WORLD CUP 2026 Thread

[franz555]

WC Record : 39 - 30 ( + 5.05 units )

Pending :

Sun July 19 : Spain vs Argentina - Final

Spain @ 2.25 ( 2 units )

[franz555]

Sat July 18 : Bronze medal game

France vs England : 5pm

France @ 1.95 ( 2 units )

If you look back at the games played by both sides , I believe it shows why England wilted against Argentina. People love to find fault so they place blame for the late collapse against Argentina. It was Teuchel's poor choice of late substitutions, or they chose to just defend once they were ahead....
If you look at England's last 3 games , starting with the big win over Mexico , it shows a trend. That game against Mexico took a physical toll as they were forced to play with 10 men for the remaining 40+ minutes. They played Norway next , and once again they were on their heals as the game progressed. A goal in extra time pulled out the win for them , but the additional effort added to an already weary side. Full credit to Argentina for once again pulling out another late dramatic reversal of fortune. The stats in the 2nd half , mirror the previous games and show a trend of late collapses due to a very tired and spent side.


France have an extra days rest for today's game, and no additional extra time games played. I believe the trend will continue today with a weary English side fading late once again.

[Kami40]

England
Argentina
Over on both games Good Luck

[DwightShrute]

...

[lakerboy]

Sat July 18 : Bronze medal game

France vs England : 5pm

France @ 1.95 ( 2 units )

If you look back at the games played by both sides , I believe it shows why England wilted against Argentina. People love to find fault so they place blame for the late collapse against Argentina. It was Teuchel's poor choice of late substitutions, or they chose to just defend once they were ahead....
If you look at England's last 3 games , starting with the big win over Mexico , it shows a trend. That game against Mexico took a physical toll as they were forced to play with 10 men for the remaining 40+ minutes. They played Norway next , and once again they were on their heals as the game progressed. A goal in extra time pulled out the win for them , but the additional effort added to an already weary side. Full credit to Argentina for once again pulling out another late dramatic reversal of fortune. The stats in the 2nd half , mirror the previous games and show a trend of late collapses due to a very tired and spent side.


France have an extra days rest for today's game, and no additional extra time games played. I believe the trend will continue today with a weary English side fading late once again.

Good luck
I can't imagine England play the first team anyways.

[hassmp]

Expecting France to finish the tournament strongly with a comfortable win over England in the third-place match.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Props to Franz for running a good tournament thread. A lot of good info in here!

I have my own opinions on how a tournament is best run. These guys make some good points:

Some of their hi-lites. And I'll add a few of my own:
1) Gulf in class in World futbol is wider than people think.
...There were only a few upsets at this tournament. SoAFR > SoKOR was legit.
...Expanding to 64 teams would be crazy. Too many mismatches.

2) The continental championships on the +2 years are still big.
...Those competitions seem to be more on level footing.

3) I really think the Players (and Fans) have tuned out the Nations Lg competitions.
...Players repeatedly comment about the long club seasons.
...Players don't care for extra games. And fans don't care for it.

[lakerboy]

Over wins in the first hf.

[Optional]

Doubt even England can find a way to lose from 4-0 up

[lakerboy]

Oh oh

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Doubt even England can find a way to lose from 4-0 up

They tried!

[k13]

Bench Kane, play better.
What was the live line at 4-0?

[packerd_00]

That would be cool. I've been to ENG. Still want to see Ireland and Scotland.

Oh really where did you visit? My family is mostly situated in southwest London although I do have a half brother in Somerset.

Ireland is definitely on the bucket list.

[franz555]

WC Record : 39 - 31 ( + 3.05 units )
Sat : 0 - 1 ( - 2 units )

Pending :

Sun July 19 : Spain vs Argentina - Final

Spain @ 2.25 ( 2 units )

[Headsterx]

WC Record : 39 - 31 ( + 3.05 units )
Sat : 0 - 1 ( - 2 units )

Pending :

Sun July 19 : Spain vs Argentina - Final

Spain @ 2.25 ( 2 units )

Good luck!

[DwightShrute]

They tried!

https://x.com/NatyLuna_Luna/status/2078593744052666535

[franz555]

Good luck!

GL to both of us

You have your Spain to win the WC futures bet alive. Any hedging or let it ride ?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Oh really where did you visit? My family is mostly situated in southwest London although I do have a half brother in Somerset.

Ireland is definitely on the bucket list.

Many years ago. Tourist sites in London.

[Headsterx]

GL to both of us

You have your Spain to win the WC futures bet alive. Any hedging or let it ride ?

Letting it ride!

[franz555]

Props to Franz for running a good tournament thread. A lot of good info in here!

I have my own opinions on how a tournament is best run. These guys make some good points:

Some of their hi-lites. And I'll add a few of my own:
1) Gulf in class in World futbol is wider than people think.
...There were only a few upsets at this tournament. SoAFR > SoKOR was legit.
...Expanding to 64 teams would be crazy. Too many mismatches.

2) The continental championships on the +2 years are still big.
...Those competitions seem to be more on level footing.

3) I really think the Players (and Fans) have tuned out the Nations Lg competitions.
...Players repeatedly comment about the long club seasons.
...Players don't care for extra games. And fans don't care for it.

Its tough to allocate a fair distribution of WC slots , so you can appease all continents. Im a bit old school in my thinking. Would March Madness be the same if you expanded it to 128 teams ?
How would the MLB playoffs be if you only dropped the last place team in each Division ?
I would love to see all 32 slots filled by the best ranked 32 teams. That wont happen since The African and Asian continents would have very little representation. I thought the expansion this WC was a bit much and teams like Curacao and Tunisia arent going to be competitive at this level. In the end , its safe to once again state that European and South American teams rule the roost. Teams like USA and Australia showed that they belong in the mix , so alot spots by continents as per the past. My 2 cents

[k13]

Going to go from 6-4 to 0-0

[Headsterx]

Going to go from 6-4 to 0-0

Love it! Took u2 (+119)

[Headsterx]

I’m thinking and hoping a low scoring game favors Spain… so keep it going!

[Headsterx]

0-0 and getting close to the Half. I saw the props for no goals +650, I should’ve placed a little something on it.

[k13]

0-0 +220 now
Pure trash as expected

[slayer14]

Argentina will get there chances 2nd half and win 2-0

[packerd_00]

England
Argentina
Over on both games Good Luck

Good job Kami. Neither team wanted to play in that game but England still managed to put in a good effort regardless.

[Headsterx]

0-0 +220 now
Pure trash as expected

One man trash is another man’s opportunity to get $$$$$z

[Headsterx]

Argentina will get there chances 2nd half and win 2-0

Interesting, as I have the opposite… 1-0 Spain

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Don't like these Argentine Conmebol tactics.

[packerd_00]

The Euros will be in the UK in 2028 so maybe I'll look at getting some group tickets for that.

*Pack, that would be a great trip. Have to think about that one.

As for the ENG game, I think about Intl soccer as a cultural thing. Teams really don't change that much over time.

1) Only a handful of teams have won a World Cup. Soccer's place in culture is consistent.

2) After Team USA wins a game or two, media pundits talk about winning the World Cup. No way, it's not in American DNA.

3) ENG won on home-soil in 1966. Think about all the frustration since then. This was a good ENG team, but I'd argue that they have a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses as the prior teams:
a) EPL is a top league. English players have talked about chopping down a guy in EPL and then having same guy as teammate.
b) It's long been said that English players get over-rated. Most of the beat writers are English, so players get over-hyped.
c) Tactically, I do think there's a different mentality with other countries. English players are mostly programmed to attack. I feel like they struggle to adjust to different tactics.

To be fair mate the English beat writers aren't any different then Spanish, Italian or German. They all hype up their own players. Its just the nature of the beast. Thing is people in the West are to apologetic.

When you look at Harry Kane for example he is still a hell of a player for Bayern Munich. I know he didn't show up in the semi final but you can't deny the man's skills.

We'll see what happens in the Euros in two years time. Its still considered the second biggest soccer tournament after the WC to us guys anyway.

[Headsterx]

I don’t I’m going to make to ET if this keeps going. Getting too drunk.

[slayer14]

Lautaro needs to replace Alvarez now

[k13]

One man trash is another man’s opportunity to get $$$$$z

Great for betting yes

[packerd_00]

Don't like these Argentine Conmebol tactics.

They've always played dirty. Just another Paraguay but with more skill.