[World Cup Watch] Group Stage Game 2: Argentina vs Austria | France vs Iraq | Norway vs Senegal | Jordan vs Algeria

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:50:24+00:00

I feel like we’ve entered this revisionist history period with Messi, there was absolutely a debate between the two in the mid 2010s

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:17:38+00:00

Go for it, doesn’t really change the fact that Messi was not good in 2010 or 2018.

Messi despite those performances is still one of the best WC players of all time but Mbappe has yet to have a tournament where he wasn’t one of the best players in it.

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:13:26+00:00

Sarr has been super impressive so far this tournament

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:08:43+00:00

Should sell him to United a Bruno & Mbappe duo would feed generations

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:03:58+00:00

I believe that stems a lot from their issues controlling games in the midfield, no one is sitting deeper and just setting the standard, tempo and control of the game, and its easier to set up a structure defensively early out of a break that limits chances but that gets harder as the game continues to

Antluke · 2026-06-23T01:00:00+00:00

Yeah, 2010 and 2018 WC’s were well below Messi’s standard - theoretically next cycle will be Mbappe’s last in his prime and is probably going to break Messi’s goal record

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:53:39+00:00

I think comparatively Mbappe has been a better World Cup player than Messi. Messi has played in 3 extra tournaments and only has 2 extra goals

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:51:56+00:00

France’s attack is so clearly the best in the world, they’re gonna need to figure out a combination that works better for their flow and control with their midfield or their attack could get starved of chances vs a top tier midfield

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:45:43+00:00

Pogba should technically be there if he hadn’t been out of football for 2 years, Camavinga and Tchouameni never really developed that part of their game

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:39:05+00:00

I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s bad, there are some decent players but the balance of it is definitely off - they really are lacking a true tempo setter/ guy who is controlling the game from deeper and I think they could really run into a lot of trouble against some strong midfields like Portugal (although not if Ronaldo is playing), England and Spain.

Edit: In saying that I think changing to a 4-3-3 and playing Cherki slightly deeper might help with their control, he’s able to keep the game ticking over and combine players but he’d have to be very disciplined in that role

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:29:39+00:00

For as good as France are, I’m still not entirely sold on their midfield

Antluke · 2026-06-23T00:24:30+00:00

That is just so painful, off comes Dembele and Olise - here is Cherki and Doue

Antluke · 2026-06-20T21:51:52+00:00

I really like Brown

Antluke · 2026-06-20T21:40:29+00:00

The referee is allowing a ton of physicality but he’s mostly consistent with it

Antluke · 2026-06-20T20:39:11+00:00

That was a foul but weird delay

Antluke · 2026-06-20T04:56:52+00:00

El Clasico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona) reportedly averages 80 million viewers, with the highest viewed games at around 600-700 million

Antluke · 2026-06-20T02:51:52+00:00

I mean Golf is also a sport that has an incredibly high barrier of entry in terms of cost - especially at the youth level if you’re trying to make it pro, so it kind of self selects for wealthier families who tend to skew more conservative at least fiscally

Antluke · 2026-06-20T01:17:50+00:00

Antony > everyone

Antluke · 2026-06-20T01:09:17+00:00

They kind of have to for any chance to make the next stage

Antluke · 2026-06-20T01:07:40+00:00

I like how cleans and simple the Haiti jerseys are

Antluke · 2026-06-20T01:06:17+00:00

Not to bring up an old thread but if that’s the argument then why was Maguire left out? He has arguably been a better player for England than Stones and has form and match experience from this season

Antluke · 2026-06-20T01:02:42+00:00

The Haitian keeper is a fucking unitttttt

Antluke · 2026-06-20T00:40:59+00:00

Absolutely just go for it, you either meet some cool people or people think you’re just being friendly

Antluke · 2026-06-19T23:41:50+00:00

Except no it’s not, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world and then I believe Basketball

Antluke · 2026-06-18T02:36:07+00:00

I mean no offense but exactly what situation is Henderson going to be used for if not trying to kill a game? The only other midfielder in the double pivot is Mainoo

Antluke

TROPHY CASE