OT: The 2026 World Cup Thread

[Triumph]

Bosnia did not give them a game. That was lopsided. The USA was playing 1 man down. LOL

USA had only 2 shots on goal. They finally scored at the 45 minute mark and did not seal the win until the 82 minute mark.

What a joke.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

USA had only 2 shots on goal. They finally scored at the 45 minute mark and did not seal the win until the 82 minute mark.

What a joke.

You do not understand the game.

 

[Triumph]

You do not understand the game.

That wasnt a dominating performance by USA.

 

[Triumph]

Bosnia did not give them a game. That was lopsided. The USA was playing 1 man down. LOL

France vs Norway was a lopsided axxkicking.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

France vs Norway was a lopsided axxkicking.

France is one of the best squads in the world. If the USA did not dominate to the same extent as France, then the USA did not dominate. Ridiculous logic.

The USA is a good squad. They are fun to watch, move the ball well, and all US patriots are supporting their heart and attempt to outperform expectations. You hated the US junior hockey team beating the russian national squad in the 1980 winter olympics as well?

 

[bormio]

US wants Portugal to win - better shot to beat Spain

 

[bormio]

Spain and Portugal almost never play friendlies. Blood match

 

[Gumby]

Spain and Portugal almost never play friendlies. Blood match

Let’s hope for four red cards then, 2 apiece. Whoever wins will be short on the bench. Lol

 

[Gumby]

I don't watch a lot of soccer. Can any of you futbol experts tell me if we have any chance of beating Belgium w/o Balogun?

Very good chance tbh
Belgium have been underwhelming and it's not their golden generation anymore that it was in "18 WC
they have Doku an aging De Bruyne and their best player is the goalkeeper

Yes, they have a good chance. Belgium are a dangerous team though, still fifa ranked 9th in the world. The bookies have it pretty much as a coin flip.

Belgium had a really bad nations league in 2024 and lost 5 out of 6, but are unbeaten in 14 games since. None of those 14 games included a top 10 team, except for a draw against mexico in a friendly, but they did beat the US 5-2 in March this year in a friendly.

A few years ago they had an incredible team and were actually fifa ranked no.1 in the world for 4 years 2018-22. They came 3rd in 2018, but that golden age never came close to its potential in terms of tournament success (which shows the rankings don't always reflect the best team). Lots of that team has retired or are pretty old now. They also haven't really turned it on at WC26, but they still have some real quality.

To me the US should win against Belgium given the home advantage. Spain and France would be a different matter though.

(All WC posts prefaced with: “I don’t know jack-**** about it, but I’ve got rudimentary learning and an opinion anyway.”)

I was unimpressed w Belgium, but it seems like they look / feel themselves more aggressive when Lukaku is on the field.

I think as long as USA can mark him & control his impact in the box, they can win against the other 10. Say 3-1 in 90+

I sense a little anti-us sentiment sometimes w refereeing. So ref draw could be a factor too. Would an Africa or Asian ref maybe be safer than S American? but I am ???

 

[Triumph]

France is one of the best squads in the world. If the USA did not dominate to the same extent as France, then the USA did not dominate. Ridiculous logic.

The USA game was 0 - 0 until the half. I suppose in the crazy world of soccer a tie score is still considered lopsided. Bosnia had more shots, more shots on target and a greater time of possession, but they did not give the USA a game according to you.

The USA is a good squad. They are fun to watch, move the ball well, and all US patriots are supporting their heart and attempt to outperform expectations. You hated the US junior hockey team beating the russian national squad in the 1980 winter olympics as well?

Dont leave out "Take me home" is a fine song.

 

[mosi's man]

This is unsurprisingly a ridiculous argument. Whether they dominated or not, the U.S. team won by two goals while playing a man down for a portion of the game. Call it what you want; in soccer this is an impressive victory. The most important stat for the game was that more than 23 million Americans tuned in to watch, more than the viewership for any game in the NBA finals. The appreciation of soccer and the World Cup continues to grow across the country. The U.S. is finally understanding what the rest of the world already realizes.

 

[bormio]

I am a little unsure of our goalkeeping. He has not had a lot to do this tournament but there were moments at the end of the B/H game that looked rough. He did not seem to be seeing the ball well (I do think he was looking into the sun). That sequence where he came out of his net to catch a ball, but misjudged it and whiffed on the play was a bit ugly. We cannot have a defender or GK brain fart get us down 1-0. Belgium may be less than they were, but get down early and they will look plenty good.

 

[1960Pats]

Well Messi didn't fall off a cliff when he hit 29...

No comparison. Soccer players don't have 300+ pounders slamming them into the ground.