World Cup 2026

[Challenger]

Bottom line is that England found yet another way to not win a major tournament. Let's see what the next " it's coming home" anti method they can find.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

4 minutes ago, Challenger said:

Bottom line is that England found yet another way to not win a major tournament. Let's see what the next " it's coming home" anti method they can find.

Think they'll make a good effort at being the first ever host nation not to qualify for a major tournament at Euro 28...

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

Think they'll make a good effort at being the first ever host nation not to qualify for a major tournament at Euro 28...

we'll qualify easily, as the group will be piss. Kane will look brilliant, Rice will purr.....against largely poor sides

When it comes to playing France, Spain or a rejuvenated Germany when it matters, we will again revert to type and Kane's age will scare us as his continued inclusion will damage the team 

[LiberalCommunist]

England must be doing something right. How else do we explain how annoyed everyone is, that we didn't win the World Cup.

Surely that's a step in the right direction?

 

[John B]

24 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

It may not have been the plan, but he amplified that direction of travel by a huge margin

Probably he realised that the English only do it one way

 

But do you think we are better under Tonda holding on to a lead

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, John B said:

Probably he realised that the English only do it one way

 

But do you think we are better under Tonda holding on to a lead

Not really.

[John B]

14 minutes ago, Challenger said:

Bottom line is that England found yet another way to not win a major tournament. Let's see what the next " it's coming home" anti method they can find.

Clearly they are not good enough to beat the top countries I would have thought

[ecuk268]

It's a daunting thought that, by the time that the next World Cup comes around, nobody under 70ish will have actually seen our one win.

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

33 minutes ago, John B said:

However, Tuchel has said that it was never the plan to drop deeper and that "it's maybe not in our DNA…to control the game and ball".

I think we know something about dropping deeper with SFC over the years do we not

Well as the highly experienced country team manager, perhaps he should have realised that trying to keep the World champions at bay for 20-30 minutes was a folly and acted to help his players. Instead he did quite the opposite and re-enforced their ‘DNA’ to sit back and invite wave after wave of attack from probably the best attacking team in the World. And let’s not forget that way before then we’d gone ahead with a great goal - bizarrely the team lost control of the game from that point onwards.

[badgerx16]

We entered the World Cup 4th in the FIFA rankings, and we will finish in 4th place in the tournament..

Edited yesterday at 10:05 by badgerx16

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

12 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

We entered the World Cup 4th in the FIFA rankings, and we will finish in 4th place in the tournament..

So, even if we lose to France we've had a better tournament than them, as they've finished worse than expected.

Haha, suck on that frenchies.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

Tat for the winners. Bet the England players are devastated, but at least they're also on sale if you're a weirdo with lots of money.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cgmk7mnnyjeo

[Whitey Grandad]

45 minutes ago, ecuk268 said:

It's a daunting thought that, by the time that the next World Cup comes around, nobody under 70ish will have actually seen our one win.

 

I saw the one in '66.

My chances of seeing the next are no better than 50:50

[Whitey Grandad]

A quote from Tuchel,

"I haven't seen the data yet but I think..."

He's another spreadshit manager.

From an analysis by Paul Hirst of The Times of the 37 minutes after we scored and they got their second, 

"84 O’Reilly blocks a De Paul shot and then breaks free from his position in the midfield block of four, surging forward to tackle Messi and force Argentina back into their own half. Anthony Barry, the England assistant manager, runs off the bench and yells at O’Reilly, demanding that he retreat to his defensive wing position."

[badgerx16]

32 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I saw the one in '66.

My chances of seeing the next are no better than 50:50

Will the WC still be a thing n 5050 ?

[Whitey Grandad]

40 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Will the WC still be a thing n 5050 ?

Maybe, but I know when England will get knocked out. 

[Lighthouse]

2 hours ago, LiberalCommunist said:

England must be doing something right. How else do we explain how annoyed everyone is, that we didn't win the World Cup.

Surely that's a step in the right direction?

No really, all we’ve done in recent campaigns is the same we’ve always done. Beat the fodder and a couple of reasonably competent teams, then come unstuck against the first properly decent team we play. We’re playing the same as we always have but in an era where Italy, Germany, Brazil and the NL are a bit sh*t.

[Saint NL]

I saw a rumour that Gareth Southgate is poised to replace Poch as the American manager. 

[BARCELONASAINT]

It's great being a dual National, i get 2 bites at the cherry. One evening i'm over the moon celebrating another World Cup Final to look forward to and the next night i'm left reeling with the feeling of sheer frustration that England fucked up monumentally.

Now feeling slightly nervous that an Argentina side that should never have reached the final might be destined by the footballing gods to actually win it again. Bloody hope not!

[Wade Garrett]

4 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

A quote from Tuchel,

"I haven't seen the data yet but I think..."

He's another spreadshit manager.

From an analysis by Paul Hirst of The Times of the 37 minutes after we scored and they got their second, 

"84 O’Reilly blocks a De Paul shot and then breaks free from his position in the midfield block of four, surging forward to tackle Messi and force Argentina back into their own half. Anthony Barry, the England assistant manager, runs off the bench and yells at O’Reilly, demanding that he retreat to his defensive wing position."

Another twat out of his depth.  Tuchel is a chancer.  I would rather Eddie Howe was in charge.  Ultimately, I would love Pep.

I hope they get rid of Tuchel.  Talks a good game but he buckled under pressure.  Wouldn’t mind betting he starts to talk out of turn.  He’s got form for it.

[Roy Munson]

Dunno if it has already been said but this Argentina side are bang average. On the balance of it, England should have walked into the final but yet again we tried to defend a 1 nil lead. Get Pep in.

[Football Special]

[WinglessWonder]

Meanwhile in Dr Giovann-evil',s lair...

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

4 hours ago, Roy Munson said:

Dunno if it has already been said but this Argentina side are bang average. On the balance of it, England should have walked into the final but yet again we tried to defend a 1 nil lead. Get Pep in.

It's been said. In fact, I've probably said it. On balance, we were probably favourites and probably should have beat them on the night if we hadn't shat the bed in the last 20 minutes.

However, to say Argentina are bang average is nonsense. They're the current world cup holders and Copa America holders, now in a second successive world cup final, with some world class players, including the greatest player of all time (albeit in twilight years of his career).

Looking back, England clearly underestimated them, which was their biggest mistake. Even at half time the England assistant coach was talking about expecting England's Premier League fitness/power to shine through. It's clearly bollocks.

There's no shame in losing to Argentina. But there is major shame in the manner in which it happened.

[Sarnia Cherie]

If ever there was a pointless football match it has to be 3rd/4th place in the World Cup. 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

3 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

If ever there was a pointless football match it has to be 3rd/4th place in the World Cup. 

Nah. What about the play off semi final?

[Roy Munson]

30 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

It's been said. In fact, I've probably said it. On balance, we were probably favourites and probably should have beat them on the night if we hadn't shat the bed in the last 20 minutes.

However, to say Argentina are bang average is nonsense. They're the current world cup holders and Copa America holders, now in a second successive world cup final, with some world class players, including the greatest player of all time (albeit in twilight years of his career).

Looking back, England clearly underestimated them, which was their biggest mistake. Even at half time the England assistant coach was talking about expecting England's Premier League fitness/power to shine through. It's clearly bollocks.

There's no shame in losing to Argentina. But there is major shame in the manner in which it happened.

I get the respect for their track record, but you have to look at the actual performances in this World Cup, not just the names on the team sheet. They haven't been tearing anyone apart.

My point is that England didn't lose to a peak, unstoppable global superpower; we lost to a beatable, transitioning side because our default setting is to panic and sit back the second we get a lead. We played the badge, not the actual team in front of us. Mentally, England are weak when it comes to the crunch.

[Football Special]

32 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

If ever there was a pointless football match it has to be 3rd/4th place in the World Cup. 

I remember some of the Italia 90 (England) squad saying they hated that game

Suffer the heartbreak of a semi final defeat they just wanted to get home after that, not hang around the hotel waiting to play another game that everyone thought was pointless 

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Trump on Kane again:

Harry Kane, a very good player, a great player, maybe one of the greatest. But they had him defending? Can you believe it? Total disaster. Nobody defends like me, I can tell you. I’ve seen players, great players, and you don’t make them defend. It’s common sense. But they do it anyway, because they don’t know what they’re doing. Harry Kane, he should be scoring, scoring goals, beautiful goals.

Edited 8 hours ago by JohnnyShearer2.0
The quote is made up!

[Wade Garrett]

Just read the report on Tuchel’s news conference.  Fucking weasel.  FA need to sack this German chancer.

I reckon he’s lost the dressing room as well.  O’ Reilly actually got a bollocking in the second half for advancing into the Argie half with the ball.  He was told to get back.  That was by the Accrington Stanley guy.  Accrington fucking Stanley.

Get rid of them please.  We might not win fuck all but the least we can do is go down fighting.

You wouldn’t have seen the England sides of 90 and 96 have 12% possession and put every man behind the ball.  Fucking shite.

[AlexLaw76]

50 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Just read the report on Tuchel’s news conference.  Fucking weasel.  FA need to sack this German chancer.

I reckon he’s lost the dressing room as well.  O’ Reilly actually got a bollocking in the second half for advancing into the Argie half with the ball.  He was told to get back.  That was by the Accrington Stanley guy.  Accrington fucking Stanley.

Get rid of them please.  We might not win fuck all but the least we can do is go down fighting.

You wouldn’t have seen the England sides of 90 and 96 have 12% possession and put every man behind the ball.  Fucking shite.

He is a massive hypocrite. Needs to be replaced ASAP

[badgerx16]

The White House has said that the Argies' "Malvinas..." flag was an expression of free speech. What if it had said "Trump is a cunt" ?

Edited 7 hours ago by badgerx16

[LiberalCommunist]

This isn't a where it was said issue, its a what was said rule infringement. FIFA have to take action as there's already multiple precedents and punishments for this breech. 

Trump, shut the fuck up for once you utter moron. 

 

[rallyboy]

Is everyone as excited as I am for the third place play-off?

I can't wait for the countdown to start like I'm prompting a slow toddler to blow out his candles, this is going to be epic.

I've ordered a half-and-half scarf online, I've charged myself $150 to park outside, I've got my FIFA officially sanctioned bucket of Coca-Cola ready for the end of the first quarter and I'm going to make sure that I fuck off at halftime and wander back in whenever I fancy.

Hopefully England medal today - but whatever happens, soccer will be the winner!

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

19 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

Is everyone as excited as I am for the third place play-off?

I can't wait for the countdown to start like I'm prompting a slow toddler to blow out his candles, this is going to be epic.

I've ordered a half-and-half scarf online, I've charged myself $150 to park outside, I've got my FIFA officially sanctioned bucket of Coca-Cola ready for the end of the first quarter and I'm going to make sure that I fuck off at halftime and wander back in whenever I fancy.

Hopefully England medal today - but whatever happens, soccer will be the winner!

 

The only way I seem to be able to contain my excitement is by faking complete apathy. It's great that crooked FIFA emulates another bunch of crooks in the Olympics committee, by thinking a bronze medal approach is meaningful.

[LiberalCommunist]

We have two players on 6 goals, still with a chance of the golden boot.

We have a manager that people have seemingly lost faith in.

We have a chance to finish third in the largest world cup ever held. 

Nothing to play for, really?

 

[whelk]

20 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

We have two players on 6 goals, still with a chance of the golden boot.

We have a manager that people have seemingly lost faith in.

We have a chance to finish third in the largest world cup ever held. 

Nothing to play for, really?

 

Yeah really. 

[Whitey Grandad]

Je m'en fous

[ChristopheVAFC]

Friends, let me assure you: here in France, we don't really want to play this match either. In fact, we wonder why FIFA keeps a game that serves little purpose other than handing out a consolation prize...

But tonight marks Didier Deschamps' final match at the helm of the French national team after 14 years; the players will want to put in a good performance for him. His successor will be named next week, and it will be Zinédine Zidane.

I’ll be watching this match, which holds special significance for me; there has always been a rich history between our two nations.

No matter who wins tonight, unfortunately, they won't be World Champion...

Enjoy the match, friends!

[Whitey Grandad]

5 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Friends, let me assure you: here in France, we don't really want to play this match either. In fact, we wonder why FIFA keeps a game that serves little purpose other than handing out a consolation prize...

But tonight marks Didier Deschamps' final match at the helm of the French national team after 14 years; the players will want to put in a good performance for him. His successor will be named next week, and it will be Zinédine Zidane.

I’ll be watching this match, which holds special significance for me; there has always been a rich history between our two nations.

No matter who wins tonight, unfortunately, they won't be World Champion...

Enjoy the match, friends!

Indeed Christophe.

We can only hope that football will be the winner.

[Weston Super Saint]

56 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Indeed Christophe.

We can only hope that football will be the winner.

Football's always the winner.  Obviously except for those times when Soccer is the winner.