2026 World Cup thread

[Sam Mills 51]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

**** you Trump. Again.

Yeah. Does he want credit for a 4-1 trouncing?

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I hate soccer analytics.

Yeah he looked like ass, but with him on the field the us still got better looks and had better pressure. Is that correlation with our causation? Yeah, probably. But a guy can look terrible and still have to be paid attention to. But he gets hurt and suddenly the US is in disarray. Like Donovan said, Pulisic did more harm by trying to gut it out. And then the keeper brain farts and the team quits. There were a couple of chances from guys who tried to be heroes, but the team was done. And it was the time Pulisic was out of the game. I’m just pointing that out. He got a 12 rating (which I’m guessing is like negative WAR?) cool. The team was still objectively worse when he left. And that’s saying something because the team was garbage.

Man, it didn’t take analytics to see Pulisic was contributing little to the effort tonight before he was injured.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

Two things can be true at the same time. Belgium was the better side and would probably win half of 10 games between the sides -- with two or three U.S. wins and the rest draws -- but the degree of the flogging was exacerbated by Belgium's ample motivation and the U.S. being the more distracted side. The Red Devils moved as though they were shot out of cannons.

On a normal day, it's 2-1, 1-0, something like that. Today, it was 4-1 and that was a flattering scoreline, with the Americans scoring only on luck.

That just seems like imposing “narrative” onto a good old fashioned ass kicking by the better team.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

We don't have a youth system designed to make kids better soccer players. We have a youth system designed to get money out of upper middle class parents ...

... and middle-class people, and working-class people, and lower-class people, and redistribute said money to the wealthiest one percent.

As long as the profit motive drives youth sports ... and medicine ... and public transportation ... we will continue to get **** results.

 

[Alma]

WOKE GOLF INSIDER ARGLE BARGLE

Heh. He is. Almost all national prestige sportswriters are. To their credit, they’re pretty transparent about it.

 

[Spartan Squad]

Man, it didn’t take analytics to see Pulisic was contributing little to the effort tonight before he was injured.

Peace, Mercutio, peace.

Let’s settle on the fact that Pulisic played like ass and things did not improve when he left.

 

[daytonadan1983]

Oh, well. The four-time Womens champions play next year. He can't screw that up
...or can he?

 

[poindexter]

Ouch. Looked like the U.S. goalie stubbed his foot off the ground as he tried to clear it. Belgium gets a gift goal.

Jesus, that was brutal. Freese just looked like a clown.

To add a cherry to the **** sundae, Ream somehow made himself "smaller" by turning his body. Instead of just putting his body in front of the ball.
Incredible.

 

[poindexter]

They had that good push but now that Pulisic is out, there just isn’t that danger.

This.. this isn't right.

 

[poindexter]

That’s one thing that was lost in the buildup to this match. Belgium is a very good team.

Counter argument: Last round, after 80 minutes, they were down to Senegal 2-0.

 

[dixiehack]

God there would be nukes in the air if we had lost 4-1 to an African side.

 

[Roscablo]

Counter argument: Last round, after 80 minutes, they were down to Senegal 2-0.

I had a fear the good Belgium would show its face, but let's also remember they were third in their group going into the last game. They dominated New Zealand to right the ship, but they did not really have a great WC until tonight.

This wasn't the 2014 team that needed Tim Howard's saves. It was a Belgium ripe for the picking. And the U.S. puked on itself. Obviously Belgium is very good, and they beat the U.S. 5-2 in March so they clearly came back to the mean, but what the hell was the U.S. doing to get them there? Not a lot, that's for sure.

 

[micropolitan guy]

“small details of the game that got away from us.”

Like, playing defense.

 

[Spartan Squad]

This.. this isn't right.

I appreciate you summing up Inky’s points (plural) so … so succinctly.

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

He'll **** and moan about "boys in girls sports" or some such culture-war crap

Oh, well. The four-time Womens champions play next year. He can't screw that up
...or can he?

 

[Bubbler]

I want the USMNT to progress as much as anyone. In my lifetime as a soccer fan, they've made galactic strides. The team on the pitch tonight, pathetic though they played, is still massively better quality-wise than the teams of the 90s that broke through or even the 2002 quarterfinal team. (That, if we're being honest, got a pretty kind Round of 16 draw to get a familiar foe in Mexico.)

Admittedly, it has stagnated quite a bit since the 2010-14 Cup team era. We have about the same amount of European-based players as we did then playing at about the same level.

But I'm here to tell you ... this **** is hard. Progressing in the World Cup is not The Price Is Right yodeler game where you're guaranteed to just keep rising. Some nations have been on more or less the same plateau for their entire soccer-playing history and they drink, eat and sleep the game.

Some of the powerhouses have done not much better than we have. England hasn't been in a semifinal since 1990. Brazil has fallen short of winning the Cup each time since 2002. Italy has missed three straight Cups, unfathomable! Germany is in its worst-ever World Cup stretch since winning in 2014.

Spain and France, once thought of as under-achievers, finally realized their potential in the last quarter century.

And we're not the only ones trying to progress. African nations are finally maximizing their talent, Morocco being a legit threat to win the Cup, a first for an African nation. Japan continues to get better. The stable Middle Eastern countries continue to get better. If Iran could ever have any national stability, watch out. One or two of the medium-sized European nations will make their occasional glory run.

One day, China will get its **** together. So will Russia. We're not competing just against ourselves.

As Cosmo said, I don't want participation trophies either. Tonight's performance sucked and should be called out as such. We have come far enough not to be paternalistic about our results. When we suck, our players and coaches deserve the criticism for it.

But I'm also realistic about how and whether we progress. Nations playing soccer on a serious level 100 years before we did are still chasing the same dream we are after all.

 

[DanOregon]

I do wonder how much the repeal of the red card screwed with the match-prep. I don't even know if US Soccer made much of an effort to get it repealed, it was all Trump.
Not saying the US has hit its ceiling in soccer, but there will always be a dozen or more countries where people are more passionate about the game and develop players better than the US does.
You see where our top-end athletes go, the NFL, the NBA - I don't see that changing. I don't know if US Soccer has developed a player with the intensity/need to win in even the category of a Jordan, Kobe or Tom Brady. Someone who NEEDS the ball when the game is on the line.
The win streak made Americans think the team was better than it was because they didn't know the quality of the opposition. The two own goals by their opponents also made the US squad look better than they were.
I doubt Pochetinno is back. Don't know how we import better players, particularly with how our country views immigrants.

 

[TrooperBari]

This is not to speak ill of Bubbler's overall point, which is true and (as ever) well-said, but knowing what I do and having seen what I've seen:

One day, China will get its **** together.