First up, some great news. Non fans of M. Didit are in for a treat as he’s b*ggering off to the Continent for four or five days. Good news for him is that he’ll be stationed in La Belle France, so will inevitably be able to find a huge telly in some some picturesque village square to capture first hand some Gallic hospitality and bonhomie.

Anyhow, here we are with a few days away from the action and a chance to take stock.

Four epic looking encounters this weekend, with a most surprising cast remaining. I think we can expect more surprises and with what has happened so far, few would be heading to the bookies with any degree of confidence.

As for England? Well, they don’t impress me overly, but of course neither did Greece when they went on to lift The European trophy a few years ago. Shit has already happened, so who knows, although it’s hard not to imagine a Modric (or similar) unlocking our defence, while at the other hand, I’m not confident we have the lock pickers to unlock robust opposition defences either. Hey ho, we’ll see.

Talkies so far:

VAR…I’m warming to the drama

Pickford….THAT save

Arsenal targets…..Lucas “set for a medical” Torreira leading the way

The Superstars…Messi and Ronaldo gone home, Neymar? Mmmm.

Stars born?  Mbappe?

Over to you. What are your highlights and what are you most looking forward to?

Personally? I’m hoping to enjoy a France win this weekend, as in traditional French fashion during times of heightened excitement, all French women automatically remove all their clothing. That’s what they do. Fact.

Spain have been really lacklustre since the tournament started. Fred called it; just not good enough to beat a poor Russian outfit. The home nation still in the the comp definitely adds something, though.

Croatia Denmark was dull, too, but here’s  a match report from VP who enjoyed the game…… 😀

Certain goal to win it snuffed out with a professional foul
Goalkeepers loomed large
Schmeichel ended up saving 3 penalties and goes home
Subasic saves 3 penalties and onwards
The drama around Modric taking his 2nd penalty
Exciting start
Exciting finish
time for breakfast in between
Croatia WIN!
what more can you ask for in a world cup game

On to today’s menu……

Brazil should be street wise enough to see off the Mexicans.

Japan shouldn’t be in the last 16 – Belgium to cruise into the quarters.

The Round of 16 kicks off today with a couple of belting fixtures.

Neither France nor Argentina have hit anything like decent form as yet. Perhaps the do or die nature of the knockouts will inspire them to bring their A game to stage.

Uruguay v Portugal in the evening could be the tie of this round. Therefore it’s a guaranteed nil nil and penalties.

Group H ends in a disgraceful show of bad sportsmanship with Japan passing the ball endlessly sideways, and Poland allowing them to do just that.

Senegal go out of the tournament on the fair play rule. Such irony. The World Cup hasn’t seen such appalling behaviour since Germany v Austria in 1982 fixed their result to both qualify at the expense of Algeria. This game led to final group games being played simultaneously.

Group G was the expected anti-climax predicted, with everything more or less decided beforehand.

So we have avoided Brazil just as Gareth planned….

So, Group E finished as predicted with the Brazilians avoiding any close shaves and the Swiss doing enough to cement a spot in the last 16.

Group F produced the biggest shock of the tournament so far with the Germans unable to beat South Korea and thus going home as disgraced holders. Sweden comfortably beat the Mexicans who were grateful for Germany’s collapse.

The last two groups complete today……

Group G features a straight shoot out between England and Belgium for top spot, though which possible opponents from Group H would be preferred, is anyone’s guess.

To progress from Group H, Japan need to avoid losing to a Polish side merely playing for pride. Senegal v Columbia could turn into fixture of the day, with Columbia needing to win to ensure their fate is in their own hands.

So Group C fizzled out rather than reaching any climax and the qualifiers from Group D proved to be the two with the most quality in the final reckoning.

Argentina will have to up their playing level to progress much further; though round of 16 opponents, France, look bang average at present, too.

On to today’s fare……..

Group E looks fairly straightforward unless Serbia can pull off a shock. Neymar will use any means to annoy us with his theatrics. Leave it at home, mate; you’re a great footballer – that should be enough.

Granit and Shaqiri escaped bans for their soaring eagles celebrations, so if the Swiss qualify, Arsenal should have at least two representatives playing in the Round of 16.

Group F could see a three-way tie on 6 points if the Swedes can beat Mexico and the Jarmans overcome pointless South Korea.  Though Mexico should be too strong to let things slip.

So, VAR makes a mockery of Group B and consequently the Round of 16 first games decided look like this…….

On to today………..

If France beat the Danes, Australia have a sniff at qualification from Group C.

Assuming Croatia beat Iceland, the Nigeria v Argentina game becomes a one game shoot out (though Nigeria will qualify if it ends as a draw).