I suppose I should want Poland to get a lucky win against France here. It's a shame we have to meet them in the quarter final really but if we are going to lift the cup we will have to beat them at some point.
Excellent game, France vs. Poland. Some incredible missed opportunities on both ends of the pitch. France generally better as expected but Poland has put together some impressive counters and hasn't scored yet by a hair. Oh wait, Giroud (AC Milan's man) has just scored and consequently has become the isolated all-time leading goal scorer for France, breaking the tie with Thierry Henry. ----------- It's been announced that Neymar and Danilo will play against South Korea. This greatly enhances Brazil's chances.
It will be very difficult to dislodge France from the position of favorites to win it all. They are a great team, with incredible depth, as demonstrated by their excellent performance while missing three essential players who are among the best in the world and couldn't even be part of this group.
Honestly though, if you'd asked me before the tournament started how well I thought England would do I would have said after the nation's cup I don't think we can expect to get past the quarter finals. Last 8 for a ranked 5th team is about right I suppose. So long as we don't screw up tonight anything else is a bonus.
Full time, France 3-1 Poland. Notice to all fans in Qatar, of national teams not called France: Fold your flags. Wash out your facial paint. Check out from your hotels. Change your flight back home to an earlier one. Fly out of Qatar now. Stay at your own peril, just to get deeply disappointed and bitter. There is no way France is not winning this World Cup. Period. It's coming to Paris.
Looked a bit scary fow a while. I was going to moan about uncreative slow passing at one point. Can't even moan about Kane now. I'm having a bad night.
I thought you liked the French team? We still haven't had a real test. I wish we'd played Poland really. Still, can't complain. Quarter finals with no dramas. 10 goals in 4 games with only one let in IIRC. Bring on the old foe. Agincourt, Trafalgar and Waterloo. We gave your boys a hell of a beating. LOL edit it was 12 scored and 2 let in. I forgot we put 3 past the welsh.
Well done England. Sluggish start and I thought this could get interesting, but the the better team got the job done handily. Cannot do that against France., or the King gets shaved and England is coming home. Agre with @Center Field, even that Poland made it interesting for a while, that French team is just dynamite, amazing quality.
Sterling went home because his house was invaded by armed robbers who got away with £300,000 worth of watches. That burglar is going to have a lot of time on his hands now.
Disappointing to see our defense uncharacteristically let us down like that, but as you pointed out the Dutch were the better team. My hat is off to them. But to look on the bright side, the USMNT has come a long way since the train wreck of 2018. New GM, new coach, new generation of talented young players, and finally a trip to the WC and advancing to the round of 16. Not bad at all, in fact, better than one could have realistically expected. So, I'm left to root for my B teams, England and Croatia, although Brazil and France appear to be making a run for the final.
I will - the dudes who wear picnic tablecloths for jerseys have looked pretty strong... What's for lunch - sushi?