The World Cup 2026 thread!

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Old argument but still on topic

I read that a while back. That's funny.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

England 4 - France 0 at halftime.

Who had that on their Bingo card?

 

[Imrahil]

England 4 - France 0 at halftime.

Who had that on their Bingo card?

I love what England are doing to France. I hope they can keep it up untill the 90 minutes are over.

Grrr, Imrahil

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

I love what England are doing to France. I hope they can keep it up untill the 90 minutes are over.

Grrr, Imrahil

They nearly bungled it!

 

[Imrahil]

I missed out on the second half. Wow what a score tally

I dont see the final getting those numbers.

Grrr, Imrahil

 

[Killer Angel]

A spectacular game, but also a farce.
It was practically a friendly match, which was of no interest to the teams involved... the only useless match of the entire World Cup, which however distorts the top scorers' table

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

I dont see the final getting those numbers.

A spectacular game, but also a farce.

Agreed on both fronts.

It was practically a friendly match, which was of no interest to the teams involved... the only useless match of the entire World Cup, which however distorts the top scorers' table

It settled the Golden Boot race. The final will be a much tighter affair with little to no opportunity to shift the race.




GAME DAY!

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Well... the better team won. There is no doubt about that. To be fair, Argentina are lucky to only lose by one.

 

[WildColonial Boy]

10 things I have taken away from the World Cup.
1. The better team won. Although it appears FIFA had conspired to get Argentina to the final, you cant win if you can't control the ball or even have 1 shot on goal in 90 mins. Well done Spain.
2. Messi and Mbappe are over rated. Not to take away from their past but there were better players from other teams during the WC. Mbappe as a center forward should be expected to score goals as he is the man on the spot. However he is a very lazy player and arrogant in his sense of self importance.
3. FIFA is still corrupt and needs to be dissolved and a new organisation take over world football. Unfortunately unless all footballing nations unite to do this it won't happen. Infantino is up for re-election soon but 200 of the 211 nations have already committed to supporting him. At least Germany has said they won't. One of the few countries standing up for truth. Also there were 3 countries hosting, not just one. Thankyou Mexico and Canada.
4. Trump's arrogance in influencing FIFA. Also when Spain were on the winners podium and were being photographed Trump stood there like he was part of the team even though Infantino was trying to pull him off the stage.
5. The world seemed united (apart from US citizens) in supporting Belgium humiliating the US team.
6. The same could almost be said for support for Spain in the final. (Both these statements from commentary and social media content from around the world)
7. The bronze match was extremely entertaining but a bit of a waste of time. No one remembers a loser. (England was my second team as my lovely wife is English)
8. The goal keepers were all spectacular. Some awesome displays.
9. I was pleased Australia made it to the round of 32 which I didn't expect. Unfortunately we are so isolated down under, we will never be a footballing force in the world. Not to say we haven't had some awesome players but these have usually spent a large majority of their careers learning the game in Europe.
10. All the games were televised in Australia and fortunately most at reasonable times in the morning (5am, 6am,7am,
9am,11am). One or two were at 2am or 3 am which I missed. I will be glad to get back to a normal sleep pattern. Thank god it only happens every 4 years, unless you are a senile American President and then it will happen again next year.

 

[Killer Angel]

Well... the better team won. There is no doubt about that. To be fair, Argentina are lucky to only lose by one.

Indeed. It was almost as if Argentina wasn't there...

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Although it appears FIFA had conspired to get Argentina to the final

That's a pretty extraordinary claim... which as they say, requires extraordinary evidence. I've heard this thrown about the internet, but nobody has ever presented a solid argument for it.

It's essentially the flat earth theory of the Football world.

Messi and Mbappe are over rated.

Well that's a take.

Yes, Messi (and all of Argentina) hit an absolute brick wall against a superior Spain squad. An abysmal game on their part, and they deserve the loss. But the man carried his team to the final. He scored 8 goals. He provided 4 assists. He dominated most offensive stats (dribbles, key passes, big chances created). He was awarded Man of the Match 5 times. He was the heart and soul of the team. One bad game, against a far superior opponent, even in the final, does not erase that. Oh... and he did all that at 39 years of age. It defies belief.

As for Mbappe, I've never been a fan, but the man is lethal. Exceptionally skilled and when he is playing for the team's benefit (which he seems to do for France), he is one of the best players in the world. And this is coming from someone who doesn't like him.

FIFA is still corrupt and needs to be dissolved and a new organisation take over world football

Indeed. It was almost as if Argentina wasn't there...

And to think they had a very real chance to pull it off. 15 minutes from penalties, which they were probably favoured to win. Don't get me wrong, I would have taken the win, but it would have been a travesty to Football and Spain (even I have to admit that!). In the end, the better team won and if we are being fair, they deserved to win by a wider margin.

 

[Killer Angel]

That's a pretty extraordinary claim... which as they say, requires extraordinary evidence. I've heard this thrown about the internet, but nobody has ever presented a solid argument for it.

Because there are no solid arguments.
What have been presented (at most) are suspicions.

1 - FIFA was more than happy to have Argentina in the final stages, it was the most valuable team for the views from south america and USA, and the whole "last cup for Messi the GOAT" was indeed good to boost the interest worldwide. Considering how some rules were "bended" during the cup (see a certain revoked red card), it's not that big of a stretch to imagine FIFA would have tried to "push forward" argentina.

which brings us to:

2 - favorable matches for Argentina, which basically faced the first real obstacle in the semifinal. One could say a nice path was set for them, but at this point i could say the same everytime your team in a competition is lucky to face minor opponents while the big names faces each other.

3 - some lenient decision by referees toward Argentina during the course of the cup. But again, no evidence to call it a proof... and also Yamal was graced during the tournament after some faul which could have been sanctioned with a card.

 

[Killer Angel]

Anyway, can we agree Paredes was an idiot?

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

1 - FIFA was more than happy to have Argentina in the final stages, it was the most valuable team for the views from south america and USA, and the whole "last cup for Messi the GOAT" was indeed good to boost the interest worldwide. Considering how some rules were "bended" during the cup (see a certain revoked red card), it's not that big of a stretch to imagine FIFA would have tried to "push forward" argentina.

My pushback would simply be: which rules were bent to push Argentina into the final? Not generalizations, but specific incidents.

The Embolo situation was clear as day.

The Messi infraction in the Algeria game should have garnered a yellow in my opinion, but not rising to the level a of red. Explained here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1004043985926530

Also, if FIFA were to play such a game, why not push Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo into the final, who is arguably more marketable than Messi?

Plus other teams got either favourable or unfavourable calls. Even with VAR, things are still up to interpretation. Even with VAR, things can be missed like the ball striking the spider-cam wire in the England vs Norway game.

In order for this theory to be true, FIFA would have to go to the referees directly and tell them to side one way or the other. Something like that is bound to come to light in today's social media world. Not impossible, but highly risky, and there is zero evidence for it.

2 - favorable matches for Argentina, which basically faced the first real obstacle in the semifinal. One could say a nice path was set for them, but at this point i could say the same everytime your team in a competition is lucky to face minor opponents while the big names faces each other.

Seeded teams are split among the groups and the rest of the teams are randomly selected into those groups live on air. The bracket is then determined by how the teams finished in their group. This is arranged ahead of time and there is no opportunity for underhanded tactics by FIFA.

Case in point, Portugal was slated to meet Argentina in the quarterfinals. However, they did not win their group as most people expected. So that left Argentina with an "easier" path. That wasn't FIFA's doing. In fact, from a financial standpoint, a Messi vs Ronaldo "last dance" super match in the World Cup would have been the most lucrative game of them all. If FIFA was so corrupt, why didn't they set that up?

3 - some lenient decision by referees toward Argentina during the course of the cup. But again, no evidence to call it a proof... and also Yamal was graced during the tournament after some faul which could have been sanctioned with a card.

As before, what are the concrete examples?

Anyway, can we agree Paredes was an idiot?

I completely missed that live, because I didn't bother to watch after the game had ended. Caught it on replay after I heard everyone talking about it, and it looks pretty bad. Paredes was a hothead throughout the tournament. What makes it worse is that Spain, in my eyes, played an extremely clean game. This isn't a situation like in 2022's Argentina vs Netherlands where things slowly escalated.

Poor sportsmanship. So yes, we can agree that Paredes was an idiot.


By the way, I loved the fact that in the clip I watched a bunch of Argentinian players are fighting in the foreground, and in the background Messi is just standing by and taking no part in it.



Speaking of Messi:

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

 

[Killer Angel]

My pushback would simply be: which rules were bent to push Argentina into the final? Not generalizations, but specific incidents.

Please note that i agree with you: I've merely summarized the theories of the "FIFA was pro-argentina" conspirationists... which imo are all unsupported by evidences.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Please note that i agree with you

I know.

I've merely summarized the theories of the "FIFA was pro-argentina" conspirationists... which imo are all unsupported by evidences.

I still maintain that the Penaldo fans started this.

It also proves that if something is repeated enough times, even without a shred of evidence, there are many that will believe it.

 

[Killer Angel]

It also proves that if something is repeated enough times, even without a shred of evidence, there are many that will believe it.

And when this kind of behavior happens, eventual evidences to the contrary are discarded as if don't matter.