Start Draw link doesnt work for me. Maybe i have to do my usual IFollow routine, change browser 5 times, clear Cache 3 times on each browser, stand on my head, prah to allah,swear profusely lots of times,go out in the garden and do a rain dance - then do all the above again in the reverse order...and then........it still doesnt work.
That Guardian link gave me: Poland, England, Iran, Panama. YES PLEASE!
Then it says we beat Costa Rica in the last 16 and get knocked out by Portugal in the quarter finals who are then knocked out in the semis by eventual winners France.
Not sure how much to believe it given that it says:
Worst for England would probably be: Brazil England Sweden Serbia
There are a lot of teams in pots 3 and 4 that would cause England problems. I'm going with Sweden because their performance against Italy the other night is exactly the type that England struggle against, and Serbia because I think they could be a real sleeper in pot 4.
Best would probably be: Poland England Iran Panama
That Guardian link gave me: Poland, England, Iran, Panama. YES PLEASE!
Then it says we beat Costa Rica in the last 16 and get knocked out by Portugal in the quarter finals who are then knocked out in the semis by eventual winners France.
Not sure how much to believe it given that it says:
Wouldn't getting knocked out by Portugal in a semi-final be the football tournament equivalent of putting on an old pair of sweatpants that fit just right? That sounds like progress right now.
Costa Rica have arguably gone backward in the last four years, but they're exactly the type of team I think England would struggle against: physical enough not to be bullied, but prepared to defend deep for 90 minutes and try to hit England on the counter.
Portugal, Iran, Panama? Yes please. Portugal are underrated as slow starters to tournaments.
Confused as to how they have Saudi Arabia getting out of a group with France (could easily see them imploding) AND Senegal. Or why they call a group with Brazil, Egypt, Serbia, and Croatia "weak."
England have a 54% chance of getting a draw that requires more travelling than the approximate 7,100km they covered in exiting the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Thirteen of the 24 possible outcomes open to Gareth Southgate's side will see them clock up even more.
The nightmare draw? That would be position C3.
First game in Saransk, then way out east to Yekaterinburg, and finally to the most southerly venue, Sochi. That's a round trip - heading back to their base near St Petersburg after all the games - of around 9,850km.
There are four other possibilities that all total over 9,000km:
Position B3 would see England travel about 3,110km - the least they can hope for.
That would see them play a first game in St Petersburg (about 100km from where they are staying), followed by matches in Moscow (about an hour's flight) and Kaliningrad (about an hour and a half by plane).
Only three other draws open to England total less than 5,000km in travelling:
B4 - St Petersburg, Kazan, Saransk (about 4,860km) E3 - Samara, St Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod (about 4,910km) D4 - Kaliningrad, Volgograd, St Petersburg (about 4,930km)."
So avoid Group C... ideally aim for Group B. Even better if we got drawn there with a Poland or Belgium. Even better still if Group A is as weak as expected (it's Group A vs Group B in round of 16).
So excited for the draw tomorrow. Like a little kid on Christmas Eve.
Always love watching Football Draws... Even when doing them on Football Manager - Think its the suspense of who your team is going to face and the disappointment when you find its another shite side like AFC Wimbledon
I don’t think they qualified for the World Cup this year....
Under Southgate we will be utter shit the group we end up in is irrelevant
Standard D, we've under achieved in major tournamentsl finals for 20 years under whoever manage us really.
98 we were unlucky but not the best team. 02 we had the best team (IMO) but conditions against us. 04 Rooney injury killed a massive opportunity 06 Squad selection killed us
Since then to put it frankly we have been utter shit at major tournaments. Hoping we can over achieve in the summer. Can't wait for the draw, roll on 4pm
England should hope for a European top seed so they can avoid the likes of Denmark, Sweden or Serbia from the lower pots as there's a maximum of two Euro teams per group. Worst groups could/would involve drawing Argentina or Brazil.
England should hope for a European top seed so they can avoid the likes of Denmark, Sweden or Serbia as there's a maximum of two Euro teams per group. Worst groups could/would involve drawing Argentina or Brazil.
Dunno... Denmark and Sweden dont overly worry me...
I know the latter beat Italy but they were awful at Euro 2016
Comments
Remarkably, it has us reaching the quarter finals and going out to Tunisia after beating Poland in the round of 16
Then it says we beat Costa Rica in the last 16 and get knocked out by Portugal in the quarter finals who are then knocked out in the semis by eventual winners France.
Not sure how much to believe it given that it says:
Poland, South Korea and Tunisia in the group. Senegal round of 16, Belgium quarter final and Iceland semi final.
Costa Rica have arguably gone backward in the last four years, but they're exactly the type of team I think England would struggle against: physical enough not to be bullied, but prepared to defend deep for 90 minutes and try to hit England on the counter.
Confused as to how they have Saudi Arabia getting out of a group with France (could easily see them imploding) AND Senegal. Or why they call a group with Brazil, Egypt, Serbia, and Croatia "weak."
"Racking up the miles
England have a 54% chance of getting a draw that requires more travelling than the approximate 7,100km they covered in exiting the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Thirteen of the 24 possible outcomes open to Gareth Southgate's side will see them clock up even more.
The nightmare draw? That would be position C3.
First game in Saransk, then way out east to Yekaterinburg, and finally to the most southerly venue, Sochi. That's a round trip - heading back to their base near St Petersburg after all the games - of around 9,850km.
There are four other possibilities that all total over 9,000km:
A4 - Yekaterinburg, Rostov, Samara (about 9,720km)
F3 - Nizhniy Novgorod, Sochi, Yekaterinburg (about 9,440km)
C2 - Kazan, Samara, Sochi (about 9,330km)
H4 - Saransk, Yekaterinburg, Volgograd (about 9,100km)
The golden ticket?
Position B3 would see England travel about 3,110km - the least they can hope for.
That would see them play a first game in St Petersburg (about 100km from where they are staying), followed by matches in Moscow (about an hour's flight) and Kaliningrad (about an hour and a half by plane).
Only three other draws open to England total less than 5,000km in travelling:
B4 - St Petersburg, Kazan, Saransk (about 4,860km)
E3 - Samara, St Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod (about 4,910km)
D4 - Kaliningrad, Volgograd, St Petersburg (about 4,930km)."
98 we were unlucky but not the best team.
02 we had the best team (IMO) but conditions against us.
04 Rooney injury killed a massive opportunity
06 Squad selection killed us
Since then to put it frankly we have been utter shit at major tournaments.
Hoping we can over achieve in the summer.
Can't wait for the draw, roll on 4pm
On that bright note I wish all a merry Xmas
No thanks
Ideally, I would like at least one derby (Argentina/Germany or Australia), and a Saturday match.
I reckon we will get Egypt and have to listen to 6 months of everyone creaming over Mo Salah.
Russia | Costa Rica | Japan is what I reckon we'll get
5live coverage starts at 15:20 so you don't won't be missing anything if you tune in at 20 past.
Here we go. Fingers crossed. :-)
England should hope for a European top seed so they can avoid the likes of Denmark, Sweden or Serbia from the lower pots as there's a maximum of two Euro teams per group. Worst groups could/would involve drawing Argentina or Brazil.
I know the latter beat Italy but they were awful at Euro 2016