World Cup 2022 Football Thread

Breathe · Thu Nov 10, 2022 6:48 pm

I'm surprised there isn't a thread about it, given there's less than 2 weeks before it starts.

This is probably one of the most controversial World Cup's in the history of the tournament given where it is being hosted and the subsequent issues regarding migrant workers rights, LGBT rights etc. but here we are, unless something happens in the next couple of weeks, Ecuador will be kicking off the tournament against the hosts Qatar.

Going onto the football itself, given the nature of the tournament happening in the middle of most qualifying nations domestic league seasons, it will be interesting to see how much toll (if any) it has on the players.

I wouldn't say there is an out and out favourite for the tournament and it will be quite wide open as to who wins.

noviorbis77 · Thu Nov 10, 2022 7:10 pm

Hard to call a winner.

France most likely I think.

Dutchy · Thu Nov 10, 2022 8:07 pm

Breathe wrote:
I'm surprised there isn't a thread about it, given there's less than 2 weeks before it starts.

This is probably one of the most controversial World Cup's in the history of the tournament given where it is being hosted and the subsequent issues regarding migrant workers rights, LGBT rights etc. but here we are, unless something happens in the next couple of weeks, Ecuador will be kicking off the tournament against the hosts Qatar.

Going onto the football itself, given the nature of the tournament happening in the middle of most qualifying nations domestic league seasons, it will be interesting to see how much toll (if any) it has on the players.

I wouldn't say there is an out and out favourite for the tournament and it will be quite wide open as to who wins.

This is how I feel about this world cup.

Yeah, it is indeed strange to have this in our winter, used to watch it on the terrace, in orange of course. Who will win? Don't know, too many factors.

casinterest · Thu Nov 10, 2022 8:14 pm

I am not really looking forward to this tourny. It should be in the summer. Not the winter, and not in a place that sacrificed workers rights and used bribes to purchase the tournament.

I suspect the tournament is going to turn out to be highly political.

There is no turning back, but i am not sure Qatar is quite ready for what they have bought themselves into, and I am rather sure the fans aren't sure what to expect in Qatar either.

FiFA basically is promoting corruption, abuse of power, and discrimination. There isn't much else to say about how bad this is for Fifa.

The current betting lines have the usuals leading. Brazil ,France Germany , Argentian, England.

I will try to turn in for a game or two, but it is happening +8 from the US east coast, so only the late games in Qatar will be easily watchable.

ltbewr · Thu Nov 10, 2022 9:17 pm

FIFA (along with the IOC) are obscenely corrupt and need to be replaced with new organizations with strict anti-corruption policies. I too am on the US east coast and retired but likely will only see a few matches, especially after the first round.

NIKV69 · Fri Nov 11, 2022 1:23 am

casinterest wrote:
I am not really looking forward to this tourny. It should be in the summer. Not the winter, and not in a place that sacrificed workers rights and used bribes to purchase the tournament.

I suspect the tournament is going to turn out to be highly political.

There is no turning back, but i am not sure Qatar is quite ready for what they have bought themselves into, and I am rather sure the fans aren't sure what to expect in Qatar either.

FiFA basically is promoting corruption, abuse of power, and discrimination. There isn't much else to say about how bad this is for Fifa.

The current betting lines have the usuals leading. Brazil ,France Germany , Argentian, England.

I will try to turn in for a game or two, but it is happening +8 from the US east coast, so only the late games in Qatar will be easily watchable.

I agree a winter world cup is bad for the sport. Money talked in this case.

I will watch because it's my favorite, even without Italia. I will root for Croatia and the Dutch.

casinterest · Fri Nov 11, 2022 1:43 am

NIKV69 wrote:
casinterest wrote:
I am not really looking forward to this tourny. It should be in the summer. Not the winter, and not in a place that sacrificed workers rights and used bribes to purchase the tournament.

I suspect the tournament is going to turn out to be highly political.

There is no turning back, but i am not sure Qatar is quite ready for what they have bought themselves into, and I am rather sure the fans aren't sure what to expect in Qatar either.

FiFA basically is promoting corruption, abuse of power, and discrimination. There isn't much else to say about how bad this is for Fifa.

The current betting lines have the usuals leading. Brazil ,France Germany , Argentian, England.

I will try to turn in for a game or two, but it is happening +8 from the US east coast, so only the late games in Qatar will be easily watchable.

I agree a winter world cup is bad for the sport. Money talked in this case.

I will root for the US. I know it is a long shot, but the US teams are getting stronger.

I will watch because it's my favorite, even without Italia. I will root for Croatia and the Dutch.

tapairbus370 · Fri Nov 11, 2022 5:19 pm

Hi,

If anyone of you knows something about how the teams or the fans during the tournment will get to Qatar please let us know in this thread.viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1475067&p=23393151&hilit=world+cup#p23393151

I also shared the opinion that this World Cup is not....the same being in winter.

If that place was to hot....well the world cup shouldn´t be there!! Simple.

Thank you all and....

Go go Portugal!!

IFlyOff · Fri Nov 11, 2022 5:46 pm

There is an excellent documentary on Netflix, "FIFA Uncovered," about the massive corruption in FIFA.

GDB · Fri Nov 11, 2022 6:18 pm

IFlyOff wrote:
There is an excellent documentary on Netflix, "FIFA Uncovered," about the massive corruption in FIFA.

They won't like that, John Oliver as linked above got into it with the absurdly corrupt, even by FIFA standards, Jack Warner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji6pj2PX-Io

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrG2hr-HsbA

When the BBC investigated FIFA that was certain to make sure England never hosted it again.
They hate England, which is one of the few things in recent years to make you proud to be English.
Tim Roth's career took a few years to recover from that stupid film too, it however lost a bunch of money.

Recently Blatter, has cast doubt on picking Qatar, which sounds like advance damage limitation to me.

First Russia, now Qatar, they really pick them don't they? At least Russia has a footballing history though.
Potential for corruption being the deciding factor it seems.

petertenthije · Fri Nov 11, 2022 8:05 pm

GDB wrote:
Recently Blatter, has cast doubt on picking Qatar, which sounds like advance damage limitation to me.

Seems more likely that his last check bounced.
He does not care much about football, the players or the fans.
And he does not care at all about the many many workers that died.

zkojq · Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:37 pm

SwissInfo did a great piece on the immense spying and intelligence operation that was undertaken by Qatar to get the Cup and to undermine any efforts for it to be revoked. You definitely get the impression that, even considering all their corruption, FIFA got played. Not that anybody should feel the least bit sorry for them.Unfortunately a court order has meant that some of the article is now redacted.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/- ... d/48022952

The WC and FIFA are disgusting, as is the host government. I really hope that things transpire in such a way that they regret hosting it. Already they've tried to censor Denmark for their team's shirts. What a joke.

This is normally the bit where I say that people should boycott the sponsors......but looking at the sponsor list for this WC, the only company whose products/services I use is Coca Cola.....and I've consumed less than three cans a year.

I won't be watching but I hope France wins nevertheless.

SEAorPWM · Sat Nov 12, 2022 12:50 am

zkojq wrote:
SwissInfo did a great piece on the immense spying and intelligence operation that was undertaken by Qatar to get the Cup and to undermine any efforts for it to be revoked. You definitely get the impression that, even considering all their corruption, FIFA got played. Not that anybody should feel the least bit sorry for them.Unfortunately a court order has meant that some of the article is now redacted.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/- ... d/48022952

The WC and FIFA are disgusting, as is the host government. I really hope that things transpire in such a way that they regret hosting it. Already they've tried to censor Denmark for their team's shirts. What a joke.

This is normally the bit where I say that people should boycott the sponsors......but looking at the sponsor list for this WC, the only company whose products/services I use is Coca Cola.....and I've consumed less than three cans a year.

I won't be watching but I hope France wins nevertheless.

Wait, what was going on with the Denmark shirts? Was it the LGBT thing?

zkojq · Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:20 am

SEAorPWM wrote:
Wait, what was going on with the Denmark shirts? Was it the LGBT thing?

Here's a few articles on the matter:

https://amp.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ining-kits

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/20 ... r.amp.html

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/63590339

From the guardian article:

The Danish Football Association (DBU) said on Thursday that Fifa had rejected Denmark’s request to train at the World Cup in shirts with the words “human rights for all” on them.

The DBU said in 2021 that their two training kit sponsors would make way for messages critical of Qatar while also minimising the number of trips to the country to avoid commercial activities promoting the World Cup hosts’ events.

Credit to the DBU for actually having a backbone in all this. Shame that they seem to be the only ones to do so. Maybe I should support them instead of France.... :scratchchin:

mke717spotter · Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:37 pm

Fox had been running ads suggesting the US is going to win the World Cup, which seems a little absurd, frankly. The ad campaign is also trying to tie in the tournament with Christmas time, even though it ends a whole week before that. To be honest I'm not that optimistic about the US team. Their run in the qualifiers was underwhelming and the last two friendly matches leading into the tournament went poorly. There's this perception of a young, exciting team and I think simply because they qualified after missing out on the last tournament everyone is overhyping them. England has also been struggling lately and on paper you'd think they are superior to Wales and Iran, but I'm worried that they're going to flop.

victrola · Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:59 pm

Never before has a US coach had such a large list of talented players to choose from. However, this US team has not learned to play well with each other. I'm not sure what to expect against Wales next Monday.

FGITD · Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:07 am

zkojq wrote:

Credit to the DBU for actually having a backbone in all this. Shame that they seem to be the only ones to do so. Maybe I should support them instead of France....

France Captain. Hugo Lloris said today that the team has something planned to defend human rights, but wouldn’t say more. I get the impression we’re going to see quite a few “unauthorized” warm up shirts, armbands, etc.

Unfortunately most of the big nations hands are somewhat tied. Ever want to host a major tournament? Don’t protest or you’ll never see the opportunity. Plus in the end, the winner gets the trophy and a star just like every other World Cup. And that’s what the federations are after.

On another note, federations make a fortune off these tournaments. A fair bit of that money goes to funding the sport domestically, youth programs, etc. so if there is a positive to it all, I guess that’s it. The players get some tiny pay (relative to their club salary) and most teams have a tradition of donating the National pay.

ltbewr · Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:54 pm

The timing of the holding of the WC this year clashes in the USA with our National Football League season, it will pull NFL viewers for some WC matches on Saturday and Sunday, especially in cities where high interest with the WC and soccer-football. Unlike other countries, the US-Canadian Major League Soccer season concluded last week (the LA team won the title after a full overtime and shootout), our MLS season runs from Spring to Fall.

As to the next WC (2026), it will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada during about the hottest time of year in the region and in locations that could have daytime temps into 100 F/36 C +, not much less than with Qatar. At least our stadiums are existing ones for soccer, American/Canadian football and not built with slave labor but still too much bribery of politicians as well as in places where alcohol is legal, with cities with tourist interest party areas.

At to who will win the cup, who knows for sure. Las Vegas sports betting sites are giving Brazil the best chance at 4-1 to win. https://www.vegasinsider.com/soccer/odd ... re%20items

zkojq · Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:05 am

FIFA and Qatar 'rattled' as European football World Cup boycott gathers pace
The giant banners are now a familiar sight at German Bundesliga matches.

Unfurled by fans, and seen by millions watching on TV, "Boycott Qatar 2022" has become a rallying cry for clubs, supporters and players alike who oppose this month's World Cup and want to highlight human rights and environmental concerns in the host nation.

"The closer the World Cup gets, the more intense the message is getting," explained Stefan Schirmer from the Boycott Qatar campaign.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/11/10/fif ... thers-pace

I don't want to get my hopes up, but that seems good. Not a lot of meat in the article though,,,

FGITD wrote:
zkojq wrote:

Credit to the DBU for actually having a backbone in all this. Shame that they seem to be the only ones to do so. Maybe I should support them instead of France....

France Captain. Hugo Lloris said today that the team has something planned to defend human rights, but wouldn’t say more. I get the impression we’re going to see quite a few “unauthorized” warm up shirts, armbands, etc.

I hope so.

ltbewr · Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:54 pm

I find it hypocritical that among the official international sponsors of the WC include 2 huge USA based companies, Coke-Cola and McDonald's, who in the USA have taken supporting views as to LGTBQ's, Persons of Color, but are involved with a sporting event in a country with open hatred of them. Perhaps pressure should be put on the official sponsors based in the USA, UK, EU to shame that their sponsorships 'wash' Qatar and supporting the massively corrupt leadership of FIFA.

Of course Qatar, like several past host countries (and future ones) have long histories and currently are seriously problematic as to criminal, civil and human rights, environmental degradation, political corruption, colonialism, war, racism, sexism, etc.

casinterest · Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:39 pm

Let's check in on how things are going in Qatar.

Rushed livinng quarters, expensive hard to find beer, and the security officials are already overly zealous.

https://mashable.com/article/world-cup- ... l-disaster

First things first, the World Cup fan accommodations don't seem great. For $200 per night you get to stay in a shipping container. There were also tent villages that looked incredibly barebones in a video that went viral this week.

In fact, just a few days before the tournament was set to start, high ranking Qatari officials reportedly demanded beer tents from major sponsor Budweiser be moved out of sight. If you do find a beer, it'll reportedly run you $14. People online are not happy about that price.

And last, but certainly not least, things have already grown contentious between Qatar and the foreign press. Officials interrupted a live Danish broadcast about the World Cup, threatening to break their camera. Not a great first viral report from the ground.

emperortk · Fri Nov 18, 2022 1:19 pm

FIFA said Friday that alcohol sales would be banned at the tournament's eight stadiums — a last-minute reversal of a plan that would've allowed fans to purchase Budweiser.

But of course rich people don't have to worry because

Beer will still be available in suites for FIFA officials and wealthy guests, the New York Times reports.

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/18/qatar-world-cup-beer-ban

What a joke this World Cup is.

sierrakilo44 · Sun Nov 20, 2022 4:53 am

Considering the other thread is mostly about external issues to the tournament this thread can be about the games, predictions, and match commentary.

Big news coming out with Benzema being ruled out of the tournament. I had France going very deep but now am having a change of heart, I don’t think the rest of their players have his ability to put one in the back of the net and Mbappe is too much of a wild card to be consistent.

Sentimentally I have hopes with Argentina, due Messi deserving to join Pele and Maradona in holding a Cup aloft but I also like the team atmosphere they’re building. They’re staying in University dorms and planning on having a nightly beef BBQ to focus on team bonding. However I don’t know if their team has the depth to get over Brazil in the semis and it may end Messi’s international dreams.

My head tells me Brazil, just too much depth, skill and ability in every position. And they also have world class spare players in every position if one first team player gets injured. Except big things from Vinicius Jr.

Germany aren’t really being rated highly but there are some reasons they shouldn’t be ignored. Perennial semi finalists, they have one of the best coaches (Hansi Flick), a very good keeper (Neuer), and two Bayern Munich midfielders (Kimmich and Goretzka) feeding the ball to a forward line they do every week in club football (Sane, Muller, Gnabry, Musiala). I think this aspect is being ignored a bit, they’ll definitely have a tough game against Spain. Who themselves have some bright young talent who have a chance to make a name for themselves in future tournaments, but I think it may be too soon for this young squad to win it all yet. They’ll get into the knockouts but not the final IMO.

England get an easy group like last time, shouldn’t have trouble topping it then face a relative easy beat in R16. They definitely get the easier side of the draw, maybe facing Poland or Denmark or a weakened France in the Quarters and maybe Croatia again or Portugal in the Semis. There’s a real chance England could be in the final, but I think Brazil would be insurmountable in that case. England’s squad almost certainly wouldn’t be progressing very far on the opposite side of the draw.

I have a soft spot for nations like Belgium and Croatia but I think their golden generation ended 4 years ago and they are on the decline.

Any other nation with a realistic chance of winning it? Maybe the Dutch or Portuguese or Danish as underdog outsiders, but that’s it.

casinterest · Mon Nov 21, 2022 4:25 pm

Now that the Games have begun

Highlights so far.

Ecuador(2)-Qatar(0) Group A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KokKw1esPL8

Biggest event seems to be the request for beer from the fans.

England(6) -Iran(2) Group B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpFEwMVKdsU

England dominated the game.

NIKV69 · Mon Nov 21, 2022 4:26 pm

casinterest wrote:
Now that the Games have begun

Highlights so far.

Ecuador(2)-Qatar(0) Group A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KokKw1esPL8

Biggest event seems to be the request for beer from the fans.

England(6) -Iran(2) Group B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpFEwMVKdsU

England dominated the game.

Yes they did. The Dutch and Senegal so far better game.

StarAC17 · Mon Nov 21, 2022 5:08 pm

ltbewr wrote:
As to the next WC (2026), it will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada during about the hottest time of year in the region and in locations that could have daytime temps into 100 F/36 C +, not much less than with Qatar. At least our stadiums are existing ones for soccer, American/Canadian football and not built with slave labor but still too much bribery of politicians as well as in places where alcohol is legal, with cities with tourist interest party areas.

That will be some matches, not all matches. Not every match is going to be played in Vegas and Phoenix and no matches are being played there.

The hottest cities would be Dallas, Guadalajara, Miami or Monterrey. Most of the tournament will be in June and North America is the hottest in late July - August. In early June in Toronto, Boston, NY, Philly, Vancouver etc. it might be kind of cold.

https://www.2026worldcupnorthamerica.co ... ccer-2026/

noviorbis77 · Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:07 pm

Good performance from England.

Maybe football is coming home?

GDB · Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:17 pm

noviorbis77 wrote:
Good performance from England.

Maybe football is coming home?

You mean that most fickle group, the fans, will stop hating Southgate, for now?
I don't think we can judge until a match with a major footballing nation.

casinterest · Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:29 pm

Aggh US 1-1 vs Wales.
At the half I would have thought the US was crusing to victory, but alas Wales came out strong in the 2nd half..

The US has an issue getting shots on goals and crisp passing is not occuring.
Wales is dangerous when Bale gets ahold of that ball. ( he had a great penalty kick to get Wales Goal).

Questionable officiating from the Refs. yellow cars vs non yellow calls in some cases.
Inconsistent at the end when many playerswere succombing to cramps on when they would call the timeout.

Will be interesting to see how the US England matchup goes on Friday. Could be a long game for the US if they can't get some consistency on passing and shots in the front. They can't rely on Adams bailing them out in the middle all the time.

ACDC8 · Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:50 pm

Its amazing that Canada is finally in the WC, but my support still belongs to where it always has - lets go Germany :bigthumbsup:

Pampot70 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:44 am

Well, nobody is showing any interest for the played aspects of this WC, so here you go some recap:

Qatar - Ecuador 0-2

England - Iran 6-2

Wales - USA 1-1

Netherland - Senegal 2-0

No results out of expectations. What looks abnormal are the extended injury periods at the end of each half. As Infantino said, people come to watch 90 minutes of played football/soccer, so be it. I really hope with all my heart that such novelty is NOT going to be applied any more after the WC. All other Infantino statements belong to the other thread, I suppose.

scbriml · Tue Nov 22, 2022 8:37 am

Agree, a good idea to keep the football and politics in separate threads.

So...

Poor start by the hosts, could easily be the first hosts to exit the tournament at the group stages.

A reasonable first game by England given recent poor form, sloppy to concede two goals though. Iran can be tricky opponents and have not lost much recently. Nasty injury for their goalkeeper. Felt the penalty awarded to Iran for a shirt pull was a little harsh given no interest was taken when an England player was wrestled to the ground at the other end.

Netherlands probably just shaded Senegal who struggled without Mane.

Wales struggled against a lively USA in the first half, but improved significantly in the second. Draw seemed a fair result in the end.

Dano1977 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:43 am

scbriml wrote:
Agree, a good idea to keep the football and politics in separate threads.

So...

Poor start by the hosts, could easily be the first hosts to exit the tournament at the group stages.

A reasonable first game by England given recent poor form, sloppy to concede two goals though. Iran can be tricky opponents and have not lost much recently. Nasty injury for their goalkeeper. Felt the penalty awarded to Iran for a shirt pull was a little harsh given no interest was taken when an England player was wrestled to the ground at the other end.

Netherlands probably just shaded Senegal who struggled without Mane.

Wales struggled against a lively USA in the first half, but improved significantly in the second. Draw seemed a fair result in the end.

I don't understand how the doctors let him continue.
I don't understand how the manager let him continue.
I don't understand how his teammates let him continue.
I don't understand how the referee let him continue.

There's a lot of questions to answer.

NIKV69 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:07 pm

Saudi Arabia! Saudi Arabia! Saudi Arabia! WOW! Has to be one of the biggest upsets in sports! Congrats to the SA national team on a huge victory against a world soccer power.

Dano1977 wrote:
scbriml wrote:
Agree, a good idea to keep the football and politics in separate threads.

So...

Poor start by the hosts, could easily be the first hosts to exit the tournament at the group stages.

A reasonable first game by England given recent poor form, sloppy to concede two goals though. Iran can be tricky opponents and have not lost much recently. Nasty injury for their goalkeeper. Felt the penalty awarded to Iran for a shirt pull was a little harsh given no interest was taken when an England player was wrestled to the ground at the other end.

Netherlands probably just shaded Senegal who struggled without Mane.

Wales struggled against a lively USA in the first half, but improved significantly in the second. Draw seemed a fair result in the end.

I don't understand how the doctors let him continue.
I don't understand how the manager let him continue.
I don't understand how his teammates let him continue.
I don't understand how the referee let him continue.

There's a lot of questions to answer.

No there isn't, FIFA screwed this up. It's on them. Head injury like that should have to come out automatically and by rule have to be checked by a neutral doctor.

scbriml · Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:12 pm

Saudi Arabia beat Argentina! :faint:

Argentina were poor, to be honest. Saudi Arabia's second goal was a worthy match-winner.

This is right up there with any other big shock in the history of the World Cup. Shocker!

Argentina over 30 matches unbeaten before today.

NIKV69 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:13 pm

Saudi Arabia!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! Has to be one of the biggest upsets ever. Messi didn't look happy. Mexico next they are in trouble.

ltbewr · Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:51 pm

The members of team Argentina may have to look for new countries to live in after losing to Saudi Arabia. :oops:

Once again in their recent history they are going to leave early and in shame.
The USA did tie with Wales, the USA was rather listless in the 2nd half, let Wales get a chance. Somehow for the 2nd time the USA is in the same group as Iran who the USA has a difficult relationship with. England kicked Iran's butts, the Iranian players may also have to find new countries to live in as didn't participate in singing of their country's national anthem in protest for political and social issues in their home country.

StarAC17 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:57 pm

ltbewr wrote:
The members of team Argentina may have to look for new countries to live in after losing to Saudi Arabia. Once again in their recent history they are going to leave early and in shame.
The USA did tie with Wales, the USA was rather listless in the 2nd half, let Wales get a chance. Somehow for the 2nd time the USA is in the same group as Iran who the USA has a difficult relationship with. England kicked Iran's butts, the Iranian players may also have to find new countries to live in as didn't participate in singing of their country's national anthem in protest for political and social issues in their home country.

What's more embarrassing. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia or Italy not qualifying for the second world cup in a row. :stirthepot:

GDB · Tue Nov 22, 2022 3:19 pm

ltbewr wrote:
The members of team Argentina may have to look for new countries to live in after losing to Saudi Arabia. Once again in their recent history they are going to leave early and in shame.
The USA did tie with Wales, the USA was rather listless in the 2nd half, let Wales get a chance. Somehow for the 2nd time the USA is in the same group as Iran who the USA has a difficult relationship with. England kicked Iran's butts, the Iranian players may also have to find new countries to live in as didn't participate in singing of their country's national anthem in protest for political and social issues in their home country.

That was really gutsy of the Iran players, given the nature of that regime and what they are doing right now.
They lost the football game, though did not fold, witness the two they scored later but won a victory, so the despot huggers at FIFA will be pissed off with them too.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... r-armbands
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... cup-of-woe

casinterest · Tue Nov 22, 2022 4:47 pm

GDB wrote:
ltbewr wrote:
The members of team Argentina may have to look for new countries to live in after losing to Saudi Arabia. Once again in their recent history they are going to leave early and in shame.
The USA did tie with Wales, the USA was rather listless in the 2nd half, let Wales get a chance. Somehow for the 2nd time the USA is in the same group as Iran who the USA has a difficult relationship with. England kicked Iran's butts, the Iranian players may also have to find new countries to live in as didn't participate in singing of their country's national anthem in protest for political and social issues in their home country.

That was really gutsy of the Iran players, given the nature of that regime and what they are doing right now.
They lost the football game, though did not fold, witness the two they scored later but won a victory, so the despot huggers at FIFA will be pissed off with them too.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... r-armbands
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... cup-of-woe

I don;t see Argentina as having to find new places to live in. They just need to remember to stay onsides. Their first half they could have been up big time, but bad breaks on the offisides.
Saudi Played a good compelling second half.

The Iranian players may all be thinking of somehow not going back to Iran anyhow. I cannot imagine thier stunt will go over well with the leadership in Iran.

DIRECTFLT · Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:13 pm

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hundreds of soccer fans in Qatar struggled to retrieve their digital World Cup tickets on Tuesday, as problems with FIFA’s mobile application stoked confusion and frustration at the tournament for a second day in a row.

A line of distressed fans snaked outside the main ticketing help desk in Doha, with many reporting that their tickets had abruptly disappeared from their phones and could not be retrieved— a glitch that caused hundreds to miss the start of England’s match against Iran on Monday.

https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-ir ... 33386ab0fe

Who designed this app, Ticketmaster ? ? ? 8-)

leader1 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:43 pm

Never one to spurn the limelight, Cristiano Ronaldo has left Manchester United. Remember, he gave a scathing interview to Piers Morgan where he criticized the club. Ronaldo is now playing in the World Cup as a free agent. Wonder how this will affect the Portuguese national side since it will probably bring unwanted drama to the team.

https://www.axios.com/cristiano-ronaldo ... a9228.html

LJ · Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:53 pm

Is it just me, but I have difficulty getting in the usual World Cup vibe. Usually I really like it, but as it;'s close to the holiday season (at least in The Netherlands) it seems that I'm more busy in what to do during Christams and my vacation afterwards, than gettng excited on a soccer match, even when the Dutch are playing (doesn't help that all of the Christmas decorations are in the stores). Hope this will be the last WC in November - December.

casinterest · Tue Nov 22, 2022 7:09 pm

One has to wonder what standing FIFA is going to have going forward.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/denmar ... 46995.html

Asked whether those countries should have accepted the sporting punishment to make a stand on diversity, Hjulmand said he did not know if the sanctions would stop at a booking.

He said: “I don’t know if it’s (just) a yellow card. We just know there will be consequences and football and results are part of it.

“It’s hard to tell about this. But this is standing up for diversity, this isn’t a political statement. Something that is really difficult and what we really value.”

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 ... rmband-ban

Asked about the ban following talks with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Blinken said: "It is always concerning when we see any restrictions on freedom of expression, especially when the expression is diversity.

"No one on the football pitch should be forced to choose between supporting his values and playing," he added.

Blinken, a football supporter, arrived in Doha on Monday for a 24-hour visit that included watching the United States give up a one goal lead in their opening World Cup game.

FIFA is proving itself to be more currupt , less diverse, and more authoratative than many dictatorships.
Will there be pushback on FIFA going forward?

af773atmsp · Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:20 pm

North Korea has officially made a bid for the 2026 World Cup!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ss7EsfWNE

NIKV69 · Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:40 pm

StarAC17 wrote:

What's more embarrassing. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia or Italy not qualifying for the second world cup in a row.

While winning the Euro Cup too. Italy was too old and lost all their talent at once. I saw that coming. Only their goalie is world class. They will be back.

scbriml · Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:40 pm

af773atmsp wrote:
North Korea has officially made a bid for the 2026 World Cup! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ss7EsfWNE

Never fails to make me laugh.

It's even funnier when you realise that this is now pretty much the stock photo of Blatter that gets used every time his name is mentioned:

Source: https://media.gq.com/photos/56056877bfd ... 389832.jpg

scbriml · Wed Nov 23, 2022 12:01 am

Neither Mexico or Poland seemed particularly interested in going flat-out for a win which would have put them in control of their group, instead they played out a fairly tame 0-0 with Lewandowski surprisingly missing a penalty.

Denmark and Tunisia also played out a 0-0, but at least it was a little more entertaining than the earlier game. This match was also notable for the extraordinary appearance of Christian Eriksen less than 18 months after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch during the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

In the last match of the day, France looked very impressive in their 4-1 win, despite going a goal behind to Australia. France now have additional injury concerns after losing defender Lucas Hernandez early in the game.

mke717spotter · Wed Nov 23, 2022 2:26 am

ltbewr wrote:
The USA did tie with Wales, the USA was rather listless in the 2nd half, let Wales get a chance.

Well, they completely dominated the first half. That is pretty rare for them at the World Cup because usually they're overwhelmed by the opposition and as a result they end up sitting back, ceding the possession, and taking more of a defensive stance. The closest thing to this was probably the Algeria match in 2010. However, I think they caught a huge break at the end when Kellyn Acosta fouled Gareth Bale (both are teammates at LAFC as a matter of fact) and prevented him from getting off a potential game-winning strike. The US goalie was way out of position at the time and, frankly, I thought it could've been a red card.

JJJ · Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:30 am

First big upset with KSA beating Argentina.

The 2nd Saudi goal was a beaut.

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