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I'm a little surprised that no one has made a thread like this already. Since no one else bothered, here it is.

General rules for the thread:

1) Call it football or soccer (or voetball, fußall, calcio, futbol, etc.) as you see fit. This is a US based site, which makes the names interchangeable. I live in the US and call it football, but don't waste time or space arguing about the name.
2) Respect the other teams. Everyone had several rounds of play in their conference, and several had cross-conference play, in order to qualify. The teams that "suck" got left in the dust long ago.
3) No linking to unauthorized vendors. If someone wants to waste 600€ (~$725) on a scalped ticket that won't get them past security, that's their business. Don't help.
4) Don't waste your time responding to the inevitable idiots who will wander through bitching about how "soccer sux." They aren't fans of the sport, never will be, and aren't the kind of we'd want anyway, so nyah!!!

Those are all the majors that come to mind at the moment, so, beyond that, have at it.

I know they will drool their way through this thread at some point, the "soccer suxors" and "soccer iz 4 fagets" idiots, so a few comments for them, and then we'll get to the real business at hand:

1) Real football does not involve armor.
2) Real footballs are round, since that's what the word BALL means.
3) Real footballers don't get to rest up on the sidelines when the other team has the ball.
4) Real footballers can count: 90 minutes = 90 minutes, not 60 minutes= 4 hours.
5) Real football fans don't just riot when they lose, they go to war.
6) Real footballers don't just get fired for screwing up.*

All of the next links are to English pages. Click the appropriate language in the topnav if you need to change it.:

FIFA World Cup Home
FIFA World Rankings
FIFA World Cup Schedule, by Group
FIFA World Cup Schedule, by City and Date*

* leads to a .pdf file. Rather than click it, your best bet is to right click and Save Target.

FIFA World Cup Tickets
Premium Tickets*
Prestige Tickets
Elite Tickets
Sky Box Tickets

* site available in ONLY English and German.

The five ticket links above are the ONLY authorized ticket vendors for the World Cup. Tickets will include an embedded microchip, with information like your name and passport number, and it is, as yet, unknown just how strict the security will be for comparing this information. Purchasing tickets from other vendors (e-Bay, travel groups, etc.) is a "Buyer Beware" situation.

For those of you looking to, "get your gear on," I'm not going to waste space with links to vendors ... doing so probably breaks the BBS rules anyway :-P~~~ Google for them like I did, but as with above, it's with a warning. When purchasing trikots, ensure that they are for the 05/06 season. Many national teams change them right before a Cup, and you'll likely be off if you're wearing the 04/05. For the unfamiliar, purchasing something listed as a 3rd is fine. If a team's home trikot is white and their away is red, and the team against whom they are playing has a home trikot that is also red, the away team needs to wear something else, which is where their black "3rd" comes in. Yes, I used Frankfurt as my example, get over it.

Group Overview (world ranking as of Feb 2006)

Group A
Germany (19)
Costa Rica (25)
Ecuador (38)
Poland (26)

Group B
England (9)
Paraguay (33)
Sweden (15)
Trinidad & Tobago (51)

Group C
Argentina (4)
Côte d'Ivoire (32)
Netherlands (3)
Serbia & Montenegro (47)

Group D
Angola (60)
Iran (22)
Mexico (6)
Portugal (10)

Group E
Czech Republic (2)
Ghana (48)
Italy (12)
USA (6)

Group F
Australia (48)
Brazil (1)
Croatia (23)
Japan (18)

Group G
France (5)
South Korea (31)
Switzerland (37)
Togo (59)

Group H
Saudi Arabia (35)
Spain (5)
Ukraine (41)
Tunisia (23)

All rankings from FIFA, as of February, 2006.

Who is going to win the Cup?
Who is going to lose in the Final?
Who is going to make it to the Semi-finals?
Who is going to make the Quarter finals?
Who is going to make the Round of 16?
Is the most important Group match going to be Brazil - Croatia, Netherlands - Argentina, USA- Czech Republic, England -Sweden , or another match?
Is Group C or E this Cup's "Group of Death," or a different Group?
What kind of hairstyle is Posh going to make Beckham wear this year?

I wandered off to the Real-Malaga game while I was in Madrid (row 2 on the 18 yard box line ^^) but only brought my digital with me that night. I'll be bringing my real camera to the Cup matches (Czech-US, Spain-Ukraine). It'll be hard to do better than getting Raul, Beckham, and Ronaldo in the same frame, but I'll see what I can do =)

did you say.... balls are round? wow.

i never knew.

I'm hoping Australia get's knocked out first round. Why you might ask since I am infact Australian. It's because I hate all these idiots who jumped on the bandwagon when we qualified for our second(?) world cup ever.

Most of these people are the same one who said the sport sucks before Australia qualified and called it wog-ball. I'm half Italian, so I've always liked and been alright at the sport.

That's why I'll be following Italy this year. Like every other world cup.

At 2/18/06 04:02 AM, monkyboy29 wrote: did you say.... balls are round? wow.

i never knew.

Muahah Great link =)

At 2/18/06 04:08 AM, Ssilver7 wrote: I'm hoping Australia get's knocked out first round. Why you might ask since I am infact Australian. It's because I hate all these idiots who jumped on the bandwagon when we qualified for our second(?) world cup ever.

Yes, second. I've been rooting for Australia to make back for the last 12 years or so. Qualification has been whacked for decades, but it's only been blatantly bizarre the last couple of times. OFC only had a ½ slot (yet again) and had to play off against 5th place CONMEBOL to qualify (again), Uruguay this year, while 4th place CONCACAF (T&T) wandered off to play off against 5th place ACF (Bahrain). ½ places for conferences don't bother me, sending them half way around the fucking world, when there's another ½ place playoff right next door, is just plain stupid. I understand that the original concept was to get people in the same hemisphere playing together, but geez ...

Most of these people are the same one who said the sport sucks before Australia qualified and called it wog-ball. I'm half Italian, so I've always liked and been alright at the sport.

US was the same way until '94, just with different epithets. To some degree it's stil that bad, but the ongoing success of the US women's team, combined with the fact that the US men's has been reasonably successful, has helped quite a bit.

That's why I'll be following Italy this year. Like every other world cup.

Czech, Italy, and US in the same group ... that's going to be rough. OFC Home site, just in case you decide to cheer with the locals Italy Home site if you don't =)

At 2/18/06 04:29 AM, D0GMA wrote: Czech, Italy, and US in the same group ... that's going to be rough. OFC Home site, just in case you decide to cheer with the locals Italy Home site if you don't =)

Aweome thanks.

But I'm more of a casual soccer fan, I'll watch it if it's on TV, but I wont stay up to like 3 in the morning to watch a game (unless it's a finial). So I don't understand a lot of that qualification stuff.

Though, while I was in Italy I did watch a lot of soccer, it was the only stuff I understood.

my heart says that croatia will win. but my hearst an idiot, so we'll disregard that statement.

my head says that Argentina will take it out. they have a relativley easy group, they had a fantastic perperation to the world cup and they have proven they can beat brazil, quite easily.
So Argentina looks like they'll win it/

Football FTW!
Sweden will beat the crap out of everyone, especially England :P

I surport Brazil. Partly due to England being so fucking bad. The other part because Brazil is so fucking great.

I think Brazil is in a not so difficult draw, hows that for "luck" . I would like to see Australia win a few games, don't want them to win because then TV will be taken up with stories about how the players are "heroes" and such.

BTW, I play Rugby League so the game is 80 minutes for me :) .

I hope England will get quite far though with Sven stepping down most of the spotlight will be on that.

At 2/18/06 03:49 AM, D0GMA wrote: Picture.

Is there a way I can get that picture without the copyright bit on?

Beutiful thread.

Opinions:

I dont think australia will get far at all, i cant beleive we've got Sweden in our group again!, I cant beleive this is the first time Ukraine are in the World cup (Shevchenko alone could lead Ukraine pretty far), Brazil will win it again , England will lose to Brazil in the final, France are gonna crash and burn just like last year, Group C will be a wonder to watch, Australia will get a good result against Brazil in the group stages though i reckon, Spain will beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 just like Germany did last time, Poland arent going anywhere.

I'll be rooting for England, but I know there's a small chance that they would actually go to win the whole thing. They've got an easy group (apart from Sweden), but I boubt they'll make it past the semi-finals. Brazil will probably win again, as their team is just brilliant.
Personally, I was shocked when Greece didn't qualify, seeing as they won the the Euro. If they did, I'd be supporting them again, but they just fell apart in the qualifiers.

At 2/18/06 04:51 AM, SaiNT_SiLEiGHtY wrote: my heart says that croatia will win. but my hearst an idiot, so we'll disregard that statement.

There are quite a few good Croats playing around the world these days. The problem is that most of them are playing all over the world. There's real issues with getting them home to practice, something with which most national have a problem, and being able to get them home to practice ... paying for it and having someplace safe in which to do it, which most other nations don't. SCG is basically in the same boat.

my head says that Argentina will take it out. they have a relativley easy group, they had a fantastic perperation to the world cup and they have proven they can beat brazil, quite easily.

Argentina beat the crap out of Brazil in qualifying. That happens occasionally, but this time it wasn't because their goalie sucked (usually who gets the blame), their whole backfield sucked. Brazil is a machine at producing strikers and attacking middies, but it's always left them vulnerable at the back. Still, they're in group with Holland, and anything can happen against them, plus SCG and CIV. I've been wary of Balkan teams since Bulgaria kicked Germany's ass in '94, and Côte d'Ivoire rolled over just about everyone in the Nations Cup. If I were betting, yes, I'd go with Argentina making it out of the group, but I'd rather put money on Brazil, Spain, or France doing so than risk it on Argentina.

So Argentina looks like they'll win it/

/me logs you for Argentina

At 2/18/06 04:53 AM, PalmiZh wrote: Football FTW!
Sweden will beat the crap out of everyone, especially England :P

Heh, whether they do or not, that will probably be the best game of their group.

/me logs you for Sweden

At 2/18/06 04:54 AM, Lost_Chances wrote: I surport Brazil. Partly due to England being so fucking bad. The other part because Brazil is so fucking great.

It'll be a cold day in Hell the next time Brazil doesn't make it out of group, but I wouldn't write England off that easily ...

/me logs you for Brazil

At 2/18/06 04:58 AM, Glock9 wrote:
BTW, I play Rugby League so the game is 80 minutes for me :) .

Heh, the "other" game where "football does not involve armor." Even without a helmet you can still do math ;-)

At 2/18/06 05:02 AM, wastedwizard wrote: I hope England will get quite far though with Sven stepping down most of the spotlight will be on that.

I've never understood why so much paper is wasted on that kind of crap. Play the fucking game ... worry about what's happening afterwards afterwards.

At 2/18/06 05:13 AM, -Moco- wrote: Beutiful thread.

Beautiful game ... it needed it ;-)

Opinions:

Excellent set of predictions ... especially the one about France *ewg*

/me logs you for Brazil

At 2/18/06 05:07 AM, Lost_Chances wrote:
Is there a way I can get that picture without the copyright bit on?

No. Check your e-mail for details.

At 2/18/06 05:40 AM, D0GMA wrote:

At 2/18/06 05:07 AM, Lost_Chances wrote:
Is there a way I can get that picture without the copyright bit on?

No. Check your e-mail for details.

Checked my email but nothing.

A veritable SWARM of Friendlies going on ... plan your day accordingly.

If it's aired in the US (and I could find someone with it), I've noted the network carrying it, but only the first time. Broadcasters like FSC, Setanta, etc., tend to recast a game several times over the subsequent week. When it's actually showing for you is something you'll have to find out for yourself.

Matches are sorted alphabetically by host ... or whomever is considered to be the home team:

Chan --| Home ------- Away
-------- | Albania ---- Lithuania
-------- | Austria ---- Canada
-------- | Azerbaijan - Ukraine
Setanta -| Croatia ---- Argentina#
FSC/FSWES| England ---- Uruguay
-------- | France ----- Slovakia
-------- | Holland ---- Ecuador*
-------- | India ------ Yemen
-------- | Iran ------- Costa Rica
Setanta -| Ireland ---- Sweden
-------- | Israel ----- Denmark
RAI -----| Italy ------ Germany*@
-------- | Luxembourg - Belgium
-------- | Macedonia -- Bulgaria
Telemundo| Mexico ----- Ghana&
-------- | N. Ireland - Estonia
Setanta -| Russia ----- Brazil
-------- | Saudi Arabia-Portugal
-------- | Scotland --- Switzerland
-------- | Senegal ---- Norway
-------- | S. Korea --- Angola
GolTV ---| Spain ------ Côte d'Ivoire
-------- | Taipei ----- Syria
-------- | Tunisia ---- Serbia & Montenegro
-------- | Turkey ----- Czech Republic
ESPN2&HD | USA -------- Poland$
-------- | Venezueala - Colombia
-------- | Wales ------ Paraguay#

& Airing on GolTV on Thursday, 2 March.
@ Airing on GolTV on Saturday, 4 March.
$ Airing on Telemundo on Thursday, 2 March.
* Airing on Telemundo on Saturday, 4 March.
# Airing on Telemundo on Sunday, 5 March.

Oddly enough, TV5 is NOT carrying the France-Slovakia match nor is TVRUS carrying the Russia-Brazil match. For bonus whiffs, FILP, TVA, and TVJAP aren't covering any of the AFC Cup qualifiers that are also occuring today.

Know of another network carrying one of the above matches? Fill in the blanks for us. Just list the network ... telling us what channel it's on for you isn't gong to help much :-P~~~

At 3/1/06 02:31 AM, D0GMA wrote: A veritable SWARM of Friendlies going on ... plan your day accordingly.

Last minute reminder bump. I'm off to the pub to get sauced so I can properly watch Germany stomp on Italy in a couple hours =)

Lets get this straight now. England will not win.

At 3/1/06 12:43 PM, Wadger wrote: Lets get this straight now. England will not win.

Not with that spirit we won't

Looking forward to the England match, although we're missing two big players in Lampard and Owen, it's good that Darren Bent will get a chance up front. Carrick will lay instead of Lampard in a more defensive role probably which IMO should be held by Scott Parker, but he's not even in the fucking sqaud! It's Sven, he only seems to pick players in London or players with other team mates in the squad.

I think we'll win, we need to really, one of the last games before the World Cup, everyone should be out to impress.

Yeah, might as well turn the tv on to watch the Sweden game. It'll be fun playing against the Irish :)

At 3/1/06 02:31 AM, D0GMA wrote: -------- | Scotland --- Switzerland

OH FLOWER OF SCOTLAND, etc. Fuck, I would have loved to be going to that game, and probably would have been, too, were it not for the fact that an ankle injury rendered me unable to move for the time being :(

Annnnnyway. It's a shame Scotland didn't qualify for the world cup, and to be honest I thought it was pretty unlucky. After we ditched the travesty of a manager that was Berti Vogts, things began to look up in the qualifiers with the team under the oh-so benevolent wings of Walter Smith. We started to win matches, and finally show some of the class we'd be missing for years. Too little, too late, I guess. Bah.

The actual World Cup, though, it's going to be a good one. England have an easier group than I would have liked, what with me being a Scotsman and eternally yearning for their defeat, but there you have. The last thing I want is for them to win it, lest we be hearing about it for another 40 years or so. As for who will win? I don't know. The smart money would be on Brazil or France, but the latter have definitely slowed down and aren't nearly as good as they previously were. Czech Republic are also in with a chance, I suppose, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them making it to the finals, infact I expect it.

Bout time someone mentioned the greatest competition in the world..

This world cup ain't going to be the same with the Irish in my opinion.Yes they are my national team but also, and some of you might argue with me:The Irish fans are some of the best in the world.

Seriously, they are welcomed where-ever they go and are always in good spirits.Unlike our neighbors the English whose fans cause trouble wherever they go. (France 98,Japan 2002 etc) Its a pity we won't be in Germany.

More then likely Brazil will win it in my humble opinion.With the likes of kaka and Ronaldinho in midfield all defenses will struggle against them.There defence is a bit dodgy but with this team if you score 2 against them,they'll score 3.

Although I hope to sweet Jesus it doesn't happen,I think England have a good chance of winning it.They are strong all over the park.Robinson in goal,Terry, Ferdinand,Cole,Neville is a strong defense.Gerrard and Lampard form a formidal midfield.I do believe though that they lack a natural winger though.And with Rooney and Owen up front they are bound to score goals.

At 3/1/06 01:49 PM, VirginLungs wrote: The Irish fans are some of the best in the world.

Now I'm not trying to kiss ass, but it seems they are. I've heard Irish football fans being mentioned as some of the nicest supporters several times already. They seem to have somehow established some sort of reputation around Europe of being pleasant guests and are being seen as a good counterweight against English, German or Turkish hooligans.

On topic: the Netherlands will finally win this World Cup of course. Argentina won't know what hit 'em.

At 3/1/06 02:21 PM, lapis wrote:

On topic: the Netherlands will finally win this World Cup of course. Argentina won't know what hit 'em.

That will be a SAVAGE game.

I am particular looking forward to seeing Lionel Messi (Barcelona) play.This kid looks like an absolute genius and has the potential to be a superstar.

http://www.davesdail..es/522-saycheese.htm

what the hell is that thing on he right. Looks like a bulldog chewing a nettle. Gonna have nightmares

I think Scotland are going to win the 2006 world cup

(lolzorz!!111one)

At 2/18/06 03:49 AM, D0GMA wrote:

Who is going to win the Cup?

Brazil ^.^

I hope England wins the cup

I was going to make this thread a while ago, I guess I just forgot :S. Anyway, you have done a way better job than I probably would have had.

Mexico is my obvious response to who will reign champion this time around, although they've never made it further than the quarterfinals, but there is no harm done in dreaming, huh? They do have a pretty straightforward group, but then again, I have been wrong before, like for instance, when they were in the same group with Croatia and Italy (Japan/Korea '02) I was almost positive they weren't going to make it to the next round, but amazingly, they came out first of their group!, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's anyone's game out there.

This is bound to be one hell of a world cup, I just know I'm not going to be disappointed.

Good luck to everyone else!

Argentina all the way.