Ooh boy. 1:3 Belgium
2026 FIFA World Cup Thread
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
He chunked a 9 iron…
And there's your exclamation point. 1:4
Belgium wins 1:4.
Tim Ream decides to take a nap instead of trying to help by closing out Lukaku there, fitting ending. Not just on him though, the complete lack of urgency in the last 10 minutes there was shocking. Balogun leaving off a ball to absolutely nobody when he could have gotten a good shot off. Getting a good cross opportunity with less than 5 minutes left...and having just 2 attackers to 5 defenders. Complete lack of belief at the end there.
Kudos to Belgium.
They came out unfazed and played a great team game.
Had us on our heels most of the game.
I thought the start of the second half we came out strong,
but then Freeze had a brain fart.
Our boys are gong to kick themselves when they watch the replay.
But, not to forget, a great season on the whole.
They came out unfazed and played a great team game.
Had us on our heels most of the game.
I thought the start of the second half we came out strong,
but then Freeze had a brain fart.
Our boys are gong to kick themselves when they watch the replay.
But, not to forget, a great season on the whole.
I think Costa Rica has gone the furthest of a Concacaf nation in those world cups listed. Mexico has never won a knockout game outside of Mexico. This region is not close to Europe or South America.
Cool experience. Bad. Bad result
What a wild comeback by Argentina.
We need more penalty shootouts.
Agreed. I think the OT should be golden goal with no offsides, followed immediately by a shootout.
It's basically what hockey did. They removed the red lines completely, went to 3 v 3 open ice in OT, followed by a shootout.
I really think that FIFA needs to revisit the offsides rule just like the NHL did with the red lines. If they open the game up, the viewership in the US, where our society embraces scoring and instant gratification.....will rise.
I’m really dumbfounded by the Egypt players/coaches cries about the game being rigged.
The goal that was taken off is CLEARLY a foul. Yes it happens far away, but it immediately leads to possession and directly leads to the goal. The play is a foul, and it couldn’t be more blatant.
The one where they’re calling for a penalty the defender indisputably gets the ball first, and makes a clean tackle.
At the end of the day folks just wanted the upset. Egypt choked and their defense crumbled like crackers.
The goal that was taken off is CLEARLY a foul. Yes it happens far away, but it immediately leads to possession and directly leads to the goal. The play is a foul, and it couldn’t be more blatant.
The one where they’re calling for a penalty the defender indisputably gets the ball first, and makes a clean tackle.
At the end of the day folks just wanted the upset. Egypt choked and their defense crumbled like crackers.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Regular season only. Stanley Cup playoffs are sudden death if it’s tied after full time. No limit on OT periods.
No offsides in soccer just doesn't work. Teams would camp out an attacker or two by the goal and then the other team would respond by moving defenders back. Both teams do this and essentially it just results in both teams launching long balls at the other team's goal hoping chaos in the box leads to a goal, with no midfield play. Boring. I think people underestimate the importance of offsides in soccer and just get frustrated about goals getting invalidated. The offsides rule is what encourages all the creativity in attack that makes soccer fun to watch.
And they had Golden Goal for a long time, it sucked, and there's a reason it's gone. It ultimately discouraged attacking as neither team wanted to risk getting hit on the counter-attack and immediately losing the game, so you ended up with a lot of cautious play.
And lastly, penalty shootouts suck. It's only slightly better than a coin flip as far as deciding a game, and after seeing enough of them I don't find them that exciting anymore. Goals from open play are so much more satisfying than penalty goals. Sometimes a penalty shootout results in goalkeeper heroics, which is awesome, but more often than not it becomes about who boots it over the bar or clangs it off the post.
Last edited:
Quarterfinal match-ups:
France-Morocco
Spain-Belgium
Norway-England
Argentina-Switzerland
France-Morocco
Spain-Belgium
Norway-England
Argentina-Switzerland
I am nowhere near any sort of expert on soccer. Admittedly, I'm on the World Cup bandwagon. After this tournament, I'll tune in again come qualifiers.
So, as a soccer novice, I would say that the shootouts are INTENSE. My heart is racing even if the US isn't involved. That's interesting that you don't like them!
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
One Africa, one South America, and six Europe.