World Cup 2018 (All World Cup Chat Exclusively Here Please).

[Stuart81]

Come on England!

[Bluemike]

Phew !!!!! Well done lads, dirty, cheating Colombian bastards, justice was done in the end. I thought Henderson and Trippier were superb, pickford the hero.

[number 9]

I’m a bit surprised there hasn’t been more posts on the game today! We finally beat the penalties hoodoo, and we’re in the quarterfinals. I know I’ve been a critic of our national team, but this is significant! COY...3 LIONS! FFS!

[Bluemike]

Can't lie ive never given a stuff about the National team but at last they finally played with some pride and passion, it was different from all the dross of decades before, I wasnt even looking forward to the World cup but its been fantastic and for any English fan you couldnt be anything other than captivated by it last night, maybe I'm finally a convert ?

[Bluemike]

And for the record VAR was a complete and utter joke again last night, a complete non event.

[Dubai Blue]

You wouldn't let it lie

[Dubai Blue]

Fantastic patriotic night last night. Actually watched it in the English pub on the QE2 so the jingoism was in full swing!

Fantastic to finally win a shootout but blimey what a crap referee.

I'm not going to rise (much) to BlueMike's VAR reference but it's noticeable how VAR has been much less visible in the round of 16 matches, or maybe the general quality of referees has been better in the knock out rounds.....

Don't underestimate Sweden but we can beat them and need to get off to a good start. Roll on Saturday!

[marko69]

Note to England fans:
Either go to the game in Russia or just watch it in England in a pub. Don’t go camping up the north of Scotland and get fkn eaten alive by midgies.

Didn’t see the game but a one plural (banned) word text from a cousin let me know you guys had won!

You must be thinking semi finals? Managed to catch 1st half of Sweden v Swiss. They are a bit Shyte.

If the World Cup is not rigged, then your biggest test en route to the final will be Croatia.

[nicscreamer]

Great night (if a little stressful), and its sooooo good to actually win a penalty shoot out.

The person I am most happy for is Gareth Southgate. The guy has impressed me so much with his calm, professional demeanour. He is a true leader and a proper gentleman in the true sense of the word. The team obviously follow him and they have a real collective team ethos!
Even if we go out to the Swedes, this has been a successful world cup for England and has reignited by joy in the national game

Well done lads!

[charlton837]

Note to England fans:
Either go to the game in Russia or just watch it in England in a pub. Don’t go camping up the north of Scotland and get fkn eaten alive by midgies.

Didn’t see the game but a one plural (banned) word text from a cousin let me know you guys had won!

You must be thinking semi finals? Managed to catch 1st half of Sweden v Swiss. They are a bit Shyte.

If the World Cup is not rigged, then your biggest test en route to the final will be Croatia.

Never start thinking semi finals! In normal circumstances id fancy us against Sweden however I have a feeling it could be a very tight game won by one piece of magic (or another dreaded penalty shootout). I thought the England pens were fantastic, took some real bottle, especially for a young lad like Rashford. Total credit to them, whatever happens I feel those players on the pitch (and Southgate) have done us proud in this tournament, to me they look like a TEAM, not just a bunch of egotistic players, all in it for each other and some bubbly characters. They appear to get on well and none of it looks staged. The tournament has opened up and its given all the teams a great amount of hope, of which we are one of those teams but lets not kid ourselves it will be easy as it certainly wont be, one game at a time and lets see where it takes us, its just nice to have a bit of pride installed once again

[Shed on tour]

Note to England fans:
Either go to the game in Russia or just watch it in England in a pub. Don’t go camping up the north of Scotland and get fkn eaten alive by midgies.

Didn’t see the game but a one plural (banned) word text from a cousin let me know you guys had won!

You must be thinking semi finals? Managed to catch 1st half of Sweden v Swiss. They are a bit Shyte.

If the World Cup is not rigged, then your biggest test en route to the final will be Croatia.

Never start thinking semi finals! In normal circumstances id fancy us against Sweden however I have a feeling it could be a very tight game won by one piece of magic (or another dreaded penalty shootout). I thought the England pens were fantastic, took some real bottle, especially for a young lad like Rashford. Total credit to them, whatever happens I feel those players on the pitch (and Southgate) have done us proud in this tournament, to me they look like a TEAM, not just a bunch of egotistic players, all in it for each other and some bubbly characters. They appear to get on well and none of it looks staged. The tournament has opened up and its given all the teams a great amount of hope, of which we are one of those teams but lets not kid ourselves it will be easy as it certainly wont be, one game at a time and lets see where it takes us, its just nice to have a bit of pride installed once again

Totally agree.
The Italians couldn’t score against Sweden over the 2 legs of the playoffs and as you say it will probably be another very tight game.
The one concern I do have is the fatigue factor after a real hard 120 minutes last night as the heat in Samara will be really energy sapping especially if we have to go into extra time again.
Just going to enjoy last night and should we get through the quarters will then start thinking about which bank I should hold up tjust in case the impossible dream happens and we reach the
final.

[Tangfastic]

That was some relief ... and great to get the World Cup penalty monkey" of our backs. Well done for holding the nerves.

I truly couldn't believe we could control a game for so long and concede in the 92nd minute.

I was really desperate for Southgate to take of Sterling straight after Kane's goal and put on Rashford. I thought we should have gone for a killer second goal and use Rashford's pace to stretch the Columbians. I'm trying not to slide into the negatives, but I think Southgate has been a bit too loyal with Sterling - and Alli, too. Then again - we haven't got too much talent in depth. Great team effort in the end.

I thought the defence is starting to look more assured - apart from the goal and Walker's back pass. Harry McGuire, I thought, is really looking better and better.

[Ohiotractorboy]

For everything great about the Japan v Belgium game, that was lacking two-fold. Colombia was a joke, I have never seen a coach shoulder bump a player on the opposite team, then blame him. What a d*ck. If England hadn't followed suit and started playing the ref more than the game for 40 minutes, it would never have gone into OT

[Watership Down]

Fantastic patriotic night last night. Actually watched it in the English pub on the QE2 so the jingoism was in full swing!

Fantastic to finally win a shootout but blimey what a crap referee.

I'm not going to rise (much) to BlueMike's VAR reference but it's noticeable how VAR has been much less visible in the round of 16 matches, or maybe the general quality of referees has been better in the knock out rounds.....

Don't underestimate Sweden but we can beat them and need to get off to a good start. Roll on Saturday!

Now that's a conundrum

[Bluemike]

The refs are 100 times better than f*cked up VAR lol.

[bluejacko]

Phew !!!!! Well done lads, dirty, cheating Colombian bastards, justice was done in the end. I thought Henderson and Trippier were superb, pickford the hero.

Cheating is about right! If they hadn't made such a pathetic show against the ref for the pen then there woudn't have been all that time added at the end!!

[barmy billy]

Great night (if a little stressful), and its sooooo good to actually win a penalty shoot out.

The person I am most happy for is Gareth Southgate. The guy has impressed me so much with his calm, professional demeanour. He is a true leader and a proper gentleman in the true sense of the word. The team obviously follow him and they have a real collective team ethos!
Even if we go out to the Swedes, this has been a successful world cup for England and has reignited by joy in the national game

Well done lads!

Doesn't this remind some of us of a former ITFC & England World Cup winning manager. Great days, Sir Alf.

[charlton837]

when Southgate first took the job I was pretty disillusioned, I didn't really want him and I felt it was us going down the easy/cheap route. But I absolutely am happy to say I was wrong. Having seen what Southgate has been doing I feel hes doing an excellent job, and this is best connection I have seen between the country, team and management I have seen at a tournament. I said before the Tunisia game I felt he was doing a great job however it would come down to how we start the world cup.

But I love his passion, the way he treats everyone with respect, has a great deal of humility and all of these characteristics have built a brilliant team spirit.

I hope whatever happens from now in the tournament we need to acknowledge that this few weeks has been a big step forward and there should be no witch hunt after an exit if it happens, we need to support the lads who have represented our country with a huge amount of pride and passion

[nicscreamer]

when Southgate first took the job I was pretty disillusioned, I didn't really want him and I felt it was us going down the easy/cheap route. But I absolutely am happy to say I was wrong. Having seen what Southgate has been doing I feel hes doing an excellent job, and this is best connection I have seen between the country, team and management I have seen at a tournament. I said before the Tunisia game I felt he was doing a great job however it would come down to how we start the world cup.

But I love his passion, the way he treats everyone with respect, has a great deal of humility and all of these characteristics have built a brilliant team spirit.

I hope whatever happens from now in the tournament we need to acknowledge that this few weeks has been a big step forward and there should be no witch hunt after an exit if it happens, we need to support the lads who have represented our country with a huge amount of pride and passion

Totally agree.... and the way he comforted the Colombian who missed the penalty was real class. The guy has scruples and is a gent.

[Charnwood]

Great night (if a little stressful), and its sooooo good to actually win a penalty shoot out.

The person I am most happy for is Gareth Southgate. The guy has impressed me so much with his calm, professional demeanour. He is a true leader and a proper gentleman in the true sense of the word. The team obviously follow him and they have a real collective team ethos!
Even if we go out to the Swedes, this has been a successful world cup for England and has reignited by joy in the national game

Well done lads!

Doesn't this remind some of us of a former ITFC & England World Cup winning manager. Great days, Sir Alf.

Gareth Southgate has done exceptionally well with a group of players who almost nobody thought had any chance of doing well. So many criticised his decision to rest 8 players and settle to lose against Belgium to ensure a place in the bottom half of the draw which clearly improved our chances of progressing to the QF’s, SF’s or dare I say even the final, but clearly Southgate got it spot on to present our team with the best opportunity for more than 50yrs to make it to a World Cup Final.
Whatever the outcome I hope all those doubters eat humble pie and applaud our most successful manager for a long time.

[Bluemike]

You agreed with me when I said we should go out to win against Belgium and to play our strongest team so I hope you're eating some pie too lol.

[Charnwood]

It’s a bit late in the night for me to check back over old posts but I think what I said was that if I was in charge I’d have played a strong side to maintain momentum but I also agreed it was best to stay in the bottom half of the draw to improve our chances of progressing to the later stages of the knock out competition. At no stage did I ever want us to win against Belgium and be in the top half of the draw.

[Charnwood]

I thought Belgium looked real class tonight and can’t see any way we could beat them in the final. Maybe another surprise in the semi’s.

[number 9]

It’s a bit late in the night for me to check back over old posts but I think what I said was that if I was in charge I’d have played a strong side to maintain momentum but I also agreed it was best to stay in the bottom half of the draw to improve our chances of progressing to the later stages of the knock out competition. At no stage did I ever want us to win against Belgium and be in the top half of the draw.

No I distinctly remember you saying we should play a strong 11 against Belgium. I think you’re getting a bit senile, mate. Or, maybe you’ve had a few too many sangrias at your chalet in Spain haha!

[Charnwood]

It’s a bit late in the night for me to check back over old posts but I think what I said was that if I was in charge I’d have played a strong side to maintain momentum but I also agreed it was best to stay in the bottom half of the draw to improve our chances of progressing to the later stages of the knock out competition. At no stage did I ever want us to win against Belgium and be in the top half of the draw.

No I distinctly remember you saying we should play a strong 11 against Belgium. I think you’re getting a bit senile, mate. Or, maybe you’ve had a few too many sangrias at your chalet in Spain haha!

.... and I think you’re a bit of a tw*t who simply likes to provoke an argument for the sake of it .... I think i’ve always been consistant in wanting England in the bottom half of the draw regardless of the starting line up in the Belgium game, but as I recall you didn’t understand that either because you think FIFA rankings are shyte.

[Bluemike]

LOL calm down its only banter, page 6 of this thread will settle any debate, I said we should play our strongest team and go out to win and you said " I agree 100%"

[Charnwood]

LOL calm down its only banter, page 6 of this thread will settle any debate, I said we should play our strongest team and go out to win and you said " I agree 100%"

Maybe you should try reading beyond the end of the first three word sentence and not just cherry pick the little bit that suits you, but hey, how often do we see that on here.

Do I give a sh*t, no especially if we win today but I guess you don’t care as you “don’t actually give a f*ck about England and International Football anymore”

[Charnwood]

LOL calm down its only banter, page 6 of this thread will settle any debate, I said we should play our strongest team and go out to win and you said " I agree 100%"

Mike, maybe you should try reading beyond the end of the first three word sentence and not just cherry pick the little bit that suits you, but hey, how often do we see that on here.

Do I give a sh*t, no especially if we win today but I guess you don’t care as you “don’t actually give a f*ck about England and International Football anymore”

[Bluemike]

Andy, im not sure what has pissed you off so much tbh over something so trivial but I actually thought the first Three words of your reply were the most relevant, sorry my mistake. Either way it's really not important or worth insults being thrown about.

As for do I care about England and the World cup, not really no, I haven't done for years with good reason, but as you I have the right to change my mind.

[Charnwood]

Andy, im not sure what has pissed you off so much tbh over something so trivial but I actually thought the first Three words of your reply were the most relevant, sorry my mistake. Either way it's really not important or worth insults being thrown about.

As for do I care about England and the World cup, not really no, I haven't done for years with good reason, but as you I have the right to change my mind.

I’ve not changed my mind Mike, I’ve always followed and supported England and have always followed football in general especially the Premiership and Champions League unlike yourself whose interest in football self confessed tends to extend little further than ITFC.

As for the first three words of my post being the most important when they’re followed by more than 90 other words which go on to explain the possibility of the game being tactical after knowing the whereabouts in the draw of Germany and Brazil, baffles me. I thought that was pretty clear.

As for insults, I cant find any that I’ve thrown your way, I think I respect you enough not to do that, maybe you can enlighten me?