- Russia World Cup 2018 had incredible World Cup; France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final.
- Most of the predictions have gone astray; Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Spain and Brazil made early exit!
- Is there any exception ?
World Cup Predictions
World Cup 2018 has failed most of the experts if not all, not once but repeatedly, day after day, and then we had France and Croatia in the Final. Experts with new vigour explained the position of teams on the match-day over TV, radio, Newspaper and online media channels. This World Cup has been really cruel to all of us, embarrassing experts and fans on a regular basis
We had predictions from supercomputers, football legends, animals and even, Goldman Sach; all eventually threw in the towel, and we saw the final match, as a wise and sporting human being. There was a huge gap between France and Croatia, but people were so shocked; they were afraid to pick their team. They were not ready to be fools once again.
Just before the World Cup started, Jose Mourinho, coach of Manchester United coach, picked up his favourites for knock-out stages, all through the end, He predicted an Argentina vs Portugal final, as everybody would have loved. There were disclaimers though. The whole world was waiting for it…, but it was not to be the case. Mourinho looked rather conformist in his predictions at different stages of the world cup. If he had genuinely been intuitive and gone with instinct while predicting, I seriously fear for Manchester United.
The One!
Is there anyone, better (with World Cup predictions) than ‘the special one’, who is not even close to the actual outcome? Well, we might get surprised, if we refer Zlatan Ibrahimovic-interviews published in different newspapers on 13th of June!
In the interview, Zlatan Ibrahimovic rallied behind France, and picked two, his former Manchester United team-mate Paul Pogba along with Kylian Mbappe, whom he believed, would come to the fore during 21st edition of World Cup. “I think Pogba for sure, who everybody knows is fast and skilful”- Zlatan told FIFA during that interview on the eve of Russia World Cup. The Los Angeles Galaxy forward had also tipped Mbappe, who had four goals in 15 appearances for his country prior to World Cup, to play a starring role in Russia – “Mbappe, an upcoming star who still has more to give to get to the top, but he will for sure arrive there.
Zlatan defended Pogba through out World Cup. Pogba had a hand in both the goals France scored, en route a 2-1 win over Australia in their first World Cup match. However, his performance came under fire from some quarters following the game. There were suggestions that the midfielder had underperformed. Even Jose Mourinho joined in chorus. Ibra, who was working with beIN Sport as expert, came down heavily on critics that time.
Ibra to Pogba
In a tweet including an image of Pogba posing with the World Cup in the France dressing room after the final, Zlatan wrote: “Let them talk but the game speaks for itself.”
Let them talk but the game speaks for itself @paulpogba #pogcup #myapprentice #congratsfrance pic.twitter.com/CzM0Am7fxj
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) July 15, 2018