OT: The 2026 World Cup Thread

[upstater1]

I used to support VAR but it is applied so inconsistently now as to be a problem.

1. Balogun's red card: the protocol for VAR red card was not followed.

but just today...

2. An Egyptian goal was taken away by rewinding the play all the way back to the other end when both teams committed ticky tack fouls in the normal course of play. There was no reckless challenge at all. It was the type of play refs let go, and if VAR wants to rewind every time the ref let's a foul go, the game would be endless.

3. Before the final Argentinian goal, the same thing happened with Argentina committing a foul, but where was VAR? It didn't review.

4. The Colombia game was a total mess. A goal was disallowed because someone's toe was in front of an imaginary line. Absurd.

5. We saw clear fouls that should've been penalty kicks ignored by VAR. Happened to both teams.

You can't use VAR if it is to be applied inconsistently. Goals should not be waved off because of a much earlier foul unless we have a reckless challenge. VAR should review all contact in the box and not make arbitrary decisions to ignore some.

 

[XLIX]

Tough to beat the Argentina Chiefs when it's 12 on 11.

 

[patfanken]

My only interest in this corrupt tournament is when the US was in it. I'll look forward to seeing the highlights when appear, and might even watch a a couple of game, just a half hour at a time. It's almost like I watch the NBA now. If the C's aren't playing, I tune in for the last 5-8 minutes of a game. As much as I love football, I rarely watch a full game the Pats aren't playing in these days. Though I still love a 4th quarter of a tight game, especially in the playoffs. But my days of being glued to the set with rapt attention are over. Again, with the exception of when the Pats are playing.

Soccer is a beautiful game, and I have come to appreciate the skill level of watching the buildup of the offense and the many passes it takes to get the ball into the scoring zone to attack the goal, but the fact remains it never seems to matter to me if I miss the first 70 minutes of a one score or tie game if I turn it on then and watch the last 15-20 minutes

I enjoyed the US getting to the round of 16, but it was pretty sad how they went out, with a whimper rather than a roar. Not remotely heroic like Cape Verde, or Egypt and the like. Can't help but wonder if the Trump touch tainted their efforts like the economy, the War he started, the insurance he knocked people out of, the snap benefits he knocked people out of, AND the massive personal corruption he has perpetrated that have been DOCUMENTED let alone the others we don't know about. And worst of all, the damage he has done to our very democracy. His big lie has people questioning the very veracity of the system of voting that has worked well in EVERY election we've had, and that includes one we had during a civil war. But this is no longer the case. His "big Lie" He tried over SEVENTY times to go to court and prove his "fraud" and in EVERY single case he didn't provide enough evidence to prove a SINGLE case, and yet his claims go on and belief in his lies grows. And to think I might live long enough to see the end of a stable democracy. Who would have thought.

BTW- Trump has pretty much followed the Nazi party build up in Germany in 1932 - He got big corporate interests behind him with big public works programs and the buildup of defense spending etc. He gave the people their enemy. With Hitler it was the Jews, with Trump its immigrants. Now all we have to wait for over the next 4 months is our Reichstag Fire. Some dramatic event that will be the excuse to suspend the election, suppress opposition, and reduce civil liberties, just like the Nazis did in Feb of 1933. Probably a little too obvious for the Capital to burn down, but some sort of violence that can be blamed on "communists" or the like.

As Trump's approval ratings keep dropping it is only a matter of time. He has more power now than any previous president in US history thanks to a compliant GOP and Supreme Court. Historically people with that power kind of power don't give it up willingly in relatively normal times, but we are dealing with a narcissistic sociopath who lives in a different reality than the rest of us, so I can pretty much guarantee something is going to happen. Hope I'd dead wrong.

.... and as usual. Pardon me for my diatribe. Seems like every couple of months they just pop on out out of nowhere. This time it was a damned soccer comment. Feel free to edit, move or delete it. I feel better already just for penning it.

 

[Tunescribe]

I used to support VAR but it is applied so inconsistently now as to be a problem.

1. Balogun's red card: the protocol for VAR red card was not followed.

but just today...

2. An Egyptian goal was taken away by rewinding the play all the way back to the other end when both teams committed ticky tack fouls in the normal course of play. There was no reckless challenge at all. It was the type of play refs let go, and if VAR wants to rewind every time the ref let's a foul go, the game would be endless.

3. Before the final Argentinian goal, the same thing happened with Argentina committing a foul, but where was VAR? It didn't review.

4. The Colombia game was a total mess. A goal was disallowed because someone's toe was in front of an imaginary line. Absurd.

5. We saw clear fouls that should've been penalty kicks ignored by VAR. Happened to both teams.

You can't use VAR if it is to be applied inconsistently. Goals should not be waved off because of a much earlier foul unless we have a reckless challenge. VAR should review all contact in the box and not make arbitrary decisions to ignore some.

Big-time soccer might be the worst-officiated game in all of sports. That is because it's nearly impossible to officiate efficiently between the lines real-time on a judgment-call basis. When to use replay itself is a judgment call and unfortunately, the game's pacing demands it be used sparingly.

 

[Gumby]

Who do you got.

Argentina vs Switzerland - I have a hard time seeing the Swiss winning.
Norway vs England - Should be a good game.
France vs Morocco - Ditto
Spain vs Belgium - Ditto

ALL OPINIONS PREDICATED WITH: I don’t know JACK about soccer…..

1. ARG. (Watch out for more ? Ref/var to rescue an underachieving compared to talent ARG)
The Swiss normally shouldn’t have a chance (overall talent wise) except that the ARG are so unreliable, Swiss are better teammates.
2. NOR
Really a tossup to me, and I kinda like the English team more, but I think NOR has some momentum.
3. FRA
I woiuld love to see Morocco take this, but Fra just seems like their year. I tend toward them as overall.
4. SPA
Another one I’d love to see go the other way, but Spain either gets ref/var help or just that seemingly inevitable 115 th minute goal that the powerhouse teams get when they wear the other guys down ( in spite of a lackadaisical first 45-60 minutes).

 

[Bill Lee]

I'm not a big soccer fan. I try to watch it but I get really bored. So maybe I'm not looking at it the right way.
The US has a population of about 320,000,000. Every city and town has a youth soccer program. Most high schools and colleges have soccer teams.
We just lost to Belgium, a country of 12,000,000. I've also heard on sports shows and even news shows how great it was that the US made it to the round of 16.
We just got crushed by Belgium a country with 4% of our population. I find it embarrassing that with all the people we have participating in this sport that we get crushed in the round of 16 by a tiny country.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Just think how bad China feels: 1.3B people and they didn't even make it into the tournament.

The academy’s in Europe and South America are much better than elsewhere. They identify talent very young. Then they get them in youth programs with top level coaching and development. It’s engrained in the culture. Similar to hockey here in Canada. The best kids get identified early and get put into academy’s. We may not have a huge population but we always compete against the bigger countries.

From what I read, in China the kids that get into those academies are the ones whose parents have the most money and/or political pull.

Perhaps, in order to succeed, we will need to get more "foreign" stars to play for us, much as what happens in the Olympics.
Our star was born in the US because his mother was too far along to get on the plane home. I believed he lived in the US for a month.
We are lucky that the law still allows him to be an American citizen.

The system is AFU as far as I'm concerned. Basically what we often see is the remnants of colonialism and/or slavery on display.

My conclusion is that our education system has been failing our country badly for the past 20+ years.

At the same time, our country has been failing our education system for a very long time.

 

[Guts]

FBI Investigates Argentine Football Association's $300M Financial Dealings Amid World Cup

Argentina's World Cup run rolls on, but off the pitch, the Argentine Football Association is facing growing scrutiny in the United States.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Guts]

The Miami company at the center of Argentina's FBI soccer probe

Federal prosecutors in South Florida are reportedly examining more than $300 million in AFA transactions routed through a Florida company.

www.miaminewtimes.com

 

[PATSNUTme]

I find the Wimbledon tennis tournament more interesting and the matches more exciting than World Cup kickball.
But, that's me.

 

[Gumby]

I

I find the Wimbledon tennis tournament more interesting and the matches more exciting than World Cup kickball.
But, that's me.

I can definitely see that for the finals and even semifinals.
- I mean it is mono-a-mono with a grueling fight over each individual point.
- Whereas soccer is 11-11 and unless you are really really into the technicals of their passing or one-one ball fights, it is slow. They aren’t fighting for points, even if they win ball control, it is only like a 3% chance to lead to either a goal or a shot on goal.

But the nationality pageantry of WC, especially in the early rounds where 30 teams’ fans haven’t lost hope yet; is what gets me to the screen. I don’t frankly care too much about which country wins Wimbledon, that is more individual player personality based, if I like them.

 

[Steve102]

I find the Wimbledon tennis tournament more interesting and the matches more exciting than World Cup kickball.
But, that's me.

The spectacle that it is I find much more interesting.

 

[1960Pats]

Unfortunately most non Americans associate Trump as America. As someone who has spent a lot of time in the States, I know first hand that the people are great and so much more than your President, something the WC fans who attended saw first hand.

The foreigners that I meet in Boston have expected more violence than actually exists. That has happened a few times over the years. The only time Trump comes up is with Americans that I meet, but in general folks stay away from that normally.

 

[1960Pats]

Perhaps, in order to succeed, we will need to get more "foreign" stars to play for us, much as what happens in the Olympics.
Our star was born in the US because his mother was too far along to get on the plane home. I believed he lived in the US for a month.
We are lucky that the law still allows him to be an American citizen.

I think he was the lucky one.

 

[1960Pats]

The spectacle that it is I find much more interesting.

Hear, hear.

I like tennis more, but there's no comparison between tennis and soccer afa spectacles go. Soccer has that beat by a mile.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

The foreigners that I meet in Boston have expected more violence than actually exists. That has happened a few times over the years. The only time Trump comes up is with Americans that I meet, but in general folks stay away from that normally.

Yes, that is what I have seen/read as well.
Foreigners were pleasantly surprised how nice the US is, how great the people are, how good the food is, how generally safe it is.
I have always enjoyed my time in the US, met a lot of great people.

 

[Bill Lee]

Yes, that is what I have seen/read as well.
Foreigners were pleasantly surprised how nice the US is, how great the people are, how good the food is, how generally safe it is.
I have always enjoyed my time in the US, met a lot of great people.

The thing I notice with visitors from Europe is that they have a hard time comprehending the size of things. The roads are big, the cars are big (i.e. the larger pickup trucks and SUVs) and the people are big (yes, many Americans eat too much).

I had a co-worker who transferred to the US from Germany and one of the first things he bought was a large SUV with a V8 engine. He just wanted to experience what it was like to drive such a big and powerful vehicle around, and said it was impossible for him to do so in Germany due to the cost of fuel. And drive it, he did. He'd blast off on long road trips every chance he got.

His plan was to take in the experiences here for a while and go back home, but he never did do that. He was enjoying life here and his career had taken off too, so he was happy to keep the ball rolling.

 

[PATSNUTme]

I

I can definitely see that for the finals and even semifinals.
- I mean it is mono-a-mono with a grueling fight over each individual point.
- Whereas soccer is 11-11 and unless you are really really into the technicals of their passing or one-one ball fights, it is slow. They aren’t fighting for points, even if they win ball control, it is only like a 3% chance to lead to either a goal or a shot on goal.

But the nationality pageantry of WC, especially in the early rounds where 30 teams’ fans haven’t lost hope yet; is what gets me to the screen. I don’t frankly care too much about which country wins Wimbledon, that is more individual player personality based, if I like them.

There was a match the other night that went over 5 hours and had to go to a tiebreaker. It was as tense and entertaining as Rocky vs Appolo Creed. Djokovic the 39 year old man, beat the 3rd seed 25 year old Auger.

There's a British player who was ranked 150 and had to win a wildcard qualifying match to get in. He is now playing in the semi-finals tomorrow. The whole area is going crazy for him.

 

[Brotherblues]

I used to support VAR but it is applied so inconsistently now as to be a problem.

1. Balogun's red card: the protocol for VAR red card was not followed.

but just today...

2. An Egyptian goal was taken away by rewinding the play all the way back to the other end when both teams committed ticky tack fouls in the normal course of play. There was no reckless challenge at all. It was the type of play refs let go, and if VAR wants to rewind every time the ref let's a foul go, the game would be endless.

3. Before the final Argentinian goal, the same thing happened with Argentina committing a foul, but where was VAR? It didn't review.

4. The Colombia game was a total mess. A goal was disallowed because someone's toe was in front of an imaginary line. Absurd.

5. We saw clear fouls that should've been penalty kicks ignored by VAR. Happened to both teams.

You can't use VAR if it is to be applied inconsistently. Goals should not be waved off because of a much earlier foul unless we have a reckless challenge. VAR should review all contact in the box and not make arbitrary decisions to ignore some.

Video assisted replay is only as good as the people managing it. Tech is only bad in the hands of idiots.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Hear, hear.

I like tennis more, but there's no comparison between tennis and soccer afa spectacles go. Soccer has that beat by a mile.

I get it. I can understand people in other countries get all hyped for soccer because that all they have. They become fanatics.
I don’t get why people get all hyped about NASCAR. To me it's like sitting at the Portsmouth traffic circle watch the car go around. But to each their own.
I'm just glad that we have real football at every level.

 

[upstater1]

My opinion about the deficits in US Soccer and where this is head in the future:

(My background: I coached travel league and has children in the US Development Academies [the DA] which wassubsidized and organized by USSF -- the highest levels of US Soccer).

1. Much has been said about Pay-to-Play in the USA and that being the reason why the USA skill level is poor, but I disagree...
2. Europe has a similar fee structure for much of club level ball, and the truly talented kids DO get free rides in Europe, but they also get free rides in the US at the highest levels. For instance, if you're with the Chicago Fire's club, you don't pay.
3. I pulled my kids out of the DA structure not because it was expensive, but because it was too demanding (5 nights a week, 3 hours after school, 1 hour drive each way). But the DA fee was small, all travel was paid for (the club had their own luxury bus), all hotel, all food, and the bus maintained 5 hours of quiet time for school studies. I elected to pay more for a Non-DA club for lesser demands.
4. People also say it's the lack of soccer culture in the US. This is maybe 20% right, but I'll get back to that in a second. Someone needs to explain why Portugal with 10m people has a team filled with superstars and can fill a second team with stars, while Brazil with 200m is struggling to produce top players at the world level. Is it because Brazil lacks a soccer culture? No. is it because kids don't play street soccer in Brazil? No. So...?
5. The European academies are more rigorous than those anywhere ele in the world. You go in at a very young age, 7 or 8, and then you have a couple hours of school in the morning, and for the rest of the day, you train in soccer. Soccer is your career from the age of 7. Sure, you can be given the heave ho from the academy when you're 12 or 13. But this is a highly dedicated and rigorous structure which the USA simply does not have. THIS IS REASON #1 why the US is behind. And that goes for Brazil as well, though they do have rigorous academies, they just don't have the resources the Europeans do.
6. Outside of immigrant communities, there is no buy in from urban communities, where many of our most talented athletes reside. I have tried in 2 different cities to grow the sport by arranging volunteer drivers to pick kids up, helping secure funding to pay outstanding coaches, and my direct experience is that soccer does not win hearts and minds the way that basketball does, and to a lesser extent, American football. We could not get kids interested even when it was free and they had rides. Top basketball players devote themselves to the sport at a very young age, and many kids are willing to do that. Not for soccer though in urban locales. This is the BIGGEST REASON why we lag. So when people say we have poor soccer culture, it's that we don't have hat buy-in from our best athletes. And that's OK!

I also don't want to hear about people talking about a lack of understanding of the sport. We have 7 Premier League players out there, top scorers from Ligue 1 in France and Serie A in Italy. Another several are starters in Spain. 4 in the Bundesliga. These are contributing players who know how to play in the world's top leagues. Our coach once finished 2nd in worldwide voting for best coach. We know how to play. Were the tactics we used wrong? Well, yes. The US Men's team chose an attacking style which maximized their chances of getting out of the group stage. But adopting that style against a more highly skilled team in Belgium was ludicrous, and I think Pochettino reckoned he would keep his reputation by emphasizing group stage play over a more defensive framework which could have more success in latter stages.