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World Cup 2026 Thread

It had that early March Madness, favorite lets scrappy underdog hang around and suddenly realizes, “oh, we’re actually going to have to play here“ vibe. Spain was throwing everything they had at Cape Verde, but it wasn’t quite enough to find the net,
 
The day's other results
Belgium 1-1 Egypt
Saudi Arabia 1-1 Uruguay
Iran 2-2 New Zealand

I didn't see much of the last match. Did see Chris Wood feature prominently in setting up the Kiwis' first goal, and the Iranian response.
The Belgium/Egypt and Saudi Arabia/Uruguay matches were both fairly entertaining. Always fun when the underdogs prove much more formidable than thought. Will say this about Belgium: they looked like a different (better) team once Romelu Lukaku subbed on. Within moments, he was directly involved in their goal with a determined run to get onto a cross that led to the own goal by Egypt.
 
jeffbear said:
I really need the Stanley Cup to wrap up because it’s got me all wound up and I can’t watch these World Cup games with my normal level of detachment. I’m a mess.
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I didn't have a dog in either scrap but was thankful both the NBA and Stanley Cup finals were concluded Sunday, so so as not to distract me to from my World Cup viewing.
CONGRATS CANES FANS! Especially thrilled for Jordan earning the Conn Smythe.
 
The France/Senegal match was something else. After a scoreless first half where Senegal arguably had the better of the play, France's extra quality showed in the second half. Moving Olise to the #10 just opened things up for them. And he and they responded with three goals, two by Kylian Mbappe. They won 3-1, and Olise was MOTM.
 
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My favorite commentary of the day: Rebecca Lowe asking Thierry Henry if Kylian Mbappe (after he became France's all time leading goal scorer) is France's best ever player. Thierry's response? "Hey, leave me alone!" 🤣
 
Norway crushed Iraq 4-1, with Erling Haaland getting a brace. Thoroughly convincing.
Then Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, thanks to a Lionel Messi hat trick. 16 career WC goals, tying Miroslav Klose for the most ever. Just not enough superlatives for the man.
 
It really sucks that his Portugal squad are being held hostage by Ronaldo. They have a true golden generation right now that is forced to set themselves up around a 41 year old. You have some of the best midfielders on earth and Bernardo Silva is one of the most versatile players you can find, and it's still just focused around Ronaldo. I wouldn't care nearly as much if this wasn't both so much incredible talent and also talent that fits together so well. This could be one of the most fun and incredible teams of all time.
 
Woof, we had some decent refereeing performances early on, but these are just getting dreadful. Clatenberg tried to do his usual backing up of whatever the horrible decision from the ref was, but the commentators would absolutely not have it on that clothesline. That is now the third clear red card that they haven't even made the ref go to the screen to look at. Two of them happened near the end of matches (this and the Scotland one) and the other was Messi so it's just people being too scared to make a decision, but all three were red cards.
 
Any English fans who complain about any refereeing decisions for the rest of the tournament should be forced to Clockwork Orange style watch that pen decision and then the second chance after the first one was saved on repeat. If you're going to penalize goalies for being barely off their line (if he even was, cause nothing on the broadcast showed him off the line), you need to penalize takers for coming to a stop in the middle of the run up. It's just a joke at this point when it comes to penalties.
 
As someone who lives in a city whose sports teams routinely come up with the most absurd ways to flop in the biggest moments, it seems like I should have some sympathy for England. But after weeks of Instagram posts and other media of them crapping on the US, whining about start times, griping about the heat (after assuring us they have the worst heat imaginable)… f them guys. The sooner somebody 1776s them back across the pond, the better.

Or maybe it’s just the 50+% Scottish blood flowing through me. Whatever.

Meanwhile, I have no idea what happened in the first 90 minutes of that Ghana-Panama game, but stoppage time was drunk. Late goal? Borderline fights? Who says hockey season has to be over?
 
Meanwhile Colombia beats Uzbekistan 3-1 in a “closer than the score indicated” kind of result. The Uzbeks had a legit shot to level things at 2, but it wasn’t to be.

Off to the Benz Atlanta Stadium to see Czechia-South Africa in, apparently, the middle of a tropical storm tomorrow. Gotta give the visitors to our fair city the full Southern weather experience. Thankfully, Uncle Arthur insisted on a roof.
 
Leoghann said:
As someone who lives in a city whose sports teams routinely come up with the most absurd ways to flop in the biggest moments, it seems like I should have some sympathy for England. But after weeks of Instagram posts and other media of them crapping on the US, whining about start times, griping about the heat (after assuring us they have the worst heat imaginable)… f them guys. The sooner somebody 1776s them back across the pond, the better.

Or maybe it’s just the 50+% Scottish blood flowing through me. Whatever.

Meanwhile, I have no idea what happened in the first 90 minutes of that Ghana-Panama game, but stoppage time was drunk. Late goal? Borderline fights? Who says hockey season has to be over?
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Screw England and their entitled fans and obnoxious media … says my 65-ish% Scottish DNA. Ignoring the fact that they have three players I deeply care about from my beloved Aston Villa on the roster, of course. Still, eff those guys and their stupid traveling roadshow. 1960 was long enough ago that they’re starting to turn into the Maple Leafs.
 
I will say this about the expanded tournament … I assume that the games would be a bit watered down, but the minnows have punched above their weight for the most part. That part has been fine. Less fine is how freaking long the group stage is going to take. This tournament is going to last FOREVER.
 
Four extra group stage days plus an entire extra round that takes six. Gotta feed that FIFA cash cow.

As for the matches… Look, I’m still new-ish to being a somewhat serious soccer fan, but I figure Czechia and South Africa needed a win, and probably by multiple goals. Czechia scored early and then… did very little, really. South Africa countered by doing less, somehow. At least the late penalty got things moving a bit. First all US, all female referee crew, so I guess that’s cool.
 
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