England squad

My prediction..

Group A - 1st Netherlands 2nd Senegal
Group B - 1st England 2nd USA
Group C - 1st Argentina 2nd Mexico
Group D - 1st Denmark 2nd France
Group E - 1st Germany 2nd Spain
Group F - 1st Belgium 2nd Croatia
Group G - 1st Brazil 2nd Switzerland
Group H - 1st Portugal 2nd Korea Rep

Round of 16…
Netherlands beat USA
France beat Argentina
Germany beat Croatia
Brazil beat Korea Rep
England beat Senegal
Denmark beat Mexico
Belgium beat Spain
Portugal beat Switzerland

Quarter-Finals…
Netherlands beat France
Germany beat Brazil
England beat Denmark
Portugal beat Belgium

Semi-Finals…
Netherlands beat Germany
Portugal beat England

3rd/4th…
Germany beat England

Final…
Netherlands beat Portugal

Quoted from Hagrid

i cant look past Brazil for this one, i know its lazy and they are favourites, but the attacking talent they possess just makes me think its their time again
Spain are always there or thereabouts, dont think England, Germany, Belgium have got enough to challenge

Every World Cup since 2002 Brazil have been knocked out as soon as they faced a Western European side in the knock-out stage. They’re likely to have Germany in the QF so I’m saying that will be Brazil out of that does indeed happen.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Every World Cup since 2002 Brazil have been knocked out as soon as they faced a Western European side in the knock-out stage. They’re likely to have Germany in the QF so I’m saying that will be Brazil out of that does indeed happen.

I think the Germans are real contenders for this. They’re under new leadership and seem to be coming back well and it feels like expectations are lower than usual. They’ll be well organised as ever and have a good squad that runs deep.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Luke Shaw as the only genuine left-back suggests Southgate is thinking about playing 3 at the back which would be a huge mistake.

To be fair, Trippier is very capable when playing at left-back. The only question then, is whether or not Walker is fit to play right-back (if we play a back 4). TAA is NOT defensively good enough to play at full-back, though he might be decent as a wing-back. I think White is a good defender, but might not be quite quick enough off the mark to play full-back in international football. You don't get that many tall full-backs.

Like everyone else, I got carried away over the last two tournaments. There's no denying Southgate has been one of our most successful managers ever (which is depressing really when he hasn't won anything).

But the reality is we had very favourable draws over the last 2 tournaments and I personally don't believe we beat a world class team in either. The closest you could argue is Germany but let's be honest, they were in one of their moments of transition with a new manager coming in and were nothing like your regular German side.

And I can't see that changing in this tournament. We have the attacking talent to do well but I don't think Southgate is fully capable of unleashing it which he needs to if we're to do well as our defence is our weakness.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

My prediction..

Group A - 1st Netherlands 2nd Senegal
Group B - 1st England 2nd USA
Group C - 1st Argentina 2nd Mexico
Group D - 1st Denmark 2nd France
Group E - 1st Germany 2nd Spain
Group F - 1st Belgium 2nd Croatia
Group G - 1st Brazil 2nd Switzerland
Group H - 1st Portugal 2nd Korea Rep

Round of 16…
Netherlands beat USA
France beat Argentina
Germany beat Croatia
Brazil beat Korea Rep
England beat Senegal
Denmark beat Mexico
Belgium beat Spain
Portugal beat Switzerland

Quarter-Finals…
Netherlands beat France
Germany beat Brazil
England beat Denmark
Portugal beat Belgium

Semi-Finals…
Netherlands beat Germany
Portugal beat England

3rd/4th…
Germany beat England

Final…
Netherlands beat Portugal

England make a pig's ear of the group, complain about tiredness, fixture congestion and the temperature but still qualify on goal difference in second place only to get beaten soundly by the Dutch in the round of 16. Southgate rewarded with a four year contract extension..

Quoted from Hagrid

i cant look past Brazil for this one, i know its lazy and they are favourites, but the attacking talent they possess just makes me think its their time again
Spain are always there or thereabouts, dont think England, Germany, Belgium have got enough to challenge

If Richarlison is the standard of their forwards, then they've got no bloody chance!  

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I think the Germans are real contenders for this. They’re under new leadership and seem to be coming back well and it feels like expectations are lower than usual. They’ll be well organised as ever and have a good squad that runs deep.

Germany are a tournament team, same with Italy (when they make it). I can remember back to Germany 2006, and apart from that tournament, we have gone into every single one and people say "oh the Germans they're not what they were, no chance they'll win", and they almost always make the latter stages. So, I'm surprised when Germany don't do well, 2018 was a massive exception.

Listening to everyone on here we might as well not bother going!
For what it's worth, I think we have two of the best defensive midfielders in the world in Rice and Phillips who will protect our back 3/4.
Another point is we always go to the world cup knackered after a full season in the Premie. League. This time we are in the middle of the season, and a couple of players have been out injured so should be fresh.
I also note that Rashford is back to his best as well as Madison.
Every6on here has only looked at the negatives, try looking at the positives.  We don't know what problems there are with other teams in the tournament or how well they are prepared.

The only issues I have with the squad are form and injury based rather than ability and Southgate can get a tune out of some relatively average players when he gets to tournaments.

I have Brazil as slight favourites because they’ve got a good balance of youth, experience and depth to their squad but you don’t win tournaments with the written squad on paper. I can’t see England getting past the quarters this time unfortunately.