Iceland the colonial power beat England the oppressed nation at the last Euros of course.
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I must be the only one who thought that was a half decent game tonight. France were handy.
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I thought it was a brilliant match.
Agreed
France and Spain had the big country mentality in 1998 and 2010 despite never having won the World Cup.
To go back to your earlier point, yes, a football match 52 years ago actually does carry weight now. Similar to how football matches in 1930 and 1950 carry weight when Uruguay are involved.
England have a tradition of performing very well in major tournament semi-finals - theyâve been in four and have only lost one in play. Other countries still consider them as one of the great powers of the game.
Itâs rare that a country who hasnât won a World Cup beats a country who has previously won it. Only twice in the last 15 such semi-finals has it happened. The two exceptions were the two semis in 2010, but before that you have to go back to 1958 for the previous time it happened - and in 2010, both Spain and Holland had serious pedigree - Spain as reigning European champions backboned by the greatest club side of all time, and Holland having previously contested two World Cup finals in the not too distant past, and having won a European championship, as well as a proven record of European club success.
Croatia have no such pedigree. Theyâre much more similar in ability and world status to teams like Belgium 1986, Sweden 1994, Bulgaria 1994, Croatia 1998 and Portugal 2006, all of whom who were ultimately happy to make up the numbers at the semi-final stage.
Who did Spain and Holland beat in the 2010 semi-finals again?
How come this tradition that apparently helps Uruguay didnât start helping them until they started producing players like Godin, Gimenez, Suarez, Cavani, and Forlan before them? Uruguay started making an impact on the world stage when they started producing quality players again, not because they suddenly remembered them winning the World Cup 60 and 80 years ago
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Thereâs no fear in this England side. Although they donât have the cuteness to play through France they could get a couple of corner kicks/free kicks to keep with them. I think though Croatia have a chance of beating England cause they will destroy them in midfield
82 and 86 were great games
Thatâs brilliant Sid 
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Uruguay have won the most South American championships of any country, theyâve never gone more than 16 years without winning one. They are always a team to be respected.
Chile produced a golden generation of players, but couldnât advance past the last 16. Colombia are a similar case and one quarter-final is the best they managed from two golden generations of players in the early 90s and this decade. Mexico are another country who have a tradition of under-achievement.
Patterns tend to repeat themselves.
So do bores
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Shocks happen regularly in the early rounds of major tournaments and have always done.
Germany were eliminated by South Korea this time, they lost to Algeria in 1982.
They donât tend to happen in World Cup semi-finals.
In 2010 Uruguay got to a semi final by beating South Korea in the last 16 and Ghana on penalties luckily. In 2014 Chile got Brazil in the second round, a game they lost on penalties. The difference between those teams is more a lucky draw and less tradition. Chile also won two Copa Americas in a row off of their golden generation.
So Uruguay got to a semi-final while Chile didnât.
Uruguay made the quarter-finals this time while Chile didnât qualify.
Do you think that was down to tradition or a better draw?
Tradition matters.
Itâs hard to quantify why sometimes and is somewhat if an imponderable. But it matters.
I accept that, I donât accept that England have an edge on Croatia due to their tradition or that Uruguayâs better performances than other South American countries over the last ten years or so are down to tradition
Both.
Tradition was undoubtedly a factor in Uruguay having the belief that Chile didnât have in their respective penalty competitions against Ghana in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, for instance.
Teams with a lack of tradition will generally find a way to lose in tight battles.
Itâs usually a subconscious thing. It was definitely there with Belgium tonight. They never looked like they genuinely believed they could score, they never put France under real pressure.
Undoubtedly? I donât know how you can say that. Did Russia have a tradition advantage on Spain when they beat them on penalties?