2026 FIFA World Cup Thread

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#101      
the juiceman cometh
jamarvelous31 said:
8 fewer games and only 2 less goals is impressive
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Yeah it's pretty crazy. Breaking it down into games/goals really makes it clear.

Messi - 27 games, 16 goals - 0.59 goals per match

Mbappe - 15 games, 14 goals - 0.93 goals per match

Christiano Ronaldo - 23 games, 8 goals - 0.35 goals per match

I will say, Messi is much more of a facilitator than Mbappe, so this is not to slight Messi at all. Still the GOAT and if I'm building a team, I take prime Messi over prime Mbappe any day (particularly when you consider their contributions on the club level). But yeah, Mbappe is very likely going to end his career as the most prolific World Cup scorer of all-time, since he easily has at least 2 more left in him after this one, and a third one does not seem ridiculous.
 
#102      
wpr
the juiceman cometh said:
Yeah it's pretty crazy. Breaking it down into games/goals really makes it clear.

Messi - 27 games, 16 goals - 0.59 goals per match

Mbappe - 15 games, 14 goals - 0.93 goals per match

Christiano Ronaldo - 23 games, 8 goals - 0.35 goals per match

I will say, Messi is much more of a facilitator than Mbappe, so this is not to slight Messi at all. Still the GOAT and if I'm building a team, I take prime Messi over prime Mbappe any day (particularly when you consider their contributions on the club level). But yeah, Mbappe is very likely going to end his career as the most prolific World Cup scorer of all-time, since he easily has at least 2 more left in him after this one, and a third one does not seem ridiculous.
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I don't know much about soccer/football. After Messi's hattrick I saw the google thingy of a player doing a bicycle kick. It reminded me of Pelé. He's the first player I saw do it. For years he was said to be the greatest.
It got me to wonder how he stacks up against today's players. I would think that someone as talented as he was would be able to adapt the the modern game. Both would have to contend with Ronaldo. Where would Maradona fit on the list?
 
#103      
the juiceman cometh
wpr said:
I don't know much about soccer/football. After Messi's hattrick I saw the google thingy of a player doing a bicycle kick. It reminded me of Pelé. He's the first player I saw do it. For years he was said to be the greatest.
It got me to wonder how he stacks up against today's players. I would think that someone as talented as he was would be able to adapt the the modern game. Both would have to contend with Ronaldo. Where would Maradona fit on the list?
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I think direct comparisons across eras is a really difficult thing to do. In soccer this is compounded by the fact that players of the past did not move as freely, so a guy like Pele for example never played in Europe. Most of his career, and the best part of his career, was in Brazil. I do tend to think that a player who was among the best of his era would translate, if he had access to the same modern coaching and nutrition current players do.

But would he score as many goals? Hard to say, but I tend to think not. Tactics have changed over the years, and goalkeeping/defending as improved. You look at these early World Cup games, and there were a lot of high scoring games and huge blowouts. Far fewer goals per match in the modern game:

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#105      
Ander1345
Me: Wait why is Qatar down to 9?

Qatar: We weren't done with the humam rights violations.
 
#106      
IlliniHardwood
OrangeBlue98 said:
New VAR protocol change. Have to admit it’s pretty creative to be able to do that.
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I enjoy watching high level soccer, especially the World Cup, despite the faking the occurs a large percentage of trips up and down the pitch. Maybe FIFA doesn't care (but they should) about USA viewership, but the overturned yellow card by VAR and yellow card instead given for the dive by Paraguay was so refreshing. I think more penalties for diving and a subsequent decrease in diving would increase American viewership.
 
#107      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniHardwood said:
I enjoy watching high level soccer, especially the World Cup, despite the faking the occurs a large percentage of trips up and down the pitch. Maybe FIFA doesn't care (but they should) about USA viewership, but the overturned yellow card by VAR and yellow card instead given for the dive by Paraguay was so refreshing. I think more penalties for diving and a subsequent decrease in diving would increase American viewership.
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The dives are something that FIFA (and really football in general) are trying to get out of the game. And they're not doing it just to somehow increase American viewership.
 
#108      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Mexico through to the Round of 32 after tonight's victory over South Korea. They win Group A and if they keep winning, they would not play another match outside of Mexico City until the quarterfinals. There is a scenario where they could potentially play England in the Round of 16 at Estadio Azteca.
 
#109      
IlliniHardwood
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
The dives are something that FIFA (and really football in general) are trying to get out of the game. And they're not doing it just to somehow increase American viewership.
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The dives are a blight on the game, and they should be making a concerted effort to eliminate it. But, to say that increasing viewership overall is not a significant reason is totally overlooking the real reason any of these large sports organizations do anything -- 💰💰💰. And American viewership is not only where they could stand to gain the most, but also where the money is. FIFA is certainly not doing it for the purity of the sport. Otherwise, the dives would have been gone decades ago.
 
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