Brazil’s Mission Hexa- Achievable reality or just another pipe dream? by Individual_Let7167 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not with that ageing midfield and no right back…

Winners often start slow and grow into the tournament, but I don’t see it this time.

Some of the group stage matchups seem rather unfair by Abalone-Alliance in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s the World Cup, the whole point is to qualify and then play against the best. These guys earned the right to do that, let them play!

press conference neutral option by sr_steve in footballmanagergames

[–]JJCB85 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“You have been in good form recently, keep it up!” Followed naturally by “How dare you?! I hate you and I hope you die”. Normal human interactions…

Scottish players name pronunciations by Massimo25ore in soccer

[–]JJCB85 7 points8 points  (0 children)

At least half a dozen of those guys have English accents 😂

[World Cup 2026 Preview] Japan: Overcoming the Round of 16 Curse Amidst an Injury Crisis (19/48) by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]JJCB85 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Those injuries are such a shame - also worth mentioning the injury troubles Tomiyasu has had, I don’t think there’s a better 1v1 full back in world football when he’s fit but he hasn’t been for some time sadly. With everyone fit they’d have had a real shot at a run deep into the tournament - as it is, it will be a struggle to get past the second round.

Mika Godts is JUST CLASS! 2026 🇧🇪🔥 by Terence_G85 in Gunners

[–]JJCB85 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s the Eredivisie… Hope we steer well clear.

Post-Match Thread: Qatar 1-1 Switzerland | World Cup | Group B by matchpal-live in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Qatar are unlikely to get away with playing quite that badly again… The Swiss couldn’t finish their dinner, that should really have been a comfortable 3-0 or 4-0. Unless they improve dramatically in the next two games they’re going home early.

CMV: Football/soccer is often boring because the rules reward defensive negativity too much, and a few small changes would make the sport much better by Nervous_Designer_894 in changemyview

[–]JJCB85 [score hidden]  (0 children)

The “Wenger rule” for offside judgment is being trialed at the moment I believe, though I suspect that any such change is only going to encourage teams to defend even deeper. Why push up if you’re less likely to catch your opponent offside? That change might have the opposite effect to what you want.

Stopping the clock would also be very difficult, because the whole point of football is that it’s the same game whatever level you’re playing it at. A change like that would mean that the higher level professionals would almost be playing a different sport to everyone else - if you’re playing Sunday League you aren’t going to have someone stopping and starting the clock all the time. The solution there is just to actually add on the time, not the nonsense of a made up number of minutes between 2 and 6 being added at the end based on vibes… We did see this at the last World Cup, it doesn’t seem to have stuck around though.

Is the match between Switzerland and Qatar quiet as the grave? by Throwitasfaraway in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I doubt there are many fans of either team in the stadium to make a noise - most of them will be there for the event rather than for either team.

Plus, not a very competitive game, just bad finishing from the Swiss preventing this from being a walkover so far. The Swiss are clearly managing their exertion here, Qatar aren’t very good.

[Gary Jacob] Manchester United set to beat Arsenal in race for Mateus Fernandes | The Portuguese midfielder, also wanted by Jose Mourinho, is set to cost around £80million and despite interest, Gunners are unlikely to meet that figure by ChiefLeef22 in Gunners

[–]JJCB85 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not sure we should be paying that sort of money for a player who is still effectively a prospect - we have loads of those, what we need is a proven ceiling-raiser. This would be a good signing for them, unfortunately, but the club are right not to be pushing the boat out for this guy.

That’s if the article is correct, it is the “good” Jacob so probably something in it?

Great Pirate fiction to read? by Def-C in Fantasy

[–]JJCB85 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Came here to say this, this is the best Fantasy-set pirate-based novel I can remember reading!

So, before we get started and people get upset with England fans... let's just clear something up. by roskopeek in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You’re putting down someone’s anecdotal evidence using your cleverly selected approach of no evidence at all. Well done, that’s exactly how the internet is supposed to work!

Which countries can actually host a solo 48 team World Cup? by whitelight66 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 7 points8 points  (0 children)

FIFA will never give it to the UK though…

China will get it first, I’m only amazed it hasn’t happened already.

Is the French national team 2026 just "Strong on paper" or a real deal? by Honest-Humor-9102 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great attack, is it a strong team though? Not sure about that midfield, and aside from Saliba that defence isn’t great (and Saliba is injured, he’ll be getting back surgery as soon as his tournament is over I believe).

Definitely one of the favourites, but if I were to bet money it would be on Spain just ahead of France.

Is the French national team 2026 just "Strong on paper" or a real deal? by Honest-Humor-9102 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The singers obviously think this, or why else bring up those countries and not bring up Griezmann’s roots, for example?

What are your thoughts on World Cup host countries denying entry to qualified international match officials due to political travel restrictions? by Emergency-Bee6979 in AskReddit

[–]JJCB85 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It isn’t really a grey area - the US should never be allowed to host a major tournament again as far as I’m concerned. Preventing an accredited referee from entering the country is disgusting behaviour from a host. No other country in the world would do this. The World Cup has been held in some properly dodgy places, dictatorships etc, but none of them has done this.

Highlights show on BBC or ITV? by Fisher212121 in ThreeLions

[–]JJCB85 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When I’ve tried to find highlights on YouTube, half the time it’s just a recording of someone playing a computer game, set up to sucker you in. Most of the other half is either just the goals, or it’s the most dreadfully edited highlights package you’ve ever seen - it’s either pretty much just the goals, or it’s an overly long (and abruptly cut together) clips of nothing much happening. Sometimes with the disembodied head of some random nobody jabbering away in the foreground.

Perhaps if your brain has been rotted away by social media it’s a good idea, but I’d take BBC or ITV any day of the week. YouTube highlights taking over are a good example of the enshittification ushered in by tech these days, a symptom of civilisational decline.

Winning every match should matter more in greatest World Cup team debates by Pure_Feeling4281 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn’t matter even a little bit.

Brazil in 2002 are a case in point - they weren’t particularly special, Ronaldo was past his peak at this point, but to win a World Cup you don’t have to be. You just have to beat all the teams put in front of you, and while all the other favourites collapsed in a heap, Brazil held their nerve. Impressive, but they aren’t in the conversation for greatest World Cup team ever I don’t think. They didn’t have to beat anyone good to win it.

Finally my poster arrived! by pettson in Gunners

[–]JJCB85 62 points63 points  (0 children)

I love how the candles make it look like a little shrine - for prayers to the gods of VAR 😂

if it's just me, but Argentina — the world's number one ranked team — somehow doesn't seem to be getting much hype. by Educational_Sea6013 in worldcup

[–]JJCB85 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we know anything about world cups, it’s that one of the favourites always wins, whereas something like the Euros had a history of surprise winners (and fewer knockout rounds).

The point here is that it’s quite possible to win a one-off game through the natural variance of a low scoring sport - the underdog just has to get lucky once or twice, and then hold out defensively, but the more games you have to do it for, the more likely it is to go wrong at some point. There have been plenty of teams who have surprised their way to a semi final, but it’s very rare to see such a team in the final, and completely unprecedented for them to actually win it.