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2026 FIFA World Cup – Group G Focus

3 June 20264 June 2026Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

With the World Cup about to start, one of the things I haven’t talked much about has been the controversies. Every World Cup gets them. Most of the time, the biggest controversies of a World Cup tournament happen on the playing field. This World Cup seems to have the most controversies before it even happening.

This is a controversy worth noting because two of the nations in this group are affected by all this. The biggest has to be the US Immigration Policies. Even in Trump’s first term while the United big won the right to host, Trump had a list of Muslim-majority nations where immigration was banned. FIFA warned Trump of the problems trying to ban coaches, players and fans from countries that qualify. At the time, Trump reminded FIFA that all eligible people would be able to enter the United States without discrimination. That claim has been seen with suspicion lately with Trump’s return to the Presidency and him instituting a travel ban to people of 39 countries. Some nations on that ban have qualified for the World Cup. Also adding to the concern is the recent over-implementation of ICE and loading police forces in cities. The White House has stated that the travel ban does have an exemption for athletes and coaches for sporting events. Whether the ban has fans exempt, only time will tell.

I’ll save talking about the other controversies for other blogs. In the meantime, here’s my look at World Cup Group G:

-Belgium (9): Usually the big success of The Red Devils is an on-again, off-again thing. They captured the World’s imagination when they finished third in 2018 but success would soon evade them. At the 2022 World Cup, they failed to advance past the Group Stage. At the 2024 Euro, they only got as far as the Round Of 16. It was evident the coaches relied too much on the players of the Golden Generation and wasn’t paying enough attention to the younger talent. Changes needed to be done.

Since January 2025, the head coach of Belgium’s team is Frenchman Rudi Garcia and the team’s coaching staff is a mix of French, Belgian and English. Most of the team from the legendary 2018 World Cup team have retired from the national team but legends like striker Romelu Lukaku, midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and Axel Witsel, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois are still active. Joining them are rising young talents like defender Zeno Debast, midfielder Amadou Onana and defender Arthur Theate. In the past twelve months, Belgium have not had a single defeat. They’ve had notable wins to Wales, Croatia and the United States and they’ve also had draws to Mexico and North Macedonia. This World Cup looks to be a chance for Belgium to redeem its reputation in the football world.

-Egypt (29): I know I mentioned Morocco to be the first African team when continental placements were introduced in 1970 but Egypt is the first ever African team to play in a World Cup. It was at the very second World Cup in 1934. Unfortunately this will only be their fourth World Cup. If there’s one plus thing for The Pharaohs, it’s that this is Egypt’s best era for football. The eight-year gap between the 2018 World Cup and this Cup is the shortest gap ever for the team. Having a top player like Mohamed Salah really helps the team.

The coaching staff is almost all Egyptian except for a Brazilian coach who’s a load trainer. Head coach Hossam Hassan was part of Egypt’s team that competed at the 1990 World Cup. Most players play for either European teams or for Egypt’s own Premier League. Top players include goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, defender Ramy Rabia, midfielder Hamdy Fathy and striker Mohamed Salah. In the last twelve months, notable wins include against Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. They’ve had notable draws against Burkina Faso, the UAE and Angola, and their three losses were to Jordan, Uzbekistan and Senegal. Chances are at this World Cup, Egypt can take its football to new achievements.

-Iran (20): Right now is a tense time for Iran to play in the United States. A war just started in their nation and it has increased a lot of international tension. Recently, Donald Trump mentioned Iran should be replaced with Italy. Both nations were insulted. Especially since Team Melli have proven themselves both in the past and in the present. This will be their seventh World Cup: fourth consecutive. They’ve also finished runners-up at the last two Asian championships. The team has a lot to prove.

Iran’s coaching staff is mostly Iranian with some European coaches. Their head coach Amir Ghalenoei. Most of the players play for teams in Europe or with Iranian teams in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Top players include goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, defender Ehsan Hajsafi, midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh who plays for Belgium’s Dender, and striker Mehdi Taremi who plays for Greece’s Olympiacos. In the past twelve months, they’ve had notable wins against Costa Rica, Tanzania and India. They’ve had notable draws to Uzbekistan and Cape Verde, and losses to Nigeria, Russia and Qatar. If all goes well for Iran both in terms of their play and barring political pressures, they could deliver their best ever performance here at United 2026!

–New Zealand (85): For the first time ever at this World Cup, one birth would go to a team from the OFC: teams representing Oceania. Not surprisingly, it went to the All Whites! Mind you New Zealand does have the talent to play well. Although they didn’t qualify for the knockout round at their last World Cup, they did prove they knew how to contend by drawing all their matches. Even against defending champions Italy. In recent years, New Zealand has been showing a resurgence of better play.

The coaching staff is mostly from New Zealand with coaches form England, Scotland and South Africa. Head coach Andrew Boyens was part of New Zealand’s World Cup team for 2010 and has coached the national team since 2018. Most of the players play for European teams or for the Australia/New Zealand mixed A-League. Top players include goalkeeper Max Crocombe who plays for England’s Millwall, defender Michael Boxall who plays for MLS’s Minnesota United, midfielder Elijah Just who plays for Scotland’s Motherwell, and striker and captain Chris Wood who plays for Nottingham Forest. Their international play in the last twelve months have been mostly losses but they had a notable draw against Norway and wins against Ivory Coast and Chile. At this World Cup, New Zealand could defy the critics and deliver spectacular play.

My Qualifier Predictions: Alright. Here is where I stop praising the teams and where I start cutting to the chase and picking the best of the bunch. I anticipate Belgium to top with Iran to be second. I think Egypt will be third but they won’t make the wildcard cut.

And there you go. That’s my look at Group G of the World Cup. I know people don’t like hearing about the controversies but one thing about a World Cup, the show must go on!

WORK CITED:
“Concerns: 2026 FIFA World Cup.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2026. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup#Concerns>

UEFA Euro 2024 Preview Links

14 June 2024Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

One of the crazy things over the past three years is watching a football tournament with decent time zones. For Qatar 2022, there were some games I had to wake up real early to see at a cafe for 7am! For the Women’s World Cup last year, they were in Australia and New Zealand so I had to be really lucky if I wanted to catch them at good times. I think the final was at 3am my time. I tried to wake up on time that Sunday but it didn’t work out.

For Euro 2024, the times of the games are better for me. The first nine days may have some games that start as early as 6am for me, but the rest of the games starting times are either 9am or noon my time. Just like previous years, I plan to see them in as many cafes as I can.

This blog is a fast reference to all the blogging I’ve done about the six Euro groups. The links are in the group titles and by them, I will list my predictions for teams I expect to qualify out of those groups:

Group A – Germany, Hungary and Switzerland the wildcard (WC)

Group B – Spain, Croatia and Italy the WC

Group C – England and Denmark

Group D – France, Netherlands and Poland the WC

Group E – Belgium and Ukraine

Group F – Portugal, Czechia and Turkey the WC

UEFA Euro 2024: Group E Focus

11 June 202414 June 2024Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Before I dive into reviewing the Group E teams, I’ll say it’s interesting when UEFA did its Euro draw, it did the draw before the three playoff berths had their teams decided. This is not the first major tournament to do so. Both the men’s World Cup of 2022 and the women’s World Cup of 2023 also had draws before playoff teams were decided. This must be a new thing to do draws before playoff teams are decided. One of the three playoff teams will be here in Group E.

So here is my look at Group E. Interesting note is that Ukraine shares its border with two other nations in this group:

-Belgium (3): For a long time, the world has been dazzled by the Red Devils. Starting back in 2014, Belgium went through their greatest era ever showing teamwork like never before and leading the nation to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup. Unfortunately, they choked in the Group Stage at the 2022 World Cup. Soon after, Eden Hazard, Toby Alderweireld and Dries Mertens retired from the national team and Roberto Martinez was sacked as coach.

Belgium’s success comes in waves. There’s a period when they’re one of the best and there’s a period where they slump. Their new coach Domenico Tedesco will assure the team isn’t heading into the slump phase. Despite a lot of retirees since Qatar 2022, veterans like Romelu Lukaku, Kevin DeBruyne, Axel Witsel and Jan Vertonghen will be in Germany. Since their World Cup disappointment, they have not yet lost a game. They’ve had wins to Estonia, Azerbaijan and Germany. They’ve had a win and a draw to both Sweden and Austria as well as draws to England and the Republic of Ireland. Euro 2024 is the opportunity for Belgium to redeem itself and possibly even chase their first-ever Euro win.

-Slovakia (48): It’s tempting to call the Sokoli an underdog team. Slovakia have only been to one World Cup back in 2010. This is their third consecutive Euro. Surely, they want to do better than their best-ever Round of 16 finish from back in 2016. It won’t be easy ever since their B status in the UEFA Nations League fell to a C.

The team is coached by Italian Francesco Calzona. The irony being Italy was the defending World Cup champions in 2010 but Slovakia ended all chances of Italy qualifying for the Round Of 16 with a 3-2 win! The team has stars like defender Peter Pekarik, and midfielders Juraj Kucka and Ondrej Duda. Play in the last year and a half has been off and on. They’ve had wins over Iceland, Wales and Bosnia-Hercegovina. They’ve had a win and a draw to Luxembourg, a draw to Norway and lost to Portugal. Germany is the opportunity for Slovakia to show Europe what they’re made of and possible deliver a surprise or two.

-Romania (46): It’s been a lot of difficulty for the Tricolorii to establish themselves in world football. Right after Communism was overthrown in Romania, their football came alive with three World Cup appearances in the 1990’s and even progressing past the Group Stage for the first time. Now it’s a struggle. Their last World Cup qualification was for 1998. Their last win of a Euro game was in 2000 despite participating in 2008 and 2016. Romani is hoping to get their reputation back after moving up to the B status in the Nations League.

Since 2022, the team has been coached by Edward Iordanescu. Their top players include midfielders Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin and forward George Puscas. They’ve had a win and a draw against Belarus, Switzerland and Israel. They’ve also had draws to Bulgaria, Liechtenstein and Northern Ireland and a loss to Colombia. Germany is the stage to show the world what the current Romanian team is made of.

-Ukraine (22): A war can sometimes hurt a nation greatly, or a war can inspire a pride in a nation like no other. The Blue and Yellow is one team that knows how to play strong even as their country is going through a devastating war. The war caused a delay in playoff games for the qualification for the 2022 World Cup. It was postponed until June of that year, but Ukraine won over Scotland and then lost to Wales in the last match needed.

The Ukrainian team is managed by Serhiy Rebrov who played in Ukraine’s first and only appearance at the World Cup in 2006. Top players include defender Mykola Matviyenko and midfielders Taras Stepanenko and Andriy Yarmolenko and forward Roman Yaremchuk. In the last year and a half, Ukraine has delivered wins against Iceland, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Moldova and North Macedonia. They’ve drawn against Germany, had a draw and a loss against both Italy and England, and lost to Poland. You can bet Ukraine is ready to play hard and do better than their quarterfinal finish from the last Euro.

My Predictions: For this group’s qualifiers, I predict they will be Belgium and Ukraine. Slovakia will have enough points for third but not enough to get a wildcard qualification.

EURO 2024 MASCOT: ALBART

Euro 2024’s mascot is a teddy bear named “Albärt” whose name was voted on by the general public.

World Cup 1974 mascots Tik and Tak are tacky by today’s standards. World Cup 2006 mascot Goleo was confusing because a lion is more associated with The Netherlands or England instead of Germany. For Euro 2024, the mascot is an anthropomorphic teddy bear with a full football uniform named “Albärt.” He was introduced at the Germany vs. Colombia game in June 2023 but was unnamed at first. After his introduction, a public poll was released to choose his name. Choices included “Albärt”, “Bärnardo”, “Bärnheart” and “Herzi von Bär”. The winning name was revealed on July 5, 2023 with “Albärt” receiving 32% of the votes.

And there you go. That’s my look at Euro 2024 Group E and a look at the Euro 2024 mascot. That means only one group left to review! It is catching up fast!

WORK CITED:

WIKIPEDIA: UEFA Euro 2024 – Mascot. Wikipedia.com. 2024. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2024#Symbols>

World Cup 2018: My Prediction For The Final, And Third-Place Playoff Too

14 July 201813 December 2022Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Final

I know most of my picks for the Group Stage panned out while some didn’t. I know I was very good at predicting the Round Of 16 and QuarterFinals but was off a bit. Also I know I got both SemiFinals wrong. Nevertheless I’m not worried. If the BBC’s Mark ‘Lawro’ Lawrenson can have a 52% success rate and still keep his job, I’m pretty comfortable right now.

Anyways the last two big matches will be contested this weekend. Here are my reviews of the two big matches:

The 3rd-Place Match for the bronze medal will be contested Saturday the 14th in Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg. The Final for the Cup will take place at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

THIRD-PLACE PLAYOFF REVIEW:

The 3rd-Place Match for the bronze medal will be contested Saturday the 14th in Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg. Often you wonder who normally wins the 3rd-Place Match? The team who most feels they have one last thing to prove? Or the team that’s the least disheartened? Whatever the situation, it should make for an interesting match. Especially since both teams met in the Group Stage in Group G. Here’s my review of both teams.

Past Head-To-Head Results: England and Belgium have squared off 22 times before. England won 15 times and Belgium won only three times including here in Russia 1-0 in group play. They drew four times in the past. As for World Cup play, their other two games were a 1990 Round-of-16 win for England and a 4-4 draw in 1954.

Belgium: The Red Devils should be admired. They are a collection of marvelously talented players in their own right coming together to give Belgium one of their best World Cup performances ever, if not the best. They proved to be a top challenger for the final, but the goal from France’s Unmiti in the 51st minute ended their World Cup dreams. Nevertheless the Belgian team here have the chance to give Belgium it’s best-ever World Cup finish. Belgium’s best finish ever was 4th in 1986. Here’s the chance for them to win a 3rd-place match. An excellent chance to revive the #RedTogether spirit.

They have the advantage since they met England in group play and won 1-0. They can do it again. However they did show vulnerability in their game against Japan when they trailed 2-0 with 25 minutes to go. They did do an excellent job of coming back to win. However their luck ran out when they faced France. Their top players are still in excellent form in this ‘marathon’ of a competition, but they have to function together if they want to win this.

England: They came in 2018 with a new team and a new determination based on past humiliations. They came with a fairly young coach with experience playing in a World Cup. They came from the various teams of the Premier League with a lot of established talents and a lot of young rising talents. They came with the hope of winning England’s first World Cup since 1966. They delivered one of their best group stage showings in years. They delivered England’s first-ever win of a World Cup game on penalties after losing the previous three. They came with their fans chanting It’s Coming Home (in reference to the Euro 1996 theme song). Then it ended in the semifinal against Croatia. They began strong with a goal from Kieran Trippier in the 5th minute. However they were losing it after Ivan Perisic equalized in the 68th minute. It was Mandzukic in the 108th minute that took the match for Croatia and brought an end to the #ItsComingHome phenomenon.

However the 3rd-Place Match can give England one last thing to prove. This is only England’s third time to the Top 4 of the World Cup. The team has done an excellent job of putting their Premier League differences aside and play as one unified team. Gareth Southgate has done an excellent job of coaching and has successfully help Team England overcome many past adversaries and many weaknesses the team had for a long time. That gives England an advantage leading into the match. However England hasn’t fully overcome their habit of choking at big events. Sure their finish here will be their biggest since 1990, but they can blow it if the team don’t come together and deliver the same play they delivered over this past month. This was no ordinary Three Lions here in Russia 2018. This was a new Team England that had a lot to prove and did prove a lot.

My Final Verdict: I know Belgium beat England in the group stage, but this is a new match. The game will go to the team that has the best team tactics and functions as one. I’ll say it will be Belgium winning 2-0.

THE FINAL

I know for my review, you will see me repeating a lot of what I wrote for my SemiFinal review. There’s a purpose. Because all they went through will be coming to this moment. Making it to the final is no easy journey. It’s also not just about having a great team of assembled talent. It’s about having your team together, it’s about them delivering each and every time, it’s the ability to protect from racked up injuries to players, it’s the ability to endure mentally… basically it’s a month-long marathon. A game of survivor.

The World Cup has all these games to basically narrow it down to the very two to play in the Final to decide the Cup. Of the two teams that made it, one made it to the Final twice before and won 20 years ago, while the other is playing in the Final for the first time ever. So without further ado, my review of the World Cup Final:

Past Head-To-Head Results: Croatia and France have played each other five times in the past. Both teams drew twice. France has won the other three games, including the 1998 World Cup semifinal 2-1.

France: France is a nation whose football greatness really only started to take off in the early 1980’s. It was in Mexico 1986 that France got its first-ever Top 3 finish. They would fail to qualify for the next two World Cups, but would host in 1998 and would go on to win. Some say France’s team of 1998 was the best World Cup team since Brazil in 1970.

They’ve had a lot of ups and downs since. In 2002, they suffered the ‘curse of the defending champion‘ and not only failed to advance past the group stage, but failed to even score a single goal. They would come back in 2006 and appeared to be on their way to a second World Cup, but Zidane’s head-butt to an Italian player and subsequent red card in extra time in the Final marked the end of their chances right there. Then the disastrous 2010 which I talked about in my Semifinal write-up.

However it was the 2014 World Cup that showed a ray of hope for the French team. They were out in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Germany, but the team showed a big improvement and promise for the future with young players like Pogba and Griezmann. France played host to Euro 2016. There they delivered the best showing of all teams en route to the Final for the Cup. Unfortunately they lost to Portugal 1-0 in added extra time.

Here in Russia, Les Bleus has delivered the best showing of all teams. They may have had the only 0-0 game of the World Cup so far, but all their other games were wins including all their knockout games, and all in regulation time. The #FiersDetreBleus phenomenon has taken them this far. France appears to have the best chances with players like Pogba, Griezmann, Giroud, Payet, young gun Mbappe and their goaltender Hugo Lloris who claims the loss at Euro 2016 really changed him. They look like the team that best has what it takes to win. However they could easily just let it go the same way they did in Euro 2016. If you remember their Round-Of-16 game against Argentina, they conceded three goals. They’re lucky they scored four to win. They all have to be together as a unified unit ready to play hard if they want to win the biggest match of their lives.

Croatia:

“Everybody cheers for David. Nobody cheers for Goliath.”

-Wilt Chamberlain

Croatia comes to the World Cup final as the underdogs. They also come as the first country with a population of under 5 million to qualify for a World Cup final since Uruguay back in 1950. They come as the biggest underdog story in decades. Already the hashtags of #Vatreni , #FlamingPride and #BudiPonosan have been big hits. However it was very hard and with a lot of heartache. It started with a 3rd-place finish in their first World Cup back in 1998. It was finally a chance for Croatian football to define their identity now that they were free from Yugoslavia. However it was a struggle since. The next four World Cups were cases of a failure to qualify in 2010 and out in the Group Stage the other three times. After the 2010 World Cup failure, Croatian football was about to make a comeback. They may have been out in the Group Stage in 2014, but there was promise shown by players like Ivan Perisic, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic.

Croatian football unfortunately was also given a big black eye in the last few years thanks to the irreverence of certain fans. Certain Croatian fans were known to shout racist slurs, wear Nazi symbols, and cause violent incidents during matches. The most noticeable was during the Euro 2016 match against the Czech Republic where flares were thrown onto the field. The Federation HNS and the National Team paid the biggest price by facing sanctions and fines from both FIFA and UEFA including having to play ‘closed’ matches. However after Euro 2016, Croatia has made strides to get tougher with fan behavior.

Here in Russia, The Blazers, or Vatreni, were brilliant in group play as they won all three of their games. Their biggest luck came in the Round of 16 against Denmark and the QuarterFinals against hosts Russia as they drew 1-1 and 2-2 respectively, only to win both in the penalty shoot outs. Then came their semifinal against England. The game went into 1-1 in regulation only for Mandzukic to deliver the game-winner in added extra time. There have been calls from many for Croatia to be disqualified since that match, but the alleged controversies have been proven false.

And to think Yugoslavia never qualified for a World Cup final ever in its existence! Croatia comes with the least star-studded team here in this stage of the World Cup. The key to Croatia’s success is for players like Modric, Perisic, Rakitic, Lovren, Mandzukic and Danijel Subasic to play as one functioning team. Many can easily dismiss Croatia’s success because of luck in the knockout rounds, but truly it is the team unity of the players that have got them this far. Croatia however has shown weakness of their own. The fact that they won two of their knockout matches in penalty shootouts shows they can come short on delivery. Whatever they’ve been holding back or just not delivering on in past games, it won’t work against a team like France. Croatia has a strong midfiled, but France’s midfield has proven more this Cup. Croatia’s team will have to play a lot harder if they want to win the Cup. If they do win the Cup, they will do it through their first-ever victory over France, at the very least.

My Final Verdict: Both teams have been performing well and with a great sense of team unity, but I have to pick France to win 3-1. It’s not just in terms of past performance, but also because of the brilliance of the players individually as well. Plus the fact the referee for the match will be an Argentinean won’t help Croatia too much.

And there you go. My look at the teams playing for both the match for the bronze medal and the Final to win the World Cup. Let’s sit back and watch history be crowned.

World Cup 2018: Semifinals Predictions

9 July 20189 July 2018Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

WC2018 Final Four

Hard to believe a little more than three weeks ago, the action was just starting. Now it’s winding down with the biggest action of all getting closer and closer. But before we can have the final on Sunday the 15th, we need the semifinals to decide the two that qualify. In both of the semifinals we’ll have won team that won a World Cup in the past and another team whose best result ever was making it to a past semifinal. All four teams are from European countries and and four never made it past the quarterfinals at the last World Cup. This will be the first World Cup since 1966 that will have a completely different Top 4 from the last.

Here I will do my review of the teams and also make my predictions. I hope I do better here than when I predicted in 2014. And to think I thought Brazil would win over Germany in 2014! After Germany delivered their ‘7-up,’ I sure felt dumb!

Without further ado, here’s a look at the four teams that will be in the semifinals and my prediction for each one:

SEMIFINAL #1 – FRANCE vs. BELGIUM

Head-To-Head Stuff:

France and Belgium have played each other 73 times. France won 24 times, Belgium won 30 times, and 19 were draws. At the World Cup, France faced Belgium only twice in a 1938 match and 1986 in the match for 3rd place, and France won both times.

Team By Team Analysis:

France: The current French team is an example of a team that arose from the ‘ruins’ of football. Some of you may remember the 2010 World Cup. If it was not France’s worst-ever performance, it was France’s hardest World Cup trip ever. The trip started on controversy as they had qualified thanks to a fist-aided goal from Thierry Henry in their qualifying playoff match against Ireland. Then at the World Cup 2010, striker Nicolas Anelka was fired from the team after an obscenity-laden dispute with manager Raymond Domenech. A boycott of training from players in response and a lecture from the French sports minister paved the way for France’s eventual loss in their last game. The team returned home in disgrace and the president of the FFF resigned, as did coach Domenech. It would be another six years for Domenech to accept another coaching job.

What happened after would be quite the rebound. They would continue to have difficulty at Euro 2012 by going out in the quarterfinals to Spain 2-0. Then Dider Deschamps, who was part of France’s World Cup-winning team of 1998, assumed the position of head coach and would give France quite the turn-around. The turnaround however was not an overnight success, but more of steady progression. It started at the 2014 world Cup where France bowed out at the quarterfinals after losing 1-0 to Germany, but promise was noticed. The team gave an improved showing of play and Paul Pogba was named Top Young Player of the Cup. Then came Euro 2016 which France was host nation. Until France lost in the final to Portugal 1-0 in extra time, France had delivered the best show of teamwork during the tournament and had the top scorer with Antoine Griezman scoring 6 goals. Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet also scored 3 goals of their own.

Excellence has continued for Les Bleus here at the World Cup and they look as one of the teams that can best win the Cup. Kylian Mbappe and Griezmann have three goals each. On top of that, they only conceded four goals. They’ve reached the Last 4 for only their sixth time. France has shown a lot of strength and a lot of team unity. There’s even talk Mbappe may win the Young Player award. It’s hard to pinpoint a mistake this last while. However they were rather conservative in the group stage. They did come alive in a big way in the knockout round but they did concede three goals against Argentina. They were lucky they delivered four. They will be facing a Belgian team that has become one of the more exciting teams of the Cup and will need to deliver.

Belgium: Belgium is another example of a team that took a long time to develop. This is only Belgium’s 13th World Cup but many are already calling this team the best Red Devils ever.

In the past, Belgium would only go as far as the group Stage or 1st round at the World Cup. Success for Belgium would come starting in the 1980’s when they made it past the opening stage for the first time in 1982 and then to the semifinals for the first time ever in 1986. Their 4th place finish in 1986 ranks currently as Belgium’s best World Cup finish ever. However they would struggle to repeat as they would find themselves out in the Round of 16 or the Group Stage during the next four World Cups. Then would come failure to qualify for the World Cups of 2006 and 2010, even after they recruited famed Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. They would even face a rock-bottom 66th ranking on FIFA list in 2009. They would miss qualifying for Euro 2012.

Red Devils 2002 — In 2002, a Belgian magazine published an article about young rising footballers. Count the number of Red Devils here in Russia!

Then came coach Marc Wilmots who himself played for team Belgium at four World Cups. He brought a new sense to the team. He found talent in players like Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to name a few and was able to get them to perform well as a team function. They’d go through straight wins in World Cup qualifying and would find themselves ranked 11th on FIFA’s list and a heavy favorite to go well at the World Cup. At the 2014 World Cup, they finished in the quarterfinals which was their second-best result ever. 2015 was their breakthrough year as they hit #1 for the first time ever on FIFA’s rankings. However they would face difficulties as they’d only make the quarterfinals at Euro 2016 losing to Wales 3-1. That’s when they then hired Spanish coach Roberto Martinez. The Belgian team has not lost a game since September 2016 and have come to Russia delivering straight wins to the semifinal.

No doubt they have a lot to win their semifinal against France. Their straight wins have shown for it. However they did show weakness during this World Cup. If you remember their Round-Of-16 match against Japan, they were trailing 2-0 into the 2nd half. It wasn’t until the 69th minute Belgium scored and then go on to win 3-2. That was quite a comeback. And a close call. However Belgium can’t afford to pull stunts like those any longer as they’re getting closer and closer to the Cup. They’re en route to becoming the best Belgian team ever and they need to stay en garde.

My Final Verdict:

Okay, you will now want me to make a prediction for this match. I think it will be a case of the match drawing 2-2 with Belgium taking it in a penalty shoot out.

SEMIFINAL #2 – ENGLAND vs. CROATIA

Head-To-Head Stuff: England and Croatia have squared off seven times before. England won four times, Croatia won twice and one was a draw. This will be the first time England and Croatia will play each other in a World Cup game.

Team By Team Analysis:

England: England has always been a subject of frustration. The Three Lions have only won a single World Cup: back in 1966 when they hosted. They have had difficulties whenever they’ve made it to the knockout rounds as they’d frequently expire in the quarterfinals or face elimination when the game ends up in penalty kicks. In fact England has been 0 for 3 at the World Cup for penalty kick matches. Then there are the embarrassments at the two most recent World Cups by expiring to Germany in a highly controversial 4-1 in the Round Of 16 and then failing to advance past the group stage in 2014. It always seemed like the case where the team is full of talent but they just couldn’t play well as a united team. Possibly they didn’t leave their Premier League rivalry at the door?

In 2016, right after they lost to Iceland 2-1 in the Round Of 16, they hired a new coach in Gareth Southgate who played for team England at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. They put in a lot of investment into young rising talent like John Stones and Harry Kane and goaltender Jordan Pickford. The work paid off as England qualified for the World Cup top of their group. Here in Russia, the Three Lions gave their fans a lot of relief as they won two games in group play and qualified for the knockout round. This marked the first time since 2010 they qualified for the knockout round and the first World Cup since 2010 that they won a game. Then came the big test against Columbia. They drew 1-1 against a team that was missing their star James Rodriguez and had to go to penalty kicks. Gulp! Instead they won the shootout 4-3 and their penalty kick curse was finally lifted. This marked their first win of a World Cup knockout match since 2006. The irony being Southgate missed a critical penalty against Germany in the Euro 1996 semifinals, when England was host! Then their quarterfinal against Sweden turned up a win of 2-0. This would mark only the third time England would reach the Top 4 of a World Cup and the first since 1990.

England bring to the semifinals a lot of top players and a better sense of team unity. Some say they may actually have what it takes to win the Cup. However they could also have what it takes to give it away too. Before their 1-1 draw to Colombia, they lost to Belgium 1-0. They will have to play right and not try to give anything away. Especially since they have a lot of rising talent to work with. A second World Cup has never been so close in a long time.

CROATIA football Croatia: Croatia is another case of a team whose struggle is also paying off here in Russia. Croatia came to be in the early 1990’s after the nation of Yugoslavia fell apart in a brutal civil war. Soon after Croatia declared independence in 1991, they fielded their own national team. However they would have to wait until after the 1994 World Cup for them to play internationally. They played their first World Cup in 1998 and surprised everybody by finishing third, beating out big names like The Netherlands and Germany in the process.

One thing about Croatia’s success in 1998 was that much of it was due to players who used to play for Yugoslavia. After 1998, Croatia worked to develop their own football identity and struggled along the way. They found themselves out in the group stages of 2002 and 2006. Then they’d fail to qualify for 2010. Between 2010 and 2014, they’d undergo two coaching changes. However 2014 showed signs of improvement for Croatian football with the development of talents like Luka Modric, Vedran Corluka, Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Perisic. The talent was there and they were back on the World Cup scene, but they still had to struggle as they again failed to advance past the group stage in 2014. Further difficulty came when Croatia lost in the Round of 16 at Euro 2016.

Croatia’s struggles were not just on the football field, but in the stands as well. In the past ten years, Croatian fans developed a reputation of being some of the most obnoxious in Europe with incidents like shouting racist taunts, showing off swastikas and throwing flares. The most notable being the game against the Czech Republic during Euro 2016 when flares were thrown onto the field. Sanctions against the Croatian team have come from UEFA and FIFA in the result of the team being fined money, the team losing game points in qualification play, and even the team having to play ‘closed-door’ games for a period of time.

Things have improved greatly for the Croatian team. There has not been a major incident of ‘hooliganism’ since Euro 2016. The team has also played like a strong team unit here in Russia by winning all their group stage games and qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time since their golden year of 1998. In knockout play, the Croatian team have won all their matches in penalty shootouts. This makes it the second time Croatia has made the Top 4 at the World Cup. Croatia has played very well. Especially with a surprise win over Argentina. However they have shown some weak spots in their knockout games. Unique how they’re a team with the least ‘stars’ but have beaten out teams with big names. Their team unity has taken them this far, but they will need it more than ever here in the semis and they have to be on guard if they want to win.

My Final Verdict:

Sure, Croatia has changed a lot since their last game against England in 2009. But England has changed a lot too. The careless mistakes we commonly see from England in major international play are not as present here. I don’t want to rely on sabermetrics completely, but I think England will win 3-1.

And there you have it. My look at the upcoming semifinals and my predictions. We’ll see who the real winners are on Tuesday and Wednesday.