[Arcane Astral Aeons]

on this world cup as whole so far
is it one of the best ever?
have we seen the last of Messi/Ronaldo?
will England win it?
have the ref`s been good?
and lastly
VAR YES or NO

[BaggieMan]

on this world cup as whole so far

is it one of the best ever?        Yes, best for many a World Cup

have we seen the last of Messi/Ronaldo?    Hopefully, won’t see the arrogant two Ronnie Ronaldo again!

will England win it?      Best chance since 66

have the ref`s been good?    Not all ie. the Yankee Doodle Dandy last night not firm enough.

and lastly.  VAR   YES or NO.    Used properly - Yes

[silverbaggie]

The best ever no but I don't think that so many of the favoured to win teams have ever been dumped out of the Competition quite so early on. One shock result after another.

Last of Messi and Renaldo;_ probably as far as 2022 is concerned especially considering the Venue and the likely temperatures.

Will England win.   No not this time; it's a young and rather inexperienced squad that can only get better in time.
After all there was absolutely no expectation of success before the competition started. All that most of us hoped was that they might get out of the group stage.  Now suddenly some people and newspapers are talking them up as possible champions. Ridiculous!!

The refs have been very average IMO especially the idiot in charge of our match against the Columbian All Star wrestling team.

VAR -- Not in it's present format. Why can't the VAR official bring fouls etc to the attention of the referee.
Why can't they introduce a system as in tennis whereby each team is allowed three opportunities in each game to oblige the referee to review an incident.
But at the end of the day, you have to rely on the honesty and integrity of the officials and hope that they don't have a hidden agenda.
If Russia mysteriously manage to hammer Uruguay and some of the south americans are sent off then I will begin to suspect that jiggery pokery really is at work.

End of sermon.

[WBA-Josh]

on this world cup as whole so far
is it one of the best ever?
have we seen the last of Messi/Ronaldo?
will England win it?
have the ref`s been good?
and lastly
VAR   YES or NO

1. I wouldn’t class it as the best ever but it is in the top 3 in my lifetime.

2. Ronaldo yes. Messi I’m not so sure about. He’ll be 33 in 4 years so maybe he’ll be around. It depends on what happens in the next few weeks in Argentina.

3. No. England has its best chance in decades of reaching the final but I don’t think they’ll win it. Beating Sweden and Croatia will be hard but doable. Beating France/Uruguay/Brazil/Belgium will be very very hard and I think this tournament is too soon for this group of players. This group of players with the inclusion of some of the best young players coming through, which includes the current under 21’s, will have a good chance in 2 years time at Euro 2020.

4. Generally yes but there have been some who have been average. Last nights ref for example.

5. Yes to VAR but it still needs more work.

[Baggiebob(BBB)]

Good post Quantum  

on this world cup as whole so far
is it one of the best ever?   It certainly has been entertaining. 

have we seen the last of Messi/Ronaldo?  Who knows. However in 4yrs there will be other favourites, and these guys may not be playing/picked then.

will England win it?  It would be a dream, though they are still learning and we have the U21's coming thru, so 2020 is more realistic.

have the ref`s been good?  Generally. Though they need more backbone that we didn't see in our last match. Need to take some tips from Rugby.  
and lastly

VAR   YES or NO    Yes, has created more legit penalties. And no. As Silverbaggie mentioned, it should also be used to inform the ref of off the ball incidents and fouls.

[Stairs]

on this world cup as whole so far
- The most enjoyable for many years

is it one of the best ever?
- Maybe since the great Brazilian teams of the 70/80's

have we seen the last of Messi/Ronaldo?
- Yes.  Ronaldo would be a fool to play in the next WC

will England win it?
- No. There are better teams on the other side of the draw. Plus even if I thought they could I would never curse them by saying so

have the ref`s been good?
- No worse than in previous tournaments. They are weak and slow to dish out yellow cards and tolerate far too much.

and lastly
VAR YES or NO
- Yes. The officials could have been better in interpreting them and stronger in issuing discipline. But the great thing is that it is here. It will improve and more decisions will be made; in the moment and retrospectively - it can only be for the good of the game if we get rid of the cheats!

[talkSAFT]

I'd have hoped that VAR would kill set-piece wrestling once and for all. Why a dozen or more players haven't been sent off is a disgrace!