Football (World Cup 26)

[kaosmark2]

I think the expected France v Germany before even getting to a QF stage is funny and a little crazy, I don't think Spain's route to the semis is that much harder than Argentina's though. I think Portugal, Croatia, Belgium are all teams in decline and look harder than they are. Columbia/Egypt probably not far off those European teams in Spain's quarter.

[steviewevie]

[steviewevie]

[steviewevie]

[steviewevie]

[steviewevie]

That f**king sucks.

[kaosmark2]

🤣🤣🤣

[charlierc]

Quite a day indeed. Japan was a shame but Brazil clearly found the secret sauce in the end. Morocco I did think had a chance of beating the Dutch, even if I didn't think it would be on pens. And Germany... Oof. Their player pool really isn't what it was. 

[balti-pie]

Germany have been weirdly uninspired the whole tournament - even in winning 7-1 and nicking another with a last min (undeserved) winner. There's just an indiscernible lack of unity there, as well as the lack of genuinely excellent footballers - they're between cycles, it happens sometimes - it just doesnt tend to happen to Germany for more than one tournament. They're spoilt by their previous brilliance! 

[lost]

On 28/06/2026 at 12:11, charlierc said:

I actually thought England could give Brazil a game as this is not a vintage Brazil squad who were pretty bad against Morocco and made their own baffling squad selections while currently also readjusting tactics after abandoning plans to go 4-2-4, but I'm really not convinced this is the most watertight defensive unit that England could've brought along.

 

The intriguing part is that Brazil v Argentina is currently a very possible semi-final. The final we could've had in 2014 had Brazil not totally f**ked it against Germany in the semis. Admittedly Brazil have a tougher path than Argentina imo so we'll wait and see if that comes about.

 

Yes I think England would definately give them a game, I'd just really prefer a proper right back against Vini if we get that far. You would think Trent gets to mark him in training sometimes so that decision is looking even worse now quansah is injured as well.

 

We could do with some luck before hand Equador beating Mexico would be welcome to remove home advantage and I think they are capable of it.

 

A semi vs Argentina then would be fantastic as we've never played against Messi despite him having over 200 caps.

Edited June 30 by lost

[charlierc]

5 hours ago, balti-pie said:

Germany have been weirdly uninspired the whole tournament - even in winning 7-1 and nicking another with a last min (undeserved) winner. There's just an indiscernible lack of unity there, as well as the lack of genuinely excellent footballers - they're between cycles, it happens sometimes - it just doesnt tend to happen to Germany for more than one tournament. They're spoilt by their previous brilliance! 

There's a sense that Germany went down a singular path courtesy of the strategy from their changes in the early 2000s that has lead to them to spend a long time developing technical attacking midfielders at the expense of everything else. So it feels like they have a lack of convincing full-backs and strikers in particular, as well as some of these more techy players like Wirtz being shoehorned out of position. It may be that this is a thing to fix at academy level first.

 

I'm also not sure if restoring Manuel Neuer was a good idea. Bloke's now 40 and just doesn't look as sharp as he did back in the day, and apparently it destabilised things as there was already a solid number one he displaced.

[charlierc]

5 hours ago, lost said:

 

Yes I think England would definately give them a game, I'd just really prefer a proper right back against Vini if we get that far. You would think Trent gets to mark him in training sometimes so that decision is looking even worse now quansah is injured as well.

 

We could do with some luck before hand Equador beating Mexico would be welcome to remove home advantage and I think they are capable of it.

 

A semi vs Argentina then would be fantastic as we've never played against Messi despite him having over 200 caps.

Tbf I didn't know Messi had never played against England. That's quite something to learn. But can he do it against Big Dan Burn on a Wednesday night in Atlanta?

 

... assuming England get that far. Congo and (most likely) Mexico will be big hurdles to overcome first.

[Ben7amin_]

Think we can beat Congo tonight -  But Mexico is going to be a hard fixture - certainly is a part of me that suspects that might be where Englands journey ends this time.  Hopefully im wrong.

 

We need to see some of the players - particularly the wide players go up another gear (or two) to progress much further. 

Edited July 1 by Ben7amin_

[balti-pie]

Yeah, Mexico at the Azteca is a really, really big ask. Atmosphere, altitude, heat, overall prevailing feeling of doom, its got narrow but just about deserved defeat written all over it for England for me. 

Which is bad, cos i think Brazil are absolutely there for the taking, if England do squeak it through then i think they'll definitely win the quarter final, even in Miami (which is a very brazilian city with a huge diaspora there) 

 

first though, Dr Congo tonight, and everyone getting out of their workplaces as soon as possible 😄 i finish at 4.30 and its a twenty minute walk home so i'm already sorted! Just wish my local chippie werent on their annual hols, cos pie chips and curry sauce would be magnificent with the match . . . harsh! 

Edited July 1 by balti-pie

[xxialac]

Always a big mistake as an England fan to assume we will win a game. The past tells us this, we have lost to some awful teams over the years and with a better team than this one.

 

We were pretty hopeless at the back against Panama and could easily concede a couple to Congo. And we didn't score for three consecutive halves of football in this tournament either.

 

 

[thetime]

4 minutes ago, xxialac said:

 And we didn't score for three consecutive halves of football in this tournament either.

 

 

 

Thats just looking for negatives, especially when  they scored 6 in the other 3. 

Edited July 1 by thetime

[xxialac]

9 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

Thats just looking for negatives, especially when  they scored 6 in the other 3. 

Nah, you know very well England's attack is not as good as it has been in the past.

Madueke started the first two games by way of example. He scored 3 goals in the Premier League last season.

[balti-pie]

Madueke isnt a footballer though - he's an AI bot programmed solely for flopping and winning free kicks 

[xxialac]

Course I hope we get through, it's just that this is far from a vintage team (as our results have shown) and Portugal couldn't beat Congo in the tournament...so be wary of acting like we're already in the next round.

[kaosmark2]

18 hours ago, charlierc said:

I'm also not sure if restoring Manuel Neuer was a good idea. Bloke's now 40 and just doesn't look as sharp as he did back in the day, and apparently it destabilised things as there was already a solid number one he displaced.

I think this was a big problem. Neuer was really quite bad in the 2 2023-2025 seasons. He's got better again this year but outside of actual desperation I don't think he should have been recalled, particularly as he can't do the charging out of the box sweeper-keeper thing he used to be renowned for effectively. He has learned that this year (which is part of why he's better than the previous 2 seasons), but I don't think he's been so good as to restore him.

[kaosmark2]

27 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Madueke isnt a footballer though - he's an AI bot programmed solely for flopping and winning free kicks 

I think Madueke was an interesting and acceptable choice as Saka's understudy. He's the most similar to Saka in profile (except he can't shoot) in terms of the rest of his play, his pace, the willingness to stay wide, etc. Bowen is clearly a better player than him but does distort the team strategy more.

[Skip997]

[kaosmark2]

Congo winning would be very very funny.

[thetime]

1 hour ago, xxialac said:

Nah, you know very well England's attack is not as good as it has been in the past.

 

Its not much different than 2 years ago. Foden has flattered to decieve in a England shirt, Cole Palmer should of gone but other than that. Even going back to 2022 the attackers were not what I would call top notch either.

 

[balti-pie]

24 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think Madueke was an interesting and acceptable choice as Saka's understudy. He's the most similar to Saka in profile (except he can't shoot) in terms of the rest of his play, his pace, the willingness to stay wide, etc. Bowen is clearly a better player than him but does distort the team strategy more.

At risk of sounding hopelessly biased - which i am, of course! - i just think he's dreadful. Forever disappearing into blind alleys, diving like a twat, little movement, he's a 14yr old kid's idea of what a wide forward should be doing. 

But its traditional for England to pick a crap Arsenal winger. Its also traditional for England to stink the tournament out with an unwatchable group game, and on both points i think we're already there!

 

Now for the underwhelming exit and tiresome overanalysis for 18 months 😄