41 minutes ago, Gorth said:

@BruceVC there is an expectation associated with English teams. Rule of thumb is England invents a sport and a few years later they suck at it. Tennis, badminton, football, rugby, cricket etc

Possibly they are a world leader I’m polo but I wouldn’t bet om it 🤔

Sure but this is similar to what I mentioned to @Malcador

England invented football but they havent won in 60 years

This seems like the perfect time to get behind England in this WC, I can count on your support Gorthfuscious?

🥳🥳

12 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Im enjoying the expanded teams. It creates more global excitement and interest and it becomes more inclusive

It allows a team like Cucacoa to qualify and they have never played on the global WC stage. And as I mentioned previously they had to still qualify in there region which requires skill and commitment

I understand the criticism but I think the positive outweighs the negative?

Well certainly it works in the US where every team has its own immigrant support community, even Iran. But I'm not sure how well it will work out in terms of television audiences.

I get the impression that the European teams are having difficulty with the heat. Teams from near equatorial regions seem to operate at a much higher pace thus far. France, for example, seems to be moving sluggishly and is having trouble with the team speed from Senegal.

The pitch in this stadium looks awful

1 hour ago, rjshae said:

I get the impression that the European teams are having difficulty with the heat. Teams from near equatorial regions seem to operate at a much higher pace thus far. France, for example, seems to be moving sluggishly and is having trouble with the team speed from Senegal.

Well Olise, Barcola and Mbappe torched them enough. French defense is a joke though

3 hours ago, Malcador said:

Well Olise, Barcola and Mbappe torched them enough. French defense is a joke though

Yeah, France shifted out of fourth gear for the second half. There have been some scorching shots thus far.

21 hours ago, BruceVC said:

This seems like the perfect time to get behind England in this WC, I can count on your support Gorthfuscious?

🥳🥳

My interest in English football is probably limited to how Liverpool will fare under Iraola. I was a bit of a fan when Klopp managed them because their games were always interesting whether winning or losing 😝

Edit under Slot they went from heavy metal football to snooze ball and I lost interest 😞

I had to post this, despite how the fan was honest he couldn't speak English I thought it as brilliant. He made his point fine and it was easy to understand the overall sentiment and support for Japan

Its an example of the global reach of the WC. Ignore the negative comments, they miss the point and they condescending

Some US FIFA humor

I'm looking forward to England v. Croatia today; it's a potentially solid matchup. I guess we'll see. Congrats to the GOAT yesterday; man, Messi still (almost) plays like he's under 30. At least against Algeria.

Messi should've been sent off

But horrible refereeing all around

Edited June 17Jun 17 by HoonDing

Still laughing at Mane getting away with the tackle on Mbappe

England v Croatia was the best game so far of the WC, both teams can be proud of there performance. Where have we seen 4 goals been scored by halftime?

The 2 goals Croatia scored were very impressive and there goalkeeper needs a medal, he stopped a lot of attempts

But England deserved to win, when they got the 3rd goal early in the second half they were dominant going forward

Definitely an exciting game where both teams performed ⚽

Edited June 18Jun 18 by BruceVC

England may win only if they play Argentina

State of emergency in Boston. The city is running out of beer 😎

Are Scottish soccer fans drinking all of the beer in Boston?

The Tartan Army is drinking the place dry.

Funny, I'm still trying to get used to the word Czechia. Apparently that happened back in the last millenium, but I missed it. We're kind of insulated in the US.

Wow Qatar is trash

..and their football team isn't great either.

badum_tish.gif

Some interesting games yesterday

South Africa vs Czech 1-1. An uninspiring game from both sides but at least we get a point

Comprehensive wins for both Canada and Switzerland, Canada scoring 6 goals. Not bad

Mexico and Switzerland are the first 2 teams to qualify for the next stage

@rjshae

I see the US game was in Seattle. The vibe and excitement must have been amazing, especially after the win?

2-0 against Australia with Oz scoring an own goal but the US is through to the next stage like Mexico

Like I mentioned its always better to see hosting countries progress as far as possible

Turkey is one of those moments where you save scum in FM

The Germany vs. Ivory Coast game was fun, but unusual. Like the players were almost scattered all over the field and it was a constant back and forth.

Edited June 21Jun 21 by rjshae

Curacao standing tall, fun game that.

6 hours ago, rjshae said:

The Germany vs. Ivory Coast game was fun, but unusual. Like the players were almost scattered all over the field and it was a constant back and forth.

Great game, I underestimated how good Ivory Coast is and there goalkeeper was phenomenal

I was expecting a draw but Germany came through at the end. But both teams will progress to the next stage ⚽