World Cup predictions thread?

I called on it earlier, but why not start a fantasy league for this for WSO? Not calling for any actual money bets, but it'd be fun.

Putting my money where my mouth is, here's the code for a WSO league: https://play.fifa.com/fantasy-classic/join-league/F2Z487XC

Brazil to win imo

Brazil is winning too much depth everywhere and they have better chemistry than other top nations. Not really missing any important players. 

France missing Kante & Pogba will really hurt them from veteran standpoint, Argentina not strong enough behind their front line IMO. England decided to bring Harry Maguire over Tomori so not much else to say there. 

My hot take would be Uruguay to win their group over Portugal. Think France will still be able to get to final even with their missing players.

Final: Brazil 3, France 1

Argentina beats Netherlands in third place game. 

Morocco and Uruguay might make it farther than it expected  

Agree with the above, Brazil & France go the distance but give the edge to Brazil because booty. Unless the Germans pull some 2014 magic out of their bratwursts. 

Mods removed my inflammatory comment. I'll stand by it. Receipts below, perhaps context will make this less "inflammatory." 

Amnesty International - Migrants building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar are abused and exploited – while FIFA makes huge profits.

2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

The awarding of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar created a number of concerns and controversies regarding both Qatar's suitability as a host country and the fairness of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) bidding process. Criticism from a number of media outlets, sporting experts, and human rights groups highlighted problems such as Qatar's limited football history, the high expected cost, the local climate, and Qatar's human rights record.¹ There have been numerous allegations of bribery between the Qatar bid committee and FIFA members and executives. Several FIFA members have since gone on record saying that the decision to award the tournament to Qatar was a "mistake" including Theo Zwanziger² and ex-president Sepp Blatter.³⁴⁵  

RollingStone - ‘A World Cup Built on Modern Slavery’: Stadium Workers Blow the Whistle on Qatar’s ‘Coverup’ of Migrant Deaths and Suffering

They braved extreme heat to feed their families and make billions for an oppressive government. Construction workers reveal how, when FIFA inspectors arrived, they were hidden away

Huffpost - Qatar World Cup's Labor Abuse Amounts To 'Modern Slavery,' New Report Says

Migrant laborers who built Qatar’s World Cup stadiums often worked long hours under harsh conditions and were subjected to discrimination, wage theft and other abuses as their employers evaded accountability, a rights group said in a report released Thursday.

The 75-page report by the London-based charity Equidem comes less than two weeks before the Gulf Arab nation hosts the world’s biggest sporting event, with over 1.2 million fans expected to descend on the tiny emirate for the monthlong tournament.

Fox News - Qatar deny World Cup 'slavery' claims

Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, who has seen the documents presented by the newspaper, told AFP last Thursday the evidence was "certainly highly indicative of a brutal working environment which is not good for anybody."

However, Narinra Bad, the co-ordinator of the Nepalese community in the Middle East, was also present at Monday's press conference and he too disputed the figures the Guardian gave.

"151 Nepalese citizens have died in Qatar this year including 15 at their workplace," he said, adding the rest had died either in car accidents or of natural causes.

"In 2012, Nepalese deaths in Qatar numbered 276, including 55, that is 20 percent, at their workplace."

Bad said the total of Nepalese workers in Qatar numbered 370,000.

Yahoo! Sports - Quasi-slavery is building Qatar's 2022 World Cup stadiums, and FIFA is fine with it

FIFA will make billions of dollars off the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, meanwhile, is being built by workers making around $1 or $2 per hour — and, in some cases, not being paid at all.

That’s the main takeaway from a new Amnesty International report detailing labor abuses in the Gulf emirate. Workers at Al Bayt Stadium, a proposed semifinal host, went seven months without pay, according to Amnesty.

Anti-Slavery.org - World Cup 2022: the reality for migrant workers in Qatar

In November, the men’s FIFA World Cup 2022 – the most watched sporting event in the world – will kick off. But sadly, instead of being characterised by unity and opportunity, it is a World Cup defined by “sports washing” and the devastating human cost it carries.  

In multiple sectors which are central to the sporting event – from construction, to hospitality, to cleaning, to private security and waste disposal – there have been reports of pervasive conditions of exploitation. Migrant workers have faced systemic abuses and modern slavery. It is common for migrant workers to have to pay recruitment fees, face withheld wages and threats, and find themselves unable to leave their job or the country. Despite the promises made to reform this system, improvements in labour practices have not been enforced sufficiently or felt in practice.  

Agree Ecuador should qualify given mane is out and they are decent although with the news qatar bribed them to lose who knows.

Agree with Serbia finishing 2nd they have a strong side.

Think USA will finish 2nd. Their team is average/decent whereas Wales are poor without Bale and Bale is basically finished now + Iran are useless.

Can see there being some upsets in the tough groups - group E,F,G and H

Vlahovic wins the golden boot, and Serbia makes it to the quarter-finals.

If Germany wins against fucking Japan on Wednesday then maybe they have a chance to get out of group stage this year. But judging by how they played against Oman few days ago I am not so sure. Argentina will take it probably because it seems to me that the whole country is gunning for a WC win for Messi before he retires -> unlimited motivation. If not Argentina then France or Brazil.

Edit: nvm France I just saw that Benzema is out 

Hot takes:

• Spain will either go to the semi finals or to the final.

• Argentina will win the WC.

• Final will either be Brazil/Argentina or Germany/Argentina.

• Messi top scorer.

My takes:

- France to continue the champion curse - will finish second in the group behind Denmark and crash out shortly after.

- Portugal will go very far if they play their best squad.

- Messi will wreak havoc from minute 1 and will win golden boot.

- Brazil will be underwhelming and struggle in the groups against Serbia and Switzerland (will ultimately advance but won't be smooth sailing).

fuck it, Poland to win it all