EURO Soccer
- Thread starter dukedevilz
- Start date
Things could change a bit, but here's what I would project the Round of 16 to look like:
Top Half
Belgium
Portugal
Italy
Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Croatia
Spain
Bottom Half
Sweden
Ukraine
England
France
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Wales
Denmark
Top half of the bracket is unquestionably stronger. Bottom half will have at least two teams in the quarterfinals that aren't likely to contend for the title.
Top Half
Belgium
Portugal
Italy
Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Croatia
Spain
Bottom Half
Sweden
Ukraine
England
France
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Wales
Denmark
Top half of the bracket is unquestionably stronger. Bottom half will have at least two teams in the quarterfinals that aren't likely to contend for the title.
almost missed your last paragraph, and was about to post the same thing, like hot damn the top half is ridiculous conpared.
Goes back to having that group of death. Belgium gonna have to play portugal or germany first round when you have sweden/ukraine and wales/denmark in which i feel like belgium and portugal would be favored over any of those 4.
Pretty small complaint though and you gotta play the best to be the best, so whatever. Sans england who has no consistency, the bottom half looks like a cake walk for France. Soccers kinda like baseball though, crazy things can happen and you just never know. Part of the allure.
Goes back to having that group of death. Belgium gonna have to play portugal or germany first round when you have sweden/ukraine and wales/denmark in which i feel like belgium and portugal would be favored over any of those 4.
Pretty small complaint though and you gotta play the best to be the best, so whatever. Sans england who has no consistency, the bottom half looks like a cake walk for France. Soccers kinda like baseball though, crazy things can happen and you just never know. Part of the allure.
Yea i agree. I like the dutch tho so no complaints. My other squad, belgium tho, and they look to have the toughest draw of anyone. Portugal then likely italy then no telling. Germany looked really good against portugal, but they also got two own goals, so im not ready to say they are back from the flop in the last world cup, but they looked damn good that game even after falling down 1-0 early.
Switzerland has a nice squad though, i really like Embolo. Him and Lukaku are prob my two favorite Forwards in this tourney.
Switzerland has a nice squad though, i really like Embolo. Him and Lukaku are prob my two favorite Forwards in this tourney.
Hot damn spain finally woke up and decided to put the ball in the net. 5-0 dayum. Spains been hard to guage since they lost david villa imo they had everything youd want in a team besides a great striker. Then iniesta and ramos and others got too old and itll be interesting to see how far this “newish” version of spain can go. They were flat out dominating in Villa’s prime.
Yeah, Belgium likely has to face Portugal and Italy, just to get to the Semifinals. The Netherlands, on the other hand, might get Czech Republic and Wales. Huge difference.
Unbalanced brackets seem to happen in every tournament. Partly because the groups are unbalanced to begin with - but, also because some of the group favorites, such as Spain, don't win the group. The 2018 World Cup had glaring differences in the top and bottom bracket, too.
2018 WORLD CUP
Top Half
Uruguay
Portugal
France
Argentina
Brazil
Mexico
Belgium
Japan
Bottom Half
Spain
Russia
Croatia
Denmark
Sweden
Switzerland
Colombia
England
I'm all for anarchy. You want to be the best, beat the best. I can't remember what World Cup it was, but Germany was happy they were in the group of death. They wanted to knock strong teams out right out of the gate, and that's the right mentality to have.
Well also if you are in the group of death you dodge the other team that advances until the finals, so it can work out in your favor. I feel like usually only two teams advance in most pool play formats though, not 3.
I just feel like that second round would be alot more entertaining, if u swapped say belgium and sweden, who both won their groups.
But again pretty small complaint bc all these teams are full of world class players and anything can happen in a soccer match, truly a game of inches.
I just feel like that second round would be alot more entertaining, if u swapped say belgium and sweden, who both won their groups.
But again pretty small complaint bc all these teams are full of world class players and anything can happen in a soccer match, truly a game of inches.
Germany is down 1-0 to Hungary. If the score stands, Germany will not advance. Only 24 minutes in, so doesn't mean a whole lot at this point. A tie would put Germany through.
Luckily for Germany most people are watching the other game so they won't see them shit the bed.
Portugal scores on a PK. Holy cow. Would be crazy if Germany and France both lost today.
Weird PK. I'm conflicted on whether it should have been one. Looks like he got the ball first, but he did kinda punch him right in the head.
That’s a tough call. I think if he has gotten to the ball first then it wouldn’t have been. But it was a header first then the keeper punched it, then the player.
Either way, a difficult decision.
The first one is tough and you could probably argue either way. The second one I’d disagree with entirely.
Fvck. Didn't see what happened to Lucas Digne, but hopefully it isn't a bad injury.
He lasted 5 fvcking minutes on the pitch. Everton is fvcking cursed so he probably tore his hamstring or some shit.
He lasted 5 fvcking minutes on the pitch. Everton is fvcking cursed so he probably tore his hamstring or some shit.
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And here are the actual Round of 16 matchups. My rankings of the best teams remaining are in parenthesis.
Top Half
Belgium (1)
Portugal (8)
Italy (3)
Austria (13)
France (2)
Switzerland (11)
Croatia (9)
Spain (4)
Bottom Half
Sweden (10)
Ukraine (16)
England (7)
Germany (5)
Netherlands (6)
Czech Republic (15)
Wales (12)
Denmark (14)
Belgium might be the team to beat. But dang, they have such a treacherous path. Portugal, Italy, France/Spain... and either England, Germany, or the Netherlands in the Finals. Top 4 teams are all in the top half of the bracket, IMO.
Top Half
Belgium (1)
Portugal (8)
Italy (3)
Austria (13)
France (2)
Switzerland (11)
Croatia (9)
Spain (4)
Bottom Half
Sweden (10)
Ukraine (16)
England (7)
Germany (5)
Netherlands (6)
Czech Republic (15)
Wales (12)
Denmark (14)
Belgium might be the team to beat. But dang, they have such a treacherous path. Portugal, Italy, France/Spain... and either England, Germany, or the Netherlands in the Finals. Top 4 teams are all in the top half of the bracket, IMO.
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I would switch Italy and France in your rankings, personally. I wish the sides were a bit more even but stoked for some really good matchups as a result.
Probability wise, I think this is the most likely scenario. France will have an easier path than Belgium & Italy. And the Netherlands will have an easier path than England & Germany.
I'll toss out probability, and just go with the two teams that I think are the best, from the top and half of the bracket, Belgium and Germany. And Belgium takes it.
I think that's fair. You could make the argument that Italy has played better than anyone in the tournament. Crazy that potentially the two best teams might be facing off in the quarterfinals.
One of two things are about to happen
England finds out they still aren’t good enough because they overrate their players
Kane isn’t World class. No matter how they feel
or
You will hear all about England having a great chance at winning a major tournament
Most likely Germany wins.
England finds out they still aren’t good enough because they overrate their players
Kane isn’t World class. No matter how they feel
or
You will hear all about England having a great chance at winning a major tournament
Most likely Germany wins.
Eh 3-0 in group play with a GD of +6, not to mention the #1 team in the world.
The ranking system removes any opinion and goes on past performances.
Problem with that is a lot of those Belgian players are older
Looking at the younger teams.
Maybe get through Portugal.
For the last year including this tournament I would put Italy #1
Italy probably is #1 based on group play, but it’s not far fetched to have Belgium there.
Top half turned out even more difficult than you projected smh.
im liking germany +185 to beat englands overrated ass though.
England is the soccer equivalent of Texas basketball. World-class facilities and resources, top-rated players, yet, very minimal results.
France and Italy both have legitimate cases as the top team. Belgium is not head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Yet, Lukaku has never played better. De Bruyne is arguably the best midfielder in the world. Those guys are 28 and 29, respectively. They're in their prime. Eden Hazard has had quite a few injuries, and he isn't quite the same player, but still very effective. I think whoever wins the top half of the bracket, will likely win the European Championship.
I projected a Portugal-France tie, and a Germany win over Hungary. So, France and Germany had to be flipped. I think everything else is the same. I think most would agree that France is a bigger threat, so perhaps very advantageous on Germany's part to get the bottom half of the bracket. If Germany can slip by England, they'll have a good shot at advancing to the Finals.
Denmark is a quality team. Since I started paying attention in the late 1980s they have been near the top a lot of the time
Italy is still the favorite.
Teams that want to play behind the ball have no chance.
Italy is still the favorite.
Teams that want to play behind the ball have no chance.
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