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Don't see how this post is relevant at all to what is being discussed. Nobody claimed it was an astonishing achievement. Population is a useful means of comparing nations, however, clearly sometimes smaller nations will do better than larger. See Portugal vs. England.

Er, it was hardly our decision to expand the tournament. Correct, indeed in the future of the World Cup I wouldn't be surprised to see teams automatically qualifying. FIFA really want the likes of China, India and the US to be qualifying regularly. Small European countries like Scotland, where...

If you believe something so clearly untrue, then no argument will satisfy you. Like someone who believes the earth is flat.

Correct, Iceland beat England in Euro 2016. Nothing to be too concerned about, Scotland will qualify more often than not for a 24 team Euros. Right, so, many countries who will realistically never qualify can never have a good campaign. Quite astonishing. The aim of school exams is to get...

It is indeed yourself who is unable to differentiate that different countries will have different expectations with regards to qualifying. Scotland can, and have, had good qualifying campaigns without qualifying. 2008 is an excellent example of this. In your mind no nation can have a good...

Well, you would completely wrong. But there you go, nobody is perfect. Continue believing Scotland is better than Latvia if it gives you some pleasure. Some people swear the earth is flat too. Wonder where all the micro nations are in the last 16?

Scotland have performed at a level above Latvia for our entire footballing history. In your attempt to look smart you have achieved the exact opposite. And also, Latvia is much much closer proportionally to Scotlands population than we are to England. A more appropriate comparison would be...

Yes, because this story has repeated itself for decades. And then when they lose they pretend its only the media are arrogant and the fans are down to earth and don't buy the hype. At least that myth is comprehensively disproven. You would expect Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Italy etc. to...

We're living in the shadow of the biggest underachievers in international football history. Felt awful cold when you were hammered by Germany, or given the runaround by Italy, or finishing bottom of your last WC group, or losing to Iceland. Lots to be jealous of there. England are a much...

In that case, delighted with all our positive football when Scotland hammered Gibraltar.

Is scoring a lot of goals from set pieces considered 'positive football'? I'd be shocked if it continues to remain a factor. Has any side won anything continually relying on set piece goals? You tend to get figured out after a while, especially against semi competent opposition.

Not really, I had expected England to draw against Tunisia (they were minutes away from doing so) and then to beat Panama so pretty much to expectation so far. What was without their control is that their side of the draw has potentially just got a lot easier. I still think Colombia would beat...

Interesting reflection. Following the lock of the earlier thread, you must still think Andorra finishing third in their WC qualifying group (and not qualifying) would not be a 'good campaign'? If England manage to avoid Colombia, then face Switzerland or Sweden in the QFs, they will be...

You've never seen Armstrong play, have you?

I won't lose over sleep over it, but helpful to correct people when they have got something wrong (3 times). If you're not spreading knowledge you're spreading ignorance.

The best WC journalism (by far) I can find is below: https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/jun/05/world-cup-2018-complete-guide-players-ratings-goals-caps They did it for the Euros as well and it is fantastic, all teams getting equal coverage and some great insights.

The term Holland is incorrect - stop using it. And as for 'the present' Italy didn't qualify for the current World Cup but had a far better Euros where they knocked out Spain and were only put out by Germany on penalties. So they are of course better than England (in addition to beating them...

Well, fine. That's your assessment, but not mine. We will qualify for more Euros going forward, than not qualify. The Netherlands (not Holland, stop getting it wrong) were in a WC Final 8 years ago. England have made one semi final in the past 50 years. In that time the Netherlands have been in...

Well, it's not all that matters. If your statement is that Iceland are a better footballing nation than Scotland you have to ignore 150 years of history. Theoretically, given an infinite amasse of time, even Andorra may eventually have a squad good enough to win the World Cup. It means nothing...

The way the modern game of football is played was also certainly shaped in Scotland. However, it's not a phrase we ever is (legitimately we certainly could). I'd say most sides best results would be beating a better team than Panama. The 3-0 game was interesting, England only managed three...