World Cup 2026
- Thread starter jamesdeluxe
- Start date
That was the best moment of an otherwise snoozy match -- Zlatan Ibrahimović joked repeatedly afterward about falling asleep -- and yet another instance of a very nitpicky offside (see VAR graphic below) killing a well executed play.
Patrick
Well-known member
There were many scoring opportunities with awesome goaltending on both sides.
Now for boring, the first 70min of the current Argentina-Austria is.
As I was saying:
Here are a couple more important ones that will horrify futbol traditionalists:
Here are a couple more important ones that will horrify futbol traditionalists:
- While there are too many players (ten on ten not counting goalkeepers), one on-field referee isn't sufficient to make the majority of calls because he can't be everywhere. It's unconscionable how many decisions are blown or completely missed. Thankfully, there's now video review but only for the most critical calls; there are so many others that get overlooked and have a cumulative deadening effect on the action. AI should significantly augment the referee.
- Following up on the observation above about the sheer amount of pushing, shoving, holding, grabbing, and tackling -- the only penalty for all but the most flagrant fouls is a change of possession, which has zero preventive value. In addition to yellow and red cards, futbol should borrow from basketball and allow each player four fouls, after which he is ejected and can't be replaced. That would immediately end the unpalatable wrestling-match aspects.
Condolences to Bill
I sent him the same message. We are playing golf Sunday. I’ll get the full run down about the event then but I believe there were pipers and all.
Bill has played at St Andrews old course by the way.
I hope that there were enjoyable off-pitch attractions as the match itself must've been hard to watch for the Scottish contingent. 3-0 doesn't indicate how one-sided it was. Brasil is on a completely different level.
That would’ve been expected? Brazil are heavyweights I believe.
ChrisC
Well-known member
The South Americans really support the World Cup.
I looked at various locals to see a game (NYC, SF, Boston, Miami). You want to avoid anything in Miami with a South American team playing. The tickets to Brazil or Colombia were nearly $ 4k–$5k for a horrible seat.
These nations commanded a premium even for the Third Place match final that is also in Miami.
My sister-in-law, and likely my brother, are attending it.
Me: I have no desire to spend more than $100 on a World Cup match, let alone $ 1,000. I have seen Messi play for Inter Miami CF in South Florida during the MLS-winning year, and it was just OK.
I'd rather spend money on South American skiing or something else.
On the other hand, the Florida Panthers (2x Stanley Cup winners) are worthwhile games - fast, fun, small arena!
I looked at various locals to see a game (NYC, SF, Boston, Miami). You want to avoid anything in Miami with a South American team playing. The tickets to Brazil or Colombia were nearly $ 4k–$5k for a horrible seat.
These nations commanded a premium even for the Third Place match final that is also in Miami.
My sister-in-law, and likely my brother, are attending it.
Me: I have no desire to spend more than $100 on a World Cup match, let alone $ 1,000. I have seen Messi play for Inter Miami CF in South Florida during the MLS-winning year, and it was just OK.
I'd rather spend money on South American skiing or something else.
On the other hand, the Florida Panthers (2x Stanley Cup winners) are worthwhile games - fast, fun, small arena!
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Yes the pricing is mind blowing vs. 1994.
U.S./Türkiye was actually one of the more spirited matches I've watched even though, similar to Germany earlier in the day, our team had absolutely nothing to gain by winning (other than to make the home crowd happy) and could've lost a key player to an injury.
I googled "a match whose result has no importance because it cannot change the advancement or non-advancement of either team in a tournament" and the British term is a dead rubber. I guess it's a futbol variant of the U.S. sports expression "garbage time." I'm tempted to add this to my growing list of World Cup complaints!
Glass half full: at least the Turkish team could return home with something positive from its trip to the States.
I googled "a match whose result has no importance because it cannot change the advancement or non-advancement of either team in a tournament" and the British term is a dead rubber. I guess it's a futbol variant of the U.S. sports expression "garbage time." I'm tempted to add this to my growing list of World Cup complaints!
Glass half full: at least the Turkish team could return home with something positive from its trip to the States.
ChrisC
Well-known member
ChrisC
Well-known member
World Cup Soccer is the perfect second-screen sport - just keep it on in the background. Only takes a few minutes to rewatch highlights of anything you missed.
Everyone seems to have it phone/another screen.
Similar to streaming:
"Second screen writing" is a content strategy where Netflix designs scripts to be easily understood by distracted viewers who are simultaneously using their smartphones or laptops. It optimizes storytelling for fragmented attention by prioritizing audio clarity, repetitive exposition, and visual simplicity over subtle or complex filmmaking.
www.nytimes.com
Everyone seems to have it phone/another screen.
Similar to streaming:
"Second screen writing" is a content strategy where Netflix designs scripts to be easily understood by distracted viewers who are simultaneously using their smartphones or laptops. It optimizes storytelling for fragmented attention by prioritizing audio clarity, repetitive exposition, and visual simplicity over subtle or complex filmmaking.
Can’t Stop Second-Screening? Netflix Is Counting on It.
A new game featuring the voices of Zoë Kravitz and Sadie Sink turns a user’s phone into a controller in an attempt to combine the first and second screen experience.
www.nytimes.com
That's exactly what I do. I have it on in the background while studying Italian and move my gaze to the TV when the announcers' voices sound more excited. As a casual futbol viewer, I can avoid the mindnumbing back and forth in the midfield.
That's what I've been doing as I sit at the computer wrapping up final details of last ski season.
I gave full attention to the US - Australia game. Continuously watching gave me a good understanding how well the US played the first half of that game.
The stoppage time of tonight's Egypt - Iran game was action packed. If James watched it he must have gone apoplectic over the ticky tack offside call reversing Iran's potentially tiebreaking goal. I get the rule in open field breakaway situations. But ones like this where everyone is clogging the penalty box for a set piece.....
Exactly. Fraser and I have disagreed about this issue but as a futbol purist he refuses to concede the point, saying that you can't apply it in one situation and disregard it in another. I said au contraire -- look at ice hockey, where the offside is called at the blue line, not inside the zone near the goal.
Here's the FIFA explanation. So easy to understand!
Thanks for the explanation. I see a simple modification. The current rule says "second to last defender," because the objective is to prevent a cheap one on one breakaway vs. the goalkeeper. IMHO the rule should be "last defender who is not the goalkeeper," which in my ignorance is what I thought the rule was. James, you might want to run that by Fraser. I like James' suggestion too.
Agreed as an adjustment to the current FIFA format; however, if we were to start from scratch, I'd:
- Add a blue line to avoid cheap breakaways
- Borrow from hockey again and create a futbol version of the goaltender crease (the area in blue below) where the offensive player(s) can't enter unless the ball is already there. That would address the preposterous "offside toe" issue that ruined the Iran match and eliminate cherry picking.
I shared several of my bulleted rule-change recommendations upthread and I think he put me on ignore.
To show that this isn't an a U.S.-vs.-the-rest-of-the-world thing, I also have ideas on how to scrap our asinine electoral college!