OT: We may win the World Cup in 2026

[Erial_Lion]

Isn’t this something? We actually are debating if people pointed?

I don’t know if they did but I certainly saw the ball change direction and come straight down

I hear "it was obvious it hit something, the coach and several players pointed to it".

When it's pointed out that the coach and the players didn't actually point at it, I hear "why does it matter if anyone pointed at it".

Also, I heard "why didn't FIFA use the pulse in the ball to check with VAR". When they say they did and release the results from it, it becomes "FIFA is corrupt, it's obviously not correct or it doesn't work at that height".


Again...Honest question for those that saw it...what players pointed immediately? We have all sorts of video of the play...and the only pointing that I've seen is done after the goal is scored (just as you get pointing after every goal claiming offsides, a foul, etc...and once one player starts pointing, everyone joins in and calls for it). Do you have other angles that we haven't seen yet of this pointing (I know I've tracked the coach from the moment the ball was kicked until after the goal was scored, and he never pointed as was claimed).

 

[Caliknight]

They pointed it out. In real time

 

[RUChet]

I hear "it was obvious it hit something, the coach and several players pointed to it".

When it's pointed out that the coach and the players didn't actually point at it, I hear "why does it matter if anyone pointed at it".

Also, I heard "why didn't FIFA use the pulse in the ball to check with VAR". When they say they did and release the results from it, it becomes "FIFA is corrupt, it's obviously not correct or it doesn't work at that height".


Again...Honest question for those that saw it...what players pointed immediately? We have all sorts of video of the play...and the only pointing that I've seen is done after the goal is scored (just as you get pointing after every goal claiming offsides, a foul, etc...and once one player starts pointing, everyone joins in and calls for it). Do you have other angles that we haven't seen yet of this pointing (I know I've tracked the coach from the moment the ball was kicked until after the goal was scored, and he never pointed as was claimed).

If you read my post I said I don’t know if anyone pointed but my wife and I clearly saw the ball change direction and go from arching up to strode down

 

[Caliknight]

The expanded format and brackets turned out to be 100% meaningless. What a surprise!

Not meaningless if you are FIFA. They are cashing crazy checks. The incredible American capitalist society doesn’t agin. FIFA will break their own rules and have it back here very soon. Already the most successful WC in history by any measure possible

 

[RUChet]

Btw - what is this absurd discussion of expanding WC to 64 after 2036? WTF? How many countries will need to host that size?

It will be so easy for Teams to qualify

100% money grab without caring about the quality

March madness expanded for the same reason - $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Caliknight]

I think this is a tough take. I mean our president called FIFA about a bad call and although I’m happy in the outcome , it’s a bad look for US

Contraire. The most powerful man in the world righted a wrong. America flexing power. It’s just the way of the world. They should be glad. A lot of other countries with the power we have would have been colonizing the globe. I’m always amazed how benevolent America has been throughout history, particularly after WWll (that’s 2 not 11 in case that crazy muslim woman. From Minnesota reads the board). We easily could have taken over the planet considering we had nukes and no one else did.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Not meaningless if you are FIFA. They are cashing crazy checks. The incredible American capitalist society doesn’t agin. FIFA will break their own rules and have it back here very soon. Already the most successful WC in history by any measure possible

+1
If the WC wants to break records, keep it in the US and improve the sport so Americans are more engaged. The US market is the only one that matters!

 

[Caliknight]

+1
If the WC wants to break records, keep it in the US and improve the sport so Americans are more engaged. The US market is the only one that matters!

Yep. It’s not a truly global game until the most important country is into it.

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

Well, this thread is getting weird.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Btw - what is this absurd discussion of expanding WC to 64 after 2036? WTF? How many countries will need to host that size?

It will be so easy for Teams to qualify

100% money grab without caring about the quality

March madness expanded for the same reason - $$$$$$$$$$$$

And unfortunately, making the importance of qualifiers that much less…I fear we’ve played our last meaningful qualifier against Mexico…those games used to be awesome.

 

[RUDiddy777]

Btw - what is this absurd discussion of expanding WC to 64 after 2036? WTF? How many countries will need to host that size?

It will be so easy for Teams to qualify

100% money grab without caring about the quality

March madness expanded for the same reason - $$$$$$$$$$$$

I think 48 was actually kind of cool and made it interesting, but the quality definitely dipped on the back end. 16 more is absurd and just make the group stage a meaningless formality.

 

[RUDiddy777]

Contraire. The most powerful man in the world righted a wrong. America flexing power. It’s just the way of the world. They should be glad. A lot of other countries with the power we have would have been colonizing the globe. I’m always amazed how benevolent America has been throughout history, particularly after WWll (that’s 2 not 11 in case that crazy muslim woman. From Minnesota reads the board). We easily could have taken over the planet considering we had nukes and no one else did.

Keep the politics out of here.

 

[RUChet]

And unfortunately, making the importance of qualifiers that much less…I fear we’ve played our last meaningful qualifier against Mexico…those games used to be awesome.

Agree completely

it helps to be battle tested thru qualifiers

now Concacaf is nearly guaranteed for Mexico and us and probably Canada

It’s not good for our program imo

i’d love to see US and Canada create a North America cup where we each play home and home and then figure out final 2 to play in the championship - rotate which country hosts the final but if we host it lair be a city friendly to our team like Seattle or KC

 

[RUChet]

+1
If the WC wants to break records, keep it in the US and improve the sport so Americans are more engaged. The US market is the only one that matters!

Bad take

 

[RUChet]

Contraire. The most powerful man in the world righted a wrong. America flexing power. It’s just the way of the world. They should be glad. A lot of other countries with the power we have would have been colonizing the globe. I’m always amazed how benevolent America has been throughout history, particularly after WWll (that’s 2 not 11 in case that crazy muslim woman. From Minnesota reads the board). We easily could have taken over the planet considering we had nukes and no one else did.

Stop

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

I think 48 was actually kind of cool and made it interesting, but the quality definitely dipped on the back end. 16 more is absurd and just make the group stage a meaningless formality.

Yes it will be if the top 3 teams in each group go through. I can't see FIFA going away from the 4 team per group format though I would love for them to increase the group size but that could complicate things when you get to the final group stage game.

 

[RUPete90]

Honestly, I dislike England strongly, but I didn’t have an issue with how that goal played out. But it does speak to the purists in this thread who condescendingly lecture us about maybe, just maybe, evolving the game and opening the current rules to new interpretation. I love how they say we are new to the game or only watch a couple of games here and there when I have been following it since the 1970s.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Honestly, I dislike England strongly, but I didn’t have an issue with how that goal played out. But it does speak to the purists in this thread who condescendingly lecture us about maybe, just maybe, evolving the game and opening the current rules to new interpretation. I love how they say we are new to the game or only watch a couple of games here and there when I have been following it since the 1970s.

You are irrelevant. Soccer need to bring in new customers, especially from the US.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

 

[RUPete90]

You are irrelevant. Soccer need to bring in new customers, especially from the US.

I think you completely misread my post. I am not surprised. Also, soccer does not need to bring in new customers. The interest here and worldwide is stronger than ever. Sports marketing is about finding a niche and catering to that. Soccer does that very well. A sport doesn’t need to be dominant to be successful. If that was the case, basketball, baseball, and hockey should pack their bags because the NFL is king.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Yep. It’s not a truly global game until the most important country is into it.

While India has been making huge strides, I wouldn't say they are the most important country.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Btw - what is this absurd discussion of expanding WC to 64 after 2036? WTF? How many countries will need to host that size?

It will be so easy for Teams to qualify

100% money grab without caring about the quality

March madness expanded for the same reason - $$$$$$$$$$$$

IMO if you've gone to 48, may as well go to 64 and eliminate all third place teams from the knockout rounds.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Agree completely

it helps to be battle tested thru qualifiers

now Concacaf is nearly guaranteed for Mexico and us and probably Canada

It’s not good for our program imo

i’d love to see US and Canada create a North America cup where we each play home and home and then figure out final 2 to play in the championship - rotate which country hosts the final but if we host it lair be a city friendly to our team like Seattle or KC

We have CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League. And hopefully Copa America. Why do we need another North America cup?

Yes, it helps to be battle tested thru qualifiers IF you successfully get through them. Back in 2018 we probably would have appreciated an expanded field.

 

[Doctor Worm]

And unfortunately, making the importance of qualifiers that much less…I fear we’ve played our last meaningful qualifier against Mexico…those games used to be awesome.

But not our last meaningful GAME against Mexico. We have Gold Cup and Nations League, do they not matter?

 

[Erial_Lion]

But not our last meaningful GAME against Mexico. We have Gold Cup and Nations League, do they not matter?

They do…but playing for a trophy in Jerry World or Pheonix isn’t quite like a partisan crowd with the World Cup on the line in Columbus or Azteca. Those were always my favorite games.

 

[Caliknight]

Keep the politics out of here.

I was responding to g to someone. You should tell them first. Not really political though. Was a factual chain of events.

 

[Caliknight]

While India has been making huge strides, I wouldn't say they are the most important country.

No one thinks I was talking about about India lol. It’s a toilet bowl.

 

[RUChet]

We have CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League. And hopefully Copa America. Why do we need another North America cup?

Yes, it helps to be battle tested thru qualifiers IF you successfully get through them. Back in 2018 we probably would have appreciated an expanded field.

Nations league sucks - most games against weak teams

Gold cup the same and we rarely send our best

Just USA, Mexico and Canada would mean every game is good

huge difference !

 

[RUChet]

We have CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League. And hopefully Copa America. Why do we need another North America cup?

Yes, it helps to be battle tested thru qualifiers IF you successfully get through them. Back in 2018 we probably would have appreciated an expanded field.

2018 was Anomaly

 

[Bueller]

+1
If the WC wants to break records, keep it in the US and improve the sport so Americans are more engaged. The US market is the only one that matters!

The "US market" is somewhat internationalized. My area has no Little League anymore. 4th of July parades used to be full of teams and now there are none. The "immigrants" are 3/4 of HS now and complete soccer freaks - they use any field they can find. But they are fans of foreign teams and they like club soccer more than HS because their brahs run the club teams.

The World Cup in US did help with more casual fans.. The US was doing well for awhile and Haaland is a big fan fav in US now. I've mentioned in the recent past that the many of the Zoomer-ish athletes hit different. They arent trying to be gods on My Olympus with the Nike socipathology. They like having fun and keeping things down to earth. Fernando Mendoza, Alysa Liu, Jalen Brunson and now Erling Haaland. They like success and work for it but can walk away from money/fame if need be.

 

[Caliknight]

They all want fame, adulation, and wealth as much as anyone has ever wanted it. Don’t kid yourself. Just look at social media. They are all fiends.

 

[Bueller]

They all want fame, adulation, and wealth as much as anyone has ever wanted it. Don’t kid yourself. Just look at social media. They are all fiends.

That's the thing though - Brunson took a deal 113 million less than he could have had . He wanted the Knicks to be able to get more good players around him. Looks like that worked - the added players were Mikal Bridges, an extension for OG Anunoby and a trade for Karl-Anthony Towns (who says he's willing to take a pay cut to stay with Knicks). Alysa Liu was 2X US champion (at 13 and 14) and quit for 2 years.

Its not like the people walk away from 10 mil to make 200k but the players usually didn't want to leave money and their agents would get mad, But I do see more athletes wanting to have fun and not get too serious (no Tonya Hardings). I think the lockdowns built some of these people different. All of a sudden the path was gone, the ladders were pulled and the expectation were stifled.

They were in uncharted territory and some liked it. Life was a exploration and not a road map. Liu was asked what advice she would give to a young person today and she said "learn to be alone...feel but don't dwell...and take part in everything but be owned by nothing." That's brilliant stuff for a 20 year old . All the kids could throw away their meds with that advice.

Mendoza also took a pay cut to go to Indy

'It was a huge pay cut': Fernando Mendoza prioritized development at Indiana over money elsewhere​

'It was a huge pay cut': Fernando Mendoza prioritized development at Indiana over money elsewhere

Fernando Mendoza could have gone elsewhere for more money, but chose Indiana because of their pitch to develop him to the next level.

www.on3.com

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

That's the thing though - Brunson took a deal 113 million less than he could have had . He wanted the Knicks to be able to get more good players around him. Looks like that worked - the added players were Mikal Bridges, an extension for OG Anunoby and a trade for Karl-Anthony Towns (who says he's willing to take a pay cut to stay with Knicks). Alysa Liu was 2X US champion (at 13 and 14) and quit for 2 years.

Its not like the people walk away from 10 mil to make 200k but the players usually didn't want to leave money and their agents would get mad, But I do see more athletes wanting to have fun and not get too serious (no Tonya Hardings). I think the lockdowns built some of these people different. All of a sudden the path was gone, the ladders were pulled and the expectation were stifled.

They were in uncharted territory and some liked it. Life was a exploration and not a road map. Liu was asked what advice she would give to a young person today and she said "learn to be alone...feel but don't dwell...and take part in everything but be owned by nothing." That's brilliant stuff for a 20 year old . All the kids could throw away their meds with that advice.

Mendoza also took a pay cut to go to Indy

'It was a huge pay cut': Fernando Mendoza prioritized development at Indiana over money elsewhere​

'It was a huge pay cut': Fernando Mendoza prioritized development at Indiana over money elsewhere

Fernando Mendoza could have gone elsewhere for more money, but chose Indiana because of their pitch to develop him to the next level.

www.on3.com

This isn't something new, many athletes over the years have taken less so their team could sign better players.

 

[RUChet]

The "US market" is somewhat internationalized. My area has no Little League anymore. 4th of July parades used to be full of teams and now there are none. The "immigrants" are 3/4 of HS now and complete soccer freaks - they use any field they can find. But they are fans of foreign teams and they like club soccer more than HS because their brahs run the club teams.

The World Cup in US did help with more casual fans.. The US was doing well for awhile and Haaland is a big fan fav in US now. I've mentioned in the recent past that the many of the Zoomer-ish athletes hit different. They arent trying to be gods on My Olympus with the Nike socipathology. They like having fun and keeping things down to earth. Fernando Mendoza, Alysa Liu, Jalen Brunson and now Erling Haaland. They like success and work for it but can walk away from money/fame if need be.


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You are definitely right about how NJ has changed. I think US soccer has to get these first generation Americans invested in US soccer.

ending pay for play will help

we will never be better if our team is upper middle class ish

needs to be rooted in the working class and sprinkled in with others

 

[LETSGORU91]

Ease up buddy. Even the announcers and Clattenberg are calling it harsh.

The dive was harsh. If someone flops that hard with no contact in order to draw a yellow, I have no problem with the flopper getting the card. Sucks for him to be ejected, but he should know better already carrying a yellow.

You want to see poor fan behavior. Go to the Argentina England game. They both make Philly fans look classy.

From what I hear, fan behavior has been good, at least at Met Life. As the stakes get higher, maybe it will get more tense?

Isn’t this something? We actually are debating if people pointed?

Debating even though video shows they were pointing up (which was probably after the goal). But what player is going to stop and point while the ball is moving towards their goal?

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

The dive was harsh. If someone flops that hard with no contact in order to draw a yellow, I have no problem with the flopper getting the card. Sucks for him to be ejected, but he should know better already carrying a yellow.

From what I hear, fan behavior has been good, at least at Met Life. As the stakes get higher, maybe it will get more tense?

Debating even though video shows they were pointing up (which was probably after the goal). But what player is going to stop and point while the ball is moving towards their goal?

First time anyone pointed was the goalie after the goal was scored. We have no way of knowing if he was being truthful or trying to pull a fast on to have the goal disallowed.

I also saw on social media a report that the Swiss player still doesn’t understand why he got the 2nd yellow card. He was claiming the ref should not have issued it to the Argentinian player in the first place. So he’s not taking responsibility for his actions.

 

[RUChet]

Can we revise the title of this thread to

“Will the US ever win the World Cup?”

I don’t think we will unless we host again, get a good draw, and there are some upsets

Korea was 2 wins away from Winning when they hosted

 

[Caliknight]

We will host as fast as humanely possible. The amount of money FIFA is raking off of the games in America, and all the incredible infrastructure already built, is staggering. Throw in making the games four quarters and the ad dollars that come with it, and the only answer is how fast can they get back. The most successful WC by any measure in history. Really, they should just host it here every time.

 

[RUChet]

We will host as fast as humanely possible. The amount of money FIFA is raking off of the games in America, and all the incredible infrastructure already built, is staggering. Throw in making the games four quarters and the ad dollars that come with it, and the only answer is how fast can they get back. The most successful WC by any measure in history. Really, they should just host it here every time.

Hydration breaks were stupid IMO

another money grab - can’t do it ever again

2030 is in Europe and South America

2034 in Saudi Arabia

guessing 2038 will be somewhere far east asia , 2042 South America and 2046 in US/Canada/mexico again at the earliest

Tim Ream may still be out CB

b

 

[Caliknight]

No way they wait that long to come back. FIFA loves one thing more than anything. Money. And America is the holy grail.