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World Cup 2026 Thread

Even if the ball happened to brush his hair and that's what the sensor apparently picked up, that just doesn't feel like the spirit of the rule. The sport has a real issue with the integration of technology compared to other sports, because so much of the rule book just isn't intended for slow motion playback. We've seen them have to rework the handball rules to add in nuance as they quickly realized there would be far too many fouls and penalties with VAR as the rule was written before. It's been so bad for offsides that people are actually considering Wenger's horrible "daylight" idea for offside calls. The only part of the rules that are set for absolutes are whether or not the ball has crossed the goal line or gone out of bounds.
 
I mean, there’s been a lot of stuff in the officiating of this tournament that doesn’t align with the spirit of the rules or even the general concept of fair competition. But this is FIFA, so they’ll fix it exactly when it’s in their financial self interest to do so.
 
Well that was one hell of a match between Argentina and Cape Verde. I do have a strong question on whether or not the second Argentina goal should have counted as it looked like the player who interfered with the defender was in an offside position which would automatically negate any questions on whether his contact constituted a foul as any interference from an offside player is just offside. The announcers and that absolute moron Mark Clattenberg (shocking that a horrible ref has made a horrible rules analyst), failed to bring up that fact and just looked at the nature of the contact which I agree on its own, was not a foul.
 
And weird ending for a boring Colombia vs Ghana match where Ghana played the last ten minutes like they were down 5-0 instead of just 1-0. I don't think I've ever seen a team that still had a real chance in a match just kind of give up in a knockout match.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Well that was one hell of a match between Argentina and Cape Verde. I do have a strong question on whether or not the second Argentina goal should have counted as it looked like the player who interfered with the defender was in an offside position which would automatically negate any questions on whether his contact constituted a foul as any interference from an offside player is just offside. The announcers and that absolute moron Mark Clattenberg (shocking that a horrible ref has made a horrible rules analyst), failed to bring up that fact and just looked at the nature of the contact which I agree on its own, was not a foul.
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Yeah, that one was an instant classic while the nightcap was just horrible. Basically those two games are the extra knockout round so far in a nutshell. Some really great games with some absolute garbage sprinkled in, with the only consistent thing being crap officiating.
 
Leoghann said:
England allowed to use Viagra by WADA to help players rise to World Cup altitude

I don’t know of a follow up to that which wouldn’t result in me getting banned.
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I’m not 100% sure, but I think I’m the only one with moderator status on this board … so you’d be safe. This one time

And seriously, I remember reading an article on off book uses of prescription drugs and altitude adjustment was on the list of stuff that viagra does by accident. It was developed as a hair loss drug, FWIW.
 
Good bye Canada, we hardly knew ya … actually we did. Pretty good showing considering their scant history in the tournament and their famously skimpy financing, but with Davies ailing and Kone breaking his leg, I’m sure they feel like they missed being able to take their best shot. Morocco are class though. They’re going to be a tough out for anybody.
 
Paraguay Paraguay 'd the match and the ref was complicit. I'd love /hate to be a fly on the wall of his after match debrief.

He'd ref other matches but this one was out of his depth
 
www.nytimes.com

Folarin Balogun available for USMNT vs. Belgium as red card ban suspended

Balogun was set to be suspended for Monday's game but will be now free to be selected.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

That's working for me at least. They've suspended the one match ban apparently. My guess is it's due to the fact that the VAR official broke protocol to force the red as showing still images and slow motion is only supposed to be used in "tackle" situations for obvious reasons.
 
LOL … FIFA. They really need to reinstitute the appeal process to allow for the fact that their officiating is so bad that you just can’t take their decisions as gospel. That “we’re turning the suspension into a probation” thing is SO stupid. They did the same thing with CR7 relatively recently.

Still, good result for the US and even though it feels like a NASCAR move (ie making it up as you go along), it’s the right result. That straight red was indefensible.
 
Tryamw said:
Paraguay Paraguay 'd the match and the ref was complicit. I'd love /hate to be a fly on the wall of his after match debrief.

He'd ref other matches but this one was out of his depth
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The way that game was officiated just opened the barn door for more CONCACAF/COMNEBOL shithousery to come. Probably as early as England/Mexico tonight.
 
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