2026 FIFA World Cup

[lordstanley]

Not crazy about the song choice, but a decent montage.

 

 

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

messi sullied himself by trying to get cuccarella sent off for covering hia mouth.  same ol **** argentina have been doing for a long time.

there have been 6 red cards in world cup finals, 3 of them to argentina.

its not just them.  lots of teams get frustrated by spain.  not every team acts like little babies like argentina did.  all they did this tournament was be bad losers and bad winners.  

1) we'll see if messi actually retires.  he has "retired" from international duty multiple times before.

2) if he does, it may not be that bad.  argentina has a lot of talented players, and if they dont revolve the entire team around an old man who no longer runs (albeit, a very talented man who no longer runs), they may actually be better off.  they destroyed brazil 4-1 in qualifying without messi in a game that could have easily been 7 or 8 to 1.

if they ever get over the national chip on their shoulder and actually play football, they can be really good.

I know they have a ton of young talent waiting in the wings.  They will hit the next World Cup with the same high expectations and huge pressure even though they are new blood.  It’s likely they struggle in their first time and hopefully that shatters confidence as their fans roast them and call for their heads.  

The Messi/Cuccarella thing was embarrassingly bad.  Such a colossal Richard move but very much in line with who they are.  Makes sense that their leader acts that way too.    

[Hongbit]

The next World Cup has a single game that’s played in Argentina for the 100th anniversary. I can see FIFA coming up with some roster expectation so that 43 year old Messi can be on the team and play in that one game.    

[romad1]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

 

 

This is a pretty incredible article from a UK outlet understandably annoyed as hell at the Falklands banner already.

Gangs of New Jersey: how the World Cup final descended into ugly scenes between Argentina and Spain | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian

[DTroppens]

I'm missing the World Cup. Even though I didn't participate in anything that happened in the US during the WC but watching the games on TV, it was extra-special having it in the US.

 

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, DTroppens said:

I'm missing the World Cup. Even though I didn't participate in anything that happened in the US during the WC but watching the games on TV, it was extra-special having it in the US.

 

Even for people in non-host cities, a great thing about Canada-U.S.-Mexico hosting was the afternoon and evening games. In most World Cups, the final game of the day would be played at noon PT, with other games during breakfast or earlier.

The World Cup in Vancouver turned out to be great. Hosted 7 matches, none of them marquee, although we did get two Canada home games plus a Colombia round of 16 game, so lots of excitement there. Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt, and Australia all had contingents of vocal dedicated fans but I would have liked more South Americans and Africans.

The streets of Vancouver haven't been this alive since hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. I'd estimate 75% of the people in the streets were local, but wearing jerseys of their ethnic background. Better weather in June-July than February though and this lasted a month, compared to 2 1/2 weeks for the Winter Olympics. I didn't attend any of the games in the stadium but did watch games from various vantage points like FIFA fan zones, pubs, and movie theatres. I think Vancouver's World Cup peaked the round of 16 weekend when Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Colombia and Brazil all played and lost. The Saturday with two quarterfinals - an England-Norway and Argentina-Switzerland doubleheader - was also huge. Noticeable drop in crowds by the semis and 3rd place game, busy again for the final of course. 

Canada performed to expectations. Tied a team they could have won or lost against (Bosnia), thumped a team that needed to beat (Qatar), lost to a team better than them (Switzerland) and won a knockout game against a team they should be expected to beat (South Africa). They won't get seeding like this again, so they won't finish 14th in the standings again. While Canada should expect to qualify for 48-team World Cups consistently going forward, they'll be the 3rd or 4th best team in their group and likely capped at squeaking into the round of 32 as one of the best 3rd place teams and then being heavy underdogs to their round of 32 opponent. 

Edited July 21 by lordstanley

[DTroppens]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

Even for people in non-host cities, a great thing about Canada-U.S.-Mexico hosting was the afternoon and evening games. In most World Cups, the final game of the day would be played at noon PT, with other games during breakfast or earlier.

The World Cup in Vancouver turned out to be great. Hosted 7 matches, none of them marquee, although we did get two Canada home games plus a Colombia round of 16 game, so lots of excitement there. Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt, and Australia all had contingents of vocal dedicated fans but I would have liked more South Americans and Africans.

The streets of Vancouver haven't been this alive since hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. I'd estimate 75% of the people in the streets were local, but wearing jerseys of their ethnic background. Better weather in June-July than February though and this lasted a month, compared to 2 1/2 weeks for the Winter Olympics. I didn't attend any of the games in the stadium but did watch games from various vantage points like FIFA fan zones, pubs, and movie theatres. I think Vancouver's World Cup peaked the round of 16 weekend when Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Colombia and Brazil all played and lost. The Saturday with two quarterfinals - an England-Norway and Argentina-Switzerland doubleheader - was also huge. Noticeable drop in crowds by the semis and 3rd place game, busy again for the final of course. 

Canada performed to expectations. Tied a team they could have won or lost against (Bosnia), thumped a team that needed to beat (Qatar), lost to a team better than them (Switzerland) and won a knockout game against a team they should be expected to beat (South Africa). They won't get seeding like this again, so they won't finish 14th in the standings again. While Canada should expect to qualify for 48-team World Cups consistently going forward, they'll be the 3rd or 4th best team in their group and likely capped at squeaking into the round of 32 as one of the best 3rd place teams and then being heavy underdogs to their round of 32 opponent. 

The time of the games were great, but to be honest, it's amazing how many of the games I just ignored when they were played and watched them later at night. So my job frequently made it tough for me to watch games as they were played. The nice thing was FS1 or 2 usually replayed them later, and did so without putting the stupid score ticker thing under the game telling us the score of games from the World Cup. They just eliminated it entirely for WC replays.

I remember the first US World Cup pretty well. We had games at the Silverdome and during one night I went to a bar (I never go to bars) and either Switzerland's or Sweden's team was there. This was no special bar. It was the only time I ever was there in my life. I don't even know why I was there. But there they were at the bar. We didn't bother them. But there they were. That was pretty cool and it was a sense of something special.

 This is the tournament that really got me into the USMNT and just soccer in general.