THEY FINISHED 9TH: COLOMBIA

Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. Colombia are as close to the bad boys of the tournament as you’re likely to get. A disgrace against England and few will miss them. They certainly missed Rodriquez in the last game, his presence could have tipped the scales in their favour. But the scales of justice were lenient. They deserved red cards for their appalling behaviour v England, But what goes around is circular, like a football, the one Dier slotted past their despairing keeper. Bye bye. And learn how to behave next time. 

ROUND OF 16: Colombia 1-1 England (England win on pens)

England put The Armchair through the mill. Made him hide behind his cushions. Made his wheels squeak in pure fright. Penalties! Followed a late, late equaliser for Colombia. Aaaarrrgh!

And Colombia were pretty disgraceful throughout, knowing they were inferior without James Rodriguez, with whom this would have been so different. Kane scored a pen, Colombia writhed and pulled and faked and protested. How someone in yellow didn’t see red is a mystery. But in the end, England’s penalties were strong, even Henderson’s whose was saved, and Pickford’s outstretched arm was strong. Respect to Dier who ended years of World Cup Shoot Out heartache. 

World Cup 2018 Group H Final Games: Japan 0-1 Poland; Senegal 0-1 Colombia

So so close. To lose out on the number of yellow cards will leave Senegal fuming, The Armchair shares their anger. Wanting to throw a cushion at the television The Armchair thought Senegal would be the only African team to make it out of the group stage, but they failed in the last game, narrowly. Losing that game 1-0, but losing out to Japan on the aforementioned tiebreaker. Colombia walk off with first place in the group and Poland salvaged some pride with a win in the final game, after two disappointing defeats.

World Cup 2018: Poland 0-3 Colombia

Got to be the biggest disappointment of the World Cup. So close to home, so far from glory, Poland were embarrassed here. Take nothing away from Colombia who were exciting, clinical, efficient, effective and a lot of other adjectives you’d associate with the successful, the victorious.

The Armchair Predicted

Poland 1-1 Colombiaq

20 and 12

World Cup 2018: Colombia 1-2 Japan

The first red card in the nation of Red Square. And it goes to Sanchez for his rather blatant hand ball which definitely denied a goal. Or, more accurately delayed a Japanese goal, as the penalty was subsequently dispatched.

How many pens have there been in this World Cup? Got to be a record…

It capped a great start to a game in a tight group. Colombia didn’t look like a team of ten men for the rest of the half, and capped a great performance with a grass cutting free kick that slipped under the jumping Japanese wall.

The fact that the free kick should not have been awarded in the first place will not be lost on the Blue Samurai. Falcao blatantly leant into the defender, something VAR ought to have picked up.

In the second half, Japan reclaimed the lead and never surrendered it, wearing down the ten men with an expansive passing game.

Another entertaining game in the best World Cup The Armchair has blogged about. 

The Armchair Predicted:

Colombia 2-2 Japan

8 and 7

Who Will Win World Cup Group H?

World Cup Group H Teams

COLOMBIA

JAPAN

POLAND

SENEGAL

Never before has a World Cup Finals group delved so deep into the alphabet. And H is for Hard to call. This is the most evenly balanced group of them all, with all four having a chance to win the group or prop it up.

It's also the most diverse, with a European, African, South American and Far Eastern team.

So, don’t bet with any certainty on this group, and rest assured, my prediction has no certainty about it.

For POLAND, this is as close as the World Cup is going to get to their home soil. They will have plenty of support, plenty of motivation and in Lewandowski, plenty of goal threat. This for me, gives them the edge.

And of all the African teams, SENEGAL has the best chance of qualification. Liverpool’s Mane is here. So too a host of talent which, on its day, could beat anyone in the world.

COLOMBIA also have a lot of talent throughout the team, including star of World Cup 2014 James Rodriguez, but not quite enough killer instinct up front for my money.

And JAPAN, although they could win it, for me they are the least likely to. It’s a struggle to find any truly world class players in their ranks but they are always an entertaining team to watch.

World Cup Group H Betting

Armchair World Cup Group H Predictions

1: SENEGAL

2: POLAND

3: Colombia

4: Japan