OT: The 2026 World Cup Thread

[bormio]

I legit told a couple people he passed Pele with his hat trick the other night.

Hard to argue otherwise - Pele was a no-show at a couple of WCs after all. I guess you can still argue Maradonna for his WC performances, but, like you said, it's really starting to get that insurmountable Brady evidence.

Pele’s teams won 3 WC - much more dominant than Messi’s to date. Messi’s club career was his defining feature until the last WC. Even then Barca did not dominate Real Madrid - a team who had more Champions League success. It will take another WC win to elevate Messi to the undisputed GOAT. He might get it.

 

[Guts]

fooookin sick

 

[OldEngland]

I legit told a couple people he passed Pele with his hat trick the other night.

Hard to argue otherwise - Pele was a no-show at a couple of WCs after all. I guess you can still argue Maradonna for his WC performances, but, like you said, it's really starting to get that insurmountable Brady evidence.

Pele is the GOAT. It's not close and probably never will be.

Pele played 4 world cups, 58, 62, 66 and 70. He won 3 out of 4, and was legendary in 2 of them. In 1962 he got injured, and in 1966 Pele was brutally targeted and violently fouled repeatedly in a way that is completely outlawed today. There were no yellow or red cards in those days, and you had to repeatedly do pretty bad stuff to be ejected. Messi gets so much more protection than Pele ever did, its not really compariable.

Pele was truly elite in so many ways, pace, leaping, control, speed, dribbling, shooting. He had a 48' vertical!!! and huge hang time, elite in the air. 11.0sec 100m time in an age where the WR was still 10.0sec. 30% more visual perception that the average athlete. He was truly ambidexterous, he was elite with both feet combined with a low centre of gravity and control and shooting power made him a nightmare for defenders. He scored 1284 first class goals.

Nearly 70 years later, you could put Pele in the modern era and he'd still be the best player in the world.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Pele is the GOAT. It's not close and probably never will be.

Pele played 4 world cups, 58, 62, 66 and 70. He won 3 out of 4, and was legendary in 2 of them. In 1962 he got injured, and in 1966 Pele was brutally targeted and violently fouled repeatedly in a way that is completely outlawed today. There were no yellow or red cards in those days, and you had to repeatedly do pretty bad stuff to be ejected. Messi gets so much more protection than Pele ever did, its not really compariable.

Pele was truly elite in so many ways, pace, leaping, control, speed, dribbling, shooting. He had a 48' vertical!!! and huge hang time, elite in the air. 11.0sec 100m time in an age where the WR was still 10.0sec. 30% more visual perception that the average athlete. He was truly ambidexterous, he was elite with both feet combined with a low centre of gravity and control and shooting power made him a nightmare for defenders. He scored 1284 first class goals.

Nearly 70 years later, you could put Pele in the modern era and he'd still be the best player in the world.

Well said! The failure to protect Pele at the 1966 World Cup was a terrible stain on the tournament. It was a perverse tribute to his greatness, not in any way an argument against it!

 

[Bill Lee]

I'm very grateful that all of the Celtics' titles had them at least mostly looking like champions. Bruins had '70 & '72. Pats almost made it in '76, Sox likewise ten years later.

Sorry, but IMO in this context it is obligatory to mention the '75 Sox, and perhaps even the '67 Sox too.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Sorry, but IMO in this context it is obligatory to mention the '75 Sox, and perhaps even the '67 Sox too.

So '67 is obviously classic, and probably closest to the '86 uni's.

The reds were in keeping with that 70's era, and they were fun.

But, as you all know, I'm an old school guy.

 

[Bill Lee]

Perhaps of interest, but since it's Florio, it's mostly off-season clickbait/****posting...

After Scottish takeover of Boston, Robert Kraft wants Patriots to play in Scotland

The Tartan Army left an impression on New England.

www.nbcsports.com

Harry Kane, a big NFL and Tom Brady fan, makes his Gillette Stadium debut today

As the NFL tries to get more people from other countries to become passionate about American football, one English athlete got the bug many years ago.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[Steve102]

So '67 is obviously classic, and probably closest to the '86 uni's.

The reds were in keeping with that 70's era, and they were fun.

But, as you all know, I'm an old school guy.

I'm a fan of the red hat with the blue brim.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

Perhaps of interest, but since it's Florio, it's mostly off-season clickbait/****posting...

After Scottish takeover of Boston, Robert Kraft wants Patriots to play in Scotland

The Tartan Army left an impression on New England.

www.nbcsports.com

Harry Kane, a big NFL and Tom Brady fan, makes his Gillette Stadium debut today

As the NFL tries to get more people from other countries to become passionate about American football, one English athlete got the bug many years ago.

www.nbcsports.com

I think all these international games are bad for the sport, any international fans wanting to watch their team play live should really get on a plane and and watch them in the US.

The issue with that Florio "Patriots in Scotland" story is they already play 3 games in London every year and are basically contracted to do so and you can get to London from Scotland in 1hr 15 mins on a flight or 5 hrs on a train, that's barely even a road trip by American standards.

You're going to stick 4 games in the UK in one season? Seems like overkill to me especially since there's at least a dozen stadiums in the North of England, Scotland, Wales that could have hosted games anytime since they started doing this in 2007 and they've just stayed in London for basically 20 years.

They have played 45 games in the UK since 2007 and all 45 have been in London and by the end of this year it will be 48/48.

 

[borg]

1962 Pele got injured, and in 1966 Pele was brutally targeted and violently fouled repeatedly in a way that is completely outlawed today. There were no yellow or red cards in those days, and you had to repeatedly do pretty bad stuff to be ejected.

Just watched the Netflix "football" documentary on self-described "thug" Vinnie Jones.....

His brutality was absolutely jaw dropping. Today, he'd be arrested on the pitch for assault.
Good watch

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Just watched the Netflix "football" documentary on self-described "thug" Vinnie Jones.....

His brutality was absolutely jaw dropping. Today, he'd be arrested on the pitch for assault.
Good watch

I watched, it was great.
Also great how well he did in Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels (his first movie), and then Snatch.
Looked like a seasoned actor.

 

[TommyD4207]

Pele is the GOAT. It's not close and probably never will be.

Pele played 4 world cups, 58, 62, 66 and 70. He won 3 out of 4, and was legendary in 2 of them. In 1962 he got injured, and in 1966 Pele was brutally targeted and violently fouled repeatedly in a way that is completely outlawed today. There were no yellow or red cards in those days, and you had to repeatedly do pretty bad stuff to be ejected. Messi gets so much more protection than Pele ever did, its not really compariable.

Pele was truly elite in so many ways, pace, leaping, control, speed, dribbling, shooting. He had a 48' vertical!!! and huge hang time, elite in the air. 11.0sec 100m time in an age where the WR was still 10.0sec. 30% more visual perception that the average athlete. He was truly ambidexterous, he was elite with both feet combined with a low centre of gravity and control and shooting power made him a nightmare for defenders. He scored 1284 first class goals.

Nearly 70 years later, you could put Pele in the modern era and he'd still be the best player in the world.

Giving him credit for 62 is...interesting. You're not the only one doing it.

 

[OldEngland]

Giving him credit for 62 is...interesting. You're not the only one doing it.

Crossed wires. I completely agree with you Pele doesn't get the credit for 1962, but it was injury rather than underperformance.

He was incredible in 1958 and 1970, but he got injured early on in 1962 with a torn thigh/groin muscle. I get the feeling you know this already, but it was only in the second game, and he didn't play the rest of the tournament. Instead the 'little bird' was the star Brazilian player. Which is a story I have always loved btw. The little boy with a whopping 6cm leg length descrepancy who doctors said would never even walk properly, and whose older sister gave him the name Garrincha after a small ugly wren because of his awkward gait and appearance. But who became one of the worlds greatest dribblers and players, and after Pele went down in the second game became the figurehead of the Brazilian team. He won golden boot and player of the tournament that year.
1962 was Garrincha's world cup.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

LOL. Irish bar closes for England game.

 

[condon84]

Great interview of Tom Brady by the Overlap podcast crew (former British soccer players).

Not sure where to post this but since the podcasters are all futbol players, thought this might be the right thread.

 

[Sect140]

I went to today’s England and Ghana match.