2018 World Cup (Final)

Croatia - France -- France has glided to this point. Watching that semifinal against Belgium was like watching an inter-squad game, the teams were virtually identical in how they possessed, how they moved forward and how they played D. It was like watching twins fist fight, everybody knew the next move. That was a 50/50 game and France won the coin flip. France has as much talent as anyone but their path to this point is a mixed bag: Peru and Australia were not terribly interesting opponents, that France-Denmark game is officially the most boring of the entire tourney, though France-Argentina is perhaps the most exciting, Uruguay without Cavani was pretty toothless, and they got the one perfect strike against Belgium. They've got the skills, they are absolutely capable of striking once, twice even thrice against anyone anywhere at any time. They've got enough defense to keep feeding that offense all day.

I think it's notable that Croatia scored in Extra Time against Russia and England, I think Croatia's game only kicks in after the first 90 minutes. They need to survive and then outlast the opponent. It's worked so far. In Croatia's run, they outworked Nigeria, had more savvy than Argentina, did what needed to be done against Iceland, then wore down Denmark, Russia and England. They never seem dominant, they just hang around, longer they hang, the more likely they are to find a way. They're not overpowering, they're sneaky, pesky, crafty, gritty, gutty, all those John Wayne-type words. They've got veterans and even though it seems like they ought to be worn out, they may be in better shape than everyone else. They're well-practiced now in leaving it all out on the field.

I gotta go with Croatia. Croatia will play the full 90 minutes and be tough to beat even then. I'd give France more of a chance the earlier they score, if they can get an early goal they can relax and go for another, if they can keep Croatia backpedaling for 90 minutes they've got a better chance to pull it out. But Croatia manages to hang on no matter what happens. And they can score, they've got the guile to get PK's, enough size and strength in the box for corners and crosses, enough teamwork and gumption to make plays in the box. They're a cockroach team, France might squish them, but I'll stick with the Croatians.


Belgium 2-0 England. I almost totally forgot about the 3rd place game. Woke up at halftime, caught the 2nd half. Thought Belgium held better possession, looked more dangerous pushing forward, pretty good at keeping England's attack thwarted, not at all surprised they won. My thought going in was that England would be more excited about being there and sneak a W off the Belgians. Belgium is better and they'd already beaten England, they just reminded me of one a those blueblood college football squads that thinks they're gonna get the championship but instead they get shuffled off to the Bluebonnet Bowl and even though they're wildly more talented than their opponent, they end up getting pants-ed by Central Florida because no one gives a fuck about the Bluebonnet Bowl. But once the Belgians got that quick early goal, it gave them the backbone to play hard and just be better than the English, which they were. England had a good run but Croatia and Belgium were better teams, while Sweden and Colombia were not.