Karacic; Mooy; Irvine, Hrustic, Mabil, Boyle; Duke Tunisia (4-3-3): Dahmen; Drager, Talbi, Ifa, Maaloul; Laidouni, Skhiri, Sassi; Khazri, Jaziri, Msakni Spain (4-3-3): Simon; Carvajal, Laporte, Torres, Balde; Busquets, Gavi, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Ansu, Morata Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kehrer, Sule, Rudiger, Raum; Kimmich, Gundogan; Muller, Musiala, Sane; Havertz Costa Rica (4-4-2): Navas; Oviedo, Calvo, Duarte, Fuller; Bennette, Tejeda, Borges, Torres; Contreras, Campbell Japan (4-3-3): Gonda; Sakai, Yoshida, Tomiyasu, Nagatomo; Endo, Morita, Tanaka; Ito, Minamino, Kamada Belgium (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Debast, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Meunier, Witsel, Tielemans, Carrasco; Hazard, De Bruyne; Lukaku Canada (3-5-2): Borjan; Johnston, Vitoria, Miller; Buchanan, Kaye, Hutchinson, Eustaquio, Davies; David, Larin Croatia (4-3-3): Livakovic; Juranovic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Livaja, Perisic Morocco (4-3-3): Bounou; Mazraoui, Saiss, Aguerd, Hakimi; Amallah, Amrabat, Ouanahi; Boufal, El-Kaabi, Ziyech Brazil (4-3-2-1): Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro; Fred, Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta; Rafinha, Neymar; Richarlison Serbia (3-4-1-2): V. Milinkovic-Savic; Milenkovic, S. Mitrovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Lukic, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic; Tadic; A. Mitrovic, Vlahovic Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Sow, Okafor; Embolo Cameroon (4-3-3): Onana; Nouhou, Castelletto, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Fai; Zambo Anguissa, Hongla, Ntcham; Toko Ekambi, Aboubakar, Ngamaleu Portugal (4-2-3-1): Diogo Costa: Mendes, Dias, Danilo Pereira, Cancelo; Carvalho, Neves; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Leao; Ronaldo Ghana (4-2-3-1): Wollacott; Baba, Djiku, Amartey, Odoi; Iddrisu, Partey; A Ayew, Kudus, J Ayew; Williams Uruguay (4-3-3): Rochet; Suarez, Araujo, Gimenez, Olivera; Vecino, Bentancur, Valverde; Pellistri, Suarez, De Arrascaeta South Korea (4-2-3-1): Kim Seung-gyu; Kim Tae-hwan, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su; Jung Woo-young, Hwang In-beom; Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Jae-sung, Son Heung-min; Hwang Ui-jo

Give me 5.

Also in the discussion for worst moment for American fans. Literally seconds from getting a massive win versus Portugal and Ronaldo did this to us: RrnA6ceBB_w

Homer/biased opinions alert. Favourite World Cup moment: United States "Dos a Cero" over Mexico in the 2022 Round of 16. Still hold it over our rivals because they can't argue we didn't beat them in our only matchup on the world's biggest stage. The runner-up would be Landon Donovan's 90th minute goal versus Algeria in 2010 to put the us through to the Round of 16. Funniest World Cup moment: I could put it as shocking but when I remember people literally crying in the stands, I can't help but chuckle. I know, call me mean, but the 7-1 Germany over Brazil semifinal in 2014. Worst World Cup moment: For one I didn't see because I wasn't born yet it has to be "Disgrace of Gijón" in 1982 group stage between West Germany and Austria, preventing Algeria's improbable advancement to the knockout rounds. For one I did see, the 1998 World Cup when the Americans completed their disappointing group stage by losing to Iran 1-0. I think revenge is on order this time around. Shock of the World Cup: I still can't get over 2014's Group D, with World Cup champion nations Uruguay, England, and Italy, yet Costa Rica wins the group and knocks England and Italy right out. Controversial World Cup moment that you remember: Robben's penalty versus Mexico in the Round of 16 of 2014, Mexico was robbed.

With the latest FIFA Rankings, pots would be like this: Pot 1 Brazil Belgium Argentina France England Spain Netherlands Portugal Pot 2 Denmark Germany Croatia Mexico Uruguay Switzerland United States Senegal Pot 3 Wales Iran Serbia Morocco Japan Poland South Korea Tunisia Pot 4 Costa Rica Australia Canada Cameroon Ecuador Qatar Saudi Arabia Ghana

Brazil is the clear favorite, they've basically been unbeatable the past couple years, granted not in major tournament with European competition, but still. If you have a squad where someone like Gabriel Jesus might not even make the cut, enough said! After that I really like Netherlands to make a run and also consider Argentina as co-favorite. Denmark, Serbia, and Senegal as darkhorses. Among squads who are going to be deemed as filler and should be taken more seriously: Canada and Morocco (so look out Belgium and Croatia!)

I was wondering if I could run a contest for the World Cup that is a variation of the one where one team gets randomly selected for each person. In that scenario, a group of people just automatically gets killed on selection day if they end up with Cameroon, or Qatar, or Tunisia for example. They have no chance. So instead I would split the 32 teams into four pots of 8 teams each. Rank them all simply by last FIFA Rankings, so 1-8 is Pot A, 9-16 is Pot B, 17-24 is Pot C, and 25-32 is Pot D. Each participant gets one team from each Pot, so yes there can be multiple people with the same team, which is fine, because everyone is bound to have a different set of teams. With everyone having a team from each pot, the odds are more even on who will do best. Until all 8 have been drawn from each pot, it does not get reset and you can't have two teams from the same actual World Cup group so that would be a re-draw. (Otherwise, you'd have two of your teams face each other which is no good) Random Number Generator would be used for drawing the order for participants to gets their teams drawn, plus used to draw the teams themselves. We can use a similar point system to what was used when everyone had one team except this time they'll have a group of teams to root for and everyone will have at least one true contender. Does this sound okay, too confusing? Feedback is welcome. I would make a thread and draw sometime in early November.

Nations League Finals Netherlands hosting Croatia, Spain, and Italy. Relegated from A to B Austria, Czech Republic, England, Wales Promoted from B to A Scotland, Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia Relegated from B to C Armenia, Russia, Romania, Sweden Promoted from C to B Turkey, Greece, Kazakhstan, Georgia Relegation to D Playoffs Lithuania, Cyprus, Belarus, Gibraltar Promoted from D to C Latvia, Estonia

Yes, Nations League was put in to try to reduce regular friendlies and have more competitive matches in their place. Try telling Croatia, Hungary, Portugal, or Netherlands that these don't matter because they're playing them like they are. At the end of the day, if you're on the field and are a competitive person, you compete. Not really here for falling back on a "the matches don't matter anyway" mentality. Granted, I do think Southgate has earned the ability to have this World Cup performance be his real evaluation, not Nations League.

Also, I'd love to see an American go over F1 sometime in the future, my bias says someone like Kyle Busch since he's mentioned it a few times. He could definitely do it as he's always been known as one of the best wheelmen of all-time over here.

Cancel all the Middle East/Russian ones and add more U.S. sites since the popularity of it is growing over here. Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, or Road America are sitting right there and are amazing circuits.

Another Hungarian Golden Generation? I'm here for it.

Chile lost their appeal and Ecuador keeps their spot.

I'd be pretty pissed off if I was Peru, since they finished 5th in South America, not Chile, whether they played and lost in the intercontinental playoffs or not.

Yeah I get the sense that Perez, the two Ferrari's, and the two Mercedes are all capable of beating one another on any particular day (they are all in a tight group in the points standings), but none of them can touch Max. He is just simply dominating, and it's not simply just his equipment puts him in that position. What you're seeing right now is pretty much unpresidented. What's he going to end up with 15?, 16? wins. Unheard of. Enjoy history.

Best comment about the video where Max revealed he's still a virgin. "There's no way Max is still a virgin, he's been f***ing the entire field all season!"

Oh I am kind of a F1 newbie so I didn't know there were some courses they don't run in rain. Makes sense with a course like Spa though. Happy to see Max charging through the field

Oh my, this will be must-watch TV come Sunday! Especially is there's rain.

I think Celtic and Rangers have a chance to put two Scottish sides into the Top 16 with those draws, also Group B, C, and H are insane.

That was a shocking result to say the least.

I would love to be a fly on the wall during the Ferrari post-race meetings.

Max has been masterclass so far. Things looking for him right now. *knocks on wood* Very entertaining race for Hungary.

Yeah Gillette Stadium is the home of the 6-time world champion New England Patriots and sometimes gets the the nickname "The Razor" because it's tough for visiting teams to win there. The MLS team, New England Revolution also play there. Also they've built a shopping mall, Hall of Fame, restaurants, and other attractions around the stadium and the open-air concept with an open end with a lighthouse as a nod to the oceanside geography of the area. Here's a photo:

The way the groups will look with the new projected FIFA Rankings to be released tomorrow: Group A Netherlands | 8 Senegal | 18 Ecuador | 44 Qatar | 49 Group B England | 5 United States | 14 Wales | 19 Iran | 23 Group C Argentina | 3 Mexico | 12 Poland | 26 Saudi Arabia | 53 Group D France | 4 Denmark | 10 Tunisia | 30 Australia | 39 Group E Spain | 6 Germany | 11 Japan | 24 Costa Rica | 34 Group F Belgium | 2 Croatia | 15 Morocco | 22 Canada | 43 Group G Brazil | 1 Switzerland | 16 Serbia | 25 Cameroon | 38 Group H Portugal | 9 Uruguay | 13 South Korea | 28 Ghana | 61

My home venue is Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. I hope I am able to get tickets as I certainly plan to!