Soccer/football thread 2022

Forum Sponsor
I feel sorry for much of the US team, and Balogun in particular. They didn't ask for this, they have just been pawns in a bigger mess with the Fanta Menace making everything about himself as usual. As has been pointed out many times elsewhere, Balogun wouldn't even be American if Trump gets his way on birthright citizenship.

It'll be interesting to see if the fallout from this actually sticks to Infantino. He's proven remarkably slippery, considering the endless chicanery, largely on the back of kickbacks to equally corrupt smaller national federations. I don't think anyone in power at UEFA cares about corruption on a base level, but they do care about the appearance of corruption, and they also care about maintaining prominence as FIFA tries to monetise things like the Club World Cup against the Champion's League cash cow.

Last of the mid-tier countries will be gone today. Egypt will need a Salah-shaped miracle, and I expect Colombia to find a way past the Swiss, though Switzerland does have a Morocco-like organisation that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. The closest thing we've had to an upset this round is Norway over Brazil, though anyone who's seen either side play over the past couple years knows that it wasn't an upset at all...
 
Enjoying Swiss Columbia in Vancouver...
Excellent refereeing - worth picking up live now.
Could do without the histrionics of mortally wounded players :rolleyes:
Very good game
⚽

Could do without the seriously annoying Youi commercials. Mute button useful:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Priller said:
I feel sorry for much of the US team, and Balogun in particular. They didn't ask for this, they have just been pawns in a bigger mess with the Fanta Menace making everything about himself as usual. As has been pointed out many times elsewhere, Balogun wouldn't even be American if Trump gets his way on birthright citizenship.

It'll be interesting to see if the fallout from this actually sticks to Infantino. He's proven remarkably slippery, considering the endless chicanery, largely on the back of kickbacks to equally corrupt smaller national federations. I don't think anyone in power at UEFA cares about corruption on a base level, but they do care about the appearance of corruption, and they also care about maintaining prominence as FIFA tries to monetise things like the Club World Cup against the Champion's League cash cow.

Last of the mid-tier countries will be gone today. Egypt will need a Salah-shaped miracle, and I expect Colombia to find a way past the Swiss, though Switzerland does have a Morocco-like organisation that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. The closest thing we've had to an upset this round is Norway over Brazil, though anyone who's seen either side play over the past couple years knows that it wasn't an upset at all...
Click to expand...

Bit of an upset there with the Swiss sneaking in. I really wanted Colombia to get through. They are a great team to watch, the Swiss, not so much.

Salah nearly got his miracle. Some more drama with missed called and given calls when maybe they shouldn’t have been. Zicos goal that was disallowed was the goal of the tournament for me.
 
JC99 said:
Bit of an upset there with the Swiss sneaking in. I really wanted Colombia to get through. They are a great team to watch, the Swiss, not so much.
Click to expand...
I think Colombia were most people's favourite in that one, mine included. 6/8 of the sides in the quarters are European, I wanted some variety. I'm also still a latent fan of Diaz, plus they're fun to watch.

Swiss played their game and did it well, getting it to pens knowing they have a top-class keeper. Despite a near total lack of star power (does Xhaka count as a star?), they are well organised.

JC99 said:
Salah nearly got his miracle. Some more drama with missed called and given calls when maybe they shouldn’t have been. Zicos goal that was disallowed was the goal of the tournament for me.
Click to expand...
I didn't watch this one, was left to checking alerts on the Fotmob app while stuck in meetings. When Egypt went up 2-0, I thought there was a real chance. No idea of the Egyptian complaints about the refereeing were legit, but Messi getting favourable calls has been a long-time issue. I haven't watched Egypt much this time, but my impression is that unlike some other aging stars enjoying a bit of a renaissance at this tournament, Salah has been largely invisible. It's amazing how quickly he's dropped off.

I'm officially 'anyone but France and Argentina' at this point, mostly to minimise the flood of Messi/Mbappe discussion that will follow. Considering how poorly my chosen sides have done so far, that essentially guarantees another France-Argentina final.
 
Priller said:
I think Colombia were most people's favourite in that one, mine included. 6/8 of the sides in the quarters are European, I wanted some variety. I'm also still a latent fan of Diaz, plus they're fun to watch.

Swiss played their game and did it well, getting it to pens knowing they have a top-class keeper. Despite a near total lack of star power (does Xhaka count as a star?), they are well organised.


I didn't watch this one, was left to checking alerts on the Fotmob app while stuck in meetings. When Egypt went up 2-0, I thought there was a real chance. No idea of the Egyptian complaints about the refereeing were legit, but Messi getting favourable calls has been a long-time issue. I haven't watched Egypt much this time, but my impression is that unlike some other aging stars enjoying a bit of a renaissance at this tournament, Salah has been largely invisible. It's amazing how quickly he's dropped off.

I'm officially 'anyone but France and Argentina' at this point, mostly to minimise the flood of Messi/Mbappe discussion that will follow. Considering how poorly my chosen sides have done so far, that essentially guarantees another France-Argentina final.
Click to expand...

The main controversy in the Egypt game was the goal being disallowed for a (minor) foul the ref didn't initially call that was more than 100 yards away. That foul led to one player getting the ball and then a short pass to another who then ran most of the length of the pitch dribbling between 2-3 Argentinian players and passing to Zico who slotted it home. It was a thing of beauty. So it was deemed a foul in the same passage of play but it was beyond harsh. Such a shame.

Argentina seem to be battling for their wins. I don’t know if France have. Out of the two I prefer the flair of the Argentinians but I’d be happy to see someone else there too. Morocco would be a lot of fun, Norway too I think.
 
Satisfying game France Morocco. (y)
....
Spain Belgium good game - Spain got a scare.

Looking forward to this tomorrow morning - could be a classic
1783759384134.png⚽🍿
Midnight bingeing Ambulance and waiting on England Norway ...should be a cracker game. 🍿
Few hours to go but feel okay ...was a bit ordinary earlier with runs from Ozempic. Holding off munching crisps till game time. Need to ration them at $7 a bag :oops:
 
Last edited:
England did what they needed to do, contained the big man. Another great day for Jude.
 
Last edited:
Good game - managed to wake up two minutes before the first goal. Watched the rest happily. (y)
Nice segue now in 10 min.
1783815515595.png
 
Last edited:
Despite a few early upsets, it ends up being the least surprising semi-finalists possible.

England had a fair dose of luck today, and that ball sensor tech is clearly either broken or gives the results preferable at the time. Don't think it mattered, both teams looked gassed at the end, but Norway looked absolutely dead on their feet. Haaland could barely move. If the semis are played in similar humidity (the game is in Atlanta), it will be a big disadvantage to England.

At this point, there's only one country Trump will be wanting to share a stage with for the trophy presentation, and they're not from Europe...
 
Priller said:
Despite a few early upsets, it ends up being the least surprising semi-finalists possible.

England had a fair dose of luck today, and that ball sensor tech is clearly either broken or gives the results preferable at the time. Don't think it mattered, both teams looked gassed at the end, but Norway looked absolutely dead on their feet. Haaland could barely move. If the semis are played in similar humidity (the game is in Atlanta), it will be a big disadvantage to England.

At this point, there's only one country Trump will be wanting to share a stage with for the trophy presentation, and they're not from Europe...
Click to expand...

I skipped watching the game. I knew I wouldn’t like it. I read about the cable thing and saw the Norway goalkeepers reaction. There’s a whole bunch of very important goals being scored in this World Cup that are being chalked off or are scored under odd circumstances. Anyway, what’s done is done but it’s a shame as I wanted Norway to get through. They played with heart and managed to really get the World Cup going with their fans and Haarland.

Argentina vs Switzerland wasn’t bad. Argentina are brawlers in the football world. They don’t give up and there should be a predictable result when they play England. They are simply in a different class. Switzerland were very stubborn and they played well.

The game I’m really looking forward to is Spain v France. Lamal vs Mbappe.
 
I'll lead with the fact that I'm not a soccer fan but I have been watching some of the games. I wanted the Swiss to win but I was also pleased to see that flop being called.
 
1784045022604.png
2.30 am - can I stay awake? :unsure:

4.30 am yep - chilly on deck at 18C but no wind and rugged up ....some Mac n Cheese to warm me up.

Wow!! :oops: Not quite unfolding as expected - clearly the best team won 👏
⚽
 
Last edited:
That was a beautiful game for Spain.

I’ve watched a bunch of games this cup, the Spain v. France stood out as being more athletic and action filled than any others I’ve watched.

Now I’m gonna have to watch England V. Argentina.
 
Mad Mike said:
That was a beautiful game for Spain.

I’ve watched a bunch of games this cup, the Spain v. France stood out as being more athletic and action filled than any others I’ve watched.

Now I’m gonna have to watch England V. Argentina.
Click to expand...
I'd temper expectations, Argentina is legendary for their abilities in the 'dark arts', toeing the line of getting carded but always somehow able to dodge serious consequences. I actually think England will need to put Argentina out, otherwise they have a very good chance to beat Spain because the ref will be terrified to make big calls against Argentina (and Messi) in the final.

What you saw today was by far the two most purely skilled teams in the tournament. What has surprised me most is Spain's defense. Holding the potent French attack to 0.3 xG and a clean sheet is an incredible achievement. They've been near impossible to beat the whole tournament...
 
Spain were pretty much perfect. The British commentator I was listening to said arguably 8 of the best players on the pitch were Spanish. What I liked was that they didn’t just close the door and shut up shop when they were ahead. They carried on playing for another goal for the most part with a fair bit of keeping possession. Having said that, France were just off. It may have also been Spain making them look ordinary (which is very very scary for whoever meets them in the final). I mean Yamal was kept quiet but still gained the penalty for the first goal. Olmo is really impressive and to be honest there wasn’t a weak link in that team that I could see. They have peaked at just the right time and play as a very cohesive unit.

Again I’m hoping that Argentina ramp things up v England and show them what attacking flair and skill actually are but it could just be a grind depending on who gets the first goal. Argentina vs Spain in the final would be pretty amazing. Spain vs England would be interesting but maybe not as entertaining.
 
Screenshot 2026-07-16 at 5.55.27 AM.jpg
lot of tension that has not exploded - pretty balanced
heating up now - good game
⚽
 
Last edited:
Parking the bus after scoring the 1st goal worked against Mexico but not against a team loaded with talent like Argentina.
 
Jayv said:
Parking the bus after scoring the 1st goal worked against Mexico but not against a team loaded with talent like Argentina.
Click to expand...

Negative football gets punished. I hate seeing those kind of tactics in play so good riddance. If England carried on doing what they were doing in the first half they would have had a chance.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom