NP's 2018 World Cup Thread, Predictions, News and Fun

All that rain, was the God will! Thank you!

French Fans celebrating...

GILSAN said:

What a classy lady...Great respect to the President of Croatia:
1. She did not miss a single match.
2. Traveled in economy class.
3. Always in the stands with the fans.
4. Values football.
5. Loves everyone.

Did you know that Ivan Perisić also represents Croatia at Volleyball?

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WAAAW. He plays some other sports also, said the commentator, but I have to relook the match for that.

In any case on the transfermarket lots of things are busy. Like Cristiano Ronaldo at Juve, who arrives there => https://twitter.com/juventusfcen/status/1018533169048489985/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1018533169048489985&ref_url=https://www.hln.be/sport/voetbal/tt-ronaldo-gearriveerd-in-turijn-west-ham-breekt-transferrecord-voor-braziliaan~aee9cdb6/

About the transfermarket : I don't know if the link above succeeded, so here I post it from a .jpg-extention instead of twitter. You can see Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus (Juve), Italy after an enormous transfer (and a huge price had to be payed).

Domainstore said:

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About the transfermarket : I don't know if the link above succeeded, so here you can see Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus (Juve), Italy after an enormous transfer (and a huge price had to be payed).

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Juventus will get the transfer money back in one year, just from the sales of T-Shirts (already started), just like what happened at Real Madrid, when he was transferred from Manchester United.

I was wondering why Take the L was trending

See you in four years and thanks for a great tournament...

GILSAN said:

Only one stat matters... France won the World Cup

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Not quite : There are some individual prices also,
and from the countryteams : silver (Croatia) and bronze (Belgium) should be mentioned
(IMO these 2 teams were also the best counter-teams from the matches I saw)

Individual prices (4) =
Modric from Croatia gets the "golden ball" / le ballon d'or., and
Kylian Mbappe from France was named "Young Player of the Tournament"
Harry Kane from England : "golden boot" : most goals (6)
https://www.thesun.co.uk/world-cup-2018/6785287/world-cup-2018-golden-ball-winner-luka-modric/
And Thibaut Courtois from Belgium was rewarded the title of best goalkeeper (won the "golden glove") I saw him on a big videoscreen after the match, from the team that became 3rd of the tournament.

https://www.hln.be/sport/voetbal/bu...roepen-tot-doelman-van-het-toernooi~a1210ebf/

Here a PIC from Thibaut Courtois during the festivities in Brussels, Belgium from the balconny of the townhall.

GILSAN said:

See you in four years and thanks for a great tournament...

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It could be that there are 48 teams during the final tournament at Qatar, I heard.
Also it will be played in november-december or so, because of the high temparatures. That will be a very different tournament then the other World-Cups, just because where it is played and hen.
The time when it's played will change lots of things for many countries for their soccer-footballcalendar of theirs that year.

Domainstore said:

It could be that there are 48 teams during the final tournament at Qatar, I heard.
Also it will be played in november-december or so, because of the high temparatures. That will be a very different tournament then the other World-Cups, just because where it is played and hen.
The time when it's played will change lots of things for many countries for their soccer-footballcalendar of theirs that year.

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Not sure if 48 teams is such a good idea, but the idea of playing in Nov. Dec. I do like. Players will not be so tired. Pity it will be an exception only in Qatar...

this was a fantastic final, it is refreshing to have a final match with 6 goals
congratulations to France and Croatia for an amazing match, they had their destiny in their hands and that is all that matter

nobody will be sleeping tonight in France, and it seem also in Croatia
Croatia showed the most spectacular football of this world cup
Croatia is the new Brazil

Still an overview of other important things about this tournament I found somewhere => Some numbers :

64 Matches 736 Players 169 Goals 219 Yellow Cards 4 Red Cards Team most goals scored:Belgium (16) Teams with most wins : France and Belgium (6) Biggest Victory: England-Panama6-1
(and 2nd biggest victory probably Russia-Saudi-Arabia 5-0
and 3rd biggest victory probably Belgium-Tunesia 5-2).

Note : the amount of 4 red cards is very low considering the amount of matches.

Here some more stats (from CBS-sports) about the individual prices.

"The 2018 World Cup ended on Sunday after a 32 days of wild and unforgettable moments. France was crowned champion after beating Cinderella Croatia 4-2 in the final in Moscow. The tournament featured 169 goals scored and it came within two of tying the highest scoring World Cup ever.

Russia 2018 had its ups and downs (early exits for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) but it also featured plenty of surprises (England and Belgium reaching the semis, Croatia finishing second). It also featured some great individual performances. Let's take a look at the winners of the individual awards handed out after Sunday's final:

Golden Ball Award
Luka Modric, Croatia: The superstar midfielder earned the tournament's best player award, serving as the heart and soul of the team's dream run to the final. He figured to have competition from Kylian Mbappe and others, but he was the most complete, consistent player and rightfully takes home the award:
adidas Golden Ball Award:

Luka MODRIC (#CRO)
Eden HAZARD (#BEL)
Antoine GRIEZMANN (#FRA) #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/KQSRiwUznh

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018
FIFA Young Player Award
Kylian Mbappe, France: There was no way it was going to be anybody else for this award. The 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star had four goals, including one in the final and three in the knockout stage. A guy who already blew up before the tournament at Monaco, he now enters the future as the best young player in the world. All signs point to him winning the Ballon d'Or award in a few years.
FIFA Young Player Award:

Kylian MBAPPE (#FRA) #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/v4eMfItkkP

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018
Golden Boot Award
Harry Kane, England: He wasn't the best striker in this tourney, but he finishes as top scorer with six goals. Three of them came off penalty kicks, which doesn't make it as impressive. Not a single player in Russia scored more, and you can't deny that. Quite the honor for the 24-year-old Tottenham man, who should only get better.
adidas Golden Boot Award:

Harry KANE (#ENG)
Antoine GRIEZMANN (#FRA)
Romelu LUKAKU (#BEL) #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/iLzORGpmcd

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018
Golden Glove Award
Thibaut Courtois, Belgium: Voted best goalkeeper, Courtois conceded six goals in seven games while Belgium took third place, its best finish in the World Cup. Part of why he gave up so many goals was because of Roberto Martinez's lineup that featured three center backs and two wing backs. The Chelsea man made some unbelievable saves, especially in the match against Neymar and Brazil to take home the top honor.
adidas Golden Glove Award:

Thibaut COURTOIS (#BEL) #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/S5xB7RBBdP

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018 "

Source + more info =>
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/wo...amed-best-young-player-golden-glove-courtois/

@Domainstore Who won the Golden Globe for best actor ?

@GILSAN Thanks so much for all those beautiful photos !

Asfas1000 said:

@Domainstore Who won the Golden Globe for best actor ?

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LOL....you already know the answer : Neymar from Brazil : The latest emoji even resembles him, laying down (without laughing, but showing an "apparently cry of a major pain")).
He's a good player, though. And some days ago I saw that he couldn't believe they lost
from a country like Belgium (so tiny : 11 million inhabitants, and do know : Croatia only have 4,2 million inhabitants).

Here still some articles and a video (don't know how long the video(s) will run) from CBS-Sports.
And on that page you find still other articles.
Thanks to CBS-Sports.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/wo...s-kit-after-russia-2018-triumph-over-croatia/
and
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/wo...eats-croatia-as-pogba-mbappe-griezmann-shine/

Asfas1000 said:

@GILSAN Thanks so much for all those beautiful photos !

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You're more than welcome... It was my pleasure!!!

Asfas1000 said:

@Domainstore Who won the Golden Globe for best actor ?

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That one's so easy that my pets have already learnt to do the "Neymar Roll" when I don't give them their favorite treats on time...

Neymar keeps rolling rolling rolling- Funny Neymar Acting compilation

GILSAN said:

That one's so easy that my pets have already learnt to do the "Neymar Roll" when I don't give them their favorite treats on time...

Neymar keeps rolling rolling rolling- Funny Neymar Acting compilation

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LOL !
But in a newspaper online (hln.be of Het Nieuwsblad online) I found an article stating that referees or youth-trainers saw their youth-players copy the behaviour of Neymar. The referees weren't amused with this example from such a worldstar.
Let's be at least a bit glad that it didn't gave success in this worldcup to the Brazilian Team or it had minor result to the outcome of the tournament.

I enjoyed the final. After first half I felt bad for Croatia. I mean, France's only shot on goal was the penalty. But in the 2nd half France showed they deserved the cup.

Putin gives World Cup Ball to President Trump