WHAT WE LEARNED FROM EVERY NATIONS LEAGUE GROUP (LEAGUE A)

[@GamerNintendo25]

If I had a nickel for every time Fernando Santos’ Portugal went into the final game of a tournament in the 2020s needing just a draw at home against a team they had drawn with away to progress, only to lose by 1 goal with the winner coming after the 85th minute, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice

[@abishaijulien2357]

lol

[@DukiTovke]

Mitro liked this comment oof

[@bazingacurta2567]

It's happened thrice.

[@Efeverscente]

I've seen this reference a few times, where is it from?

[@LauchTV2311]

@@Efeverscente I think it's from the first Phineas and Ferb movie, but I don't remember the name

[@oliverrl2349]

The nations league is unironically a good competition. It’s better than friendlies that no one can watch, for no purpose.

[@cedricdepauw]

True. It was meant to replace friendlies, but still friendlies are played quite often. I don’t get it.

[@Jesusloveswhitetoes]

Yeah and now look at how many Barca players are out

[@RasenRendanX]

@@cedricdepauw the friendly matches are for the clubs not in Europe. It's not hard to understand. Other national teams still need to play too

[@cedricdepauw]

@@RasenRendanX Yeah, I understand. But we’re talking Nations League and thus Europe here.

[@alonsoleonardonavarro7211]

I would like to see a nations league conformed for conmebol and concacaf teams.

[@GothPaoki]

" Maguire is indeed not good" biggest understatement in world football...

[@hommofroggy5727]

Huge respect for talking about the Ronaldo situation on a very cold, calm and collected manner, huge balls are needed for that... HUGE Balls.

[@xFlashy]

unironically impressed with how fun watching the lower league is so far, phenomenal capaign from Georgia

[@shaharavigdori8641]

I'm From Israel. It's so weird to see us doing something right for a change, even though we still have plenty of drama off the pitch.

[@99mrbadboy]

@@shaharavigdori8641 free Palestine

[@shaharavigdori8641]

@@99mrbadboy how can i free something that doesn't exist?

[@RasenRendanX]

Khava is gonna be a superstar

[@fidschiwasser917]

@@shaharavigdori8641 massive W

[@Solwa54]

I love how you always sum up Austria's matches so perfectly by completely ignoring us. It really captures our performances to a T. 👍

[@devinaustin1833]

Look how much argentina is phenomenal when they stopped the "pass to messi" tactic. Portugal has the same quality of players and yet you dont see Bernardo, Cancelo and Felix playing like how they do in club level. New manager and stop the pass to Ronaldo idea

[@LPMaxytb]

As an austrian it would have been interesting to hear what you think about Rangnick's tenure so far. Even though we finished last, more points (especially that last croatia match and one of the Denmark matches) wouldn't have been undeserved and his playing style is already way more exciting to watch than under Foda.

[@NM-ev7pu]

Two games were really bad.

[@joshuakouri4401]

Nations League is poorly implemented but a fantastic idea. There’s a lot of little things I don’t like; such as a lack of group continuity and the weird naming. However, ESPECIALLY in areas such as CONCACAF, it is a much needed idea (Only South America doesn’t need it).

[@MrRonald2796]

There have been conversations about having a Nations League in CONMEBOL as well, either as a separate entity or by joining the one run by UEFA (a much better option imo).

[@joshuakouri4401]

​@Bv I believe Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines should all be in the OFC instead of the AFC. AFC should also be split in two, creating a Middle Eastern conference as well, since the AFC is IMO way too large.

[@joshuakouri4401]

@@MrRonald2796 Wouldn't the travel not be viable? Also, at that point, you beg the question of why not make a Global Nations League.

[@MrRonald2796]

@@joshuakouri4401 The idea would be for the Nations League to replace the FIFA Friendlies, while also allowing for competitive matches against better opponents. The FIFA Friendlies are already played in Europe most of the time, so traveling wouldn't be an issue.

[@sreenivaskamath4243]

@@MrRonald2796 I think a joint Nations League between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL will be a good thing, making an ultimate Americas competition.

[@Sid29]

Belgium - I feel like the Belgium defence is very old and stale. Portugal - Ronaldo looks a liability nowadays (maybe their manager as well). Spain - Doesn't look like the amazing tiki taka side when they winning everything around 10 years ago. Netherlands - Has looked very impressive at times, at times looked lost. It's a confusing team rn. England - A great team and with many great things going about them, but the extreme media hype doesn't seem to help them rn (especially Maguire being made the fall guy). Croatia - Finally, seems to do the transition smoothly from the old guard to new. The younger players seem exciting. But Modric remains the best in the world. France - Their manager is another Zidane, mostly trusting the players who won them WC, but not helping to get the new talant in the national team.

[@Kevin-be9iy]

portugals problem is definitely santos first, everyone doesn’t like his style of play he just has the credibility of the euros to keep his job

[@RasenRendanX]

Spain issue is not being direct enough and lack of a consistent striker Morata is on and off we all know this. I rather see Igao Aspas get a chance

[@MortChrist]

Thank you for the 🇩🇰 & Hjulmand shoutout Adri. Despite folding to Croatia twice(kudos to them btw), we come out of this NL feeling great going into the WC. And you're spot on about Kasper, but also how he managed to turn the team crisis under the Euros around and overall gotten the nation back supporting the team again. We had a lot to go through the long tenure under Morten Olsen, but it's all just good vibes going forward now.

[@jelmervanriet790]

Loving the nations league. Its so much better than the pointless friendlies of old

[@toxic_user007]

Awesome Video as always but could you also do a video about league B i was really suprised how fun to watch league B was this year and some performances were real surprising like Gorgia, Kazakhstan and Bosnia&Herzegovina

[@JustinHimberlake]

He wont

[@Savvle]

​@@JustinHimberlake he will, he has reviewed the whole of nations league last time it happened

[@SchizoidMan1989]

Meanwhile in League B: * Israel was a big beneficiary to Russia being disqualified (for obvious reasons). They took care of business as they should, but League A will be a different beast entirely. * Scotland had a good display, that inexplicable loss against Ireland notwithstanding. They now have Home Nations bragging rights. * Surely I thought Norway would advance, what with Haaland and their final game being a home match. Serbia got that critical win there though. * Not sure what to make of the group with Bosnia. A mere four points seperated them from relegated Romania. It's pretty tight.

[@perfectsoundforever3775]

Good take as always Adrian, the nation league is not bad. A lot of English youtuber's complaining it's a waste of time but I think that probably stems from how shite England have been. The nations league has offered nice entry points to qualifying for international tournaments for a lot of lower ranked nations. Rabona TV coming through with a balanced and nuanced opinion in the midst of hyperbole.

[@bowlofcinder482]

If England had to play the teams that Scotland play in the qualifiers they would never get in

[@1997lordofdoom]

Ronaldo's bad form is not because of age, last season he scored 18 goals in the premier league and was scoring hat tricks against Spurs 6 months ago, he didn't decline that fast over 1 summer. It's more of a mental situation than anything.

[@gabsnandes7818]

I also think that, United was the worst choice he could have made and he probably knows it

[@1997lordofdoom]

@@gabsnandes7818 Juventus was also a pretty bad choise in my opinion.

[@maba1503]

It was a great summary, although personly I would love to hear more thoughts on the national teams, both rising and falling ones.

[@stewartmeehan4537]

What we learned is Scotland is better then England. After all we'll in league A and there in B and if you are in a higher league your oblivious better

[@Unknownboiy]

Great Video, but I think u should have mentioned Switzerland who beat Spain and Portugal and were only 2 points off the lead.

[@samuelschonenberger]

After a horrendous start with 3 losses including a horrorshow against the Czek Republic Really shows character and quality from the squad to come back like that

[@hkmarhk]

You have to give it to UEFA for making mundane stuffs like international friendlies and world cup qualification play-offs more interesting.

[@PeeGeeThirteen]

Cristiano’s pouting pisses me off more when he is the one who makes mistakes. He needs to accept that he’s no longer a starter. I hope the FPF drop Santos when his contract ends. Speaking of Santos, I hated his answer about coasting until 2024 Mourinho secretly waiting for Cristiano to retire

[@danibernek4242]

Would have been nice hearing more thoughts on Hungary, I think people would enjoy a video about them

[@samuelschonenberger]

Very inspiring to see a former giant coming back after years of being average

[@ousmansano21]

@@samuelschonenberger yea so many decades even

[@JP-vj7fp]

Lots of players got injured this week. Like it or not, the Nations League congests the schedule at the expense of players’ health.

[@dreadnaught23]

Is there a possibility of covering the other leagues too? Great performances from a lot of national teams and some that are quite dreadful, and we would love to hear your opinion on them. Big love ❤️

[@PincheBrayan101]

How can people even hate this guy, especially when he is PORTUGUESE. HE HAS A RIGHT TO SAW CRAP ABOUT RONALDO!!

[@billiamsandals175]

One major problem is the media still pushes that Ronaldo is “the best in the world” and coaches such as Carlos Carvalhal call us “ungrateful” for saying Ronaldo needs to get benched, oh that and Fernando Santos downplaying our loss to Spain by saying “I have a contract until 2024” which, oh boy I do love that 😀👍

[@jdjphotographynl]

Dutch guy here, think it's going to end in the quarter finals for us. Which is a fine performance given our current squad and how we have been doing in recent years. I think we will win our group, and then we will face the number 2 of group B. England will probably win that group, so then it'll be Iran, USA, or Wales. Teams that we normally should be able to beat in the second round. But then we will probably face Argentina in the quarter finals, and I see them as the favourites for this world cup along with Brazil. So yeah, quarter finals it is.

[@RasenRendanX]

Scenes when England finish second

[@kinyuapeter278]

I don't see England topping their group. I'm going to be bold and say they'll finish third

[@sreenivaskamath4243]

@@RasenRendanX I can see England finishing on second. A bold prediction will be that Wales will top this group.

[@willemvanbeek5210]

In The Netherlands there is not a lot enthusiasm about oranje, and i don’t understand why. We are on a unbeaten streak i’ve never witnessed, have world class defenders, midfield with Frenkie de Jong is perfect and attacking we have just enough, i mean Memphis Depay is top scorer of national teams in 2022. I just trust Louis van Gaal with my life, lets f ing go!

[@BrianStorm742]

I mean, the enthusiasm has been picking up though.

[@harukanakamoto7]

Thanks for bringing up FIFA Rankings. Maybe you should make a video about it. In this past years that rankings are absolutely ridiculous

[@matthewhernandez8342]

I think it’s probably best for Portugal and Manchester United if Ronaldo comes on as a substitute around the 55th minute.

[@taradeviwest9351]

I started to love the UNL!!!

[@gabbamoreno]

Switzerland deserved a shout out, and this has nothing to do with the fact that I’m Swiss…

[@KwisatzHaderach.22.]

It's waaaay better than those boring friendlies. It really seems to work well. Enjoy it a lot

[@SolidJCP]

A lot of people think that the Nations League are glorified friendlys and you should just ignore them BUT there are 2 reasons you shouldnt. Reason 1: Placing first in your group gives you a second chance to qualify for the WC or EUROS through the playofs if you fail to qualify through the normal process Reason 2: UEFA dropped the FIFA rankings for seeding teams in qualifyng and instead is using the Nation League overall rankings. Here is an example. England is the 3rd best european nation in the fifa rankings (5th in the world) and would be in pot 1 for the EURO 2024 qualifiers, however since UEFA is using the NL overall ranking England is 15th and in pot 2. Just imagine England not taking the NL seriously and dropping in ranks landing in lower pots. The possibility to draw with 2 european powerhouses in the same quali. group rises which iin turn would make going through more difficult.

[@mthokozisinkomoxulu8097]

The Only Change I'd Like To See In The Nations League is That The Finals Become An 8 team Final Tournament. Top 2 In Each League A Group In A Confed Cup Style Tourney

[@10lauset]

From Edmonton Alberta, Cheers to you. ..

[@frafrafrafrafra]

I still can't fathom how we are not in the world cup, football is strange man.

[@adaldi_]

I think The Nations League is better than International Friendlies. It's just unfortunate that with Covid, all the schedule gets messed up and all packed in a time we have the Winter World Cup. The players gets almost no rest as is.

[@diablejambe3460]

I love ronaldo, one of my fav players ever but this aint working. Not saying he cant win u matches anymore or even that u should bench him (though theres certainly an argument to be made), but he cant be the constant source of ur attention on the attack anymore. Dont care how great a shape hes in, 37 is 37. Yeah hes not slow but hes not as fast as he used to be, nor can he jump quite as high or dribble past opponents the way he did. With the national team the plan was "get ronaldo the ball and get the hell out of his way" cuz why wouldnt u? Heres this living legend and thats ur best option, especially since there were times when the support just really wasnt all that. But now? With him declining and the supporting cast being vastly improved, they gotta change things up. Not only makes it more difficult for the opponents to defend, but itll make his life easier as well. As a german i obviously want germany to win it all, but if not us? Well itll put a smile on my face if ronaldo got his hands on the trophy. I know its not the likeliest of outcomes, but their chances would improve drastically if the coach simply made some changes.

[@zolwninja8]

Poland will again see an early group exit.. they're not ready

[@lwandomadikizela2213]

League A. Group 1 Croatia as come a long since the 2018 World Cup when the finished 2nd. Denmark could have won the group but fell short in the end. France are in big trouble if things don't change. Group 2 Portugal are far more talented than they were in 2016 but the same old problems remains. As good Ronaldo was during his peak years he's not the same player he is. Santos is holding Portugal back to reach to the level required. Spain needs a clinical forward despite them winning the group. Group 3 Hungary surprised everyone despite not winning the group. Italy won't be in the World Cup but they have a chance to win the Nations League. Germany needs to find the formula that made them feared by the world. England were pathetic from the first game. Southgate is just not a good manager. It's the same thing that happened at Manchester United when Ole was the manager. Finishing strong in spite of them not because of them. Southgate must thank Maguire for taking much of the criticism towards England. Maguire has been poor since last season and refusing to take responsibility and blame. Maguire will be the downfall of Southgate as he was the downfall of Ole. Group 4 The only nation that can stop Argentina and Brazil from winning the World Cup is the Netherlands. Say what you want to say about LVG during his time at Manchester United but he's turning the Dutch into legit favourites for Qatar. The golden generation for Belgium is reaching its end game. For years they were in the top 3 in the Fifa rankings but won nothing. Yes they have young blood coming in but it's now last chance saloon to deliver glory otherwise they join the Legacy of Failure category.

[@BeeEffe]

The Nations League is certainly growing as a tournament but the odd scheduling doesn’t really help it.

[@LiriciztaOficial]

Not just Santos, even the Portuguese federation. What they did to rafa. We lost a great player to play for the country because Santos almost plays with almost only players who's agent is Jorge Mendes...

[@maax8598]

I love the nations league

[@CSeyoum]

The should give the team with the highest point total in grps host. Makes the whole thing bigger as the economic benefits from the final.

[@ShmuelMe]

Raspadori is in great form

[@NunoRaposo1978]

It was pathetic, Ronaldo was struggling to keep up, everyone could see Spain was growing into the match and Santos did not have the balls to get him off. And that in a nutshell is why we lost.

[@manofsteel9051]

Damn, treating your countries best ever player like this

[@RuiLuz]

@@manofsteel9051 no, he is right, there is time for the best to admit they can't do it anymore, if he can't do that, then it's up to the national manager to make it clear!

[@Diego-hh8do]

@@manofsteel9051 are you brainless?

[@afonsosilva5267]

SANTOS PARA A RUA! E A SELEÇÃO CONTINUA!

[@RasenRendanX]

Wish you talked about Serbia vs Norway. Mitrovic defeated Halaand

[@arthurqampi3239]

Van Gaal's most recent jobs? His 2nd most recent job was taking Netherlands to 3rd place in Brazil 🤔

[@Playtoallwins]

Fernando Santos is the type of manager that can do the impossible. Lossing matches with World class players that he could make for two WC teams. "Who hellss but Fernando Santos?!"🤷‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️ AND e Still says to the press that his ok and STILL have a contract till 2024.

[@TheArtistTreee]

Any victories against France should be taken very lightly, they have been playing horribly since the Euros (and maybe even earlier). They have short bursts of quality but overall, their gameplay has been slow, predictable and uninspiring.

[@bongs_esc]

The French and Deschamps in particular baffles me, why play back 3!? They’ve been a hard watch since they resorted to that formation

[@darynmiller5151]

Modric is great, but de brunye has been the best midfielder in the world for a couple years now.

[@matija5555]

😂

[@JustinHimberlake]

Lemme gues…. Prem fan right? Lol u guys are hilarious

[@scoobusmaximusiii]

How to win an argument online: Step 1: Use an emoji Step 2: Say that's funny Step 3: Provide no counterpoint because fuck explaining your position, amirite? Step 4: Leave

[@zakitahmeed4993]

Ah prem/ city fans, 🤣

[@darynmiller5151]

@@zakitahmeed4993 Madrid fans are all up in my comments. What im saying is not controversial go look at any publications rankings of the best midfielders in the world right now. I'll wait while you go check and then tell me how everyone in the world is wrong except madrid fans.

[@Diego-hh8do]

I'm just happy that Serbia finished 1st in their group

[@darthplagueis8886]

When your coach leaves Rafael Leão in the bench to play an out of form Cristiano Ronaldo, or when he plays a fucking oaf like William Carvalho, leaving out Vitinha or Matheus Nunes, and i ain't even talking about sending Gonçalo Ramos and Pedro Neto to the stands. We have a very poor coach to a very good team and if we don't sack him, we're gonna keep getting fucked.

[@Hachiae]

Been saying this for a while, but when you have so many worldclass attackers, the last thing you want to do is defend the entire game. And thats all southgate does. Hes never suited the job

[@jeff5534]

Don’t know why Southgate keeps playing Maguire, it’s almost as if he’s too nice to drop him… which is painful to watch as an Englishman as neither of them are good enough for the job

[@lunasmokezim1718]

Wow 2 years later you guys finally get what the rest of us have been saying about Ronaldo. Dude hasn't been the same since a year before he left Madrid. But United are required to play him because "reasons"... Ridiculous🙄

[@liquid5870]

Argentina has to be one of those teams that u mentioned that players enjoy instead of it being a chore. La Scaloneta! They always get the best out of their players.

[@R.Mousasi]

Our Dutch team is pretty solid under Van Gaal. We just lack the pure class factor to be a real world cup contender. We have a few really good central defenders and Frenkie de Jong as our best player. Depay has been our talisman alot of games so I hope he comes good for us. But behind these we have alot of decent players but not alot difference makers. Hopefully Luuk de Jong can find his barca form and score for us every last 5 minutes of the game.

[@Y2Jess]

WERE YOU IN A SHOUTING MOOD TODAY, ADRIAN? Lmao

[@olbol5126]

why did you basically talk about all the teams that topper their group except italy. im sick of hearing everything from an english perspective

[@dylan4865]

I wish there wasn't a nations league. Why can't the players just have some time to relax

[@MarkoLeveL]

HUP HOLLAND HUP!!!! 🎉🎉

[@madalenasalema8006]

We need to sack Fernando Santos! I don’t think I ever saw such a talented Portuguese generation of players and the guy just doesn’t know what to do with them… I never liked him as coach but his playing style and a bit of luck got us the Euros in 2016… but now it just doesn’t make sense anymore, his playing style doesn’t suit this team…he needs to be gone! He should have been gone for awhile now…

[@sreenaths6829]

He should have been sacked in 2020 after the France loss.

[@gunshow2121]

As a German supporter… very disappointed in the performances. Not much attacking creativity, too many crosses from the side, terrible touches and too many passes around the top of the box, or floating balls in from kimmich. Not good enough. Hoping the lads can sort it out before the World Cup. Musiala is nasty though…

[@tornadonextgen8306]

France need Zizzou to tryout Out the mana management..

[@calumjunior7748]

Surely that’s not actually a photo of Southgate? 😂😂😂

[@nohandler1493]

Do you really think Sancho, rashford, saka, Shaw would play for top epl team if they did not have English passport?

[@hofAMVS]

Ronaldo tem que voltar pro sporting

[@spencerjones7985]

What I learned is that international breaks still make me wanna cry and fall asleep from boredom, I’ve had to watch baseball and nfl bc of this shit and that’s not even including the fact it’s still friendlies that mean nothinggggg even if Uefa act like they mean something. Fuck the international break, all my homies hate the international break

[@robintaberner]

To answer your first question! NO!

[@peterweiss123]

really dont see the reason of the Nations League

[@machinainc5812]

Belgium didn’t even get to a final at the WC and Euro but FIFA still ranked them nr1 for quite a long time, ahead of actual winners like Portugal (Euro16 and Nations Cup) and France (WC18). Pathetic

[@judgeprime3730]

Santos OUT!!!

[@ChrisCoelho]

Santos has WAY over stayed his welcome, thank for the the Euro Cup that you luckily won us but you need to go like 4 years ago! Santos is destroying this team i'm so sick of the style we play under him it's such a waste of all this insane attack minded players we have all he wants to do is DEFEND and pass to Ronaldo thats literally the entire damn game plan which makes ZERO sense when you have Bernardo, Fernandes, Jota, Leao, Sanches, Vitinha, Felix, Rafa, Ramos, Nunes and the list just goes on and on we could feel 2 all star teams right now with the amount of talent we have. Yet it's Sit back defend all game DON"T score and pass to Ronaldo. We will lose and we won't get out of the group stage playing like this thats just a fact unless we get stupid lucky like we did during the euro that we won.

[@rainingentertainment3104]

He is a lot slower, 100%. But it’s surprising how much he’s declined at 37 when there has been other legends who aged easily into 40 41.. I think he’s mostly missing some confidence to be fair but he’s definitely declining and I think Santos should have been prepping a plan b in case Ronaldo were to be out of form.. as you could clearly see was a possibility even last season. They’ve had plenty of games to trying different line ups and attacking trios to be comfortable with or without Ronaldo. Also as great as Leao is his terrible defending and lackadaisical pressing gave Spain all the space they needed to score as well as Ruben Dias jumping out of position far too quickly definitely missing Pepe there to calm things down. Another downfall for Santos’.. we should have definitely been trying to get comfortable with different players. Shame, I have no idea how this man is a manager for probably the best national team currently.. he seems old and stuck to his ways and unable to adapt. Need someone at least 10 years younger with some fire. It’s a proven fact that after 35 your brain doesn’t react or critically think as much as it would up until that point. Now imagine a man who’s almost 70 he’s probably too lazy to do all the extras and iron out the wrinkles, sand down the edges. At least I don’t see it the way a lot of other people do, where they see that this is a waste of the golden generation which is slightly true but it’s really just Ronaldo’s generation because majority of that squad is in their mid 20s and still have a good amount of major tournaments in their future and I’m pretty sure santos said if he doesn’t win this cup he’s resigning.. also I’m just praying on portugals individual talent and the fact that last time they got criticized like this they gave us a hell of a performance in that last euro even though we eventually went out to Belgium we did out play them and I wasn’t mad about how they played that match. But being this passive with this Spain is so sad.. you obviously can’t press the way you would want against a team that holds the ball like them but that was just pathetic especially when we got in possession sure we had chances to score but we didn’t value holding the ball and making Spain work..

[@RuiLuz]

His arrogance is what got him here, if he can't do what he did before he just has to slow the fuck down and admit he can't do it anymore.

[@kraeutrpolizei]

Tuned in to get at some view on the Austrian national side, left pretty disappointed tbh. Feels good to be considered a nobody but it’s our confederation‘s fault for the most part I guesd

[@francescomazzei4111]

Winning the group does not even remotely make up for the failed qualification. Not even winning the whole thing would. But as Italian I consider it a good starting point for the recovery. We won a tough group against tough enough teams. I don't want to hear bullshit about the competition not being serious because Mancini did also a hella lot of (much needed) experiments. That 4-years run without defeats and that incredible Euro made me think that Italy would start to dominate international football for a while. That was clearly a mistake. Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina are superior to us as for now... and maybe even Croatia, Netherlands and Germany. I consider also England to be superior in raw talent (expecially in attack). But even if we are not stronger than them, I think we should definitely be able to contend with them. The failed qualification was a terrible disaster. This Nation League's group means nothing in comparison, but it's a first good sign that we can come back to that level.

[@gebirg1]

Most English players are mediocre at best. Their faults are hidden at club level because they are playing alongside class foreign players but when they have to play by themselves their inadequacies are apparent. Grealish must be the most over-hyped player ever and Kane is great at scoring penalties against little teams but when the big boys turn up he disappears.

[@iceman4660]

Belgium = Fools Gold

[@anonymoustv5770]

The fact that you have the caveat the Ronaldo statements to appease the fanboys is sad. Just call it what it is, he is just not as good as other options at this age

[@eldwarf034]

I think that none of the teams that have been world champions nor those consdiered powerhouses like Belgium and Portugal are up to the task at the world cup. I am loving this age of european football where the teams that used to be easy are now the nightmare of this european teams. Groupr by group: A: Croatia and Denmark are both a top 3 side in europe right now, both play fantastically but if I had to pick one to go the furthest in the WC it would be Denmark, I think it is just their ability to beat stronger teams on paper. Nonetheless Croatia to me is again top 3, and unless they face Netherlands in the semis, I think they will be in the final B: Spain prays to play, that is their whole strategy now, yes they toped the group but they were highly unconvincing and Portugal is not a great team to look at either, if anything to me Switzerland was the best team in the group, had it not been for that rough start I think they would have been first place, they play a lot like a latin american team, a lot of garra as we say and I like that, defintely in my top 5 of europe right now, it is a shame they miss the final four. As for Spain, I expect nothing in the final four from them C: Hungary is rocking, bad luck in the very last game but they look like a side that can come into fruition in the future, maybe in the euro or next nations league. Italy despite not qualifying they still look like one of the best sides in europe, I am honestly kinda hoping they win just so everyone can shut up about how bad they are, bad luck can strike at any moment. Germany was lack luster, I think everyone has been expecting more from them but they just look as average as they have since 2018. England should sack southgate and honestly trim some of this players, there are players on the main line up I would not even call for the national team other than Maguire which is obvious D: Netherlands hype train is real, to me this is the best team in europe right now, it has been marinating for a while but now they look like the Netherlands from 2006-2014 again and I am all for it, I am expecting them to go home with that trophy. As for Belgium, meh, I get how FIFA rankings work based on the games you lose and win and everything, but I think it should be more punishing in those regards, losing by that many goals to a lower ranking team should drop you at least half of the places between both. Honestly I would love for something like power rankings from the NFL, it is one dude that knows what he is talking about making a power ranking based on their performance game to game and I love it. Personally my top 5 right now would be: 1. Brazil 2. Argentina 3. Netherlands 4. Croatia 5. Denmark

[@ckromuluss11and89]

tbh ,it was really bad timing , the queen died which stopped the epl ,so now theyre forced to play catch up matches , and with the world cup, i feel the epl players will be spent before the tourney, far too many games imo

[@LucianC137]

Only Santos is a problem, not Ronaldo. Same goes for England, only Southgate is the problem, not the squad.

[@jayvee8914]

English players thought they are good but they are not compared to other football countries

[@TK_Brainslug]

I haven't seen any games of the nations league. I think the players need more time to regenerate. Their health should be the focus not the money.

[@RasenRendanX]

The nations league is one of the rare times the international teams can play. We all moan about it but when will national teams get chances to gel together? No one thinks about that

[@Mario-uw9ip]

Aw, weren’t they all extremely good and undefeatable teams? You all can see big issues for all of them… Italy was the only shitty one according to the whole world, literally a crappy team, judged only about one shitty match they undervalued, never by the good things made before or at least considering the good and the bad, and the funniest things is that the majority of these haters belong to nations that have 0 or 1 max 2 world cups in their palmarés, but look now, we “causually” won the UNL group stage, while most of these amazing teams won’t even compete to win the it. Keep bragging with your” world cup qualification” while 99% of you won’t even win it (unfortunately all tournaments only have a single winner) but how good would that be to have 6 winners, just to celebrate this big, alpha, serious, first world countries, right? I have a strange feeling that this year the golden cup won’t stay in Europe…

[@machinainc5812]

Belgian on paper had the best team in world football (4/5 years ago) and won nothing. Now their Golden Generation is ageing and some on brink of retirement like Vertognhen and others. Having said that, the fact they were nr1 in the World by FIFA ranking having won fk all, its baffling to me. Portugal won Euro 2016 and the Nations Cup and didnt event get top 3. France won the WC and Belgium still hang on to Nr1 ranked team in the world. Wtf is going on with fifa rankings. Its pathetic. Belgium didn’t even get to a final at the WC and Euro but FIFA still ranked them nr1 ahead of actual winners.

[@Kevo193]

We learned that it’s a worthless competition. Nothing but glorified friendlies

[@TheNJB]

The nations league is still a waste of time. I think Europeans playing in 3 competitions could cause issues like fatigue and injuries

[@niroo.]

First

[@jamesa.burciagamedrano3887]

Ronaldo isn’t any different from the player he was at Juventus and even his last few years with Madrid. The reality is that the teams around him have progressively got worse and he’s now not scoring regularly, which is damn near his only redeeming quality for years now. That’s just the reality of the player he is and has been for a while now.

[@mikexstad1121]

keep CR7 warm Steven, he's getting old

[@RuiLuz]

Fernando Santos is old mentality, if he only needs a draw, then he will play to draw, seriously, with all the good material in his hands he is a disgrace.