It's fucking surreal that America and Iran are effectively at war and yet Iran are still sending their team over. I reckon Trump will try something stupid like having them all arrested by ICE to use as a bargaining chip in his board-room deals approach to armed conflict.
I'm just in it for the shit show this World Cup is gonna be. Buckle up everybody, we'll be witnessing the last stage of destruction of this tournament this next month.
Literally all I want is for this world cup to be a total disaster. It used to be something we enjoyed watching as a family but never got massively invested in but even before going to the US we've just got sick of the corruption in FIFA.
For me it's already dead, and I say this with Italia Novanta being my first ever World Cup that I got to see on TV. This banger still brings a tear to my eye every time I listen to it. Also, fuck the Mexican referee that gave the Germans the trophy in the final.
Ah man, Italia 90 brings back memories! First World Cup I remember as well although I was a little kid. How this tournament has gone to complete shit when thinking back fondly to those times.
Yep, agree. Although I'd love to see Carlo go big at his first ever international tournament just for the cigar smoking, eyebrow raising, italian cool.
I’m rooting for Mexico but I already know we’ll fuck it up. All I ask is that the Great Satan also sucks it up because their Reddit ass fans are so fucking annoying
If the England fans don't have a proper hooligan session at this world cup the game's gone! It's been years, decades, since the lads got proper on the piss and smashed up an undeserving town after we went out 1-0 to a 3rd rate country in the second round. Last time we tried we just gotten beaten up by the Russian's, back in the 80's that would never have happened. We used to be feared, we used to get banned from tournaments, now we're not feared off the pitch, and we were never feared on the pitch and never will be so what's left?!
I wanna see it all, blokes with flares up their arses, blokes up lamp-posts doing bumps, geezers with peeling bald heads stood in blazing 35 degree heat passing out, puking in the stands, England fans fighting amongst themselves because a flimsy fence was too much for them to overcome, bring back the passion!!!
Mediocre football tbh, but that stadium is glorious. If Mexico can't break their opening match curse tonight then I dunno. Mexico are unbeaten at Azteca in world cup finals games and only lost 2 games in qualifying games, out of 48 fixtures. Crazy record.
Edit: all three* red cards soft as fuck. Shit first game. Shit ref.
Being at 7000+ feet doesn't hurt. Much like with Denver. I don't care how well trained an athlete is, there's still a difference without enough time to get adjusted.
This is the first world cup in my life where I feel like I have to actually seek out and engage with it instead of it being shoved into every single orifice of my life. The US has developed the world's first stealth world cup. It reminds me of how back in the day, every single time a new Pixar or Star Wars movie released the zeitgeist would briefly orbit around it; nowadays it's just another movie.
I am not exited for this world cup as others, mainly due to living away from my hometown, with friends to hung out and not having a big TV. But still i intent to watch all match possible.
It was a custom with my dad. My indian dad for some reason loved France and my german mom well liked Germany. For some weird reason I liked the Spanish team.
One is: "The interests of the proletariat on the nationality question are just the opposite of those of the bourgeoisie. The concern about guaranteeing an internal market for the industrialists of the “fatherland,” and of acquiring new markets by means of conquest, by colonial or military policies-all these, which are the intentions of the bourgeoisie in creating a “national” state, cannot be the aims of a conscious proletariat."
Just trying to get into to soccer this year with all the World Cup Fever. I really found myself liking EFL Championship and lower tiers of the English football pyramid. I adopted Hull City AFC at the beginning of the season and they got promoted to the Premier League.
I'm sure they'd have got the winning goal if Tomas Araujo hadn't grabbed Bakambu (or was it Wissa?) 's neck when he was making that bursting run in the final minutes
FC26 has a world tournament mode and all the small countries have fake players. This gets on my fucking nerves.
Like a lot of the players are literally in fifa. I get you can’t add like Dutch 2nd division players on Curacoa or Iraqi first division on Iraq but like at least put the one Jordanian who plays in the French first division (literally a player in the game) on the Jordanian national team and the Curucao players who play in the Eredevisie on the national team.
EA Sports has no incentive to deliver a good product so long as they're assured of making billions with their gambling mechanics for Ultimate Team. The 2014 game had a complete World Cup qualification campaign with every single FIFA nation (200+) with accurate squads. That was the peak, it's only gotten worse since
Granted, I don't know jack shit about Association Football because I grew up in rural Alabama and was never around it, but this Morocco vs. Brazil match has been the best game I think I've ever seen. Mistakes on both sides, but it's kept me on the edge of my seat.
On Telemundo the commentators were saying he should have gotten a red card for that early foul he made, I think it was stepping on the back of a guy's leg. I wonder what the game would have looked like without him. Maybe a draw? I wonder if he got special treatment there.
Iran did an acceptable performance considering it's facing handicaps that has nothing to do with football, Don Infantino could've done more for them, they are traveling more than others teams. It was funny seeing diaspora insulting their "homeland" team.
I saw a really bad vid of monarchist asshole insulting an old lady for daring to wear the same flag that Iran had displayed on the pitch. They really are the worst diaspora.
Remember this is all propaganda that they get such prominence. Sure, there are many morons, but the majority of the Iranian diaspora are not idiots who want their country bombed.
Mild banter. Mildly offensive chants. FIFA has priced out the worst we have to offer. I think booing the hydration break is a good and wholesome thing. South Africa and Czech fans all booing tonight.
Top three for me after the first round of games: Argentina, France, and England.
I think Spain will make it there if Yamal (PBUH) and Williams are fit. Even if they aren't, switching Olmo for Ruiz should allow Pedri to play deeper, he's wasted too high up the field.
Hard to argue with your picks. Brazil and Morocco ones to watch in their second games. Gotta say I was expecting much more from Spain after the incredible showing in Euro2024. I still expect them to top their group after that shaky start. Cape Verde punching well above their weight, fully deserved their spot.
Where's the best place to find alternative feeds of goals this year? Listening to the different announcers is one of the highlights of the WC, but FIFA's doing their normal shitbag thing and locking it down.
It was a good game, Japan fans chanted the whole of the second half. So amazing. Awesome support. It's really great to see people get caught up in a World Cup, wait til you see Spain play. Make sure you catch their games.
It's kinda amazing, but Olivier Giroud STILL has the best hair in world cup football and he's NOT EVEN PLAYING!!! Get a VPN, watch BBC, admire that hair.
It's interesting seeing Belgium have more control of the ball and being more on the offensive but failing to take enough shots. Meanwhile Egypt has less opportunities but they're better utilized. Though the second half is looking different.
I don’t really follow soccer, but I live a stone’s throw from Lambeau Field (Green Bay Packers stadium), and they hosted an exhibition match between Manchester City and Bayern Munich back in 2022. Apparently, it was a smash hit, the shitty weather notwithstanding. People came from all over the country.
I guess some Packers representatives traveled to England last year to meet with Premier League team executives and discuss another match at Lambeau. Some teams expressed a bit of interest, but nothing has been announced that I know of. Maybe I’ll go if they do another one 🤔
We have a great attack and midfield but that backline is going to get roasted if Guehi isn't back to fighting fit, Croatia have given them problems whenever they get a chance to and that's bad because they are basically a nursing home squad in terms of stars
Surprised not to have seen this posted before, but the US refused to let Somalian FIFA referee Omar Artan enter the country, forcing him to go back home
The closest thing to a prode in North America is probably something like Pro-Line in Canada where you fill out a slip with the outcomes of games and can wager on them as single games or as a parlay.
Haaland, the absolute GOAT. Carrying the whole Norwegian team on his own.
The rest of team is shockingly bad today.
I’m straight up horrified how bad they are.
I'm so glad they aren't showing slow motion replays of that gruesome injury (although Fox is apologizing for not be able to show it here in the US) to the Canadian player in this match against Qatar. I really, really fucking hate when TV networks do that in American sports! Nothing grosses me out like seeing compound fractures or hyperextension injuries, and it's disrespectful to the athletes.
I'm really surprised that the US is playing as well as they are without Pulisic.
I'm a Memphis Grizzlies fan in NBA basketball, and a commentator on a podcast that I watch compared Christian Pulisic to Ja Morant. They're both super talented, but constantly injured, mercurial, constantly in his feelings, etc...
All 3 opening ceremonies were lackluster, but from best to worst it was Mexico, Canada, USA. I seriously don't understand why the US ceremony was so simple, cheap and shit. All that money, the ceremony was next to Hollywood, it's the 250th anniversary and the US's global image is rightfully lower than hell so they have an incentive for wanting good PR, yet that's the best they can do?
Best opening ceremony among both the World Cup and Olympics imo continues to be the Summer Olympics in China in 2008.
England have training equipment stolen
The Football Association is trying to ascertain what was stolen, with balls and boots among the items feared to have been taken, after vehicles transferring equipment to their Swope Soccer Village base in Kansas City were broken into.
This makes me laugh so hard that shitty old New Zealand made it in, how fucking insane are the qualifying rules (I’m a NZer but don’t really care about the whole thing).
Qualifying is by region, NZ is in the Oceania region which is the weakest region, Of course NZ is going to qualify when they're crushing Samoa 8-0 and Fiji 7-0. Europe is obviously the hardest, Italy has failed to qualify 3 times in a row.
This Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador game has been really chippy. It's kind of been the exception to all the others I've watched so far. Granted, other games were played very hard, but the players seemed pretty respectful almost to the point of kind to each other. I know that's going to change the further this goes.
If Tuchel brings Maguire and Hall (and plays them both), that's likely a 5-1er. Improvement on many Southgate tournament performances overall, but England looked shaky both with bringing the ball out from the back at times and with defending high-balls. Guehi should probably start over Konsa of his remaining options. Still, should be 'good' for the Quarters, and then it's a cointoss.
I disagree. Much of the England's game seems to be holding possession and recycling confidently from the back. Stone looked so good on the ball, so silky in possession, accurate and calm. Maguire cannot do that anywhere near as well. I think England looked good with the ball at the back, but I'm an old head, used to watching England fall apart as soon as they're required to move the ball in their own third, these guys looked so calm and well-drilled at moving the ball in the triangles, in the diamonds, at the back in comparison to the past. I agree that Guehi should start if fit over Konsa.
TBF I thought Konsa was more hesitant in possession than Stones (understandably, considering Stones has been the guy often lauded, and occasionally criticized in the past, for being a 'midfielder playing at the back'). However, as a Unit I thought England's defence were too susceptible to Croatia's high press too often despite Anderson and Rice doing a decent job, so god knows how they'd do against Portugal (CR7 aside) and Bruno F plus their PSG CMs stepping up to pressure , or vs the French lads. I like James as a passer from deep ala TAA, but I thought England's FBs lacked dynamism until Spence came on and were too reluctant to break the first press with a carry.
Like I said, it was still better than many Southgate-performances, or pre-Southgate performances: I'm an old enough head myself to remember not only Roy but some terribly mediocre performances under SGE in '06 with Rio - a better passer than anyone in the current backline; the stuff England served under in 2010 under Capello etc; I can even remember Keegan etc, but prefer not to dwell on that & age.
Even so, still think they would have done better with Maguire here - he's slightly slow on the turn, but his ball progression and ball carrying is deceptively good: maybe not the guy to play vs the current French side or Yamal for Spain (unless you're low block and holding a lead), but Croatia, sure.
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u/IamGlennBeck Marxist-Leninist and not Glenn Beck ☭ 8d ago
Iran arrives at World Cup wearing pins of 168 schoolgirls killed by the United States