# World Cup Finals Draw Friday 12-1 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 26, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767 "2017-11-26T18:06:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/1 "2017-11-26T18:06:04Z")
Beginning at 7am PST; 10am EST 3pm GMT POT 1 RUS GER BRA POR ARG BEL POL FRA POT 2 SPA PER SWI ENG COL MEX URU CRO POT 3 DEN ICE CO RI SWE TUN EGY SENE IRAN POT 4 SER NIG AUS JAP MOR PAN SK SA As usual, the pots have some idiotic choices: Russia and Poland in pot 1 and Spain and England in pot 2. If we see a group like the below we know corruption is still running rampant through FIFA RUSSIA PERU IRAN MOROCCO ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/2 "2017-11-26T18:16:39Z")
I posted this in the wrong forum. Would any passing Mod please move it over to the Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/3 "2017-11-26T18:17:01Z")
Placed in the wrong forum. I’m moving it. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/4 "2017-11-26T18:25:27Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/5 "2017-12-01T17:09:24Z")
A few of the more interesting matchups: All times PDT 6-15 10am Por v Spa 6-16 10am Arg v Ice in a David v Goliath match 6-17 7am Ger v Mex 6-19 4am and 7am Group H matches 6-24 7am and 10am Group H matches 6-28 6am Group H matches 10am Eng v Bel I chose Group H because it looks to be very competitive. It has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan. Has there ever been a more boring opening match than Russia v Saudi Arabia? Baring upsets, Brazil, France and England are on one side of the draw and Germany, Spain and Argentina on the other. Saturday, 6-16, a whopping 4 matches: 2am Fra v Aus 5am Arg v Ice 8am Peru v Den and 11am Cro v Nigeria ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/6 "2017-12-01T17:27:52Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Has there ever been a more boring opening match than Russia v Saudi Arabia? I don’t remember Germany-Bolivia in 1994 really stirring the soul, nor South Africa-Mexico in 2010. With respect to the rest of your post - I reckon Iceland can knock Argentina off in that game. Argentina are good going forward but their defence is terrible. No one should be worried on which side of the draw England sits. We’ll be rubbish, as per usual. I wouldn’t put it past us to beat Panama, draw against Tunisia and lose against Belgium for a total of 4 points, whilst Tunisia beat Panama and draw against Belgium, giving them 5 and knocking us out. Germany being on the side of the draw that might give them Spain (who, whilst handy, aren’t what they were) and an Argentina side I’ve already suggested aren’t that worrying, whilst sticking Brazil and France on the other side of the draw is very good for them. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/7 "2017-12-01T17:37:52Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > I don’t remember Germany-Bolivia in 1994 really stirring the soul, nor South Africa-Mexico in 2010. > > With respect to the rest of your post - I reckon Iceland can knock Argentina off in that game. Argentina are good going forward but their defence is terrible. > > No one should be worried on which side of the draw England sits. We’ll be rubbish, as per usual. I wouldn’t put it past us to beat Panama, draw against Tunisia and lose against Belgium for a total of 4 points, whilst Tunisia beat Panama and draw against Belgium, giving them 5 and knocking us out. Germany being on the side of the draw that might give them Spain (who, whilst handy, aren’t what they were) and an Argentina side I’ve already suggested aren’t that worrying, whilst sticking Brazil and France on the other side of the draw is very good for them. I think England will easily make it to the quarterfinals. Their round of 16 match against H2 could be tricky but I think they will have too much class for them. That sets up a July 7th match against Brazil. But Brazil aren’t what they used to be. Apart from Germany, the field is the most competitive in years. As far as the opening match, Germany was Germany and South Africa was playing the first World Cup match on African soil against a decent Mexican side. And vavuzelas :p. Both Russia and SA are not only horrible but they are boring, imo. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/8 "2017-12-01T17:46:12Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I think England will easily make it to the quarterfinals. Their round of 16 match against H2 could be tricky but I think they will have too much class for them. That sets up a July 7th match against Brazil. But Brazil aren’t what they used to be. Apart from Germany, the field is the most competitive in years. This rather assumes that England will win the group to get drawn against H2. I think Belgium will top England’s group. It’s more likely they play the winner of that group, I would say. It is true that, aside from Group A, getting Group H in the second round is about as kind a draw as you could get. Once, you’re in the QFs, everybody should be pretty decent. As an Englishman, I will hold fast to the rule that has held true for our performance in almost every tournament in my lifetime. The first decent side we play against will beat us. I think they need to be going into the Belgium match with 2 wins under their belts. In honesty, I think this tournament has to be about continuing to blood more of our young players and getting them more experience at the top level, so as we might have a better chance in a Euros or World Cup further down the road. As for the opening matches - agree to disagree I’m afraid. That Germany side were in between two decent teams and weren’t that interesting for me. I’m not that bothered about pageantry so South Africa hosting their World Cup wasn’t something I was interested in either. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/9 "2017-12-01T18:03:34Z")
Diego Maradona has morphed into Dracula. [https://goo.gl/images/fH8JwC](https://goo.gl/images/fH8JwC) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/10 "2017-12-01T18:04:55Z")
Russia’s check cleared I see. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/11 "2017-12-01T18:55:38Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Russia’s check cleared I see. I couldn’t agree more. But they will have to score goals to advance. It would be awesome if Salah and Egypt beat them and knock them out of the tourney. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/12 "2017-12-01T19:33:26Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I couldn’t agree more. But they will have to score goals to advance. It would be awesome if Salah and Egypt beat them and knock them out of the tourney. I’m thinking that it isn’t as easy as it could have been. Egypt are certainly no mugs and Uruguay would be favourites to beat Russia, so…Vlad’s cheque book may be needed again. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/13 "2017-12-01T19:51:04Z")
South Korea’s got a tough run to make. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/14 "2017-12-01T20:39:54Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > South Korea’s got a tough run to make. I think that them, Mexico and Sweden are rather evenly matched for the runner-up position. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/15 "2017-12-01T20:43:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m thinking that it isn’t as easy as it could have been. Egypt are certainly no mugs and Uruguay would be favourites to beat Russia, so…Vlad’s cheque book may be needed again. Russia got the second lower, third lowest, and absolute lowest teams out of pots 2-4. So while it could have been slightly easier (and some of the easier combinations are precluded due to confederations), it couldn’t have been much easier. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/16 "2017-12-02T04:07:07Z")
Russia have a good chance to advance. Which is a good thing, as it keeps interest in the home country high. If you will recall, we faced similar issues in 1994, resulting in the epic July 4th confrontation with eventual winners Brazil (a game I was on hand for personally). England will not top their group, and thus will be in the bottom half of the table, if they qualify through at all. Belgium are not ranked in Pot 1 as a fluke. As for opening matches, the Germany v. Bolivia game from Soldier Field was a complete snooze-fest, played as it was in the mid-day heat. They would have been much better off opening the tournament with the USA v. Switzerland game at Pontiac Silverdome, which happened the next day. I had to laugh at the reference by Gary Lineker to the famous _la mano de Dios_ goal. “Diego’s always been good with his hands.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_McGinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mrs\_McGinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_McGinty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/17 "2017-12-08T19:24:31Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Has there ever been a more boring opening match than Russia v Saudi Arabia? USA v Switzerland in '94. Two dull teams, a history of dull matches between them, and no subtext whatsoever. Did anyone expect it to be anything other than a low-scoring draw? By contrast Russia v Saudi Arabia has plenty going for it. Both sides are highly unpredictable, technically skilled but defensively suspect, and have tended to play in higher scoring matches both in the past and recently. There’s only been one previous meeting between them, and a friendly at that, but it was a cracker of a game that ended 4-2 to the Saudis. And then there’s the political subtext, which I’m not going to go into here, but certainly adds a little spice to the mix, given how both nations have treated sport as a means to political ends in the past. Edit: Didn’t see the previous post. Funny, I could have sworn it was the first game (and I watched all of them). Too many years of whiskey and beers, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-finals-draw-friday-12-1/802767/18 "2017-12-10T16:14:48Z")
> [@Mrs\_McGinty](#): > > USA v Switzerland in '94. Two dull teams, a history of dull matches between them, and no subtext whatsoever. Did anyone expect it to be anything other than a low-scoring draw? > > By contrast Russia v Saudi Arabia has plenty going for it. Both sides are highly unpredictable, technically skilled but defensively suspect, and have tended to play in higher scoring matches both in the past and recently. There’s only been one previous meeting between them, and a friendly at that, but it was a cracker of a game that ended 4-2 to the Saudis. And then there’s the political subtext, which I’m not going to go into here, but certainly adds a little spice to the mix, given how both nations have treated sport as a means to political ends in the past. > > Edit: Didn’t see the previous post. Funny, I could have sworn it was the first game (and I watched all of them). Too many years of whiskey and beers, I guess. Thank you for making this match much more interesting to me. 🙂