World Cup 2026 World Cup 2026 - USA/Mexico/Canada

[mcgameboy]

 

[sufferinsilence]

USA crumbled under the pressure, thanks Trump!

We didn't even get to field our "best" 11 due to injuries... and the free kick goal from USA was a deviation by a Belgian player. Other than that they had 1 or 2 decent chances. Balogun, well... not worth all the fuss.

 

[Nate]

USA crumbled under the pressure, thanks Trump!

We didn't even get to field our "best" 11 due to injuries... and the free kick goal from USA was a deviation by a Belgian player. Other than that they had 1 or 2 decent chances. Balogun, well... not worth all the fuss.

Trump knows the game and the rules.

Rumor has it that he contacted FIFA asking for a rematch.

 

[mcgameboy]

USA crumbled under the pressure, thanks Trump!

We didn't even get to field our "best" 11 due to injuries... and the free kick goal from USA was a deviation by a Belgian player. Other than that they had 1 or 2 decent chances. Balogun, well... not worth all the fuss.

It is him who I feel sorry for to be honest. And Pochettino for that matter.

They didn't ask for this.
They had accepted Balogun's punishment, as harsh as it was deemed to have been at the time.
This whole debacle only served to become an unwanted distraction not just to those two, but also the entire USA team.
And it showed in their performance.
They looked so far off the levels they had been at in their previous games it was like watching a different team.

All it achieved was to provide Belgium with serious motivational rocket fuel to right a wrong.
And they did so, somewhat comfortably.

Trump should have left well alone.
But because the reprehensible bald corrupt prick that is Infantino is his lapdog, he tried it on.

 

[Lemon]

The only 'big stain' on the World Cup is Trump himself. He just cannot help but stick his beak in, the fat orange RPC.

I think the award ceremony after the final is going to be TV viewing like no other. The booing from all angles is going to be something else, and he's such a self-absorbed narcissistic pr*ck that he won't see it coming.

There's a real opportunity for a footballer to make a name for himself on that night. 'Yeah I'm not shaking hands with a rapist, just put the medal around my neck, thanks. And I'm not lifting the trophy until you've left the stage - go on, off you f*ck.'

[maxd says: provided a little “think of the children” editing.]

 

[Webzcas]

Did not stay up late for the second night running to catch the Belgium game, pleasing to see the result when waking this morning though

I did however watch the Spain vs Portugal match and whilst a borefest in comparison to the Mexico vs England game hours before, I was chuffed that Spain pulled one out of the bag and won through


Congrats @pereblue

 

[Lemon]

That third goal for Belgium was a real shocker for USA. The keeper feinting on the ball when he's in no-man's land (just lump it up the pitch man!), and then Tim Ream's attempt at blocking the shot was hilarious - he may as well have just stayed still. I went to bed then, because I couldn't see Belgium blowing the lead from there.

 

[SYPlayer95]

He just cannot help but stick his beak in, the fat orange RPC.

 

[Webzcas]

Admin note. This is a Gambling Forum and this specifically a thread concerning the World Cup. Profanity and the use of offensive words are not allowed.

 

[2Slots]

Admin note. This is a Gambling Forum and this specifically a thread concerning the World Cup. Profanity and the use of offensive words are not allowed.

Did he personally ask for a review of the post too?

'I saw the post and it was just horrible, so I just gave maxd a call'

 

[2Slots]

Without the whole red card thing USA performance up until yesterday would have been viewed much more positively by fans I reckon.

They topped the group, scored 4 past Paraguay and maybe only lost to Turkey as they rested players like most teams would.

Got lucky with the last 32 draw but losing to Belgium in the last 16 isn't failure. They might even have performed a bit better without all the drama. Belgium wouldn't have had the extra motivation also.

Belgium/Spain will be very interesting, they seem to be warming up at exactly the right time and Spain seem to be playing like a more pedestrian version of France.

Somehow they look slow in attack but still cut through teams with ease and create decent chances.

 

[SYPlayer95]

Didn't realise I had Mexico in the sweepstake.

England winning was a better prize anyway!

 

[mcgameboy]

Oh my. Are we about to see a huge shock here?

Egypt have just gone 2-0 up, a few minutes after having a goal disallowed.

Cape Verde's performance against Argentina would appear to have shown everyone that the Argies
can be properly got at.

This is going to open up the bottom half of the draw massively.

 

[2Slots]

Cape Verde's performance against Argentina would appear to have shown everyone that the Argies
can be properly got at.

Even though they got there in the end and it was a great spectacle the last two Argentina performances will definitely have England/Norway thinking they are in a great position now.

I reckon both of them would be closing up shop much better than Egypt did if they go 2 up.

 

[Jono777]

Jammy bloody Argentina

Thing is it was SO PREDICTABLE

Games bent as Bonanza

 

[sufferinsilence]

It is him who I feel sorry for to be honest. And Pochettino for that matter.

They didn't ask for this.
They had accepted Balogun's punishment, as harsh as it was deemed to have been at the time.
This whole debacle only served to become an unwanted distraction not just to those two, but also the entire USA team.
And it showed in their performance.
They looked so far off the levels they had been at in their previous games it was like watching a different team.

All it achieved was to provide Belgium with serious motivational rocket fuel to right a wrong.
And they did so, somewhat comfortably.

Trump should have left well alone.
But because the reprehensible bald corrupt prick that is Infantino is his lapdog, he tried it on.

They said just after the announcement they were preparing to play the match without Balogun. I don't understand why they didn't trust Pepi as much, he scored in about 50% of his games in the Dutch competition. Not like he's a rubbish player. I think as a coach Pochettino should've protected Balogun, and not start him. He seemed shellshocked and never showed the same quality as in the previous matches.

 

[Lemon]

Apologies for the language in my post earlier. I promise to dial it back a bit from now on

 

[mcgameboy]

They said just after the announcement they were preparing to play the match without Balogun. I don't understand why they didn't trust Pepi as much, he scored in about 50% of his games in the Dutch competition. Not like he's a rubbish player. I think as a coach Pochettino should've protected Balogun, and not start him. He seemed shellshocked and never showed the same quality as in the previous matches.

Well there's a big problem with that.

That problem being the sports media and their eagerness to make a story out of this at any cost, regardless of what Poch decided, regardless of what Balogun decided and regardless of the outcome of the match itself.

Pochettino and Balogun were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't.

It's all very easy for us to act like the morality police and say coulda, woulda, shoulda.
But let's get real here.

A ruling was made. And as much as the ruling stank, Balogun is now available to play.

Poch's JOB as the head coach/manager is to pick the best 11 players available.
Can he REALLY be expected to leave his star player and top goalscorer on the bench in a knockout game?
I don't think so.

If Poch had not started Balogun, he satisfies the morality police.
But the second he puts him on, the morality police will start getting all outraged about it.

If Poch doesn't put him on at any stage and they lose say 1-0, he satisfies the morality police, but he is going to get properly HAMMERED from all corners of the media.

If Poch plays him, whether it be from from the start or as a sub, and he scores or assists the winning goal, the morality police will get the torches and pitchforks out and cry foul, shouting things like....

"cheats"
"USA beat Belgium*"
"Trump this"
"Trump that"
"FIFA this"
"FIFA that"
"FIFA stands for Fixing It For America"

blah blah blah....yada yada yada....whatever et cetera

If Balogun gets selected and refuses to play for whatever reason, he comes in for criticism.
And Poch probably also gets criticised for being a weak manager.

Trump created a NO WIN situation for the pair of them.
If he had left well alone and Balogun serves his ban, I think the USA team don't get distracted by outside events and they play well enough to win a tight game that was deemed too close to call by the bookies.

 

[Webzcas]

Caught the last 30 mins of the Egypt vs Argentina game last night. So glad I did. Gutted for Egypt, but pleased for Messi. Although he does know right that he is going home come the end of the Semi Finals?

As after all it being football is coming home!

 

[sufferinsilence]

Well there's a big problem with that.

That problem being the sports media and their eagerness to make a story out of this at any cost, regardless of what Poch decided, regardless of what Balogun decided and regardless of the outcome of the match itself.

Pochettino and Balogun were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't.

It's all very easy for us to act like the morality police and say coulda, woulda, shoulda.
But let's get real here.

A ruling was made. And as much as the ruling stank, Balogun is now available to play.

Poch's JOB as the head coach/manager is to pick the best 11 players available.
Can he REALLY be expected to leave his star player and top goalscorer on the bench in a knockout game?
I don't think so.

If Poch had not started Balogun, he satisfies the morality police.
But the second he puts him on, the morality police will start getting all outraged about it.

If Poch doesn't put him on at any stage and they lose say 1-0, he satisfies the morality police, but he is going to get properly HAMMERED from all corners of the media.

If Poch plays him, whether it be from from the start or as a sub, and he scores or assists the winning goal, the morality police will get the torches and pitchforks out and cry foul, shouting things like....

"cheats"
"USA beat Belgium*"
"Trump this"
"Trump that"
"FIFA this"
"FIFA that"
"FIFA stands for Fixing It For America"

blah blah blah....yada yada yada....whatever et cetera

If Balogun gets selected and refuses to play for whatever reason, he comes in for criticism.
And Poch probably also gets criticised for being a weak manager.

Trump created a NO WIN situation for the pair of them.
If he had left well alone and Balogun serves his ban, I think the USA team don't get distracted by outside events and they play well enough to win a tight game that was deemed too close to call by the bookies.

I get what you're saying, it was a no win situation whatever happened. It was clear from the first minute that the American team was under an impossible amount of pressure. All of a sudden their best players were unable to play football: Dest, Pulisic (who eliminated himself eventually), Balogun, McKennie and I'm probably forgetting some all play at the highest level and are used to being under pressure at their club teams.

Either way, bookies were initially right that it would've been a close contest and after the decision the odds for Belgium went significantly up so a big thanks to them I hope everyone who bets on football made money on the game.

Don't bet on us against Spain btw. This is where it ends for us I'm afraid.

 

[Guntis]

Oki-doki, so I went to just watch football and ended up drinking for nearly 20 hours, literally non-stop till they stopped serving alcohol. ... Feckin joke tbh, lol

Before getting home, jumped to Marshall Street sauna, it's a decent place from Westminster council that not many know about, to get in a steam room.

But what's best of the night is that I won quite well on roulette (from around 1K) and instead of hanging around with cash in my pockets, I asked for a bank transfer. Before coming in, I only had cash on me so in case those casino chips start looking like worthless plastic, I don't start taking money out of cards.

So as promised, let's do a number guessing game. I've just posted everything on The Remarkable CM Community Thread.

---

Argentina needs to get torn apart in the games ahead. This Egypt goal was amazing:

 

[Guntis]

Now I see the problem. Apparently, they use VAR selectively.

 

[Jono777]

No footy at all today?

Going to get withdrawal symptoms