World Cup

[Squirrel]

Anyone?

[Mike Sixel]

I've been watching like crazy. It's been fun so far. 

[NYCTK]

Not a fan of the expanded format. But we're finally starting to get some drama. 

Tonight, I'm pulling for Iran to defeat Egypt by a greater margin than Belgium in their match against New Zealand to give us a potential USA-Iran matchup. 

[Squirrel]

So disappointed Erling didn’t play today! I get it, sort of, but that’s likely was supposed to be a really good match up … and the coach sits Erling 

[Mike Sixel]

Has England ever played this sport before? They look awful. 

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Has England ever played this sport before? 

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, ashbury said:

Did you watch the first half? But yes, they played slightly better in the 2n....

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Did you watch the first half? 

No.  I was just trying to be factual.

[Mike Sixel]

I despise penalties deciding matches. 

[The Great Hambino]

I thought the expansion to a 32-team knockout round would result in a bunch of boring squash matches

It's still early in the round, but I've been very wrong so far

[Squirrel]

On 6/29/2026 at 6:31 PM, Mike Sixel said:

I despise penalties deciding matches. 

That’s something that has been debated in the sport. What would you do instead? Just have a sudden death round? Let it go until someone scores, however long it takes?

[Squirrel]

Wow, this Croatia-Portugal game is incredible

[The Great Hambino]

On 7/1/2026 at 11:06 PM, Squirrel said:

That’s something that has been debated in the sport. What would you do instead? Just have a sudden death round? Let it go until someone scores, however long it takes?

There's the rub.  PKs are an entertaining but not terribly fair way to decide advancement, but there just isn't any better solution.  It's like choosing ADP for payroll services - they suck, but every other alternative sucks a little bit more (mini work-related rant on a holiday weekend I needed to get off my chest)

The most interesting alternative I've heard is the team that has the most corner kicks advances, since that's a pretty decent indicator of which team has been more aggressive and controlled the game more.  But I feel like if that were in place, it would create really weird play where teams are trying to create corners instead of scoring goals, so it might cause more problems than it solves

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, The Great Hambino said:

There's the rub.  PKs are an entertaining but not terribly fair way to decide advancement, but there just isn't any better solution.  It's like choosing ADP for payroll services - they suck, but every other alternative sucks a little bit more (mini work-related rant on a holiday weekend I needed to get off my chest)

The most interesting alternative I've heard is the team that has the most corner kicks advances, since that's a pretty decent indicator of which team has been more aggressive and controlled the game more.  But I feel like if that were in place, it would create really weird play where teams are trying to create corners instead of scoring goals, so it might cause more problems than it solves

No interest in the corner kick idea!

Keep playing until someone scores? Start taking a guy off on each side after the first 15 minutes to create space?

I don't know what a good answer is....

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

The most interesting alternative I've heard is the team that has the most corner kicks advances, since that's a pretty decent indicator of which team has been more aggressive and controlled the game more.  But I feel like if that were in place, it would create really weird play where teams are trying to create corners instead of scoring goals, so it might cause more problems than it solves

"Be careful what you measure, because after a while that is all you will get."  😁

[Squirrel]

Great win by Norway. Rooting for Mexico tonight but England has the better team

[Parfigliano]

I'm giving soccer a chance again watching MEX--ENG.  My understanding is these are two of the better teams.

[Squirrel]

11 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

I'm giving soccer a chance again watching MEX--ENG.  My understanding is these are two of the better teams.

England has a very good team, ranked 4th, the better team over Mexico, ranked 14. England was projected to win. But when you are down to 16 teams, yes, they are all good teams despite rankings, playing hard, was a good match.

Earlier, Norway (31) beat Brazil (6), which was considered an upset. Personally, I think Norway is way under-ranked given they have one of the best strikers in the game.

Argentina and Spain are the highest ranked, 1 and 2.

[NYCTK]

The blatant corruption of FIFA, reinstating Balogun at Trump's request, means I'll be backing Belgium. That **** cannot go unpunished. 

[Mike Sixel]

The whole thing has pretty much been ruined for me now that we are actively cheating. I'm very sad, as I was really enjoying this. 

[Squirrel]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

The whole thing has pretty much been ruined for me now that we are actively cheating. I'm very sad, as I was really enjoying this. 

I’m hoping that Belgium wins anyway. They are considered to be the better team. And I’m hoping the FIFA president is removed, as there is strong talk of that happening

[Vanimal46]

28 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I’m hoping that Belgium wins anyway

Not sure why but okay 

[Vanimal46]

7 hours ago, NYCTK said:

The blatant corruption of FIFA, reinstating Balogun at Trump's request, means I'll be backing Belgium. That **** cannot go unpunished. 

Go move to Belgium then. What did these US players personally do to deserve you rooting against them? 

[Squirrel]

3 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Go move to Belgium then. What did these US players personally do to deserve you rooting against them? 

They should uphold the red card then, despite Trump ruining it. It’s cheating and they shouldn’t go along with it. How about all the players on the other teams who haven’t been given an advantage? How is that fair to them? But I do feel bad they were put in this position because of the idiot. Belgium is the higher rated team and will probably win anyway. And I’ll root for who I want to root for. This faux patriotism to cheer on only American teams is not what it’s about. Just like the Olympics. I actually want Norway to win it all, but they are going to have a tough go against the Brits.

[Vanimal46]

17 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

This faux patriotism

It’s really sad you think that way. These players have nothing to do with politics. 

[Squirrel]

45 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

It’s really sad you think that way. These players have nothing to do with politics. 

What I meant by it was to just enjoy all the teams and the level of play. Why cheer for the U.S. team just because they are the U.S. team? That’s sad. And that’s faux patriotism. Just like the Olympics. It’s to put on display the best of the sport. It shouldn’t be a competition of countries. I’m sorry you don’t get that, but go ahead and wave whatever flag you want. 

[Mike Sixel]

That was an awful performance. Also, no one is required to root for any team....come on.

[Squirrel]

Yeah, not a great game, but they likely weren’t going to beat Belgium anyway.

[Parfigliano]

7 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

That was an awful performance. Also, no one is required to root for any team....come on.

True, but I am required to root against Green Bay.

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Go move to Belgium then. What did these US players personally do to deserve you rooting against them? 

I've actually lived in Belgium. Nice place. Loved my time there. 

Sports aren't this serious man. It's all for fun. It's OK if someone doesn't like the same team as you. And no one is under any obligation to support a team due to proximity or nationality.