2026 World Cup Thread

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upnorthkid said:
Seeing all the people having their mind blown by American excess (food drink etc etc) has been entertaining but also a little gross that this is our current sizing and style of eating for a lot of people lol
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Exactly why our nation is obese
 

My buddy is in Boston for the Norway/France match. Only reason I’m watching. It’s a good one so far as France is up 2-1 in first half
 

TRF Guy said:
My buddy is in Boston for the Norway/France match. Only reason I’m watching. It’s a good one so far as France is up 2-1 in first half
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Don’t see how one could pick against France to win it all. Just so many ways they can beat you
 



My buddy is in Boston for the Norway/France match. Only reason I’m watching. It’s a good one so far as France is up 2-1 in first hal
upnorthkid said:
Don’t see how one could pick against France to win it all. Just so many ways they can beat you
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my buddy put a big wager on them to win it all
 


Looking like an absolute cake walk to the final 8 for Argentina. Which I suppose is fine considering they're the champs and number one in the world.
 

Austria scores on the last play of the first round to tie Algeria, and with that goal they advance to the next round, bumping Iran out of the WC. The goal happened 6 minutes into what was originally supposed to be a 4 minute OT. Had Algeria won, the Austria would have been eliminated instead of Iran.
 






TRF Guy said:
For sure and the many fast food choices out there
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Cell phones, video games, social media and "sensitivity" have all destroyed the youth of this country physically and mentally. I'm not sure it's reversible but I'm sure glad we grew up in the 70s and 80s.
 



For people who are new to the game, for all the next rounds, it's single elimination. Win, you play on; lose, you go home. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, then they play an additional 30 minutes (two 15-minute periods). It's not the first to score like in hockey; it's a full 30 minutes. If it's still tied after that, then you go to PK shootouts. Each team takes 5 penalty kicks, alternating turns. If it's still tied after five, then each team gets another PK until the tie is broken. Also, each PK has to be taken by a different player - the same player can't take multiple PKs in the shootout (unless it goes past 11 rounds of PKs...).

 

Bosnia is almost a can't lose.

Then what about Belgum? Top of their group, but it was two draws (Iran and Egypt) and a win against the bottom team (New Zealand)

After that, making it to the Elite Eight is huge in of itself, but we would likely face Spain or Portugal?
 

GopherGrit said:
Bosnia is almost a can't lose.

Then what about Belgum? Top of their group, but it was two draws (Iran and Egypt) and a win against the bottom team (New Zealand)

After that, making it to the Elite Eight is huge in of itself, but we would likely face Spain or Portugal?
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Bosnia beat Italy to get into the WC so they're got talent, but yes, for the first time ever we're favored to win in a knock-out round game. Belgium has been a big disappointment in the WC, they were predicted to be much better than they have been playing - they're "golden generation" is getting old. My prediction is we win against both Bosnia and then Belgium, but lose to Spain in the round of eight. France beats Argentina in the final game.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
Bosnia beat Italy to get into the WC so they're got talent, but yes, for the first time ever we're favored to win in a knock-out round game. Belgium has been a big disappointment in the WC, they were predicted to be much better than they have been playing - they're "golden generation" is getting old. My prediction is we win against both Bosnia and then Belgium, but lose to Spain in the round of eight. France beats Argentina in the final game.
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Their golden generation is past. Very different team with only a few of those golden guys left.

Provided they beat Bosnia, which they absolutely should, they will need to show a different style vs Belgium. If we go attack heavy as we have to this point, Belgium can kill you on the counter, but have looked pretty meh against better organized teams.

Course all dependent on Belgium beating Senegal. There are only a few relative “layups” and that definitely isn’t one of them. Part of the whole looking ahead is that it’s a low scoring game so dogs are always live
 

Watching Canada, I am incredibly happy the us kicked Marsch to the curb
 



For me not being a big soccer fan I’m really enjoying it this time around. That was one hell of a match
 


Ope3 said:
How much of that is due to increasing the field from 32 to 48 as well as doubling the knockout round from 16 to 32?

2022 World Cup = 64 matches
2026 World Cup = 104 matches
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Math🤷‍♂️
 

Ope3 said:
How much of that is due to increasing the field from 32 to 48 as well as doubling the knockout round from 16 to 32?

2022 World Cup = 64 matches
2026 World Cup = 104 matches
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Count it up pretty much anyway you want, and the games are a blowout success. Use attendance per game, viewers per game, revenue per game, total attendees, total revenue, etc. Whatever metric you pick, these games are a huge success. Nearly twice the number of fans, with only 1.6x the number of games and triple the revenue. It's too bad MPLS passed on being a host for the games. FIFA wanted us to be a host, and we said no. MPLS certainly could have used all the revenue that the games bring into a city.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
Count it up pretty much anyway you want, and the games are a blowout success. Use attendance per game, viewers per game, revenue per game, total attendees, total revenue, etc. Whatever metric you pick, these games are a huge success. Nearly twice the number of fans, with only 1.6x the number of games and triple the revenue. It's too bad MPLS passed on being a host for the games. FIFA wanted us to be a host, and we said no. MPLS certainly could have used all the revenue that the games bring into a city.
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Would be interesting to see the numbers adjusted for inflation. Viewership is going to be up with it being in us (us market for soccer is soft comparatively but being here helps) and we’ve never had this many teams. More teams also means more games outside of just the World Cup games too (revenue is for the whole 4 year cycle)

the NA market is the biggest spender in the world so can absolutely see why FIFA wants it here.
 

US is the richest country in the world. Look at ticket prices. It's a no brainer
 

For those of you somewhat new to soccer and it's strategy, here are some keys that I think will play out in our game vs Bosnia:
  • First off, Bosnia will start the game with the idea of playing for a tie. They want it to go to overtime PKs.
  • Bosnia will play what's called a "low block", meaning they'll pack 10 players in front of their goalie. The idea is we can never get a good shot on goal.
  • Because of that, we'll have possession (meaning the ball) for most of the game, something like 65% vs 35%. This is fine with Bosnia; that's their intent going into the game.
  • There are three main ways we'll try to break through their low-block:
    • First, Pulisic will most likely be playing on the left wing (Dest on the right). His main goal is to get to the near post (their goalie's right) with the ball so he can cross it back across in front of the net. This often results in either a U.S. player or a defensive player scoring a goal - it's sort of a "everyone crashes towards the net" deal. Bonsina of course knows this, so they'll double-team him (and to a lesser extent Dest) whenever he gets the ball on the left wing. You'll see a lot of plays we do to break that double team: a give-and-go (sort of like a pick and roll in basketball), a deep ball over the defenders, an inside-out move with our midfielders, etc. Just watch Pulisic whenever we're on the attack - he's a key player (also, note that Bosnia will hack Pulisic a lot, trying to slow him down). You'll also see Pulisic directly take on two defenders, a "split the middle" move. Pulisic is key to our offense, especially when we're playing against a low-block.
    • Second, crossing the ball in from the sides. Pulisic and Dest (on the right side) will do this when they can't dribble the ball to the low post. The idea here is to get a header towards the goal. We'll be pulling our bigs (e.g., Winston and Ream) up for these headers along with of course Folarin.
    • Third, our midfielders (Winston and Tillman) in particular) will be looking for rebounds or clearances that come out on top of the box to try a "seeing-eye" shot to score. With all the bodies, their goalie will have a tough time seeing the ball. If a shot somehow gets through all the legs, there's a decent chance of scoring.
  • Bosnia will try to score on a quick counter. When they do get control of the ball they'll start a foot race towards our goal with the hope of catching our D out of position. For example, Tim Ream, our center back (meaning main D-player) will always come up on corner kicks and many crosses into the middle, meaning he will be out of position on a Bosnian fastbreak. Again, this is done by design. Adams and Freeman will be playing back to try to stop the quick counter.
  • The other way Bosnia will try to score is on set plays, such as a corner kick or throw-in near our goalie.
  • A LOT depends on who scores first. If we do, then Bosnia will have to change their formation and become far more offense-minded. This isn't their forte, so our scoring first is huge in this game. If they do score first, they'll keep their low-block formation, let us have possession, and just keep us from getting good shots on goal.
  • Keys to watch: Pulisic on the left side and the various plays we run to get him the ball in the low slot; and Bosnia's quick counter and how we defend against it.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
For those of you somewhat new to soccer and it's strategy, here are some keys that I think will play out in our game vs Bosnia:
  • First off, Bosnia will start the game with the idea of playing for a tie. They want it to go to overtime PKs.
  • Bosnia will play what's called a "low block", meaning they'll pack 10 players in front of their goalie. The idea is we can never get a good shot on goal.
  • Because of that, we'll have possession (meaning the ball) for most of the game, something like 65% vs 35%. This is fine with Bosnia; that's their intent going into the game.
  • There are three main ways we'll try to break through their low-block:
    • First, Pulisic will most likely be playing on the left wing (Dest on the right). His main goal is to get to the near post (their goalie's right) with the ball so he can cross it back across in front of the net. This often results in either a U.S. player or a defensive player scoring a goal - it's sort of a "everyone crashes towards the net" deal. Bonsina of course knows this, so they'll double-team him (and to a lesser extent Dest) whenever he gets the ball on the left wing. You'll see a lot of plays we do to break that double team: a give-and-go (sort of like a pick and roll in basketball), a deep ball over the defenders, an inside-out move with our midfielders, etc. Just watch Pulisic whenever we're on the attack - he's a key player (also, note that Bosnia will hack Pulisic a lot, trying to slow him down). You'll also see Pulisic directly take on two defenders, a "split the middle" move. Pulisic is key to our offense, especially when we're playing against a low-block.
    • Second, crossing the ball in from the sides. Pulisic and Dest (on the right side) will do this when they can't dribble the ball to the low post. The idea here is to get a header towards the goal. We'll be pulling our bigs (e.g., Winston and Ream) up for these headers along with of course Folarin.
    • Third, our midfielders (Winston and Tillman) in particular) will be looking for rebounds or clearances that come out on top of the box to try a "seeing-eye" shot to score. With all the bodies, their goalie will have a tough time seeing the ball. If a shot somehow gets through all the legs, there's a decent chance of scoring.
  • Bosnia will try to score on a quick counter. When they do get control of the ball they'll start a foot race towards our goal with the hope of catching our D out of position. For example, Tim Ream, our center back (meaning main D-player) will always come up on corner kicks and many crosses into the middle, meaning he will be out of position on a Bosnian fastbreak. Again, this is done by design. Adams and Freeman will be playing back to try to stop the quick counter.
  • The other way Bosnia will try to score is on set plays, such as a corner kick or throw-in near our goalie.
  • A LOT depends on who scores first. If we do, then Bosnia will have to change their formation and become far more offense-minded. This isn't their forte, so our scoring first is huge in this game. If they do score first, they'll keep their low-block formation, let us have possession, and just keep us from getting good shots on goal.
  • Keys to watch: Pulisic on the left side and the various plays we run to get him the ball in the low slot; and Bosnia's quick counter and how we defend against it.
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I like Ream and what he’s meant to US soccer, but it’s terrifying he’s going to be trying to stop some of these later teams with how much he’s lost in terms of pace. It works for now with our speed to help cover for him, but I will be curious to see how we match up as we move further against teams who can actually kill you on the counter like Spain, France, and to a lesser extent someone like Doku for Belgium with outlets coming from trossard and KDB
 

upnorthkid said:
I like Ream and what he’s meant to US soccer, but it’s terrifying he’s going to be trying to stop some of these later teams with how much he’s lost in terms of pace. It works for now with our speed to help cover for him, but I will be curious to see how we match up as we move further against teams who can actually kill you on the counter like Spain, France, and to a lesser extent someone like Doku for Belgium with outlets coming from trossard and KDB
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Yep, it's why Adams, Freeman and Richards are so important to us. Ream is solid on D for corner kicks and other set plays, but he's lost a step (or three) in foot speed. Watch him and Freeman when we're defending corner kicks and you'll see why he's in the starting 11.

I'm not so worried about the counter from Spain and France as I am with their quickness in front of the net. We don't have defenders other than Richards (unless you count Dest as a defender) that can match up with that ability. First, we have to get by Bosnia...
 

Just a part of what MPLS would of had to do to host the games. All told, it would have been at least a $100M cost for us to host the games, but probably would have brought in about $1B in revenue from fans. Note that FIFA gets 100% of the ticket revenue, it's not shared.
 

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