Group B: Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia

[StanSP]

Just now, shen said:

If Germany win and France beat Portugal by four goals (unlikely), while Poland fail to beat Sweden and Spain lose or beat Slovakia by three goals, then Finland should be ahead of Portugal and Slovakia/Spain.

Yep, that's another scenario but highly unlikely! 

[shen]

Just now, StanSP said:

Yep, that's another scenario but highly unlikely! 

Agreed, but Portugal did let in four against Germany so who knows. The other results are all rather likely.

[when_you're_smiling]

Belgium don’t have much luck with draws do they? They’ll probably have to beat Portugal, Italy and France just to get to the final.

[shen]

10 hours ago, when_you're_smiling said:

Belgium don’t have much luck with draws do they? They’ll probably have to beat Portugal, Italy and France just to get to the final.

On the other hand, they had a fairly easy group and have known the knockout phase draw for over a year. If they were being a bit tactically savvy, they could've held back second half against Denmark. That would have given them a good chance of finishing second and be in the lower bracket. I guess Martinez didn't fancy the gamble.

 

All I'm saying is this isn't solely down to 'luck'

[when_you're_smiling]

15 minutes ago, shen said:

On the other hand, they had a fairly easy group and have known the knockout phase draw for over a year. If they were being a bit tactically savvy, they could've held back second half against Denmark. That would have given them a good chance of finishing second and be in the lower bracket. I guess Martinez didn't fancy the gamble.

 

All I'm saying is this isn't solely down to 'luck'

Well no as they wouldn’t have known. If England had held back to avoid finishing runners up (like I’ve seen many had suggested they had should), they’d have avoided Germany in the last 16 but ended up in the same half of the draw as Belgium, France etc.

Edited 24 June 2021 by when_you're_smiling

[shen]

5 minutes ago, when_you're_smiling said:

Well no as they wouldn’t have known. If England had held back to avoid finishing runners up (like I’ve seen many had suggested they had should), they’d have avoided Germany in the last 16 but ended up in the same half of the draw as Belgium, France etc.

Of course they wouldn't have known how the groups would end, but they would've fancied their own chances against Finland and would have fancied Denmark against Russia.
They KNEW that the group winner would end in the top bracket which was prognosed to be the tougher one.

Edited 24 June 2021 by shen

[Finnegan]

I swear every tournament people come out with these stupid, bullshit claims about how such and such a team is going to try and throw things to finish second in a group as if any major nation would ever do that. 

 

There might be freak examples of teams playing out political draws but actually throwing a match to finish second is insanely tinpot. 

 

Belgium, France, Germany, England, Spain et all, these teams all back themselves to win and know that if they want to win the tournament they have to beat the best anyway. 

 

They're not going in with some small fry attitude to get an easier last 16 draw ffs. 

 

Edited 24 June 2021 by Finnegan

[shen]

36 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I swear every tournament people come out with these stupid, bullshit claims about how such and such a team is going to try and throw things to finish second in a group as if any major nation would ever do that. 

 

There might be freak examples of teams playing out political draws but actually throwing a match to finish second is insanely tinpot. 

 

Belgium, France, Germany, England, Spain et all, these teams all back themselves to win and know that if they want to win the tournament they have to beat the best anyway. 

 

They're not going in with some small fry attitude to get an easier last 16 draw ffs. 

 

Yet the final group game of 1986 between Denmark and W.Germany is still notoriously discussed in this little country. The teams knew up front that the group winner would face Spain and the runner-up would face Morocco. Guess who didn't turn up for the game?

It makes complete tactical sense of course, so I don't hold it against anyone if they speculate like this.

Edited 24 June 2021 by shen

[HighPeakFox]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

I swear every tournament people come out with these stupid, bullshit claims about how such and such a team is going to try and throw things to finish second in a group as if any major nation would ever do that. 

 

There might be freak examples of teams playing out political draws but actually throwing a match to finish second is insanely tinpot. 

 

Belgium, France, Germany, England, Spain et all, these teams all back themselves to win and know that if they want to win the tournament they have to beat the best anyway. 

 

They're not going in with some small fry attitude to get an easier last 16 draw ffs. 

 

It's almost as bad as people alleging refereeing corruption mid-match based on not very much...