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.

[duncs500]

Stressful watching England!

Trump being allowed to interfere is really shocking too, that Infantino is worse than Blatter.

[dinny_g]

I'd imagine it was... Especially the "defending for their lives" bit after the Red Card. I've a crazy busy week at work so I didn't stay up

Real shame what happened to Jordan Henderson. Leaving aside the debate as to whether he should have been in the squad, that really was horrendous luck. Probably his last game for England and definitely his last world cup match.

Brazil were terrible in the knockouts and deserved to be beaten by Norway but all in all, I think Norway is a better opponent in the 1/4 final

The highlight of the evening for me was going for a pee at about 5:30 and there were 3, obviously pissed up fans on their way home from the pub whisper singing "It's coming home" as quiet as you could get...

[ZedLeg]

Looking forward to Haaland dunking on them next weekend

[IanF]

Great game this morning.. really wish they’d sort out the game clock, à la rugby, as it has become meaningless. The 11 minutes injury time was torturous, but England played really well and I was amazed they withstood the onslaught from Mexico.

Ref was a bit strange though, letting the game flow through some questionable challenges and then running over blowing his whistle for minor, sometimes irrelevant, infractions. VAR was used too much, but then both penalty calls were correct after review (and the red card, although that may be irrelevant now - see Trump )

Didn’t see Jordan fall, but hope he’s okay. I believe he’s still in hospital

[duncs500]

Brazil QF would have been amazing just as a bit of a spectacle / history, it isn't a vintage Brazil team though. I don't really know who I'd rather play, but I like that we won't have to hear some narrative about how conditions / location suit the opposition... I'm bored of that narrative.

[duncs500]

Looking forward to Haaland dunking on them next weekend

I've seen lots of stuff about how Scottish people are going to have to take back their Mexico tops and get Norway ones now.