Fifa WC 2026; no excitement at all?

[Clockwerk50]

I think you severely underestimate Belgium. They still have a lotta players from their " golden generation " like Lukaku, Kevin De Bruine, tieleman, Courtios, ect. Trossard won the PL and almost the Champions league as an absolute playmaker on front. Generally 4 to 5 topplayers can be enough, look at Croatia back then. Belgium is a dark horse.

having said that two things come to mind; 1. The US showed some really positive football. They clearly making progress as they managed to bully some teams. But 2. Soon as they get some decent opposition, they fold..but the latter goes for more teams like Brazil, The Netherlands, Germany. Even current World champions Argentina almost folded against a much weaker side

I hope some of yall got into football some more, and I hope that more kids will play the game "full time". Because that's what's needed; as kids we used to play full-time football( soccer). After school, on the street, lay down some jackets as a goal and play away. On top of this we were registered at an official team. And from those millions of kids the best of the best got selected for a pro career.

Thats what's needed. The sport n3eds to be ingrained into the heart souls and minds of young boys so the talent pool gets bigger.

Finally, US should try to keep talents in and around the MLS longer and throw serious money at the sport. No more washed up Messi's ect. But fresh prime topplayers. That will be difficult though as Europe simple has the best leagues and it might take decades to build a top league.

It starts with love for the game tho..

Trump and FIFA antics definitely lit a fire in the whole Belgium squad. They were pressing relentlessly and storming USA back line the first 20 mins. Belgium's main issue to me has always been that they lack urgency and intensity.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Soccer's worldwide popularity is primarily driven by accessibility, and the emotional attachment results from that. But, the politics of this Cup at least are interesting. Egypt going scorched earth with their corruption claims. Even Israel (the real bad guys, ahem) is openly wanting Argentina to win.

And the FIFA prez is one conehead-looking mofo, I will say that. Aliens may well walk among us.

 

[Von]

Norway did give Dating advice for m'en: "stop looking for a girlfriend, love your life and they Will appear"

 

[Gamisch]

Soccer's worldwide popularity is primarily driven by accessibility, and the emotional attachment results from that. But, the politics of this Cup at least are interesting. Egypt going scorched earth with their corruption claims. Even Israel (the real bad guys, ahem) is openly wanting Argentina to win.

And the FIFA prez is one conehead-looking mofo, I will say that. Aliens may well walk among us.

Also because of the many aspects the game and players need to be successful;

It's really intuitive
It takes vision
Strength and conditioning
Technique
Talent. The talent pool is HUGE. Most men will play football before the do any other sport. Im talking billions. In Germany and the UK you can play the 7th league and still be a professional.

Ofcourse you could say the same thing for most sports. But football is special.as you say; all ot takes is a ball and some space to play . The entry is low thus everyone can test his skills unlike lets say ice hockey where you need the suit skates stick puck ice a helmet and perhaps more things I dont even know about.


The funny thing is in the US they correlate football with kids or girls, while in the rest of the world a man is girly when he doesn't know anything about football. It's feminine to not understand offside for example. Or to say " nah I don't support a club".

I do somehow sense that you are " somewhat more interested " ?

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Also because of the many aspects the game and players need to be successful;

It's really intuitive
It takes vision
Strength and conditioning
Technique
Talent. The talent pool is HUGE. Most men will play football before the do any other sport. Im talking billions. In Germany and the UK you can play the 7th league and still be a professional.

Ofcourse you could say the same thing for most sports. But football is special.as you say; all ot takes is a ball and some space to play . The entry is low thus everyone can test his skills unlike lets say ice hockey where you need the suit skates stick puck ice a helmet and perhaps more things I dont even know about.


The funny thing is in the US they correlate football with kids or girls, while in the rest of the world a man is girly when he doesn't know anything about football. It's feminine to not understand offside for example. Or to say " nah I don't support a club".

I do somehow sense that you are " somewhat more interested " ?

A little more interested, but my thing is there's too much strategy and not enough scoring.

Kinda like this board at times. Lol.

It's kinda like baseball during the deadball era, or watching pitcher's duels constantly. A nice, home-run heavy slugfest is a good change of pace. There is too little overt excitement in soccer. A mid-game goal shouldn't be better than sex, but to a lot of soccer fans it is. Soccer needs NBA-style fast breaks. Soccer is like constant half-court offense in basketball. The Los Angeles Lakers got to be the most popular NBA franchise due to fast breaks (the "Showtime" 80's era) and not half-court offense.

Off the top of my head, what they should try is allow one offensive player offsides, but they have to shoot any goals from a fair distance away from the net. Make an extra box or something specifically for this.

Or at least make the damn fields smaller so people aren't watching guys just milling about most of the time.

American sports fans like action, that's the bottom line.

 

[Stephen89]

As an England supporter, I'd say the Norway Vs England game was incredibly tense and tense for an England fan.

Today's game France Vs Spain should be interesting.

Overall, I'd say this world cup has gone quick.

 

[Gamisch]

As an England supporter, I'd say the Norway Vs England game was incredibly tense and tense for an England fan.

Today's game France Vs Spain should be interesting.

Overall, I'd say this world cup has gone quick.

I felt Norway was done dirty.. but that's the game I geuss..

Now however, I hope England wins. And tbh, they do have a squad that's capable of taking it home. Gonna be a fun game tonight!

 

[The Duke]

There recently were discussions about race, where specifically @the-duke had something to say about black women...

These are African women by the way and yes they are deep deep into the hb8/9 category!
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You can have them girls. They don't meet American white boy standards.