2018 FIFA World Cup Finals

The draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals starts in a little under half an hour, so it's time for the thread!

32 teams have qualified, with all of the previous champions except for Italy represented. Perennial tournament favourites and nearly-men Netherlands also failed to qualify. Iceland and Panama are here for the first time ever, with Iceland by far the smallest nation to ever qualify. Peru (1986), Morocco (1998) and Egypt (1990) are also back after long absences, and Senegal returns for its second World Cup finals, after one of the biggest shocks ever in Finals history at its first, in 2002, beating defending champions France in the opening match.

Germany are back to defend their title, while Russia hosts.

Group Stage

Knockout Stage

The Draw

 

Group Stage:

Group A
1 - Uruguay - P3 - W3 D0 L0 - +5 -0 GD+5 - 9pt
2 - Russia - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - +8 -4 GD+4 - 6pt
3 - Saudi Arabia - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +2 -7 GD-5 - 3pt
4 - Egypt - P3 - W0 D0 L3 - +2 -6 GD-4 - 0pt

Spoiler

14/06/2018 - Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia
15/06/2018 - Egypt 0-1 Uruguay
19/06/2018 - Russia 3-1 Egypt
20/06/2018 - Uruguay 1-0 Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia, Egypt eliminated
25/06/2018 - Uruguay 3-0 Russia
25/06/2018 - Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt

Group B
1 - Spain - P3 - W1 D2 L0 - +6 -5 GD+1 - 5pt
2 - Portugal - P3 - W1 D2 L0 - +5 -4 GD+1 - 5pt
3 - Iran - P3 - W1 D1 L1 - +2 -2 GD0 - 4pt
4 - Morocco - P3 - W0 D1 L2 - +2 -4 GD-2 - 1pt

Spoiler

15/06/2018 - Morocco 0-1 Iran
15/06/2018 - Portugal 3-3 Spain
20/06/2018 - Portugal 1-0 Morocco; Morocco eliminated
20/06/2018 - Iran 0-1 Spain
25/06/2018 - Iran 1-1 Portugal; Iran eliminated
25/06/2018 - Spain 2-2 Morocco

Group C
1 - France - P3 - W2 D1 L0 - +3 -1 GD+2 - 7pt
2 - Denmark - P3 - W1 D2 L0 - +2 -1 GD+1 - 5pt
3 - Peru - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +2 -2 GD0 - 3pt
4 - Australia - P3 - W0 D1 L2 - +2 -5 GD-3 - 1pt

Spoiler

16/06/2018 - France 2-1 Australia
16/06/2018 - Peru 0-1 Denmark
21/06/2018 - Denmark 1-1 Australia
21/06/2018 - France 1-0 Peru; Peru eliminated
26/06/2018 - Denmark 0-0 France
26/06/2018 - Australia 0-2 Peru; Australia eliminated

Group D
1 - Croatia - P3 - W3 D0 L0 - +7 -1 GD+6 - 9pt
2 - Argentina - P3 - W1 D1 L1 - +3 -5 GD-2 - 4pt
3 - Nigeria - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +3 -4 GD-1 - 3pt
4 - Iceland - P3 - W0 D1 L2 - +2 -5 GD-3 - 1pt

Spoiler

16/06/2018 - Argentina 1-1 Iceland
16/06/2018 - Croatia 2-0 Nigeria
21/06/2018 - Argentina 0-3 Croatia
22/06/2018 - Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
26/06/2018 - Nigeria 1-2 Argentina; Nigeria eliminated
26/06/2018 - Iceland 1-2 Croatia; Iceland eliminated

Group E
1 - Brazil - P3 - W2 D1 L0 - +5 -1 GD+4 - 7pt
2 - Switzerland - P3 - W1 D2 L0 - +5 -4 GD+1 - 5pt
3 - Serbia - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +2 -4 GD-2 - 3pt
4 - Costa Rica - P3 - W0 D1 L2 - +3 -5 GD-3 - 1pt

Spoiler

17/06/2018 - Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia
17/06/2018 - Brazil 1-1 Switzerland
22/06/2018 - Brazil 2-0 Costa Rica; Costa Rica eliminated
22/06/2018 - Serbia 1-2 Switzerland
27/06/2018 - Serbia 0-2 Brazil; Serbia eliminated
27/06/2018 - Switzerland 2-2 Costa Rica

Group F
1 - Sweden - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - +5 -2 GD+3 - 6pt
2 - Mexico - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - +3 -4 GD-1 - 6pt
3 - South Korea - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +3 -3 GD0 - 3pt
4 - Germany - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +2 -4 GD-2 - 3pt

Spoiler

17/06/2018 - Germany 0-1 Mexico
18/06/2018 - Sweden 1-0 South Korea
23/06/2018 - South Korea 1-2 Mexico
23/06/2018 - Germany 2-1 Sweden
27/06/2018 - Mexico 0-3 Sweden
27/06/2018 - South Korea 2-0 Germany; Germany, South Korea eliminated

Group G
1 - Belgium - P3 - W3 D0 L0 - +9 -2 GD+7 - 9pt
2 - England - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - +8 -3 GD+5 - 6pt
3 - Tunisia - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +5 -8 GD-3 - 3pt
4 - Panama - P3 - W0 D0 L3 - +2 -11 GD-9 - 0pt

Spoiler

18/06/2018 - Belgium 3-0 Panama
18/06/2018 - Tunisia 1-2 England
23/06/2018 - Belgium 5-2 Tunisia
24/06/2018 - England 6-1 Panama; Panama, Tunisia eliminated
28/06/2018 - England 0-1 Belgium
28/06/2018 - Panama 1-2 Tunisia

Group H
1 - Colombia - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - +5 -2 GD+3 - 6pt
2 - Japan - P3 - W1 D1 L1 - +4 -4 GD0 - 4pt
3 - Senegal - P3 - W1 D1 L1 - +4 -4 GD0 - 4pt
4 - Poland - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - +2 -5 GD-3 - 3pt

Spoiler

19/06/2018 - Poland 1-2 Senegal
19/06/2018 - Colombia 1-2 Japan
24/06/2018 - Japan 2-2 Senegal
24/06/2018 - Poland 0-3 Colombia; Poland eliminated
28/06/2018 - Japan 0-1 Poland
28/06/2018 - Senegal 0-1 Colombia; Senegal eliminated

 

Knockout Stage:

Round 2
30/06/2018 1 - Uruguay 2-1 Portugal
30/06/2018 2 - France 4-3 Argentina
01/07/2018 5 - Spain 1-1 Russia ; After Extra Time, 1-1 after 90 minutes; Russia win 4-3 on penalties
01/07/2018 6 - Croatia 1-1 Denmark ; After Extra Time, 1-1 after 90 minutes; Croatia win 3-2 on penalties
02/07/2018 3 - Brazil 2-0 Mexico
02/07/2018 4 - Belgium 3-2 Japan
03/07/2018 7 - Sweden 1-0 Switzerland
03/07/2018 8 - Colombia 1-1 England ; After Extra Time, 1-1 after 90 minutes; England (!) win 4-3 on penalties

Quarter-Finals
06/07/2018 A - France 2-0 Uruguay
06/07/2018 B - Brazil 1-2 Belgium
07/07/2018 D - Sweden 0-2 England
07/07/2018 C - Russia 2-2 Croatia ; After Extra Time, 1-1 after 90 minutes; Croatia win 4-3 on penalties


Semi-Finals
10/07/2018 1 - France 1-0 Belgium
11/07/2018 2 - Croatia 2-1 England ; After Extra Time, 1-1 after 90 minutes

Third Place Playoff
14/07/2018 - Belgium 2-0 England

Final
France 4-2 Croatia
15/07/2018​

Top scorers
6 - Harry Kane (England)
4 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
4 - Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
4 - Denis Cheryshev (Russia)
3 - Diego Costa (Spain)
3 - Kylian Mbappe (France)
3 - Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)
3 - Antoine Griezmann (France)

 

The pots for the draw look like this:
Pot A
Russia (hosts)
Germany (1)
Brazil (2)
Portugal (3)
Argentina (4)
Belgium (5)
Poland (6)
France (7)

Pot B
Spain (8)
Peru (10)
Switzerland (11)
England (12)
Colombia (13)
Mexico (16)
Uruguay (17)
Croatia (18)

Pot 3
Denmark (19)
Iceland (21)
Costa Rica (22)
Sweden (25)
Tunisia (28)
Egypt (30)
Senegal (32)
Iran (34)

Pot 4
Serbia (38)
Nigeria (41)
Australia (43)
Japan (44)
Morocco (48)
Panama (49)
South Korea (62)
Saudi Arabia (63)

Aside from UEFA, no two teams from the same Confederation can be drawn into the same group, and no more than two teams from UEFA can be drawn into the same group.

The groups with the lowest average ranking possible would be:
Brazil
Spain
Costa Rica
Serbia

and
Brazil
Spain
Denmark
Nigeria

Potential Groups of Death are:
Germany/Brazil
Mexico
Egypt
Serbia

or
Germany
Colombia
Egypt
Serbia

or
Portugal
Spain
Egypt
Nigeria

While any team drawn in this group would be incredibly optimistic about the next round:
Poland
Peru/England*
Iceland*/Senegal
Panama

 

The draw so far:

Group A
Russia
Uruguay
Egypt
Saudi Arabia

Group B
Portugal
Spain
Iran
Morocco

Group C
France
Peru
Denmark
Australia

Group D
Argentina
Croatia
Iceland
Nigeria

Group E
Brazil
Switzerland
Costa Rica
Serbia

Group F
Germany
Mexico
Sweden
South Korea

Group G
Belgium
England
Tunisia
Panama

Group H
Poland
Colombia
Senegal
Japan

 

Ouch.

 

For Group of Death... Well, by the October rankings, this group has the lowest mean ranking, of 18.25:

But by the November rankings, this group's 17.75 mean ranking beats it:

And you'll be shocked to learn that this group has the lowest, at 43.75/45:

Although that includes Russia's ranking of 65 - but even without it, the group ranks at around 38, 13 ranking points below the next easiest group.

And by November rankings that's as easy a possible draw as Russia could have got... Imagine that.

 

Not at all, as my coffee is wonderful as it is without any polonium flavouring.

Edit: I've filled in the group and knockout stage fixtures in posts two and three... So who do we think will make the semis?

 

I think I'm going for the knockouts as:

Uruguay - Portugal
France - Argentina
Spain - Egypt
Brazil - Mexico
Iceland - Australia
Belgium - Poland
Germany - Switzerland
Colombia - England

Which should lead to:
France - Portugal
Spain - Brazil
Iceland - Belgium
Germany - England

Then:
Portugal - Brazil
Belgium - Germany

And, finally:
Brazil - Germany


Tasty.

 

FIFA has revealed the suspicious betting activity that lead to a 2018 finals qualifying match being replayed and its referee suspended:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42693253

 

What did FIFA do?

FIFA only gave him a 6 month ban. It's WADA that got it increased to 14 months.