World Cup 2022

[Upside Down]

6 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Iran must be absolutely loving the group they've been given then. Us, the 'Great Satan' USA, and even Wales are part of Great Britain. Short of Israel being in there it couldn't be much more of a hate fest for them.

Their anger is more than justified. 

[Mattyblue]

13 hours ago, bluebruce said:

I feel this argument is a bit like saying the FA Cup should only be the Prem and maybe the Championship.

I like that lesser footballing nations get their chance to shine on the world stage. It instils a bit of pride and can promote interest in football. Sometimes it helps certain talents be found that otherwise wouldn't be. And it leaves open the potential for some giant killing and shock results.

I also think those lesser footballing nations are often better than given credit for. I think the global profile of the game and interest in playing has risen, standards rising with it, but people are often stuck in old fashioned views of how good these countries are, along with a view that if a country's players aren't featuring in the top European leagues they must be shit.

It's very unlikely any of these sides will win the whole competition (mind you, who fancied Greece to win the Euros that time?), but I bet there are at least some shock results this WC.

There probably was an argument for increasing it to 32 teams, but to increase it again to 48 at the next one?

Surely it can’t be argued that that leads to anything but a dilution of quality, plus an unwieldy tournament too.

[Upside Down]

58 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

There probably was an argument for increasing it to 32 teams, but to increase it again to 48 at the next one?

Surely it can’t be argued that that leads to anything but a dilution of quality, plus an unwieldy tournament too.

Leads to more money in the bank accounts of the super rich and that’s what counts. 

[Mattyblue]

Cynical bugger, aren’t you 😁

[matt83]

Since France 98 in the World Cup and France 2016 in the euros qualification has been a joke. There should be an element of achievement in qualifying for the World Cup and Euros but for the likes of England qualification is all but guaranteed before a ball is kicked and increasing it to 48 teams even gives the dregs a realistic chance of qualifying.

Personally I’d shake the whole qualifying process up anyway. In Europe I’d have a tournament running while the main tournament is on for the likes of Gibraltar, San Marino, faro islands, Estonia, Latvia, Scotland, etc. The minority of those then get through into the main qualifying group. Also picking on CONCACAF (but there’s others) for 4 of them to qualify that’s a joke. Pretty much Mexico, usa, Costa Rica guaranteed to qualify with Canada beating a Caribbean island. 

This isn’t a modern school sports day where everyone is a winner it’s the elite international tournament. 

[rigger]

49 minutes ago, matt83 said:

Since France 98 in the World Cup and France 2016 in the euros qualification has been a joke. There should be an element of achievement in qualifying for the World Cup and Euros but for the likes of England qualification is all but guaranteed before a ball is kicked and increasing it to 48 teams even gives the dregs a realistic chance of qualifying.

Personally I’d shake the whole qualifying process up anyway. In Europe I’d have a tournament running while the main tournament is on for the likes of Gibraltar, San Marino, faro islands, Estonia, Latvia, Scotland, etc. The minority of those then get through into the main qualifying group. Also picking on CONCACAF (but there’s others) for 4 of them to qualify that’s a joke. Pretty much Mexico, usa, Costa Rica guaranteed to qualify with Canada beating a Caribbean island. 

This isn’t a modern school sports day where everyone is a winner it’s the elite international tournament. 

No, it is a money making exercise

[Silas]

 

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I'm genuinely speechless. 

The head of corrupt Fifa's defence of Qatar is basically a Catherine Tate ginger sketch. 

I don't think I've heard anything more tone deaf in my entire life. 

[Ianrally]

And we thought a Blatter was bad, this “Little Infant” is a complete knob. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Well if we cant beat fookin Iran might as well board the plane home now.

[Hasta]

On 17/11/2022 at 15:48, speeeeeeedie said:

You'll be in for a surprise. World Cup 2026 will be massive in the USA. There are millions of football fans over here. MLS might not be the greatest standard but they draw big gates. Every stadium will be packed full for games. They'll do fan fests and the like. 

My favourite World Cup for non-England games was 1994.

It was forecast to be a damp squib, but it was iconic for me. I was probably the right age for it to make a big impression, but despite our absence it was filled with Romario & Bebetto, Hagi, Stoichkov, Baggio, The Ireland games, Klinsmann and a Maradonna swansong. I probably watched more games at that tournament than any other

Edited November 19, 2022 by Hasta

[Ianrally]

I’ve just had a look at the WC Prediction thread on here and nobody up to now has picked Qatar to reach the last 8. Obviously they shouldn’t, but given the fact how bent and corrupt this World Cup is, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if FIFA don’t inform the referees to make sure Qatar get through to the quarters. 

[DE.]

1 hour ago, Silas said:

 

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I'm genuinely speechless. 

The head of corrupt Fifa's defence of Qatar is basically a Catherine Tate ginger sketch. 

I don't think I've heard anything more tone deaf in my entire life. 

Just shows how insanely out of touch those at the top of the FIFA chain truly are. It was like something you'd see on a sketch show as a parody. 

[Silas]

18 minutes ago, DE. said:

Just shows how insanely out of touch those at the top of the FIFA chain truly are. It was like something you'd see on a sketch show as a parody. 

And this guy is due to be re-elected without opposition apparently. 

If this speech doesn't put a stop to that then nothing has changed at Fifa since Blatter. As much of a shambles as ever. 

[DE.]

48 minutes ago, Silas said:

And this guy is due to be re-elected without opposition apparently.

In many ways Qatar and FIFA are perfect partners. 

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, Hasta said:

My favourite World Cup for non-England games was 1994.

It was forecast to be a damp squib, but it was iconic for me. I was probably the right age for it to make a big impression, but despite our absence it was filled with Romario & Bebetto, Hagi, Stoichkov, Baggio, The Ireland games, Klinsmann and a Maradonna swansong. I probably watched more games at that tournament than any other

I think USA 1994 still holds the record overall attendance figures and averaged over 69,000 a game.

My main memory are the numerous water stops at those games played at or near 100 F, Ireland and an Italian penalty miss.

[Norbert Rassragr]

Mr. Infantile (sic) shows his desperation again. Excusing all he horrible things that have gone into Qatar hosting the tournament, and the general bigotry the ruling class of that country enforce with an iron fist. I've not read the full comments, but I imagine he mentioned the West African slave trade of the 1700s as well. A trade maintained by rival African tribes , and hundreds of years ago.

[DE.]

2 hours ago, Hasta said:

My favourite World Cup for non-England games was 1994.

It was forecast to be a damp squib, but it was iconic for me. I was probably the right age for it to make a big impression, but despite our absence it was filled with Romario & Bebetto, Hagi, Stoichkov, Baggio, The Ireland games, Klinsmann and a Maradonna swansong. I probably watched more games at that tournament than any other

1994 was the first world cup I was old enough to remember, I watched the Eurosport retrospective countless times as a kid. There was also a set of Gillette Soccer Special episodes leading up to it which I watched over and over, but I think both of those VHS tapes are long gone now and are pretty much lost media these days as the Gillette stuff I've never seen anywhere, and I've only seen parts of the Eurosport recap uploaded. 

[simongarnerisgod]

7 minutes ago, DE. said:

1994 was the first world cup I was old enough to remember, I watched the Eurosport retrospective countless times as a kid. There was also a set of Gillette Soccer Special episodes leading up to it which I watched over and over, but I think both of those VHS tapes are long gone now and are pretty much lost media these days as the Gillette stuff I've never seen anywhere, and I've only seen parts of the Eurosport recap uploaded. 

there were some great games,bulgaria destroying the germans,hagi being absolutely magic for romania,romario and bebeto leading the brazilian forward line  and john aldridge losing it completely when that jobsworth would`nt let him come on as a sub🤣,the final was one of the worst games iv`e ever seen though,best remembered because we flew to corfu for a lads holiday that evening😁

[DE.]

26 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

there were some great games,bulgaria destroying the germans,hagi being absolutely magic for romania,romario and bebeto leading the brazilian forward line  and john aldridge losing it completely when that jobsworth would`nt let him come on as a sub🤣,the final was one of the worst games iv`e ever seen though,best remembered because we flew to corfu for a lads holiday that evening😁

Yeah the final was a big disappointment, but even that had the iconic Baggio penalty miss at the end!

[oldjamfan1]

4 hours ago, matt83 said:

Since France 98 in the World Cup and France 2016 in the euros qualification has been a joke. There should be an element of achievement in qualifying for the World Cup and Euros but for the likes of England qualification is all but guaranteed before a ball is kicked and increasing it to 48 teams even gives the dregs a realistic chance of qualifying.

Personally I’d shake the whole qualifying process up anyway. In Europe I’d have a tournament running while the main tournament is on for the likes of Gibraltar, San Marino, faro islands, Estonia, Latvia, Scotland, etc. The minority of those then get through into the main qualifying group. Also picking on CONCACAF (but there’s others) for 4 of them to qualify that’s a joke. Pretty much Mexico, usa, Costa Rica guaranteed to qualify with Canada beating a Caribbean island. 

This isn’t a modern school sports day where everyone is a winner it’s the elite international tournament. 

Good work Matt, I literally just spat my brew out. Can’t wait to read this out at work on Monday 😂😂😂

[bluebruce]

7 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

There probably was an argument for increasing it to 32 teams, but to increase it again to 48 at the next one?

Surely it can’t be argued that that leads to anything but a dilution of quality, plus an unwieldy tournament too.

I agree, 48 teams will be excessive.

[speeeeeeedie]

17 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Americans. 

I was hoping for a real answer. 

[Ianrally]

A staged picture if ever I saw one. Not an Argentinian fan to be seen. 

[Dreyski]

4 hours ago, DE. said:

Yeah the final was a big disappointment, but even that had the iconic Baggio penalty miss at the end!

And an absolute defensive masterclass by Baresi.

[Mr. E]

2 hours ago, Ianrally said:

A staged picture if ever I saw one. Not an Argentinian fan to be seen. 

While I have no idea about the group there, it's been striking to me how unaware people are that there are millions upon millions of South Asian fans, and indeed fans around the world, who are big fans of the Brazil, Argentina, England, and other big footballing nations national teams. In general it would not at all be unusual.