FIFA World Cup 2026

bremsstrahlung said:
Absolutely!
One of the best so far. Full of drama. England did well to kill that game. Didn’t get roped into too many games in the end.

Bellingham picking up a silly yellow. Misses the quarters now.
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Bellingham didn’t get booked. It was Henderson in the side line.

What a game! It was on at ridiculous o’clock over here so thought I would just watch the highlights in the morning. Woke up at 3:30 and thought I would check the FT score before dropping back off. With te storm delays, I ended up watching the backs to the wall performance from 70 mins until the final whistle. Incredibly surprised we didn’t let one in at the end. Was fully expected another inglorious exit on penalties.
 
Thieves Like Us said:
Bellingham didn’t get booked. It was Henderson in the side line.

What a game! It was on at ridiculous o’clock over here so thought I would just watch the highlights in the morning. Woke up at 3:30 and thought I would check the FT score before dropping back off. With te storm delays, I ended up watching the backs to the wall performance from 70 mins until the final whistle. Incredibly surprised we didn’t let one in at the end. Was fully expected another inglorious exit on penalties.
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Right you are!

I though Bellingham got booked, and assumed Henderson also got booked for giving he ref a gob full after.

Must’ve misheard the commentary. Carry on. It’s coming home!
What a 2 minutes for him.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
Right you are!

I though Bellingham got booked, and assumed Henderson also got booked for giving he ref a gob full after.

Must’ve misheard the commentary. Carry on. It’s coming home!
What a 2 minutes for him.
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No worries! Crazy game, even the commentators got confused at one point.

It would be very English to go out against Norway on Saturday in a bludger of a game….
 
Balogun had his red card overturned after Trump made that call; he has birthright citizenship, which Trump, the American Hanson (ie racist grifter), has been trying to end. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

I also like the way, when the Socceroos landed and were questioned on it, Mabil described Pauline's "monoculture" as...."Bullsh!t". 100%.

'"When somebody tried to divide people based on certain things, because you don't pick where you're born, the colour of your skin," he said.

"You pick to be a good human being, yes, that's a choice."'

Immigrants getting the job done.
 
Thieves Like Us said:
Bellingham didn’t get booked. It was Henderson in the side line.

What a game! It was on at ridiculous o’clock over here so thought I would just watch the highlights in the morning. Woke up at 3:30 and thought I would check the FT score before dropping back off. With te storm delays, I ended up watching the backs to the wall performance from 70 mins until the final whistle. Incredibly surprised we didn’t let one in at the end. Was fully expected another inglorious exit on penalties.
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I was travelling home from Mudgee to Sydney after a quick break in the country with family. Stopped in a little pub in Rydestone and watched the game with all my family, log fire and beer. I couldn’t breathe for the final 45 mins. Watching the highlights now with a calm head!

France are still specials and Norway are no mugs! But this was an all time performance by England. Overcome huge adversity, brilliant defending in a hostile atmosphere that 99% of athletes will never experience close to! So proud of them.
 
Well, I accidentally put the mock on Mexico and Norway today so just let me know who you want me to point the bone at.
 
Seano said:
Well, I accidentally put the mock on Mexico and Norway today so just let me know who you want me to point the bone at.
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Well one lost and one won. So maybe send your Mexico powers to Norway and your Norway powers to Morocco!

It’s my 13 year wedding anniversary on Sunday. I have asked my wife for an England victory in the morning and a Knights victory before dinner. Not much to ask for.
 
The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd said:
Bellingham, Gordon, the keeper Pickford were enormous. All of the players can hold their heads high except the numpty who almost broke the mini Mexicans ankle! Horrible challenge.
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I thought Quansah was a bit unlucky with that challenge. It was reckless but his foot bounced over the ball. If he clearly connects with the ball and then follows through it’s a great challenge. Hope James is fit for the next round, we have run out of right backs. A certain Mr Alexander-Arnold would be quite handy to have around at the minute.
 
Thieves Like Us said:
I thought Quansah was a bit unlucky with that challenge. It was reckless but his foot bounced over the ball. If he clearly connects with the ball and then follows through it’s a great challenge. Hope James is fit for the next round, we have run out of right backs. A certain Mr Alexander-Arnold would be quite handy to have around at the minute.
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I thought the same initially. But the replays are bad for him. High studs with a trailing second leg too. Clearly not intentional, but reckless and could’ve broke the geezer’s leg. I can see him getting more than the standard ban. Which will actually help England because I don’t think he’s at the right level for this deep in the tournament (and was clearly never supposed to get this many minutes).

And then there is James. England’s best RB when fit. But sadly, never ever fit. Mental TAA left at home.
 
The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd said:
I thought the same initially. But the replays are bad for him. High studs with a trailing second leg too. Clearly not intentional, but reckless and could’ve broke the geezer’s leg. I can see him getting more than the standard ban. Which will actually help England because I don’t think he’s at the right level for this deep in the tournament (and was clearly never supposed to get this many minutes).

And then there is James. England’s best RB when fit. But sadly, never ever fit. Mental TAA left at home.
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Replays never help, especially slow-mo ones.

You are probably right about his ability to be first choice at the business end of the tournament. He is a centre back by trade. When he played at RB for Liverpool he struggled.

Crazy to think that only a few years ago we had Kyle Walker, Reece James, Kieran Trippier, Trent and probably a few others all competing for that spot.
 
Think the way he slid/jumped into the tackle was not ideal. I don’t think he had much control over it. Which is why it unfolded the way it did.

Unlucky he bounced off the ball to make it worse, but still high enough initially to bounce over the ball.

When it comes to VAR interventions, think this was one of the more straightforward ones.
Some of these penalties getting given are questionable at best.

I’m not usually much of a conspiracy theorist, but there’s been a few that have made me wonder…

Think Faghani the Australian referee in charge of England V Mexico yesterday did a pretty good job in such a high stakes, hostile game. That game was at absolute boiling point multiple times.


Also, little off topic, but football has a big problem with referee abuse especially at a local level, and we see why when the biggest event is full of players crowding, touching, pushing, pleading, deceiving the referee.

Big ups for changing a few of the rules to minimise time wasting. Players are less likely to stay down “injured” because they have to leave the field for a minute if they seek treatment.
 
Seano said:
What's that saying? Everything Trump Touches Dies? lol

As an Everton supporter very happy to see former toffee Lukaku put the icing on the cake for Belgium. Better side won.

America's great performance in this tournament is now completely overshadowed by the orange narcissist in the White House.
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Did you know Lukaku is the second highest international goal scorer in Europe ever…..and the fourth across the globe!! 😳
 
Defence wins games said:
The world game has taken an enormous hit to its integrity and credibility over the Trump rubbish. It seems everything he touches turns to ****e, again.
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I’m hopeful one day soon we see some very interesting documentaries coming out, particularly involving the World Cup, the Peace Prize and this incident. (I suspect we will see alot of other Trump focussed docos come out…)

I found the whole presser where he talks about it, pretty funny. You just have to laugh sometimes.

‘What a match (England v Mexico), so exciting, two great teams. I don’t know any of the players. Oh, I Know Kane, I played golf with him.’

‘I love sport, I used to be athletic, I know the rules very well. That was not a red card. That was not an infraction. I watch alot of sport to know that. I didnt know what a red card was. It’s one thing to penalise a player during the game, but to penalise them for a game they haven’t even played yet..? Totally unfair.’

‘He didn’t punch somebody in the face. If you are to keep the best player out of the game…if you take out Messi, you take out Ronaldo or Kane for hitting somebody too hard… you can’t do that. It would be a stain on the game.’

‘The referee has a questionable past*. Look him up. The referee’s decision is wrong. A red card, that’s very wrong. That’s a lot of power for one person**. And then I looked at his past and…not great.’

‘Gianni’s stock has gone through the roof. Best players have to be on the field’

* in 2023 was accused of corruption - by a club owner of a losing team, for handing out irregular red cards. Investigation from Brazil football and FIFA cleared him.
Particularly funny because the official Felix Zwayer, who reffed Aus vs USA was actually convicted of match fixing, and again called out in 2021.

** ironic.



You know what. No problem with him asking. But FIFA should’ve showed some integrity there and enforced the laws of the game and tournament. UEFA are pissed and coming for FIFA now. The fact it is a probationary sentence - another red card and you serve the week ban in addition to new suspension. It wasn’t like the red card was completely overturned.

Makes the Belgium win so much sweeter. Great to see them celebrate with some nods to drama. The “trump” dance at the end was amusing.
 
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