World Cup 2026

[Rich B]

I've zero interest in football, and even less knowledge, so won't be watching, but I did see a snippet from the Paraguay/USA game where the diver received a yellow card for his efforts.

Given that it was blatant cheating - why wasn't it a red card?

Nobody? It was a serious question.

Because rules.

Yellow Card: According to the official FA Law 12, attempting to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (diving) to gain an unfair advantage warrants a yellow card for unsporting behavior.

Red Card: A player can only receive a red card for diving if it is their second bookable offense of the match. The referee will show a yellow card for the dive, followed immediately by a red card and a dismissal from the game.

[mik]

Thank you.

[RobYob]

Happened to be in a cafe with Canadia vs Qatar on and one of the Canadians feigned some sort of prolonged seizure after being in near proximity to another player and this is why I rarely enjoy watching Soccer.

ETA - Not the leg sweep in the 2nd half. But it'd be a lot easier to distinguish a actual foul if players weren't hurling themselves to the ground because they smelt a different kind of beer being consumed in a bar three blocks from the stadium.

[Rich B]

To be fair, i think divers should be banned from the next match too - it’s too embarrassing to watch and just makes football look stupid.

[V8Granite]

Absolute fairies

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Severity of punishment should be based on how many times they've rolled over after being "injured".

[IanF]

I was in New York for the England vs RoW game.. well that’s certainly how it felt in the pub we were in!

The Knicks celebratory parade the next day showed that Americans don’t need any opposition to start fighting amongst themselves, so I’m glad most Americans don’t follow football

[duncs500]

To be fair, i think divers should be banned from the next match too

This.

Sometimes when you're really travelling at speed you don't need much contact for it to bring you down, and also if you've dived to avoid contact (and hence don't appeal for a foul after), I'd give benefit of the doubt. But if it's absolutely a crystal clear dive, then should be a ban. It'd soon stamp the worst of it out.

[Simon]

To be fair, i think divers should be banned from the next match too - it’s too embarrassing to watch and just makes football look stupid.

I know I shouldn't have to ask, but is this AI?

[dinny_g]

Well well well...

Germany gone, the Netherlands gone and Brazil can probably count themselves lucky to have made it through against Japan.

[Simon]

Germany is a surprise but Brazil definitely upped their game and were the stronger team in the second half. Japan had a solid defence but when the first goal against them came it felt inevitable.

[GG.]

Well well well...

Germany gone, the Netherlands gone and Brazil can probably count themselves lucky to have made it through against Japan.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_ ... -2026-pick

[duncs500]

Yeah, feels like the world cup properly got going last night. I think Morocco are a very good side these days, so the Netherlands result is only a surprise based on history.

Japan started great, but in the same way as England have when scoring first they went into their shells, and it was their press that caused problems but they were always going to struggle to maintain that for 90mins. Brazil deserved it on the end but definitely not a vintage Brazil team.

Germany were probably the only real surprise but great competition in all the games.

[Delphi]

Have you heard how fucking lame the US fans' chants are? Primary school sports day stuff compared to the Brits.