# If you're following the World Cup... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096 "2006-06-17T20:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/1 "2006-06-17T20:20:11Z")
Who are you rooting for? I’m England, all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/2 "2006-06-17T20:22:42Z")
England, for obvious reasons. I have money on South Korea and the Czech Republic, so I won’t be too unhappy if they win. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/3 "2006-06-17T22:46:15Z")
Not really, but if I were, Australia clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/4 "2006-06-17T22:47:27Z")
England, as always, as will ever be. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/5 "2006-06-17T22:49:24Z")
England, obviously. Want to lose: Germany, Argentina, Italy, France. All for bigoted reasons 😉 I do like seeing the USA do well, and after today’s match, Ghana have got my support. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/6 "2006-06-17T23:24:07Z")
England here. I reckon Brazil will win it; England might make third. Peope here seem rather down on England’s chances after the match against Trinidad and Tobago - they were expecting a walkover - but I watched T&T’s match against Sweden and they’re no slouches. I feel it was unrealistic to expect a walkover and England did well: they pushed and pushed, and eventually T&T caved. Unlike the England vs Paraguay match where Ericsson was an utter prat with his second half substitutions. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/7 "2006-06-17T23:24:28Z")
Croatia, I like the checkerboard uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/8 "2006-06-17T23:53:39Z")
I guess I get to be the token Yank in this thread. Yes, an American following the World Cup. I believe there are seven of us. So, of course I’m rooting for the USA. Not that I like our chances very much at this point. Still, assuming we can beat Ghana (which is an iffy proposition at this point), we’ve got a fair chance of moving on (and likely getting crushed by Brazil). ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/9 "2006-06-17T23:58:59Z")
I’m English, so I’m committed. (Especially since I watched us win in '66 :eek: ). But any team that plays like Argentina did (against Serbia + Montenegro) deserves to win. On a less serious note, I’m watching from a comfy chair and love robotic dance celebrations. Oh yes, I’m a … **Crouch Potato**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/10 "2006-06-18T00:54:39Z")
> [@Suburban Plankton](#): > > I guess I get to be the token Yank in this thread. > > Yes, an American following the World Cup. I believe there are seven of us. > > So, of course I’m rooting for the USA. Not that I like our chances very much at this point. Still, assuming we can beat Ghana (which is an iffy proposition at this point), we’ve got a fair chance of moving on (and likely getting crushed by Brazil). My husband is another one. I introduced him to it, he introduced me to American football. Fair enough exchange, I suppose. He is rooting for the US, though, like you, he believes it is not realistic to believe they will win. He thinks Brazil, Germany, or the Netherlands are good contenders. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/11 "2006-06-18T03:23:24Z")
America, of course. I’m just going to say that they will go all the way, I’ll just never specify the exact date. And there are now 9 supporters in the States. I got my best friend to watch some of the matches, and now she loves it, too. She watched the Argentina match and thought “the head thing was cool!” and also watched that recent no scoring one. Not only this, but her little brother watches it with her now, and he is hooked as well In fact, we went outside and we played soccer for over an hour after the U.S. match. I tried to teach him some basics, but so far he mostly just likes trying to chip and kick it really hard. This was a kid obsessed with baseball, playing all day every day. We are winning the hearts and mind of the Americans! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/12 "2006-06-18T03:43:58Z")
My exposure to soccer as a child, other than playing the game, came from watching English premier league action on Saturdays. So, I’ll favour the Brits. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/13 "2006-06-18T05:20:09Z")
England without a doubt. Congrats on the Americans for holding Italy to a 1-1 scoreline. Now a question… Supposing that in one group all games end 0-0 and that the statistics for all 4 teams in that group are identical. Number of shots on goal, throw ins, corners, free kicks, red/yellow cards etc.etc. Highly unlikely I know but IF this happened how would FIFA determine which 2 teams progressed to the knock out stages. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/14 "2006-06-18T08:38:04Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Supposing that in one group all games end 0-0 and that the statistics for all 4 teams in that group are identical. > Number of shots on goal, throw ins, corners, free kicks, red/yellow cards etc.etc. > Highly unlikely I know but IF this happened how would FIFA determine which 2 teams progressed to the knock out stages. Drawing of lots. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/15 "2006-06-18T08:52:36Z")
Not that unlikely when there are only three games in the group stage - it happened in 1990 to decide second and third places in a group in which Ireland and the Netherlands had the same points and goals for and against. Ireland got second place, but fortunately it didn’t mean the Netherlands were eliminated because third place was usually good enough in that tournament. I’m supporting England, natch, but otherwise would be happy to see Argentina or Spain or some plucky underdog win it. I’m gradually going off Brazil because of the way British pundits practically have orgasms every time they touch the ball. They’re not THAT good, guys. They had great teams in 1970, and 1982, but otherwise in the World Cups I’ve seen they’ve been no better than any other leading country, overall. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/16 "2006-06-18T09:06:21Z")
Having family all over the place gives me two underdog teams and one contender to root for. My underdogs: Japan and the US Contender: France Rooting against: England, just because. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/17 "2006-06-18T09:28:43Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Drawing of lots. Really? you sure about this because it seems a an “unfootballish” way of doing it. :dubious: I would have thought some sort of play off system or even a penalty competition between the 4 teams involved. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/18 "2006-06-18T09:30:12Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > America, of course. I’m just going to say that they will go all the way, I’ll just never specify the exact date. > > And there are now 9 supporters in the States. I got my best friend to watch some of the matches, and now she loves it, too. She watched the Argentina match and thought “the head thing was cool!” and also watched that recent no scoring one. Not only this, but her little brother watches it with her now, and he is hooked as well In fact, we went outside and we played soccer for over an hour after the U.S. match. I tried to teach him some basics, but so far he mostly just likes trying to chip and kick it really hard. > > This was a kid obsessed with baseball, playing all day every day. We are winning the hearts and mind of the Americans! I think the US are currently playing near a big US base in Germany (Kaiserlauten?). Certainly there is a lot of US support in the stadium. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/19 "2006-06-18T09:30:24Z")
Australia plays Brazil in about 5 hours time. I am so hoping that all the Brazilian players suffer from some sort of minor seizure about 15 minutes into the game which renders them unable to use their feet for anything but tapdancing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096/20 "2006-06-18T09:36:52Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I am so hoping that all the Brazilian players suffer from some sort of minor seizure about 15 minutes into the game which renders them unable to use their feet for anything but tapdancing. > > 😃 Hey, I’d watch! I’m mostly rooting for the underdogs - and after Team USA’s smacking at the hands of the Czech Republic, I think they are technically underdogs 😉 Flodjunior is much more into it than me, he’s supporting the Netherlands, Spain, the US, and Australia. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-following-the-world-cup/361096.md?page=2)