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Well done England....


Moomin said:
China and India must be the top 2 teams in the world.
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Really international football is a numbers games. The biggest populations compete against smaller ones until the biggest population countries meet each other. England can really only be measured of equlivent populated teams, who have a strong football culture and they are very bad at that historically and in a modern context, pound for pound.

Uruguay were the only country with a small population to win a World Cup and that was back in the first two when no one knew what it was and essentially like the club World Cup in the summer.

I’d love to see tournaments sub divided by population, i.e. different divisions based on population. Be far more competitive and you don’t get joke groups like England’s qualifying one. Does England no favours either - they should want to play games competitive games of jeopardy, like Ireland have just had.
 
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Neiler said:
Really international football is a numbers games. The biggest populations compete against smaller ones until the biggest population countries meet each other. England can really only be measured of equlivent populated teams, who have a strong football culture and they are very bad at that historically and in a modern context, pound for pound.

Uruguay were the only country with a small population to win a World Cup and that was back in the first two when no one knew what it was and essentially like the club World Cup in the summer.

I’d love to see tournaments sub divided by population, i.e. different divisions based on population. Be far more competitive and you don’t get joke groups like England’s qualifying one. Does England no favours either - they should want to play games competitive games of jeopardy, like Ireland have just had.
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china, russia, usa, brazil in a group for eternity? I sense diplomatic issues along this road.
 

Ppopulation is only 1 factor.

Soccernomics is a good book in this regard.

I know some of the comments here are tongue in cheek, but this does seem to be poorly understood by many.

No point in having a large population if a country has no history playing the game, like the United States or China. Where will all the coaches and players come from at the grassroots?

Same with money...if your population doesn't have the money for nutrition and health care, so many players will miss their full potential...not to mention being focused on it is a luxury most cannot afford.
 

Neiler said:
Really international football is a numbers games. The biggest populations compete against smaller ones until the biggest population countries meet each other. England can really only be measured of equlivent populated teams, who have a strong football culture and they are very bad at that historically and in a modern context, pound for pound.

Uruguay were the only country with a small population to win a World Cup and that was back in the first two when no one knew what it was and essentially like the club World Cup in the summer.

I’d love to see tournaments sub divided by population, i.e. different divisions based on population. Be far more competitive and you don’t get joke groups like England’s qualifying one. Does England no favours either - they should want to play games competitive games of jeopardy, like Ireland have just had.
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Put the blunt down son
 
I don't know about others, but this invincible campaign surely ranks in equivalence to a major international trophy like the Nations League.

People will speak about this in years to come like they do the Arsenal side wot did it
 

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