OT: The 2026 World Cup Thread

[Triumph]

What a game. Argentina vs Cape Verde.

Too funny. Cape ties it up and their players are up in the stands taking pictures while the clock is running.

 

[varjao]

Bravo Cape Verde, what a game!

 

[Guts]

Bravo Cape Verde, what a game!

would've been the biggest upset in all of sports history and not even exaggerating

 

[OldEngland]

Europe has underperformed so far this cycle. Italy didn’t make the tournament and Germany gone before the octofinals. Spain has been so-so (but may get better each round). The Dutch always look ready to win the WC after the group stage. France looks tough, England not so much. France, Spain and Argentina look like the best picks now.

I think it's probably more about African teams continuing to demonstrate their increasing strength in depth, although from the 8 teams that made it through the groups only 2 remain for the last 16. The 3 North American teams have all played really well as hosts, but all have tough draws now. Asia has seriously underperformed though and none remain.

South American teams are historically very strong when the tournament is held in the Americas. To my knowledge the only WC they didn't win was 2010 in Brazil when Germany won. 4 of the 8 S.American teams remain, and the chances of an South American semi-final Brazil vs Argentina is high unless England remember how to defend.

Europe still has 7 teams in the last 16 which is about the norm. To me France are favourites. Spain, Portugal and England are capable of, and have the talent and experience to win, but none of them have looked overly convincing. England has to run an Americas gauntlet of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina to get to the final and they could lose any of those. Switzerland are solid but average. Belgium are on the downwards trajectory. Norway are very interesting and on an upward trajectory, they have probably the best striker in the game right now in Haaland.

You would expect Europe to have x4 quarter finalists, x2 semifinalists and x1 finalist. I fully agree with your post that France, Argentina and Spain best picks - that is probably x3 semi-finalists unless Morocco spoil the party. Mexico, Brazil, England is a toss up for the other semi. A repeat of the 2022 final seems likely.

 

[OldEngland]

(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 ???

Lukaku is quality. De Bruyne is not the player he was, and he was injured for a long spells this year with Napoli, but his vision, creativity and passing when on form is as good as anyone in the world. If him and Lukaku wind the clock back a few years and play well they would be a handful for any team in the tournament. The US need to keep both of them quiet. Courtois is also a worldclass goalkeeper.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I was wrong about the World Cup. It has gone far better than I expected. The fans, despite the greed of the organizers, have been outstanding. The playing conditions haven't undermined the quality of the football. The refereeing has been far better than in the past and VAR, though it's not perfect, has helped.

Above all, there have been some close matches with teams from outside the expected giants doing well. Some on here have said that that shows that European dominance is over. Actually, weirdly, it might even be an effect of European dominance.

There is a number floating around (that I don't really believe) that there are 98 French-born players at the World Cup of whom only 22 are playing for France. What is clear is that a number of countries are heavily dependent on players who were not home-born and who play abroad.

A really striking example is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of the 11 who started against England only 2 were born in Congo (and Tuanzebe came to England as a 4-year-old). Of the others, 5 were born in France, 2 in Belgium and 1 each in Portugal and England. And they have a French coach. All of them play their club football in Europe.

Cabo Verde is probably more in the middle: 4 players born in Cabo Verde, 9 playing in Europe and 1 each in Qatar and the USA.

Actually, among the less-favoured non-European teams, the USA is an exception, with 8 of their most recent starters born in the USA and 6 of them having had their youth football development in the USA.

Football seems to have flattened somewhat. There are only a few galacticos (Messi, Mbappe, Yamal) but a lot of extremely competent and athletic players. Give those players fitness, a good coach and collective motivation, and they can outperform expectations -- which has made for an excellent tournament so far.

 

[mosi's man]

I was wrong about the World Cup. It has gone far better than I expected. The fans, despite the greed of the organizers, have been outstanding. The playing conditions haven't undermined the quality of the football. The refereeing has been far better than in the past and VAR, though it's not perfect, has helped.

Above all, there have been some close matches with teams from outside the expected giants doing well. Some on here have said that that shows that European dominance is over. Actually, weirdly, it might even be an effect of European dominance.

There is a number floating around (that I don't really believe) that there are 98 French-born players at the World Cup of whom only 22 are playing for France. What is clear is that a number of countries are heavily dependent on players who were not home-born and who play abroad.

A really striking example is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of the 11 who started against England only 2 were born in Congo (and Tuanzebe came to England as a 4-year-old). Of the others, 5 were born in France, 2 in Belgium and 1 each in Portugal and England. And they have a French coach. All of them play their club football in Europe.

Cabo Verde is probably more in the middle: 4 players born in Cabo Verde, 9 playing in Europe and 1 each in Qatar and the USA.

Actually, among the less-favoured non-European teams, the USA is an exception, with 8 of their most recent starters born in the USA and 6 of them having had their youth football development in the USA.

Football seems to have flattened somewhat. There are only a few galacticos (Messi, Mbappe, Yamal) but a lot of extremely competent and athletic players. Give those players fitness, a good coach and collective motivation, and they can outperform expectations -- which has made for an excellent tournament so far.

Excellent post. I'd like to try to add some context. In my twenties (a long time ago) I was invited to train with Tottenham and also with Malmo FF in Sweden. So I know the game. I afterwards lived in Mali for two and a half years. While in Mali, I would regularly kick it around with the boys and men in my village, who were fabulous athletes and exceptionally good with the ball. So I organized an eleven-on-eleven soccer game for my village. To my surprise, no one other than me knew how to kick off or perform a throw-in. My villagers had never even seen an eleven-on-eleven game! The game was totally disorganized and I came to understand that, without TV or any experience watching games regularly the players, despite great individual skill, where incapable of organizing themselves as a full team. As these nations develop (TV is such an powerful educational tool) and especially as immigrant populations in Europe and the U.S. are integrated into each countries national teams, the athleticism and skill that players from developing countries possess can't be properly harnessed. So it's only natural that players who were raised abroad raise the level for the nations from which they immigrated. The flip side to this is that the European countries that incorporate players from their immigrant population, like France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are the countries that are excelling on the international stage. Not only are French-trained players helping Morocco and other African nations succeed, but "African" players are dominating the French national team as well.

 

[Triumph]

Bravo Cape Verde, what a game!

Argentina looked worried after Cape tied it up 2 - 2.

 

[upstater1]

Lukaku is quality. De Bruyne is not the player he was, and he was injured for a long spells this year with Napoli, but his vision, creativity and passing when on form is as good as anyone in the world. If him and Lukaku wind the clock back a few years and play well they would be a handful for any team in the tournament. The US need to keep both of them quiet. Courtois is also a worldclass goalkeeper.

I'm a Lukaku doubter. He will wither as the tourney continues. He just cannot keep the pace. And he bumbles the ball a lot these days with bad first touches. I would play off him. He succeeds when people send multiple defenders at him as he is still very good at holding and also a very underrated passer. Left to his own however, he is a far far cry from what he used to be.

 

[OldEngland]

Above all, there have been some close matches with teams from outside the expected giants doing well.

Great post. Really interesting

The competitivenss has been a real highlight for me. Of the powerhouse teams only France have swept everyone aside. Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Brazil have all been challenged and held, interestingly nearly all by the African teams.

The African youth teams have had success in the U20 and U18 world cups in the last two decades with Morocco, Mali, Nigeria and Ghana reaching semi-finals and finals. The Africa Cup of Nations is also highly competitive. It's probably no coincidence that nearly all of the 98 French born players (and most came through the French youth systems) who are not playing for France are playing for African teams. Many are dual nationals or are children of immigrants.

There are 78 African players in the English Premier league, over 100 in the french Ligue 1, 45 in Italian Serie A, and 20 odd in Spain La Liga and German Bundersliga. There are some superb players and athletes and its no surprise that out of pool of 250+ players it is helping national teams they are eligible for.

It works the other way too though. Saka has Nigerian parents, Mpabbe's parents were from Cameroon and Algeria. Yamal's from Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. They were all born and raised in the countries they play for.

This expanded world cup maybe highlights these traditional geographic links. France and west and north african nations. Netherlands and Curacao. English born players represent Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, Ghana, France and Congo. The English born playee I wish represented England is Haaland, but that was never going to happen.

 

[Thelonious]

I watched a soccer game recently at my local bar. A lot of guys running randomly around. I figured, "Well, they're warming up. How very healthy-minded of them." Then suddenly the game ended: zero to zero, the announcer said. The soccer fans at the bar said what a great game it was because absolutely nothing happened, which they found "beautiful." (I mean, few guys briefly rolled around in apparent agony, but they recovered with remarkable speed and resumed their Brownian Motions.)

I'll be going to the local dirt track today to watch a bunch of knuckledraggers race their jalopies around a circle of mud in a pasture. I expect more excitement in the first heat than in a season of soccer. Sometimes there will be a fistfight in the pits, but I have never seen the loser roll around in the dirt the way those soccer boys did after a little kick in the shin or some other such booboo.

 

[mosi's man]

I watched a soccer game recently at my local bar. A lot of guys running randomly around. I figured, "Well, they're warming up. How very healthy-minded of them." Then suddenly the game ended: zero to zero, the announcer said. The soccer fans at the bar said what a great game it was because absolutely nothing happened, which they found "beautiful." (I mean, few guys briefly rolled around in apparent agony, but they recovered with remarkable speed and resumed their Brownian Motions.)

I'll be going to the local dirt track today to watch a bunch of knuckledraggers race their jalopies around a circle of mud in a pasture. I expect more excitement in the first heat than in a season of soccer. Sometimes there will be a fistfight in the pits, but I have never seen the loser roll around in the dirt the way those soccer boys did after a little kick in the shin or some other such booboo.

Did you watch yesterday's game between Argentina and Cape Verde? Did you watch the game the day before between Portugal and Croatia? If you came away from those matches thinking "absolutely nothing happened" I don't know what to say.

 

[Guts]

I watched a soccer game recently at my local bar. A lot of guys running randomly around. I figured, "Well, they're warming up. How very healthy-minded of them." Then suddenly the game ended: zero to zero, the announcer said. The soccer fans at the bar said what a great game it was because absolutely nothing happened, which they found "beautiful." (I mean, few guys briefly rolled around in apparent agony, but they recovered with remarkable speed and resumed their Brownian Motions.)

I'll be going to the local dirt track today to watch a bunch of knuckledraggers race their jalopies around a circle of mud in a pasture. I expect more excitement in the first heat than in a season of soccer. Sometimes there will be a fistfight in the pits, but I have never seen the loser roll around in the dirt the way those soccer boys did after a little kick in the shin or some other such booboo.

there haven't been flops this world cup unless I missed some
which game did you watch
all games for the most part have been quality id say probably 10 percent of them have been a snoozer but the rest *chef kiss*

 

[Gumby]

there haven't been flops this world cup unless I missed some
which game did you watch
all games for the most part have been quality id say probably 10 percent of them have been a snoozer but the rest *chef kiss*

You apparently didn’t watch any USA games, since they gave the first-ever WC yellow card for simulating in that one. And in the following US games there were plenty of guys laying around after bumps and NEAR MISSES particularly anywhere in or near the box. I admit the refs have been much more “Play On!” than in previous Euros & WCs (only times I watch); which is good. But to claim NO FLOPPING is going on is quite disingenious.

 

[Guts]

You apparently didn’t watch any USA games, since they gave the first-ever WC yellow card for simulating in that one. And in the following US games there were plenty of guys laying around after bumps and NEAR MISSES particularly anywhere in or near the box. I admit the refs have been much more “Play On!” than in previous Euros & WCs (only times I watch); which is good. But to claim NO FLOPPING is going on is quite disingenious.

well yeah but I consider flopping Neymar style flopping I havent seen much this wc
the refs have let them play more and there is also the whole you get fined thing by fifa for flopping

 

[farn]

Canada likely doesn’t have the firepower to stay with Morocco. That said : I suspect, considering our injuries, that Canada would definitely be the odd team out amongst the hosts in this round of 16. The fact that all three hosts play in the group of 16 is improbable.

It’s been a fun tourney. Take away the diving and you’d really have something here.

 

[Gumby]

well yeah but I consider flopping Neymar style flopping I havent seen much this wc
the refs have let them play more and there is also the whole you get fined thing by fifa for flopping

Nobody ever paid attention to fines.

I read that it was an official rule change before this WC ( not sure FIFA or WC or ?other soccer entity) and that this is the first ever WC that refs were ALLOWED (& also directed, but I don’t know how vehemently) to give Yellows for simulating.

I see the “refs have let them play more” as a DIRECT INADVERTANT CONSEQUENCE of that rule change. Not some random thing or learned, behavior or intended planned improvement.

The refs don’t want to give the yellow for simulating, so they are just IGNORING both small incidental fouls & simulating and saying “PLAY ON”. Yes it looks better (IMO) but there is still too much bullshitting and faking to get a card or free kick/11m. Meanwhile a guy who got his calf deliberately raked by cleats so bad that his knee high socks were ripped to shreds doesn’t even get a free kick, let alone a yellow or red on the offender.

Soccer still has room to grow up/man up. Let’s not even get into how a ball brushing a hairdo can generate an offsides call and take away a goal. Soccer can be silly, & boring; in that I agree with @Thelonious

 

[mosi's man]

So you're saying it's not perfect? Agreed. Exactly which sport is? Baseball? Basketball? How about the NFL? I love my Pats, but the endless commercials, the time outs, the handful of actual play time in the course of a three hour event, never mind f-ing Goodell and the leadership and the owners. I have more respect for the Medillin Cartel. Doesn't mean it's not entertaining as hell. Rarely miss a Sunday.

 

[Thelonious]

there haven't been flops this world cup unless I missed some
which game did you watch
all games for the most part have been quality id say probably 10 percent of them have been a snoozer but the rest *chef kiss*

I have no idea which game I watched, I believe I remember a lot of red, perhaps some yellow stripes. Most of the players on both teams were black, if that helps.