WORLD CUP 2026 THREAD

[goblin]

You should see the reactions in the French media, L'Equipe wrote it the way I would have if I knew anything about soccer. A thorough analysis with no drama and no mercy, minutes after it all ended.

"A team that didn't see much real challengers till now, overwhelmed in all areas, went through the game without really playing it"

 

[goblin]

K, now that I'm on a proper keyboard - easiest would be to just translate the beginning of L'Equipe's analysis. These guys have been in business for 130-ish years, and have never been known for pulling punches:

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Dazed and brought down from their cloud, Les Bleus failed to rise to the occasion they had been anticipating for four years.
On Tuesday, they suffered a heavy defeat (0–2) in a semi-final they never truly contested; outclassed by Spain in every single aspect, they were unable to live up to their dreams or the hopes they had inspired. The Deschamps era will conclude on Saturday in Miami with a sad third-place play-off.

This journey deserved better than such a shipwreck - in terms of gameplay, strategy, and emotions - and far better than this semi-final (0–2), which they spent trembling at first, then losing without grounds for complaining, left with the feeling that they had barely played the match and had betrayed the magic of an American summer.

Spain once again played the role of executioner to secure a spot in their second World Cup final - following their 2010 triumph, displaying the abrasive intelligence of a team that, on this Tuesday evening, knew how to defend even better than it attacked, cutting off every pass and every connection.

Les Bleus could at least have avoided making their job so easy.
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As for Didier Deschamps (the coach), it boils down to "We sucked, we were unlucky, but also the referee was not World Cup level". BUT OF COURSE

Me think with the referee of England-Mexico or Argentina-Switzerland, France would have raked a couple of red cards in the first 20 minutes.

 

[Owen Lucas]

.

 

[Japanese]

As a French among other things, I have to say France is absolutely subpar so far and simply doesn't deserve to win.

Violent, disorganized... Makes me grind my teeth that the English guy and the Swiss kid were kicked out of their respective games when I see the stuff France is getting away with so far. What a disgrace. Not to mention that third Spanish goal was not an offside, at least not according to the VAR angle they showed.

France, what happened? I was hoping for a Spain win but didn't expect the French to concede like that.

I was watching the game at a public place. I don't remember either after the first or the second goal a guy I know entered the place. I know the guy knows soccer because is Greek and we talked about other games before. When I told him about the penalty kick for Spain and that it looks like the referee is siding with them. He immediately said:
- They want to set up Spain to play against Argentina because it will be easier for Argentine to beat them vs France.

Also, France after the half time—the first 10-15 min. were like invisible. Instead to push after the break they couldn't reach the penalty area of Spain. In the end of the 1st half the referee gave two offsides of France in the middle of the field—we never saw replay of those two offsides. Maybe just one of them. Either the game was set up in advance and France didn't show its true potential or their coach is very bad. All their attacks happened from the left were Mbappe was playing. No attacks from the right whatsoever.
So, another very fishy game for me at this world cup.

Can England defeat the mighty Argentina and have the 2 favorites in a 3rd place match?

I don't think so. They are grooming Argentina for the world cup, so Messi can retired happy and complete. I like Messi and think he is an exceptional player with exceptional personality. However, any cheating by FIFA and set up games make me hate the favored teams.

 

[edyvw]

Zlatan Imbrahimovic - Swedish soccer player. His father is Bosnian muslim and his mother is Croatian catholic. Intersting and controversial soccer player. An official commentator for Fox Sport during the world cup.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14h2AwnrSfn/?mibextid=wwXIfr

My mom went with his dad to high school. Same temperament.
Interestingly, Thierry Henry is married to a Bosnian lady.