The Official World Cup Thread

[Mongoose1983]

I did see the 2nd half and I believe Croatia played the best football I've seen in the whole tournament, but that of course only for those 45 minutes. Unfortunately, France scored two more goals and closed the door.

It was not a bad tournament, certainly more exciting than previous worldcups like 2002 or 2006, haha, but I still have all types of mixed feelings about it, and also the usual and futile "what ifs"... Starting with Chile not getting in, and some other important squads not being able to go through the qualy stages, too, Italy or the Netherlands were sorely missed. And even if not for their playing (in the case of Italy) I believe having so many countries playing this worldcup AND the big surprises in the group stage this year made the tournament look a bit lesser compared to the two previous ones.

What if Caballero did not made that horrible mistake? That minute shattered Argentina's confidence much more than their lousy opening game against Iceland. And what if their game against France lasted just ten darn minutes longer? Furthermore, what if Cavani could have played against France? Uruguay got in the field with some black cloud on top of them showing in some unbelievable lack of confidence, something that goes against anything that's acceptable for players sporting the legendary "Celeste". And what about the penalties that washed away Spain??

I do believe confidence played a big role in this worldcup. That is mostly what kept the Frenchmen winning their games.

Congrats to France. Their players did the right thing in the precise minute. And so they take the trophy home.

[Nostalgiabuff]

that was a great game. lot's of action and very entertaining to watch. we were in Montreal and watched in a bar. my 14 year old daughter had her first big game experience and loved it! she can't wait for the next world cup. France played really well and deserved the win

[Hector]

Congrats, France!

[TrekStar]

France pretty much dominated most of that game, just that one dumb bonehead play buy the goaltender,
France played great and 20 years in the waiting, I can say....Champions de la coupe du monde.

[Bruce Banner]

And there you have it.

See you in four years... in Qatar!

[Meule]

I think we deserved that win

[Bruce Banner]

Ah, well. For a fleeting moment I dared hope that England could win the trophy again... but it wasn't to be.

But at least we get to play Belgium again.

[Meule]

That also means Belgium will meet England again this Saturday

[Hector]

Smallest country since Uruguay to be in a World Cup Final...

[Hector]

Damn, Croatia just knocked off England.

[Meule]

Nothing but the utmost respect for Croatia... a deserved win for sure...

[Meule]

Yeah, it was a good run while it lasted... We didn't bring our A game, but it was difficult playing against such a defensive team...
The French game wasn't much to look at and while I still don't think they were better, I will say they were smarter...
You could feel it: whoever scored first would win the match... Sadly for us it was the French...
But at least we can say we knocked the Brazilians out of the championship... and we showed the world what we are made of...
Everyone here in Belgium is proud of what the Red Devils have done... Still, the final was within reach...

[J.B.]

"Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest"

I wanna see a Napoleon and a Wellington...

"Mmm....me too."

[EmergencyIan]

Sincere condolences, Meule. Your team did such a great job. I know that it doesn’t mean much, at this moment, but this was special.

- Ian

[TrekStar]

You do understand I hate you right now, right? But I'll forgive you once we've beaten France in the semi-final

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