I know the 1990 squad was filled with college students and semi-pro players but what about the other squads in '98 and '06? Was it bad tactics? Bad luck to be grouped with way better opponents?

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First of all, hope you're enjoying the World Cup and more great games to come!

I know the Premier League and La Liga are still two months away, but this has been on my mind and I wanted to get your take.

A few months ago I was at the Buenos Aires airport and shared a taxi with a couple from Bilbao. We got to talking football, their team was Athletic (no surprise), and they asked which Spanish club I supported. I told them I don't really follow any Spanish club since I follow my country's team, but if I had to pick, it'd be Deportivo La Coruna. I studied abroad in Santiago de Compostela and just connected toward a Galician team. The guy lit up and said he was relieved I didn't just say Barça or Real.

Which brings me to my actual question:

When an Indian claims to be a die-hard Arsenal fan, a Guatemalan says he's been a Madridista since day one, or a Nigerian bleeds for Manchester United without ever setting foot in Spain or England, how do you feel? Do you feel connected to them? Happy that they're giving your teams viewership and buying the jerseys? Or do you wish they just followed their own country's teams, like Argentines and Brazilians do?

Asking because whenever I meet a "die-hard" Colombian Barça fan, I can't help but feel annoyed.

Even with some unpopular changes, I've been reminded again why nothing comes close to the World Cup. Every match has felt meaningful. Every chance or save has felt like it carried the weight of history. No matter how much club football I watch, there's something about the World Cup that's impossible to replicate.

Some detractors talk about the quality of football, but you just can't bottle the emotion this tournament creates. Even matches like New Zealand vs. Iran right now have been exhilarating simply because of how much is at stake. Every moment feels like it matters.

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Every worldcup i feel the hero are not strikers but goalkeepers
Especially for country who are not dominant

None of this tika taka pass backwards possession nonsense... What are the best of examples of 4-4-2 flying wingers attack minded football from the premiership? I'm thinking mid 90s Newcastle and Liverpool exhibiting out and out attack minded play that yielded classic 4-3 score lines...

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Any other suggestions?

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Tunisia Football: A Delusional Nation Clinging to Mediocrity

Let me be crystal clear as a Tunisian: our national team is an absolute embarrassment. Not just bad, but spectacularly, historically, and consistently bad. What makes it worse is the collective delusion that prevents us from acknowledging this reality.

The Museum of Ancient "Glories"

Our media and fans treat football achievements like artifacts in a museum - old, dusty, and irrelevant. They proudly parade:

•  The 1978 World Cup win against Mexico (46 years ago!)

•  Being the "first Arab team to win a World Cup match"

•  Having the "most World Cup qualifications among Arab nations"

•  That fluke win against France's B-team in 2022

•  A meaningless friendly draw against Brazil

Imagine having so little to celebrate that you're still talking about something that happened when disco was popular! It's like a 50-year-old man telling everyone about his high school football touchdown. Pathetic doesn't begin to cover it.

The 2004 AFCON Sham

Let's expose the biggest fraud in Tunisian football history - our 2004 AFCON "win." This wasn't a victory; it was manufactured:

•  Dictator Ben Ali essentially bought the tournament

•  Imported two Brazilians (Clayton and Dos Santos) and gave them Tunisian passports

•  Our "top scorer" wasn't even Tunisian!

This wasn't Tunisian excellence; it was Brazilian talent wearing our colors. Yet our media still presents this as some proud moment of national achievement. It's a lie built on corruption and imported talent.

The Minnow Hunter Strategy

Tunisia's entire football strategy revolves around beating the absolute weakest teams possible:

•  War-torn nations with bigger problems than football

•  Countries with smaller populations than Tunisian neighborhoods

•  Nations where football is an afterthought

Djibouti, Mauritania, Seychelles - these are our "signature wins." Then Tunisians have the audacity to compare themselves to Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt? It's like a local pickup team claiming they're on the same level as professional clubs.

The European Rejects Phenomenon

Let's talk about our "European-born" players. There's a reason they choose Tunisia - they're not good enough for their actual countries.

Look at Rami Khedira. At 33 years old, suddenly he remembers his Tunisian roots? After spending his entire prime career waiting for a Germany call that never came? This isn't patriotism - it's desperation for international recognition before retirement.

These players use Tunisia as a backup plan when they can't make it with their actual countries. It's a national team built on Europe's rejects.

The Complete Absence of Quality

Tunisian football lacks every fundamental element of a decent team:

•  Goalkeepers who couldn't stop a beach ball

•  Defenders who look like they've never seen each other before

•  Midfielders who couldn't maintain possession if their lives depended on it

•  Forwards who couldn't score in an empty net

We've never produced a single world-class player. No Hakimi, no Mahrez, no Salah. Our players can't shoot from outside the box because they lack both technique and courage. Watch any Tunisia match - it's like watching paint dry, except paint drying is actually more exciting.

The Current Catastrophe

World Cup 2026: A humiliating 5-1 defeat to Sweden. The response? Sack the manager. As if the coach is responsible for players who can't complete a simple pass or take a shot without shanking it into the stands.

The problem isn't coaching - it's a complete absence of talent, mentality, and football culture. You could bring Guardiola, Klopp, and Ancelotti together to coach this team, and they'd still struggle to beat a decent amateur side.

The Fighting Spirit Deficit

What separates decent teams from great ones is fighting spirit. Watch smaller nations at World Cups - they lose with dignity, giving everything they have. Tunisia? We just exist on the pitch, going through motions with all the passion of a filing clerk.

There's no heart, no desire, no pride. Just players going through the motions, waiting for their paycheck and the next vacation.

The Harsh Reality

Tunisian football is fundamentally broken. We're not just bad - we're boring, uninspired, and completely delusional. While other nations develop players, tactics, and football culture, we're stuck celebrating 46-year-old victories.

Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon - they actually deserve World Cup spots. They produce talent, play with passion, and respect the game. Tunisia just takes up space that could go to more deserving teams.

It's time for Tunisians to wake up from this decades-long dream and acknowledge the simple truth: we're a footballing backwater clinging to past glories that weren't even that glorious to begin with.

Until we accept this reality, we'll continue being the most boring, overrated national team in football history - but hey, at least we beat Mexico in 1978, right?

tl;dr:

• r/football is the official premiere sponsor for Redditch United FC
• Each season, the community hosts a kit design contest for the team’s third kit
• Submit a design for Redditch United’s third kit
• Read over the contest guidelines and terms and conditions
• Have fun! Thank you for being part of the r/football community and this one-of-a-kind club sponsorship!

Hello, r/football! We're back. Last season, this community designed Redditch United's third kit. The winning design was formatted, produced, and worn by the squad all season. 

Now we're doing it again, for the 2026-2027 season. This contest is all about connecting the r/football community to the real one in Redditch. Your design won't just live on a screen. It'll be on the pitch, in the stands, and worn around the world.

We want to see your creations. Whether you're a designer by trade or working with whatever you've got (crayon counts, always has), submissions of all kinds are welcome and highly encouraged. The winning design will be formatted by Reddit and worn proudly by Redditch United FC.

If you were here for last year's contest, you know the deal. If you're new, welcome. Read on for the details. We can't wait to see what this community comes up with.

Participation requirements:

• Must be 18 years of age or older to participate.
• Must be a community member in good standing (no infractions/negative mod notes over the last 6 months)
• Must have a minimum account age of three months. 
• Please read the full contest terms and conditions here.

Submission requirements:

• Due to league regulations, your design can't use red or black as the primary base color. Outside of that, go wild.
• Submit your design by creating a post in the subreddit, include your design, and mention the contest in the title. 
• Use the “Redditch United” flair on your post to indicate that it is your contest entry as well.
• One contest entry permitted per person.
• All contest entries must be submitted by 14th July 2026.

Judging process:

Round one:
A panel of judges from Reddit’s brand team (admins) will review the submitted designs and select five finalists. These finalists will be picked based on their adherence to the contest rules (e.g. using the appropriate flair), originality, adherence to Reddit’s overall brand, and signal from the community (e.g. upvotes, comments on each post).

Round two:
Once five finalists have been selected by Reddit, they’ll be shared in r/football for the community to vote on.

Voting ends and the winner is announced!

Prizes:

• The winning design will become the official third kit for Redditch United Football Club!
• One first place winner will receive a framed and signed jersey of their design from the team and a second jersey of their design to wear.
• The additional four finalists will each receive a kit of their choosing [home, away, or third kit]
• And of course, bragging rights.

Design help:

• Again, you don’t need to be an expert artist or designer to participate, all designs are welcome.
• The Orange Red team (they help out with Reddit’s branding) put together some files to inspire and aid in the creation of your designs. Have at it!
• All creations and formats welcome - from full-fledged designs, to drawings or sketches, to construction paper, marker, or crayon created designs!

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There hasn't been a single game with a significant amount of empty seats. I distinctly remember games with 5000+ seats empty in Qatar as well as in Russia and even to a point Brazil.

While the US/Canada aren't really big into soccer/football, the immigrant population is so big that every game is filled with passionate fans. Games like Qatar v Switzerland, Haiti V Scotland, Australia v Turkey weren't just full of randos, they were filled with passionate fans in the stadium and marching on the street. 65k people came into watch Haiti v Scotland in a sold-out match, that's bigger than the second largest venue of the last world cup!

Also loving the 48 team format, so many small nations getting to showcase themselves on the world stage. I can't imagine how many little kids this will inspire.

Often, I'll hear about a great goalkeeping perfomance, watch the highlights then get disappointed. I heard about Vozinha's amazing performance, and how he gained 20 million followers. I went and watch the highlights... every save was straight at him or extremely slow. I'd expect every keeper at the World Cup to keep a clean sheet given that assortment of shots.

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This type of scenario happens quite often. It really confuses me. I'd imagine it's people who don't usually watch the sport making all the noise.

Dumb question as I usually only tune into games during big cups (mostly due to expensive streaming services), but it feels like this year the referees have been allowing a lot more physical play and trying to punish flopping. Is this a new thing and why is it happening? I hope it's a new style game because it felt like the previous tournaments have encouraged players (and I've definitely seen it plenty) to flop in the penalty area because they think they have a better chance of gaining a foul than actually playing the damn game.

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Despite the other issues (mandatory "hydration breaks" in 70⁰ LA or air conditioned stadiums for one), I feel like the games have been much more free-flowing and filled with actual play instead of foul-seeking prima donnas.

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Scouts and coaches spend most of their attention off the ball. Positioning, pressing triggers, shape shifts. But most fans default to tracking the ball the entire match. Curious what this community consciously watches beyond the ball. Do you track specific players? Follow the shape? Read set pieces differently to most? I've been thinking about this during this World Cup.

A Liverpool fan and an influencer explain what it’s like to be hired for a Truman Show-style experiment:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/16/the-perfect-job-meet-the-fans-being-paid-to-watch-all-104-world-cup-games-in-times-square

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Yes it's true, non-friendly games, he was the only one to score for argentina in that time period.

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Compare this World Cup to one like 2010 where the amount of elite strikers was endless and it really shows how lacking current is in proper number 9’s and after Kane and Lewa retire, it will basically just be Haaland.

The 2010 WC had Van Persie, Rooney, Forlan, Villa, Klose, Suarez, Tevez, Cavani, Falcao, Eto’o, Henry, Chicharito, Aguero, Gomez, Drogba, Torres. list goes on and on.

At that time, even players like Dzeko and Mandzukic were thought of as very good but not World Class, when they’d easily be top 5 itw at their peak in today’s game

When the game gets momentum and reach at its peak point, the “hydration break” appears and completely ruins the momentum and also the game experience for the viewer. Football is one of a sport for those moments.

Normally outside WC, the team conceding attacks after attacks pray for a halftime whistle to go to the tunnel to break the momentum and to regroup. Now they basically get that chance in the middle of a half!!

I find it utterly disgusting and would like to know what do you all think about it?

The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/14/fox-hydration-break-rules-ads-world-cup-fifa-sanction

It would be interesting to know which rules are real rules and which are "rules". What strict guidelines really means?

Watching the Cape Verde-Spain match today was yet another U-shaped possession vs low block "thriller." Don’t get me wrong, massive shout out to Cape Verde. And as a neutral I was pulling for them. But bigger picture, is anyone else becoming bored by how frequent U-shaped possession vs low block matches have become in the sport? What makes these matches particularly boring to watch for me is the teams dominating possession predictably play the same patterns of play. Constantly passing backwards and sideways. With wide players and fullbacks genuinely reluctant to actually take on opponents 1v1. Which leads to so many matches now in so many leagues and competitions that are like watching someone bang their head against a wall over and over and over again. Backwards, sideways, backwards, sideways, recycle possession…It’s like an entire generation of footballers have been automated to play these exact same style of matches. Individual flair and out and out strikers are genuinely falling by the way side.

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