The World Cup Thread

[Turkish]

Such is the interest in football in the USA on the day they were playing to qualify for the next round of the World Cup our USA team put on a hockey event watching some game over there with a load of customers 🙄

[East Kent Saint]

  On 29/11/2022 at 21:56, Turkish said:

Sounds like a farce, hardly the best teams from each continent which is what it should be. They’ll be a load of whipping boys who get thrashed. Plus it’ll be so spread out location wise there really isn’t any need to spread it out over three huge countries. 

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The group games will be over 3 countries with the KO stage all in the USA , the penalty shootout idea is because of the 3 team groups which could lead to match "fixing" in the final matches . We all remember (probably) the Germany Austria staged draw with no attempts to score !

The penalty shootout was put forward when the Soccer leagues were set up in USA as the Americans thought you always had to have a winner and a loser !!

[Sheaf Saint]

  On 29/11/2022 at 19:36, saintant said:

Rashford a waste of space.

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  On 29/11/2022 at 19:46, SNSUN said:

Sterling frustrates the shit out of me when he plays for England but at least he tries to make things happen. Rashford has been poor.

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  On 29/11/2022 at 19:46, saintant said:

Rashford is an apology for a footballer. Never looks 100% interested or committed.

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  On 29/11/2022 at 19:53, S-Clarke said:

Rashford has games like this where he doesn't look like a professional footballer, so he needs to be dumped for the 2nd half.

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These aged well! 🤣

[Turkish]

  On 30/11/2022 at 07:44, Sheaf Saint said:

These aged well! 🤣

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It's all very well to smugly post after the event but he was poor in the first half.  He improved second half as did the rest of them.

Edited 30 November, 2022 by Turkish

[whelk]

  On 30/11/2022 at 07:46, Turkish said:

It's all very well to smugly post after the event but he was poor in the first half.  He improved second half as did the rest of them.

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Exactly but we all have right to be fickle as fuck. I can change in 10 mins as to whether Southgate should be sacked or he is a genius. I have no reputation to protect - I often talk bollocks

[John B]

  On 29/11/2022 at 20:46, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Shows the massive gap in quality when the opposition has to bring on a P####yplayer for a sub!

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Does that mean that we have a massive  gap in quality [n our Goalkeeper who played 44 games for Pompey last season

[Miltonaggro]

  On 30/11/2022 at 08:16, John B said:

Does that mean that we have a massive  gap in quality [n our Goalkeeper who played 44 games for Pompey last season

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To be honest I was just relieved that Saints didn't have any current players in that Wales side, as there are a good few who seem 'Saintsy' - on this showing dodged high calibre bullets with past links to Ampadu, Allen, and Necro Williams.    

[Turkish]

  On 30/11/2022 at 08:58, Miltonaggro said:

To be honest I was just relieved that Saints didn't have any current players in that Wales side, as there are a good few who seem 'Saintsy' - on this showing dodged high calibre bullets with past links to Ampadu, Allen, and Necro Williams.    

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Brendan Johnson looks okay and been alright for Forest but aside from him they all looked very poor. 

[Wade Garrett]

  On 30/11/2022 at 07:35, Turkish said:

Such is the interest in football in the USA on the day they were playing to qualify for the next round of the World Cup our USA team put on a hockey event watching some game over there with a load of customers 🙄

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I’ve just come back from there.  They have zero interest in football.

Ridiculous that they are about to host their second World Cup when the home of football has only had it once.

[Lord Duckhunter]

  On 29/11/2022 at 22:45, Roo1976 said:

because its going to USA, they love a winner ............they still cant grasp a hard fought point  yet.................

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It’s nothing to do with The US and everything to do with FIFA trying to shoehorn more countries into the finals. 

  On 30/11/2022 at 09:45, Wade Garrett said:

I’ve just come back from there.  They have zero interest in football.

Ridiculous that they are about to host their second World Cup when the home of football has only had it once.

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Depends where you are. South Florida is football mad, Hispanics & Haitians loving the game. I’d imagine other areas with high immigrant areas will be as well.
 

Mexico are having it for a third time which is just as bad. The ridiculous thing is sharing it out between 3 countries imo. 

[trousers]

  On 30/11/2022 at 07:46, Turkish said:

It's all very well to smugly post after the event but he was poor in the first half.  He improved second half as did the rest of them.

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I think the point being highlighted by Sheaf is that the people being quoted were writing Rashford off and were pretty much categorically stating that there was no chance he would/could improve in the second half or indeed in any game ever...

[East Kent Saint]

Southgate is said to be England’s most successful manager ever based on most wins in tournaments apparently !!!

[Lord Duckhunter]

  On 30/11/2022 at 10:32, East Kent Saint said:

Southgate is said to be England’s most successful manager ever based on most wins in tournaments apparently !!!

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Apart from Sir Alf nobody comes near his record. 
 

Sven - 3 quarter finals.

Robson -  didn’t qualify, quarter final, didn’t get out of group, semi final.

 

 

[Window Cleaner]

  On 30/11/2022 at 09:59, Lord Duckhunter said:

It’s nothing to do with The US and everything to do with FIFA trying to shoehorn more countries into the finals. 

Depends where you are. South Florida is football mad, Hispanics & Haitians loving the game. I’d imagine other areas with high immigrant areas will be as well.
 

Mexico are having it for a third time which is just as bad. The ridiculous thing is sharing it out between 3 countries imo. 

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But Mexico only got it the second time because Columbia couldn't organise the tournament that they'd been awarded. Can't remember why exactly, some sort of crisis no doubt.

Edited 30 November, 2022 by Window Cleaner

[Window Cleaner]

England got the job done and that's all that counts in these 4 week tournaments. The Germans were awful against Japan and looked wobbly against the Spanish. They'll still probably  qualify though and that's all that counts.

[Lord Duckhunter]

  On 30/11/2022 at 10:48, Window Cleaner said:

But Mexico only got it the second time because Columbia couldn't organise the tournament that they'd been awarded. Can't remember why exactly, some sort of crisis no doubt.

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I don’t think it should be in 3 countries, especially when 2 of them have held it 3 times  between them before (for whatever reason). One thing Blatter did that was good was taking it to Africa, Far East, Eastern Europe & The Arab world (not saying the countries were right or the reason, but the principle) , . A world game needs to go to Australia, India (if they’re capable) & the elephant in the room China. They need to decide whether they give it to the best host country regardless of whether they’ve had it before, or spread it round the globe. Personally, I’m in favour of the latter. 

[Turkish]

  On 30/11/2022 at 10:32, East Kent Saint said:

Southgate is said to be England’s most successful manager ever based on most wins in tournaments apparently !!!

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He probably is. Never lost a game in 90 minutes as well i believe. 

People might not like Southgate or his style but you cant really fault his record in tournaments. Only second manager to reach a final and only second manager to reach a semi final outside of England. You could argue that neing negative cost us the games against Croatia and Italy but you could equally argue Kane missed a very good chance to put us 2-0 up against Croatia and Italy could have gone either way.

[cloggy saint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 10:48, Window Cleaner said:

But Mexico only got it the second time because Columbia couldn't organise the tournament that they'd been awarded. Can't remember why exactly, some sort of crisis no doubt.

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It was an earthquake wasn't it?

 

[whelk]

2030 can’t be Asia. We are bidding although Wembley farce at Euros won’t help. Wouldn’t mind Argentina though as true football obsessed nation. Joint bids all the rage

 

 

Edited 30 November, 2022 by whelk

[Turkish]

  On 30/11/2022 at 11:45, whelk said:

2030 can’t be Asia. We are bidding although Wembley farce at Euros won’t help. Wouldn’t mind Argentina though as true football obsessed nation. Joint bids all the rage

 

 

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We pulled out 

World Cup 2030: UK & Republic of Ireland FAs abandon 2030 bid to focus on Euro 2028 - BBC Sport

an expensive vanity project was how it was described by the Tory MP 

 

[Window Cleaner]

With 48 teams from 2026 onwards that's a big,big organisation. So countries group together to spread the load involved.

As far as Australia is concerned, do they ever bid for the WC football tournament?  I mean they probably have at some stage in the past but for 2026 there weren't many bids if I recall correctly. Just the triumvarate who got the nod and a late bid from Morocco, who are bidding again for 2030. Other than them the 2030 candidates seem to be mostly groups of 3.

[saintant]

  On 30/11/2022 at 07:44, Sheaf Saint said:

These aged well! 🤣

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Well, I'm still to be convinced by Rashford so let's see how he does against better quality opponents. A decent enough free kick although maybe keeper should have done better and he certainly should have stopped Rashford's second goal. I'd just like to see Rashford a little more fired up to show that he actually cares - he seems to go through matches in a very passive manner but I guess he won't change now.

[skintsaint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 11:59, Window Cleaner said:

As far as Australia is concerned, do they ever bid for the WC football tournament?

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Yip but lost out to Qatar.....not enough $$$ thrown at FIFA.

[John B]

  On 30/11/2022 at 09:59, Lord Duckhunter said:

It’s nothing to do with The US and everything to do with FIFA trying to shoehorn more countries into the finals. 

Depends where you are. South Florida is football mad, Hispanics & Haitians loving the game. I’d imagine other areas with high immigrant areas will be as well.
 

Mexico are having it for a third time which is just as bad. The ridiculous thing is sharing it out between 3 countries imo. 

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Why is it ridiculous for people in Canada Mexico and the USA to watch World Cup matches ?

[John B]

  On 30/11/2022 at 12:10, saintant said:

Well, I'm still to be convinced by Rashford so let's see how he does against better quality opponents. A decent enough free kick although maybe keeper should have done better and he certainly should have stopped Rashford's second goal. I'd just like to see Rashford a little more fired up to show that he actually cares - he seems to go through matches in a very passive manner but I guess he won't change now.

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I think most football fans think Marcus Rashford played really well last night along with Stones Bellingham and Foden

 

Certainly the three blokes doing my roof did

[saintant]

  On 30/11/2022 at 12:32, John B said:

I think most football fans think Marcus Rashford played really well last night along with Stones Bellingham and Foden

 

Certainly the three blokes doing my roof did

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Rashford was poor in the first half against very poor opposition. He had a good spell in the second half until he was taken off.  I still want to see him play well against better opponents and will be delighted if he does. My gut tells me it won't happen.

[Lord Duckhunter]

  On 30/11/2022 at 12:29, John B said:

Why is it ridiculous for people in Canada Mexico and the USA to watch World Cup matches ?

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Because it should be in one country imo. 

[nta786]

  On 30/11/2022 at 12:29, John B said:

Why is it ridiculous for people in Canada Mexico and the USA to watch World Cup matches ?

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Could you imagine the expenses for nations following their country if they were forced to travel from Mexico to Canada or across the whole US state dependent on their progress? FIFA will need to ensure this is well thought out. 

I can understand somewhat justify 2 countries hosting like Japan/South Korea, or Poland/Ukraine as previously, but 3 seems overkill.

Many people who are in Qatar have said for all the outside noise, they've really enjoyed it being in one city and being able to attend multiple games across the week, and have also said that of the Irish bars open they are filled with fans from various countries rather than all spread out.

[The Left Back]

  On 29/11/2022 at 22:01, sadoldgit said:

We look so much better when we play on the front foot and let teams worry about us. I worry that now that we are in the knockout stage that Southgate will revert to type and be more cautious when it is clear we have enough firepower to scare anyone in this competition. We also look far less potent when we sit back more. There is no stand out team so far. Several look good going forward but also look to be vulnerable at the back. I didn’t fancy our chances at the start but now think that it quite an open competition and we are in with a decent shout depending on how Southgate approaches the knock out rounds. 

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That would be my worry too.  We look much better playing higher risk football than trying to grind out results (and of course it's much more fun to watch).  It's hard to knock Southgate's record in tournaments but I'm really hoping he doesn't revert to type.  If we beat Senegal the big one is probably 1/4s and France or Argentina (probably).  After that the potential semi opponents should hold no fears.

The thing I like is we have so many attacking options, and no-one looks knackered as is often the case in summer tournaments.  We haven't been tested defensively yet, so that's still a worry, but a philosophy of "we'll score more than you" would help mitigate that. Chris Nicholl at Saints was forced to go down this right, despite all his instincts, because the best players were attacking ones.  That's the case now too, let's see...

[hans gruber]

  On 30/11/2022 at 11:59, Window Cleaner said:

With 48 teams from 2026 onwards that's a big,big organisation. So countries group together to spread the load involved.

As far as Australia is concerned, do they ever bid for the WC football tournament?  I mean they probably have at some stage in the past but for 2026 there weren't many bids if I recall correctly. Just the triumvarate who got the nod and a late bid from Morocco, who are bidding again for 2030. Other than them the 2030 candidates seem to be mostly groups of 3.

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We bid for this World Cup but our brown paper bag wasn’t as big as Qatars 😢

[Guest]

  On 30/11/2022 at 09:45, Wade Garrett said:

I’ve just come back from there.  They have zero interest in football.

Ridiculous that they are about to host their second World Cup when the home of football has only had it once.

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Couldn’t disagree more. Yes it’s not the number one sport over here by any means. But the games I have seen in a number of bars have had a fair fee USA fans dominating them.

It actually makes a change to see. They’ve gone heavy on advertising for the tournament and a number of fans have bought into it clearly.

[John Boy Saint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 14:06, FarehamSaintJames said:

Couldn’t disagree more. Yes it’s not the number one sport over here by any means. But the games I have seen in a number of bars have had a fair fee USA fans dominating them.

It actually makes a change to see. They’ve gone heavy on advertising for the tournament and a number of fans have bought into it clearly.

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Something I vaguely recall on the radio from 1994 was most American housewives interviewed liked the World Cup there, because unlike American Football when the husband said they were going to watch the evening game after work with the boys from work at the bar and be home for dinner, they pretty much knew when they would be home - 2 hours the game is done as opposed to 4+hours. 

[whelk]

Any stat nut can say how many HT nil nils there have been? Billions

[badgerx16]

The greatest distance between venues would be like co-hosting in Oslo and Baghdad.

Edited 30 November, 2022 by badgerx16

[alehouseboys]

  On 30/11/2022 at 16:02, badgerx16 said:

The greatest distance between venues would be like co-hosting in Oslo and Baghdad.

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So much for saving the planet…..

[AlexLaw76]

The Nextflix FIFA documentary...it was obvious the USA would win the next world cup, and the legal action taken by the FBI was seemingly driven by the USA losing the bid for this current World Cup, as opposed to doing the right thing

[Weston Super Saint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 16:06, alehouseboys said:

So much for saving the planet…..

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Don't worry, FIFA will claim it's carbon neutral, just like this one is.

[Turkish]

fucking French

[rooney]

  On 30/11/2022 at 10:32, East Kent Saint said:

Southgate is said to be England’s most successful manager ever based on most wins in tournaments apparently !!!

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But he will not win the World Cup as Sir Alf did and until then, he will not be the most successful manager for me. 

[Turkish]

always liked VAR

[Lord Duckhunter]

Australia ranked 38th in the world come out a group contains France & Denmark. Contrast with Wales ranked 19th, that’s how you attack the WC, not mince about “proud” to be there. 

[badgerx16]

  On 30/11/2022 at 16:02, badgerx16 said:

The greatest distance between venues would be like co-hosting in Oslo and Baghdad.

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Actually, given that Vancouver, Boston, and Mexico City are hosting games, it is like Oslo, Baghdad, and Tenerife.

[hans gruber]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
 

get in ! 
 

don’t give a shit that we will get Argentina most likely and go out but most Aussies gave this team no chance , so I’m going to work in the morning half cut and the young lad gets to have a sickie…….   Love it

[hans gruber]

Mooy > hojbjerg

 

workrate beats bullshit sideways passing………

 

 

[sydney_saint]

Unbelievable! Some have argued that this was the weakest squad on paper we have ever sent to a World Cup, yet sheer guts and determination got us over the line. Not to say the Tunisians didn't either, got to feel for them a little bit, they gave everything in every game. We just had that little bit more luck. 2 wins from 3, and even though we were eventually well beaten, we did lead france as well. I reckon we can push Argentina if that's who we play. Their quality will probably get them there, but I reckon we can take the game pretty deep and give them some worries. 

[Weston Super Saint]

Imagine if you also had a song that highlighted how proud you were to be there.  The world really would be your lobster.

[East Kent Saint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 16:59, Turkish said:

always liked VAR

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Perhaps it’s time to include goals ruled out by VAR in the results along with red and yellow cards etc 😄

[East Kent Saint]

  On 30/11/2022 at 17:01, Lord Duckhunter said:

Australia ranked 38th in the world come out a group contains France & Denmark. Contrast with Wales ranked 19th, that’s how you attack the WC, not mince about “proud” to be there. 

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I was overjoyed England stuffed Wales , time Bale retired and time the media toned down their over blown plucky Wales coverage . Also  remember the video on Not the nine o clock news “failed in Wales”  😁

[Crab Lungs]

Ben White going home. I could hazard a guess why, but I could be wildly off the mark.

only thing I can be sure of is that if it is what I think it is, I bet it’s the British press’ who is at fault.

[Turkish]

  On 30/11/2022 at 18:13, Weston Super Saint said:

Imagine if you also had a song that highlighted how proud you were to be there.  The world really would be your lobster.

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Maybe we should have one about how proud we are to be in the premier league