OT: The 2026 World Cup Thread

[Guts]

? I thought it was a fantastic final.

Spain showed their pedigree throughout, the inferior team clawed and scratched, which is also enjoyable. AND then we had the ultimate drama. The inferior team, down a man and desperate, turned to the best soccer player in history and he once again took over by making play after play and almost equalizing, which would have been improbable. If not for a Spanish defender's smashed face, we go to penalty kicks.

Shades of 2015 Denver versus Patriots.

Not really this was belt to ass lol
You could say that ArgenFIFA got lucky Spain wasn't clinical or it could've gotten ugly

 

[Triumph]

In other countries, there was a dot next to the country code indicating their uniform color. Here on Fox you had to realize it was the stripe under their name.

Yes it was and it was encapsulating the score. Inside the score box was an obscure shade of green. During one of the Mexico games, the green score box color matched the green color identifying Mexico. It didnt matter I suppose because Mexico is one of the easier teams to identify.

Also, either MAR [from the French] or MOR is something of an insult to the country, since the actual name for the country in Arabic, their official language, is Maghreb. [Egypt is even worse, as they're Masr.] Plus FIFA doesn't produce chyrons in non-Latin alphabet languages, so a lot of other countries have to do extra work, too.

A soccer fan on here mentioned that MAR is an old school name for Morocco.

 

[Boomer B]

? I thought it was a fantastic final.

Spain showed their pedigree throughout, the inferior team clawed and scratched, which is also enjoyable. AND then we had the ultimate drama. The inferior team, down a man and desperate, turned to the best soccer player in history and he once again took over by making play after play and almost equalizing, which would have been improbable. If not for a Spanish defender's smashed face, we go to penalty kicks.

Shades of 2015 Denver versus Patriots.

“Clawed and scratched…which is also enjoyable”.

They didn’t have a shot in regulation. The football equivalent of 3 runs up the middle and a punt.

 

[rochrist]

The improvements recommended are valid.

The ball hitting a wire on a goal and a players hand touching the ball on a goal are inexcusable. In a sport with so little scoring you'd surmise that they would strive to get it right. Nope, oh well. See ya in 4 years.

In some of the games, I could not tell who was playing who. It wasn't just me either. Friends didnt know what country was in what jersey. Morocco is abbreviated MAR. Clear as mud. I do not wish to be on my phone googling everything, about a game that I am trying to watch.

The NFL cleaned up its act. It used to be half axx like soccer, but no more.

Holding the NFL up as a paragon that has 'cleaned up its act' is pretty funny.

 

[Guts]

“Clawed and scratched…which is also enjoyable”.

They didn’t have a shot in regulation. The football equivalent of 3 runs up the middle and a punt.

belt to ass bro

 

[borg]

Holding the NFL up as a paragon that has 'cleaned up its act' is pretty funny.

Baseball is a 4 hour food court that people buy tickets to eat at.
The NFL is a platform to broadcast 120 commercials woven into 15 minutes of action over a span of 3 hrs 20 mins
We are more conditioned than Pavlov's dog.

 

[upstater1]

“Clawed and scratched…which is also enjoyable”.

They didn’t have a shot in regulation. The football equivalent of 3 runs up the middle and a punt.

Spain didn't score either!

So teams start taking more chances when they were desperate.

Think of the 2018 Super Bowl. Patriots were guarded, and then they weren't, or 2003.

After the Spanish goal, Messi whipped them into a frenzy and they had plenty of shots and could have easily equalized.

 

[Boomer B]

Spain didn't score either!

So teams start taking more chances when they were desperate.

Think of the 2018 Super Bowl. Patriots were guarded, and then they weren't, or 2003.

After the Spanish goal, Messi whipped them into a frenzy and they had plenty of shots and could have easily equalized.

Whipped them into a frenzy? Did you watch a different game than the rest of us? Every outlet has called it one of the most boring finals ever. One team came to play, the other didn’t. Spain should have won 3-0.

 

[upstater1]

Whipped them into a frenzy? Did you watch a different game than the rest of us? Every outlet has called it one of the most boring finals ever. One team came to play, the other didn’t. Spain should have won 3-0.

Seriously: did you watch?

I'm talking last 25 minutes.

Argentina had a lot of chances even a man down.

Messi whipped in 2 crosses that were headed by unmarked man. Messi himself from the top smashed a ball that was ticketed for the net but it ended up smashing off Merino's face. He even whipped in a cross that was going in but was saved by Unai Simon at the last second. Did you miss the free kick taken short which allowed Messi to chip in a perfect pass to Simeone who was in all alone but his shot was saved off the backline by Cubarsi for a corner? Then finally, a few minutes later, Messi kicks a corner and Simeone is totally unmarked but heads a free one right over the crossbar.

Those were 4 clear golden chances for a goal by argentina in the final 25 minutes when they finally got some purchase on the ball.

I thought the final was the most entertaining match of the entire World Cup. Spain were brilliant in creating chances with really inventive combos freeing up their men, 20 shots and Martinez turned back so many of them.

Argentina are not nearly as talented skillwise as Spain. It looked like the USA versus Belgium. But still they fought and scrapped and did the only thing they could do against a team like that, and yet they almost equalized.

I for one am highly entertained by watching the most skilled players do their thing. And I mean, Spain's players and Messi.

 

[Triumph]

Holding the NFL up as a paragon that has 'cleaned up its act' is pretty funny.

At least a score is legit Soccer boy.

 

[lancerman]

If the NFL really wants to expand beyond 32 teams, one thing they could do would be an 18-team championship division and an 18-team relegation division, with, say, the top 4 relegation teams replacing the bottom 4 championship teams each year.

The benefit to relegation divisions is that there are stakes at the bottom for losing teams to not totally **** the bed that year. A team like the Browns or Jets can't just be comfortable sucking because they make money, you get demoted and your fans go into a season where there is NO chance they can compete for a Super Bowl.

 

[Boomer B]

Seriously: did you watch?

I'm talking last 25 minutes.

Argentina had a lot of chances even a man down.

Messi whipped in 2 crosses that were headed by unmarked man. Messi himself from the top smashed a ball that was ticketed for the net but it ended up smashing off Merino's face. He even whipped in a cross that was going in but was saved by Unai Simon at the last second. Did you miss the free kick taken short which allowed Messi to chip in a perfect pass to Simeone who was in all alone but his shot was saved off the backline by Cubarsi for a corner? Then finally, a few minutes later, Messi kicks a corner and Simeone is totally unmarked but heads a free one right over the crossbar.

Those were 4 clear golden chances for a goal by argentina in the final 25 minutes when they finally got some purchase on the ball.

I thought the final was the most entertaining match of the entire World Cup. Spain were brilliant in creating chances with really inventive combos freeing up their men, 20 shots and Martinez turned back so many of them.

Argentina are not nearly as talented skillwise as Spain. It looked like the USA versus Belgium. But still they fought and scrapped and did the only thing they could do against a team like that, and yet they almost equalized.

I for one am highly entertained by watching the most skilled players do their thing. And I mean, Spain's players and Messi.

Most don’t share your opinion. It was a boring game.

Ken Early: Spain the winners but football the loser in worst World Cup final of all time

Tournament finale proves spending the big bucks does not guarantee entertainment

www.irishtimes.com

Five reasons why the World Cup final was so dull

Spain dominated the final but required extra time to find a winner, while Argentina waited until the 121st minute to create a big chance

www.independent.co.uk

 

[upstater1]

Most don’t share your opinion. It was a boring game.

Ken Early: Spain the winners but football the loser in worst World Cup final of all time

Tournament finale proves spending the big bucks does not guarantee entertainment

www.irishtimes.com

Five reasons why the World Cup final was so dull

Spain dominated the final but required extra time to find a winner, while Argentina waited until the 121st minute to create a big chance

www.independent.co.uk

Maybe they preferred the consolation game?

The one with half-hearted defense?

Looked like a B12 game where no defender comes within a mile of a WR?

I'm going to quote the announcers for that game: "This is like an All-Star game."

American audiences may have taken that as a compliment. It wasn't.

I will quote Thierry Henry instead who knocked the previous day's game and said criticism of Spain is misplaced [he said worse than that, actually]. He said, "You don't have to defend low. You can defend everywhere. Spain defend high. Figure it out!"

I believe he is right. Spain did not hunker down in the back. Instead, they smothered Argentina up top. But you know ... they did the same thing to high-powered France that had 3 of the world's top 5-10 players up top. It looks like a slog, but it's brilliant defense.

 

[1960Pats]

I taped the game but haven't watched yet. Sounds like I didn't miss anything.

I didn't know that soccer had halftime shows. Is that new? And what exactly was Tom Cruise's contribution?

 

[rochrist]

Baseball is a 4 hour food court that people buy tickets to eat at.
The NFL is a platform to broadcast 120 commercials woven into 15 minutes of action over a span of 3 hrs 20 mins
We are more conditioned than Pavlov's dog.

You forgot the betting.

 

[Triumph]

I taped the game but haven't watched yet. Sounds like I didn't miss anything.

Spain dominated.

I didn't know that soccer had halftime shows. Is that new? And what exactly was Tom Cruise's contribution?

Another lame woke azz performance like the Super Bowl.

 

[raduray]

Soccer needs improvement.

1. Keep time like the NFL where it decreases. 45 minutes per half.
2. Each team should have 3 timeouts and 2 challenges per half.
3. All goals are reviewed by VAR.
4. Identify who is playing who better for new fans of the sport.
5. Still add time at the conclusion of each half per referees discretion.

There's no need for #5 if the referee stops the clock as required. There should be no fantastical additional time added when the clock gets to 45 (or zero if we're going to count backwards).

 

[lancerman]

I taped the game but haven't watched yet. Sounds like I didn't miss anything.

I didn't know that soccer had halftime shows. Is that new? And what exactly was Tom Cruise's contribution?

They broke their own rules for a US style halftime show.

 

[raduray]

And here I was thinking soccer was a non-contact sport. Silly me.

 

[Triumph]

There's no need for #5 if the referee stops the clock as required. There should be no fantastical additional time added when the clock gets to 45 (or zero if we're going to count backwards).

I don't recall what game it was, but I believe that Morroco was one of the teams. The Referee added 6 minutes post 90 minutes and then after that had expired the Referee was going to add another 6 minutes, but the team that won protested and he called the game. No more time.

The Referee had that board that they hold up and he had 6:00 on it.