After being starved of World Cup football for a couple of days, the tournament is back today with the first two quarter-final ties. The Netherlands take on Brazil this afternoon, while Uruguay and Ghana meet in Johannesburg later on this evening. So what are your predictions? Who are you expecting to reach the semi-finals? The SportGuru community has had its say on today’s games, as well as tomorrow’s remaining ties between Argentina and Germany (3pm) and Paraguay vs Spain (7.30pm).
Players of the SportGuru World Cup tournament have made Brazil strong favourites in the opening quarter-final, with 79.4% of players backing Dunga’s men to progress at the expense of the Dutch. A scoreline of 2-1 is the most backed scoreline, with 40.7% predicting that this is how the match will end (after ninety minutes or extra time). 10% think that Bert van Mareijk’s side will triumph by the same margin, whilst 11.5% are predicting the game will go to penalties. It will not come as much of a surprise that not one player has predicted a 0-0 draw.
In the tie of the underdogs, opinion is surprisingly even more greatly divided, with 79.9% backing Uruguay to see off Ghana to make the semi-finals. A 2-1 victory to the Group A winners is the most chosen scoreline (25.2%), closely followed by the equally tight winning margin of 1-0 (19.2%). Support for the Black Stars looks to be fairly unsubstantial, with the biggest support for them coming in the shape of a 2-1 win, as chosen by a meagre 7.6% of players. A hefty 17.3% believe that the tie will only be settled on penalties however, suggesting there is potential for a close game.
Argentina vs Germany looks to be the tie of the round and there is a significantly larger spread of picks between two fairly evenly matched sides. With that said, 69.8% are backing Diego Maradona’s men to make it through against an up and coming German side. 2-1 again is the most chosen scoreline, with 27.7% of players believieng Argentina will emerge victorious by this margin. The belief that this could be a classic is reflected by the 16.2% of the community who have gone for a 3-2 victory for one of the sides, whilst 21.2% see it going to penalties as it did in 2006.
In the final game of the round on Saturday evening, few will be surprised to learn that Spain are overwhelming favourites with an incredible 96.1% picking them to progress at the expense of Paraguay. In contrast to the other fixtures, 2-0 is the most picked scoreline in this tie, with a massive 44% expecting the European Champions to triumph by this margin. The only other scorelines with significant support are a 2-1 (15.1%) or 1-0 (14.6%) victory to the Spanish. Only 4.1% of players envisage this one being settled by spot kicks.
So if the SportGuru community is correct, we are heading for a semi-final line up of Uruguay vs Brazil and Argentina vs Spain. However, after a round of 16 that went almost entirely form, can we expect some surprises and a deviation away from these predicted semi-final ties? The quality of the remaining sides means there is certainly the potential for an upset, as well as (hopefully) some exciting matches.
What are your predictions? Do you agree with the SportGuru community? As ever, let us know your thoughts and enjoy the quater-final games.
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I’m gutted after last night and my prediction standing has taken a hit of late. It’ll take something big for me to catch Dobbo. I had Brazil winning 2-1 and Ghana to triumph. I’ve predicted Germany will lose a penalty shoot-out later, dangerous stuff!
WillyG
My Predictions were: Brazil v Uruguay for the first semi, then Argentina v Spain for the second semi-final. Netherlands have already proved that nothing can be taken for granted in this World Cup however.
FINAL – Holland v Spain