World Cup contest: guess the teams in the final game and the final score, and win a prize (act quickly)

June 16, 2018 • 1:30 pm

Thanks to the urgings of reader George, I’m going to repeat the World Cup contest I held four years ago.  So here are the rules for this year’s contest.

The contest:

Guess the two teams who will play in the final World Cup match, the victor, and the score. 

Deadline for entering:  Tomorrow, Sunday, June 17, 2 p.m. Chicago time.

The prize:  An autographed copy of WEIT or Faith Versus Fact (the latter a hardback), with a special drawing of a cat playing football wearing your team’s colors.

Roolz:  In case of identical guesses, the first correct entry wins. If the final goes to penalty kicks, the winning score entry would be, for example, “1-1, team A wins on PKs”.  If nobody gets the final teams and the score, the winner will be the first person to correctly guess the two teams and the winner. If nobody gets even these things right, then nobody wins, and you’re a bunch of losers.

Remember, you have to give the teams AND the score! The judges’ decision is final.

Put all your guesses in the comments below, and remember, you can choose only two teams in a game and propose only one score. Violators will be disqualified. I’d suggest reading the entries that pre-dated yours so you don’t guess what somebody else already has.

Good luck!

 

183 thoughts on “World Cup contest: guess the teams in the final game and the final score, and win a prize (act quickly)”

  2. i Remember the football pools, weekly in England but the last two teams and score? Seems like long odds. Probably one to nothing who ever it is.

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    1. I flipped a coin and put Spain in the final instead of Germany. I thought about something more speculative like France-Poland.

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      1. I’m trying to follow the brackets. Wouldn’t
        Spain meet Brazil in match 61 as the winners of quarter finals 57 & 58?

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        1. Spain is in Group B. Brazil is in E. If they both win their groups, they are on opposite sides of the bracket. Spain would advance to the final through these matches: 51-59-62. Brazil would advance by: 53-58-61.

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  14. I love an underdog – despite the Moscow heat I’m predicting: Iceland 3, Portugal 2 after extra time

    [Messi seems to be off his feed so I’m discounting Argentina]

    Here’s the BBC WORLD CUP CHART [.pdf that can be embiggened a lot] – this may help determine your choice of finalists since some groups are harder to beat than others.

    For those that don’t know:

    There are 32 teams divided into 8 groups [A to H] with 4 teams to a group

    We are still in the ‘Group’ stage at the moment where each team in a group plays the other three in their group once [making six matches per group = total 48 matches] – I like this stage because there’s a lot of open football played most of the time…

    The two teams with the best results in each group go through to the “Round of 16” stage where matches 49 to 56 are played to decide which 8 teams go through to the quarter finals. This is highly luck dependent – only one match per team & the result decides if you’re through to the final 8 teams. Can be boring football if a team secures a goal early & then decides to defend their lead for the next 85 minutes!

    My interest in the World Cup tends to decline as it progresses through the stages – because [In My Opinion] the proportion of unwatchable defensive football increases.

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    1. Hate to hear that Messi’s off his feed. Have taped today’s game to watch tonight. Watched a surpringly brilliant MacBeth this afternoon, set in a post-apocalyptic future (usually hate that kind of setting). National Theatre with Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff.

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      1. I’ve only seen highlights – watching tomorrow at a mates who has put £1,000 on Argentina to win the Cup @ 17/1 – he’s an idjit, not enough meat in that to bother when there’s so many potential upsets at much better odds. Today’s match not on BBC iPlayer replayer for some reason [greedy FIFA?] but is on BBC Radio 5 live catchup, but I ain’t listening to football!

        Messi is as tough as they come mentally so I expect his colours will begin to shine against Croatia.

        Do you get NationalTheatreLive over there Weird Sister or is your broom supercharged? 🙂

        I know Duff from The Magdalene Sisters film [great] & Shameless [greatish]. That Macbeth production got a right pasting, but I rate theatre critic’s opinions down there with children’s programme presenters & jetskiers

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        1. Yes, we do get NTLive at a nearby cinema, so I didn’t have to fly my broom this time. Sadly only 6 people in the theater. Will look for those other Duffs you mentioned. She was also great in The Virgin Queen.
          They somehow left out the “double double toil and trouble” bit, but the other witchy scenes were there, including a pole-dancerish one.

          I have confidence that my boy Lionel will see us proud in the end.

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          1. I see Tom Hardy is in it – I like a bit of Tom Hardy menace. It’s on Amazon Prime so I’ll be watching next week – thank you for the tip. Merilee.

            The witch stuff just a jest… 🙂

          2. Yes, how could I have forgotten that Tom Hardy was in The Virgin Queen? I find him veritably “droolable”.

            I knew you were joshing about the witchy woman stuff, Michael😁. I grew up with three brothers and am very used to being teased.
            Btw, I found the Duff series you mentioned, at my library, but not the film.

          3. You have Shameless at the library? The original UK version with Duff not the inferior USA copy? Duff does a good Mancunian accent for a London girl – warning: you might need subtitles – season one is worth a try if you like your comedy dark & you’re sick of Hollywood aspirational, positive, boring crap.

            The Magdalene Sisters film is also dark comedy. Available to stream for a couple of $s CAD, though it might be more since the Canadians are routinely ripped off by the Yanks. Yes Donald I’m lookin at chew. NetFlix, Google Play & YouTube Movies have it.

            You like a Tom Hardy…
            Legend is the bee’s knees & the nasty, funny, theatrical Bronson. Here’s an excellent scene from the latter:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZwNVFq_rU

            Peace

          4. Yes, we, surprisingly, have the UK Shameless at our library, but Canuck Netflix does not have the Mag Sisses. Saw Legend and loved it. Bronson’s on hold at the library. The Hardy in Virgin Queen is a little softer. Have you seen him as Heathcliffe??!!
            On a different note, we’re just finishing up the current docudrama about the 70s kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. Called Trust, and stars Donald Sutherland. Very well-done. (Btw, I checked out all the negative reviews on MacBeth, and though I might have agreed with some of the reviewers’ complaints re: the dark setting, I think that somehow it allowed the main drama of Mac and his Lady to shine through. Glad I went in with no prejudice.)

          5. I’ll look up Trust thank you

            Just finished The Virgin Queen & I enjoyed it, although I think it ambitious [& it showed] to cover all 44 years in 4 hours covering both the personal & the political. Can’t be done!

            There were obvious budget constraints which showed up – such as her address to the troops at Tilbury – in this production we had a grassy field with tents & around 300 [I counted areas of heads] motley troops. No docks, no ships – nowt.

            Robert Dudley was the central theme & I think the production should have been closely gathered around that – no outside cameras so to speak. The court intrigue would have been a great film & they could have dived into all the principle characters – we are not given the chance to see through interaction how Queen Bess feels about her advisors – we are told panto-style to move the production along.

            If we had gone all in on the court we could have seen more clearly the change in customs, fashions, dance etc over her reign. We are treated to only one dance scene in 4 hours for three minutes – wherein no dance is identifiable – Dudley lifts The Queen up by her waist & spins her around. Don’t believe it at all!

            We get one second rate sword fight

            We get a sort of Enya fake Irish take on Elizabethan music all-the-way-through-four-hours – we don’t need for the director to tell us how to feel through music

            The worthy parts of the film were nearly all the one-on-one scenes & the close in scenes such as the opening when she’s deciding on a dress to wear – dialogue was reasonably OK although it was afraid to go full Shakespeare [I picked up a couple of grating modern idioms straight out of the world of TV soap opera] & the glorious costumes – Fantastic

            The costumes made it worth the watch – thank you for the recommendation!

          6. Glad you, mostly, liked it. I suppose that, shallowly, I could happily watch Tom Hardy stare out into space, for hours…

    2. Oops – looking at my chart I see my match for the final is impossible [both from same half of the table]!
      I will change to this if the referee permits a late substitution:

      Iceland 3, Germany 2

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        1. Thank you George
          It would be interesting to see a representation of the predictions – can’t recall if you did one last time

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  29. England 1 Germany 0

    Improbable I know but after 62 years of frustration I am still here hoping. 1966 was notable for two things; England’s World Cup victory and the Jones family’s arrival in Canada, where they have prospered. A vintage year.

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    1. I was going to be insanely patriotic and say this so for variety I’ll go for England 3 Portugal 1.

      🤣

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    1. I wanted to say Italy 2 Holland 1, but they didn’t even qualify!😣
      Next, I wanted to go with Belgium and Portugal, both ‘outsiders’, not likely to make it to the final, but still with a realistic chance. You beat me to it, so I’ll have to think of something else now.

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  38. You can’t really be interested in watching people you don’t know play the dreary game for money, surely. You are obviously intelligent, I’m sure that you have a neck and your knuckles only drag on the ground when you want them to. I’m old enough to remember when those with a life didn’t have to pretend to like watching professional football and those who did were tolerated in the same way as trainspotters and cigarette packet collectors.

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    1. That merciless gout must have returned I suppose. You’re in your 60s** & getting a spot of judging in before you fall off your perch – isn’t it better to not read the stuff that triggers your Superiority Display Dance?

      ** As am I

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    4. Well, whoever you are, nocspeireag, you will never be oommenting here again.

      What a jackass you’ve made of yourself here, and shown yourself to be a rude and insulting person. I actually do like watching soccer and don’t have to pretend. And I’m not just pretending to ban your sorry tuchas–it’s gone for real. Don’t let the door hit it on your way out

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  39. I predict the octopus will win, but the cat will get at least two servings of calamari out of the battle.
    Oh, and Vladimir will win the PR shoot-off.

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    1. I think I’m required to change my prediction based on the new rules. I’ll go with:

      Portugal 3, Russia 2

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  45. Per Proposition 7 of the Tractatus, I must remain silent.

    But just so I have a rooting interest, which are the two teams with the longest shot of making the finals? I’ll take them.

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          2. Sounds good; I’m cool with commonwealth countries. Thanks.

            Put me down for Panama over Australia, 1 to nil, Jerry.

  59. Argentina 2-1 Germany
    I’ve based my prediction on knowing absolutely nothing about World Cup soccer, although I did hear a Brazilian player was injured.

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  69. Going with a friend’s recommendations since I know nothing about soccer: France – Argentina, score 2 – 1 in favor of France.

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    1. As an Olson (Norwegian) I got a kick out of ALL the Icelandic players having names ending in -son, and even more common, -sson.

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        1. Gracias, amigo. Great pics, except for the -aaaarrrggghhh- St. Messi. I do wish the boy wouldn’t cross himself so often, but he didn’t ask me. Must say the Islanders played a great game.

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      2. Look up the women’s team of Iceland. Almost everyone is somebody’s “dottir”. Official surnames barely exist. The population is so small patronyms suffice.

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    1. England won’t get out of the group. Ok, they probably will, but hard to see a team like this, with so few caps between them, getting past the quarterfinals.

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  90. France 1
    Germany 2

    Despite the slow start, Germany will get their act together. Swap out Khedira with someone who doesn’t look like they are pulling a caravan, and they’ll be good. Too much talent there not to make the final match.

    France look strong all around the pitch and have an absolute predator (Griezmann)up front.

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  91. Adding on here, late post, following the no GER/BRA/ARG/SPA/POR rules:

    Belgium 3, Croatia 1.

    Entirely unlikely. But who knows?

    In my mock bracket, Croatia finds a way past Portugal in the QF and Mexico in the semifinal. They benefit from Mexico taking out other strong contenders. But they run into a buzzsaw in Belgium, who after taking out France in the other semifinal wins the WC in a game that’s not even close.

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    1. No changes or attempts at humor – You are entered as Germany 3 France 2, a revision of your original duplicate entry. And I agree with Marx – Socrates was offside.

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  99. Some talented comedy group should resurrect this with a New Atheist team, playing against a team of religious leaders and their sympathizers. The religious would be doing all sorts of shenanigans, such as (literally) moving the goalposts.

    In fact, here is another contest idea for you. Who would comprise the New Atheist team, and what position? I can only think of the following so far:

    Dan Dennett: Goalkeeper
    Bertrand Russell: DEF
    R. Ingersoll: DEF
    H.L. Mencken: DEF
    Jerry Coyne: MID (for some reason I see him as a wingback)
    Steven Pinker: MID
    Sam Harris: MID (center midfielder, dictating the pace of the game with metronomic consistency)
    Richard Dawkins: MID (box to box midfield terrier giving no quarter)
    Hitch: CF (Mercurial striker in the Eric Cantona mold)

    Missing 2 starters, also all male. Need female representation.

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  100. Well, there goes everyone who picked Germany. Including me.

    Germany is out after losing the game with South Korea 0-2.

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