World Soccer XXX: We Have Men Too!

[JF_Gophers]

I think what I am hearing is not so much our group is tough. It's that we don't really trust the US team to perform. At least this isn't being held in Europe where we never win.

[Jimjamesak]

Unlikely that a ref from middle east would be assigned an Iran match. We are more likely to see UEFA/Africa/Asia ref.

It almost certainly be a UEFA ref. VAR kind of helps too.

[Jimjamesak]

I think what I am hearing is not so much our group is tough. It's that we don't really trust the US team to perform. At least this isn't being held in Europe where we never win.

It’s not that the US won’t perform, it’s that all of you are severely underestimating Iran and the playoff winner.

[JF_Gophers]

It’s not that the US won’t perform, it’s that all of you are severely underestimating Iran and the playoff winner.

Underestimating compared to who? Of all the groups, there aren't many gimme's to point to. This is a group that England and the US should expect to advance from.

Our group will be hard for the US because it's always hard for them. We rarely do things the easy way.

[ticapnews]

Unlikely that a ref from middle east would be assigned an Iran match. We are more likely to see UEFA/Africa/Asia ref.

Good thing there are no corrupt referees from Europe, Asia or Africa.

Of course the referee won't be from the Middle East, but if you think there won't be CONCACAF level corruption or incompetence then I have some beautiful oceanfront property in Iowa to sell you.

[JF_Gophers]

Good thing there are no corrupt referees from Europe, Asia or Africa.

Of course the referee won't be from the Middle East, but if you think there won't be CONCACAF level corruption or incompetence then I have some beautiful oceanfront property in Iowa to sell you.

So you are saying the US is above paying off refs? News to me! :-)

[Jimjamesak]

Underestimating compared to who? Of all the groups, there aren't many gimme's to point to. This is a group that England and the US should expect to advance from.

Our group will be hard for the US because it's always hard for them. We rarely do things the easy way.

I think they got the toughest draw out of pot 3 and pot 4.

[LynahFan]

England / Scotland should be a good time, too, if it goes like that.

[ticapnews]

So you are saying the US is above paying off refs? News to me! :-)

The US can't compete with that oil money.

[ticapnews]

I think they got the toughest draw out of pot 3 and pot 4.

Statistically, they drew the toughest team in Pot 4 and second toughest in Pot 3. Senegal is slightly ahead of Iran. The UEFA qualifier will be miles ahead of anyone else in Pot 4 except Peru (and still ahead of them)

[JF_Gophers]

I added the FIFA rankings to my earlier group post. Despite helping Jim with his argument. :-)

[Jimjamesak]

The one thing is they’re almost guaranteed the late kick off time on everyday.

USA v England will be on Black Friday.

[Jimjamesak]

On a slightly different note, I can't wait for Rapinoe to (rightfully) call out Lloyd for participating in the draw and the podcast/interview snipes at each other that will occur.

[RaceBoarder]

I'm content with this draw...

This is the World Cup, so there rarely is an "easy" draw. Likewise, we didn't end up in an obvious Group of Death scenario...

I agree with Jim about Iran playing with "home field advantage", but that's not insurmountable. England is England. Who knows what version will actually show up to the tournament. The playoff winner is truly a wild card. Who knows what we'll get with that.

But I see this as doable.

[Jimjamesak]

The one thing I’ve seen about Iran that could be interesting is that they’re, apparently, a bit of a s-thousing team and that they could run into trouble with that at the World Cup.

From a referee perspective for the US games I can give a rough idea of who the referees will be:

v UEFA Playoff winner: This is the one that’ll suck because it won’t be a Euro ref and likely won’t be a CONMEBOL one either so it’ll be Asia or Africa with Africa more likely. Remember the Slovenia game in 2010? It could be like that.

v England: CONMEBOL referee almost assuredly (which is why the first match won’t). It’s a marquee match and it’ll need a steady hand.

v Iran: UEFA referee. Likely will be one of the mid-tier guys. Keep an eye on the Europa League knockouts, it’ll probably be one of those.

Once the referee crews are finalized later in the year I can probably make a guess.