Once every 4 years -

No, folks, this is not a thread about how frequently Alabama loses 2 conference games in a season...

this is the 2022 World Cup thread - where every match in the world's greatest sporting event will be broadcast from November 18 - December 20 from host country Qatar!

Easy money is on Brazil to win, but smart money is on Belgium.

Happy, how about you fill out the $1 million bracket for me and if it hits, i'll give you $10,000!

or, i can fill it out for myself...hmmm

2 for the price of 1.....

That way, when it hits....you don't just win a milion dollars....oh no, no, no...you win a million, ten thousand dollars.

I was sad to see the USA team logo redesign. Why isn't representing your country enough - now we've also got to represent a lifestyle?

i'm not aware of any lifestyle this represents, but the non-white shirts are more hideous than the 1994 baby blue star jerseys...

Happy - if the US gets knocked out in the group stage, but has a strong showing, would this be a successful World Cup after not even qualifying last time? Or is it knockout round or it's considered yet another failure?

RVFlyboy do you know if the new rainbow logo is being used for jerseys as well or just like ads or other things? I did a quick search but did not find anything that stuck out but admittedly I do now know what last years jerseys or logos looked like.

if they don't advance to at least the round of 16, my opinion is a total failure.

sadly, i think we go 0-2-1, a single point from one tie

So, was Wales supposed to beat the U.S. or vice versa? Who else is in our group?

Our group is England, Wales, U.S., and Iran. Oddsmakers have England as the overwhelming favorite to win the group, with Wales and U.S. as relatively even contenders for 2nd, and Iran fairly substantially likely to take last place. England beat Iran 6-0.

Thanks Rainman....how many of the 4 advance? 2?

Actually I lied - Iran managed to score 2 after the last time I checked the score so the final was 6-2. Top two finishers from each group advance. I have no idea what the tiebreakers are (head-to-head, goal differential, goals scored, etc.). If you assume that US and Wales both lose to England and both beat Iran, they are tied for second. I'm maybe a little more optimistic than Happy about our chances - no way we should ever lose to Iran, so we should have at least 4 points for this stage. And if we could manage to at least tie England, we've got a good chance to advance.

Or maybe just lose to England by a smaller margin than Wales? Wouldn't that (theoretically) do it?

Yes, and/or beat Iran by a larger margin than Wales does.

Got it.

US tied both Wales and England.

England beat Iran (6-2) and tied US

Wales tied US and lost to Iran (0-2)

England - 4 points goal differential +4
Iran - 3 points goal differential -4
US - 2 points, goal differential 0
Wales - 1 point, goal differential -2

US needs to beat iran and we advance
Iran advances with win
Wales advances with win by 5+
Iran advances with win, or a tie and England win or tie

How is Iran sitting at 3 points? 2 points for a win .....i thought a loss was 0 points or even -1 points, but obviously i'm not an expert at this.

Or is it 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss?

3 points for win
1 point for draw (tie)
0 points for loss

1-0-2. Undefeated. And will be a heavy underdog against the Netherlands...

How does the next round go down? Lose and you're done? And play til there's a winner (penalty kicks if need be)?

yep, round of 16 is winner take all. if tied at the end of regulation, 2 15-minute halves are then played through to completion. if still tied, kicks from the penalty mark, 5 kickers from each team and then 1 for 1 until their is a winner

Argentina v Croatia today, France v Morocco tomorrow...could be an upset in the making for finals...

I think i understand how big an underdog Morocco was coming in.....how about Croatia? Where do they rank on the underdog scale...both pre-Cup and now facing Argentina (who i know is a powerhouse)?

I'm sure FIFA wants Argentina vs. France for the star power, but I hope the underdogs win. Morocco all the way!

Croatia finished 2nd last cup, they aren't really an underdog in my opinion, but have never won so a bit of an underdog, nothing like Morocco, though

Was reading earlier that Morocco is simultaneously the first African and first Arab nation to make it to a World Cup semifinal. Pretty neat for them.

I don't have a great amount of reference points but this final is the greatest soccer game I've ever seen....3-3 right now.

without a doubt, the best world cup final i have ever watched, and my watching time goes back to the late 70s...

Messi and Mbappe both incredibly impressive....mbappe's natural goal and Argentina's 1st natural goal were both incredible.