[Eddy]

Congrats to the 15% people who predicted France

Well deserved.

It was quite an entertaining world cup on the whole. Let's hope Qatar can better Russia !

Favorite game of the cup ?

Mine was France vs Argentina... followed closely by Belgium vs Japan.

[joe1980]

France deserved to win this time. My prediction came true for the third time!

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Congratulations to all that predicted France to win!

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Eddy

It was quite an entertaining world cup on the whole. Let's hope Qatar can better Russia !

Favorite game of the cup ?

Mine was France vs Argentina... followed closely by Belgium vs Japan.

Thank you for the initiative

Unfortunately I missed viewing fully both these above games, so my favourites are Mexico-Germany, Argentina-Nigeria.

My man of the tournament, Mbappe barring his antics. Followed by Hazard, Perisic, Griezmann. Keeper defenitely Courtois. Goal, I've not seen all but I absolutely loved Ronaldo's free kick and Korea's keeperless goal against Neuer. Best combo would be Suarez-Cavani of Uruguay.

Originally Posted by joe1980

My prediction came true for the third time!

Congrats. Are all the three in world cups? When do you cast the vote, after seeing a few matches or even before the first match? Just to know.

[Chetan_Rao]

What an amazing tournament, esp. for the neutrals.

Great goals, inch-perfect defending, unbelievable saves and some midfield magic; this one had it all.

Some current greats stamped their authority, and some future stars announced themselves.

Football: Magical, breathtaking, cruel, joyous. All rolled into one beautiful game.

As a neutral with no chosen favorites, I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, and have new-found admiration for some players we don't necessarily hear about in mainstream club football.

Russia 2018, take a bow (or two)

[joe1980]

Originally Posted by thoma

Congrats. Are all the three in world cups? When do you cast the vote, after seeing a few matches or even before the first match? Just to know.

Yes, all three were guesses were for the FIFA World Championships (2010, 2014 and 2018). I gave my predictions even before the World cup started. In 2010 Spain had a good team in their internationals and they worked like a team and I just guessed either Spain or Germany would win, but it was Spain in the end. In 2014 it was pretty easy as most of the players who were part of the Germany team were already champions with the U17 or the U19 German team and they would be part of the national team by 2014. So I guessed Germany might win 2014 and it happened. Even though for 2014 I wanted Spain or Argentina to win, but in the end it was Germany.

This time around France had 6 world class players and it made me to strongly believe that France would win even though I was hoping for the golden generation from Belgium to win!

You have to observe the games and the players the countries play just before the World cup and then it is easy to guess with a good accuracy.

[benbsb29]

As much as i wanted Croatia to win, France did what it takes and won. It almost appeared as if Croatia had their energy zapped off them after the second goal which came off the penalty that was awarded. I'd call this the turning point of the match.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this WC, and the very first match where Russia opened the floodgates went on to set the trend for a high scoring series of matches, right to the finals. This was a WC of self goals, dead ball mastery, and set-piece strategies. It was proved quite effectively that possession football has no place in the modern age, and counter attacks are key.

Thanks to the timezone difference, i spent quite a few sleepless nights trying to watch as many of the games as i could. Now, i see myself having withdrawal symptoms. Personally the highlight for me was my 9 year old daughter who also asked to be woken up so she could watch some of the matches with me. The finals this morning was between 1AM to 3:30AM AEST and sure enough she watched along with me.

As always, great to read and participate in the discussions on this thread.

[swiftdiesel]

Wow, can't believe my prediction came true! If only this had been a bet... ;-)

[ghodlur]

What an end to the world cup. Exciting match between France and Croatia. I was rooting for France and was happy they won. Although I was cursing them during the second half due to some insipid passing, exposing the defence and to top it all the comical goal due to the laxity of the French goal keeper.

Croatia played well and at one point had the maximum ball possession, however they could not convert the chances into goals. The own goal by the forward did hurt them terribly.

I guess this must be the only world cup with a highest goal scoring final game.

Golden Ball should have been given to Mbappe as I feel he was the find of the tournament.

[ajmat]

This Final had a festive atmosphere. We decided to watch the match at the club where a giant LED TV had been installed. It was heaving.

The match had an amazing pace. I was rooting for France while the ladies were rooting for Croatia ( I think they saw Game of Thrones a little too much!). The highlight was Croatia taking that last goal from the goalie.

Viva la France but respect for Croatia. I really admire their President - very warm and genuine to all!