World Cup 2026

[Willmark]

Yep, what the rest of the world calls football.

US? We have to win group D. If we don’t we’re likely facing Brazil in the next round assuming we’re the second qualifying team in the group stage.

We SHOULD beat Paraguay and Australia, Turkey is a much tougher match.

[Atlasffa]

This is for real. I thought it was a fake when I saw it go viral today.

The photographer went on CNN to talk about the day he took the photo. Messi agreed to take part in a calendar shoot for a charity benefit and thought he was going to be photographed with another player. When he showed up he was told he was paired with a baby. The parents had won a lottery contest to have their child photographed with Messi. Total random child chosen in a lottery. Photographer related that Messi was very nervous to be holding a baby--he was 20 years old at the time. How crazy is it that 19 years later they face each other on the pitch. Real life is stranger than fiction.

[Atlasffa]

This one might be fake

[Atlasffa]

Click link in xtweet for a decent article about the WC

[RaiderandBulldog]

[Attyla]

As a guy who understands the game, and played well into my 20's competitively, that final was simply amazing. Spain is a great young team with probably the next big player so should be right in the hunt next go around. They played a methodical attacking game and were thwarted more than once. The one flaw was the "penalty" that negated a legit goal that would have ultimately won the game in regular time. Yes for Americans, the flopping is annoying. But on every single play in the NFL you will find a receiver or a Dlineman holding up the game as well while they complain to the refs. Are some of those injuries real? Yes, they are, stingers happen, they do not wear pads, no shin guards for the most part and are kicked and stepped on and knocked to the ground. That can give you a stinger and it takes a few for that to stop. As for the refs? Other than that one call mentioned earlier, they did a really good job. The red card was legit. And guys know what that means, you lose a player. So if you get a yellow, you have to change how you play or you let down your squad. That happened and it cost Argentina. That is the game.

I will say this, billions watch the game, but it is not an American game. But North America was the host and we did an outstanding job. And that includes Canada and Mexico, two countries that are not often included in that praise. But North America should be proud. We embraced cultures and put our culture out there for all to enjoy. But again, soccer is not an American game. You don't understand it unless you grew up with it like most the rest of the world does. You can be from a poor country and still play the game. All it takes is a ball and a field, and that field does not even need grass. So many of you guys do not understand the game, just like most of you (myself included) do not understand cricket. You see soccer as boring or not a game that requires skill. That is fine, to some it would be boring to watch. I watched because I played and longed to be good enough for that stage. I saw the shifting strategy in how both sides played the game. And it is subtle but there are various planned and executed strategies to the game. You even see a shift when you lose a man. And the substitutions are part of that. We don't have many games where a substitution is part of the plan. Baseball is as close as we get.

As for what you saw if you watched. You saw an aging legend being shut down. They did not kid glove the guy out of respect. They bumped him hard and attacked him every touch of the ball....out of respect. They treated him like any other player. And you saw an ascending star at 19 years of age. And if you were paying attention between fan shots of stars (to me the most annoying part of the broadcast, I could not care one tiny f[raiders_icon]ck about pampered asshats watching the game) you saw fans. You saw pride in your nation. It is one of the very few sports out there where national pride is on display. We don't get that because we field inferior teams. If we are ever on that stage, you would change you tune in a heartbeat. Imagine the US playing Canada for the world cup. You guys would be shitting yourself every time there was a shot on goal. It is not about the game at that point, it is about national pride. That was truly the most amazing part of the world cup. Nations come together. Scots drink a city dry. International fans discover ranch dressing. Fans dress in their countries colors and proudly march in cities being cheered on by US onlookers. It should make you proud we got to do this.

So you are glad it is off your TV so you can watch your sitcom reruns or your evening programming. OK, you are not a fan of the game. You want high scoring American sports because that is what you grew up with. Cool, I did too. I love football, I love baseball, but for the last month I was reminded that I honestly do love and remember the game I also grew up playing.

[Attyla]

On an entirely different vein, I heard from international fans during the world cup, and here are just a few of the more amusing comments I read.

1. Wow, Americans are a lot fatter than I thought I would see
2. Wow, we can say whatever we want (minus a few things) and we won't get in trouble with the cops
3. Where are all the guys wearing knifes
4. How many bottles of ranch dressing can I put in my luggage for the trip home
5. Your onions are HUGE
6. You have like hundreds of brands of beer, and I am going to try every last one of them
7. Damn, even your kids are fat as hell
8. Your cars are f[raiders_icon]cking huge
9. What in the hell is up with your fat girls wearing half shirts and skin tight shorts?
10. Tex Mex is f[raiders_icon]cking amazing
11. All you can drink? Who came up with that idea, f[raiders_icon]cking brilliant
12. An entire aisle just for meat, seriously?
13. 128 KM/h is f[raiders_icon]cking fun as hell, but on the highway during rush hour?
14. Where are all the protesters. I never saw one
15. Oh there he is, oh wait, it is just a bum
16. So much grass
17. I think that guy just stepped in human waste, and now he knows as well
18. Even your cops are fat
19. So many fast food spots, literally I saw 10 on one street, so that is why you are fat
20. And finally, your TV shows are not really that good, I expected better

[Willmark]

Finals was good, Spain was the better team and Argentina got lucky late with all the free kicks they were getting.

My guess with Messi is the Olympics in 2028 might be his last hurrah.

[Attyla]

Finals was good, Spain was the better team and Argentina got lucky late with all the free kicks they were getting.

My guess with Messi is the Olympics in 2028 might be his last hurrah.

Messi will play club ball for a number of years.

[SuperRaider]

It like the NFL….player protection is really important and you can see that in today game; Ref were blowing the whistle on almost every tackle…..

[ELCAraiderfan]

As a guy who understands the game, and played well into my 20's competitively, that final was simply amazing. Spain is a great young team with probably the next big player so should be right in the hunt next go around. They played a methodical attacking game and were thwarted more than once. The one flaw was the "penalty" that negated a legit goal that would have ultimately won the game in regular time. Yes for Americans, the flopping is annoying. But on every single play in the NFL you will find a receiver or a Dlineman holding up the game as well while they complain to the refs. Are some of those injuries real? Yes, they are, stingers happen, they do not wear pads, no shin guards for the most part and are kicked and stepped on and knocked to the ground. That can give you a stinger and it takes a few for that to stop. As for the refs? Other than that one call mentioned earlier, they did a really good job. The red card was legit. And guys know what that means, you lose a player. So if you get a yellow, you have to change how you play or you let down your squad. That happened and it cost Argentina. That is the game.

I will say this, billions watch the game, but it is not an American game. But North America was the host and we did an outstanding job. And that includes Canada and Mexico, two countries that are not often included in that praise. But North America should be proud. We embraced cultures and put our culture out there for all to enjoy. But again, soccer is not an American game. You don't understand it unless you grew up with it like most the rest of the world does. You can be from a poor country and still play the game. All it takes is a ball and a field, and that field does not even need grass. So many of you guys do not understand the game, just like most of you (myself included) do not understand cricket. You see soccer as boring or not a game that requires skill. That is fine, to some it would be boring to watch. I watched because I played and longed to be good enough for that stage. I saw the shifting strategy in how both sides played the game. And it is subtle but there are various planned and executed strategies to the game. You even see a shift when you lose a man. And the substitutions are part of that. We don't have many games where a substitution is part of the plan. Baseball is as close as we get.

As for what you saw if you watched. You saw an aging legend being shut down. They did not kid glove the guy out of respect. They bumped him hard and attacked him every touch of the ball....out of respect. They treated him like any other player. And you saw an ascending star at 19 years of age. And if you were paying attention between fan shots of stars (to me the most annoying part of the broadcast, I could not care one tiny f[raiders_icon]ck about pampered asshats watching the game) you saw fans. You saw pride in your nation. It is one of the very few sports out there where national pride is on display. We don't get that because we field inferior teams. If we are ever on that stage, you would change you tune in a heartbeat. Imagine the US playing Canada for the world cup. You guys would be shitting yourself every time there was a shot on goal. It is not about the game at that point, it is about national pride. That was truly the most amazing part of the world cup. Nations come together. Scots drink a city dry. International fans discover ranch dressing. Fans dress in their countries colors and proudly march in cities being cheered on by US onlookers. It should make you proud we got to do this.

So you are glad it is off your TV so you can watch your sitcom reruns or your evening programming. OK, you are not a fan of the game. You want high scoring American sports because that is what you grew up with. Cool, I did too. I love football, I love baseball, but for the last month I was reminded that I honestly do love and remember the game I also grew up playing.

Very well written post Attyla. I too am a typical american that doesn't care for soccer. But I did watch a good amount of the world cup, mostly the games when they went to the tournament brackets with the better teams from 16 on. Spain was amazing, the energy and pressure they played all game long won them the cup. I thought a lot of argentina's players played dirty and should have been called more fouls on. The basically got away with illegally beating up england in my opinion.

The insane amount of flopping, falling down, grabbing one of your shins and screaming in fake agony was a joke to see and needs to be addressed with infractions. The amount of flops shown by guys that weren't even touched was crazy. Those guys should be mocked and made fun of for being wusses.

The game is slow imo, but I did enjoy the final and seeing all the people from different countries being so fanatical about their country's team was great.

[Reno Hightower]

I loved watching it. For a moment the world forgot that it hated one another.

[Willmark]

What was inexcusable was our goalie messing up that badly vs Belgium.

As a former keeper who played the position from the time I was young? He could have literally done ANYTHING and it would have been better than what he ultimately did with flubbing the ball.

[Willmark]

The insane amount of flopping, falling down, grabbing one of your shins and screaming in fake agony was a joke to see and needs to be addressed with infractions. The amount of flops shown by guys that weren't even touched was crazy. Those guys should be mocked and made fun of for being wusses.

While it was not perfect I'm glad to see that VAR was used throughout to start catching this. Perfect example, was the Switzerland vs Argentina game with the resulting red card.

[Xramfan]

On an entirely different vein, I heard from international fans during the world cup, and here are just a few of the more amusing comments I read.

1. Wow, Americans are a lot fatter than I thought I would see
2. Wow, we can say whatever we want (minus a few things) and we won't get in trouble with the cops
3. Where are all the guys wearing knifes
4. How many bottles of ranch dressing can I put in my luggage for the trip home
5. Your onions are HUGE
6. You have like hundreds of brands of beer, and I am going to try every last one of them
7. Damn, even your kids are fat as hell
8. Your cars are f[raiders_icon]cking huge
9. What in the hell is up with your fat girls wearing half shirts and skin tight shorts?
10. Tex Mex is f[raiders_icon]cking amazing
11. All you can drink? Who came up with that idea, f[raiders_icon]cking brilliant
12. An entire aisle just for meat, seriously?
13. 128 KM/h is f[raiders_icon]cking fun as hell, but on the highway during rush hour?
14. Where are all the protesters. I never saw one
15. Oh there he is, oh wait, it is just a bum
16. So much grass
17. I think that guy just stepped in human waste, and now he knows as well
18. Even your cops are fat
19. So many fast food spots, literally I saw 10 on one street, so that is why you are fat
20. And finally, your TV shows are not really that good, I expected better

Funny,
Just returned from almost two weeks of a road trip and wife and I love hanging out at the pool of whatever hotel we are staying. We noticed the same regarding how many morbidly obese people there are. I found it interesting and sad that so many young women who are obese not only have no shame but they wear thongs as if they are 10’s. Unbelievable.

On another note it is crazy to me how many folks are painted up. Tattoos used to be only noticed on a small percentage of the population but today it seems like 95% of those between 20-40 years old are all painted up. Not judging, just an observation

[Attyla]

Funny,
Just returned from almost two weeks of a road trip and wife and I love hanging out at the pool of whatever hotel we are staying. We noticed the same regarding how many morbidly obese people there are. I found it interesting and sad that so many young women who are obese not only have no shame but they wear thongs as if they are 10’s. Unbelievable.

On another note it is crazy to me how many folks are painted up. Tattoos used to be only noticed on a small percentage of the population but today it seems like 95% of those between 20-40 years old are all painted up. Not judging, just an observation

Yea, I was at the gas station filling up my Mercedes (yea, read pompous f[raiders_icon]cking American driving great German tech here) and in the next pump there was this girl with the spanks on with an ass that had its own zip code and I honestly felt bad for her Kia's suspension system.