OT: We may win the World Cup in 2026
- Thread starter brad1218
- Start date
There’s a reason Carli is there and there’s a reason Jules is there lol
(see: they’re both good at their jobs…
.)Sure is confusing that UK has 4 soccer teams in England, Scotland, NI and Wales.
Same for Rugby and Cricket and even Lacrosse.
But for Olympics, ice hockey and basketball it’s Team GB so all above except NI who competes with Ireland for those events.
Very confusing indeed!
Same for Rugby and Cricket and even Lacrosse.
But for Olympics, ice hockey and basketball it’s Team GB so all above except NI who competes with Ireland for those events.
Very confusing indeed!
5 national soccer teams - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
4 national rugby teams - England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland
3 national cricket teams - England, Scotland, Ireland
2 national Olympic teams - Great Britain, Ireland
Sorry to nitpick, but Ireland is not part of the UK.
Yet you LITERALLY included “Republic of Ireland” or “Ireland” 4 times.
With changing demographics and Catholic children outnumbering Protestant in NI, at some point they will rejoin Ireland as they should to unite the Island.
Scotland moving towards and independence referendum so UK and GB may be down to just England/Wales!!!
Australia's defense was a wall though, and they took advantage of their counters. Same happened to Spain today, only the goalie was better than the D and that late header was poorly attempted or Spain would have lost too.
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I’m well aware that the first round of group play has always produced some interesting games and even more interesting outcomes. That being said, and fully understanding there are 8 more matches in the first round of group play then in the past - with only 32 teams - I’m thinking it’s gonna be very, very interesting to breakdown the matchups based on FIFA rankings from before the tournament began, and their eventual outcomes.
The WC should always be hosted by America. Along with the Olympics. We are uniquely positioned to host these types of events with having to build little to no infrastructure. Plus we have a plethora of stadiums to blow away anything anywhere else in the world. The best thing going is Euros who have never been to America falling in love with it. It's all over social media and incredibly refreshing to see.
A world cup in 3 or 4 European countries would be great and nothing would need to be built.
Agree with the falling on love part. But don’t agree we should always host. I think more countries need to co-host and spread this around.
So today we had (FIFA rankings as of 5 days ago):
- 2 teams who have NEVER won a WC match take leads (Egypt once, New Zealand twice) to finish tied vs opponents ranked much higher ranked sides (6 v 29 and 20 v 85)
- 1 team (Saudi Arabia) take the lead to finish tied vs a much higher ranked opponent (16 v 61)
- and Spain get tied (WITHOUT SCORING A GOAL) by a side playing in their 1st WC ever in yet another match with huge ranking differentials (2 vs 62)
FIFA Men's Top 50 World Rankings: June 2026
As of early June, Argentina, Spain, France are leading the FIFA men's world rankings. Check out the rest of the top 50 breakdown now.
www.espn.com
Morocco, Portugal and Spain in 2030. Perfect.
No way. According to the late David Crabiel, “Middlesex is the greatest county on earth!”
FIFA rankings have always been bogus and biased towards European and South American teamsSo today we had (FIFA rankings as of 5 days ago):
- 2 teams who have NEVER won a WC match take leads (Egypt once, New Zealand twice) to finish tied vs opponents ranked much higher ranked sides (6 v 29 and 20 v 85)
- 1 team (Saudi Arabia) take the lead to finish tied vs a much higher ranked opponent (16 v 61)
- and Spain get tied (WITHOUT SCORING A GOAL) by a side playing in their 1st WC ever in yet another match with huge ranking differentials (2 vs 62)
FIFA Men's Top 50 World Rankings: June 2026
As of early June, Argentina, Spain, France are leading the FIFA men's world rankings. Check out the rest of the top 50 breakdown now.
No country on earth has the stadiums we have. Those Euro countries all have soccer stadiums. Cool, sure but we have more of those too.
So apparently the US now has a secret weapon on their team!
U.S. Team Now A Favorite To Win World Cup After Adding LeBron James
U.S. Team Now A Favorite To Win World Cup After Adding LeBron James
Very few care about the stadiums. Sure, nicer is better, but everyone is showing up for the world cup no matter what the venue is like. The one issue with the US is that you can be a five hour flight away from one venue to the next. Could do in Europe with never a five hour drive.
Think we are using 11 stadiums in the US w 5 others in Mexico/Canada. Japan and South Korea used something like 22 stadiums when they hosted theirs, and think Spain years ago used more also. Many countries have plenty of stadiums, they may not all be as modern, but the Scottish don't care where they are headed!
Visitors definitely care. The Euros seeing places like SoFi and Atlanta are completely blown away. I am sure the player experience, with the incredibly ample highest level training grounds we have, are as excited. I feel bad for the teams not getting the American experience. My English friends are bummed they've been banished to Mexico City.
It's how FIFA rates a win and a loss based on their biased system. Euro teams have just 2 wins so far so they haven't looked good at all for the most part.
Actually three wins - Scotland, Germany, and Sweden. Europe's cumulative record is 3-5-2 which I agree is disappointing. But it's very early.
Rutgers should have rented billboards outside the stadiums marketing this achievement. Put ads in Penn Station too. Maybe they are doing this. Once in a generation to get exposure for Rutgers and its excellent programs.
"Rutgers University - Pitch supplier to 2026 FIFA World Cup". Include a big block R. Something like that.
Billboards are not great for something like that. They should include it in their B1G TV promos during games. Would have more penetration there.