THEY FINISHED 11TH: JAPAN

Samurai you win. Samurai you lose. And sometimes you lose and yet can still be regarded as winners. That’s a fair summation of Japan’s World Cup 2018. They qualified on yellow cards, but against Belgium really showed how good a team they are. Only fatigue in the final 20 minutes cost them, against one of the tournament’s strongest nations. So no shame going out. Although having been 2 up with 20 to go, you think what if… what if…

ROUND OF 16: Belgium 3-2 Japan

What a comeback by the team The Armchair has his money on, most of which he found down the back of his close friend Sofa. They looked on their way out, before Martinez shuffled his back, and what a transformation, from two down to three-two winners and a place in the quarters. Belgium showed a resilience that’s been missing from their last couple of tournaments. But a word for Japan who performed magnificently throughout. I guess that extra bit of quality showed. And The Armchair believes that Belgium has more quality than any other team in the competition, including the one they face next. Brazil. 

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: 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