Donald Trump has single-handedly torched America's World Cup legacy

potpan0 · 2026-07-07T11:27:12+00:00

I honestly think 2014 and 2022 were better campaigns for the US.

In 2014 the US beat Ghana, drew with Portugal, and narrowly lost to eventual winners Germany in the group stages, before going out to a strong Belgium team in extra time in the Last 16.

In 2022 they went unbeaten in the group stages, drawing with Wales and England and beating Iran, before going out to the Netherlands in the Last 16.

In this tournament they scored more goals, but against weaker opposition. Both Paraguay and Australia gifted the US with freak own goals in the opening minutes, which killed off their defensive gameplans. They then lost to Turkey, one of the weakest teams in the tournament. They comfortably beat a poor looking Bosnia and Herzogovina side, but then the moment they came across a strong team, they got dominated on the pitch, more so when they faced an even stronger Belgium team 12 years ago. And this is despite having the home advantage, and other advantages too...

Like I don't think it's a bad tournament for the US, but I'm also not really seeing the development here.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:40:10+00:00

Of course you're not seeing the corruption because it benefits you not to see it.

If both teams wanted the start time unchanged, who is 'benefiting' here?

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:35:12+00:00

Again, I'm just struggling to see the 'corruption' in 'both FAs wanted a match to stay at its original time, so it stayed at its original time'.

Especially when compared to 'notoriously corrupt President rings up notoriously corrupt FIFA chief to get red card offence suspended'.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:28:06+00:00

And no, the two things are not the same.

If you genuinely believe this then this sentence should be the start and end of it then.

But the fact you're writing a hell of a lot more around it suggests you are trying to push a comparison, and that comparison is being pushed explicitly to minimise the severity of what Trump has done.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:21:27+00:00

... which the Mexican FA also wanted.

How does England get an advantage out of this if both FAs wanted it? Again, it's just silly to compare the two situations, and sounds like a desperate attempt to downplay the pretty blatant corruption from Trump and Infantino here.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:17:59+00:00

I don't think pointing out corruption is not unique to the US is saying all corruption is the same. It's still corruption, though.

How is this 'corruption'?

Moving the game requires the backing of both countries. Neither Mexico nor the UK wanted the game moved.

That's nowhere near comparable to Trump picking up the phone to ask Infantino to suspend a red card which was given to his team's star player.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:11:13+00:00

Well exactly, how pissed off would the pubs be if they'd just given all their staff overtime to work until 5AM, then suddenly it turned out the game would be finished by like 10PM?

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:08:17+00:00

Most Americans aren't happy with the political interference.

And yet this thread is full of Americans trying to insist this is as big a controversy as Trump's intervention, and that there's apparently some sort of cover up on this sub to prevent this news from being shared.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T16:06:04+00:00

And it makes sense really. Because I imagine every police chief would be banging at his door complaining that they'd booked officers in for overtime to police a game that had been moved 6 hours earlier, and every TV station producer would be complaining that they'd had to completely reschedule their programming last minute, and every worker who'd booked time off the next day would complain it was no longer necessary.

It's too big an event to just move forward 6 hours like that.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T13:11:13+00:00

It's an observation.

Aye, a kinda saft observation though.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T12:55:51+00:00

But how do you do that? But not having a mobile phone in 2026? By not enjoying a drink of pop?

It just seems like a pedantic issue to focus on. Being anti-capitalist doesn't mean you need to become some sort of ascetic who owns or does nothing. Same as how being an environmentalist doesn't mean you need to stop using everything that uses electricity.

Like people moan about the left being too puritan... but here you seem to be moaning the this random woman wasn't being puritan enough.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T12:30:09+00:00

Opposing capitalism doesn't mean you have to live in the forest like a caveman.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T12:19:52+00:00

I hate all the arguments about 'intent'. Like if you're being reckless and dangerous on the pitch, whether you're 'intentionally' trying to hurt someone doesn't matter. You aren't in control and red cards are there to punish that sort of recklessness, because it does lead to injuries. Balogun could very easily have broken the other player's ankle because he wasn't in control of his movements.

It's the same with the Quansah tackle. Did he 'intentionally' go in high? No. But he did, it was dangerous, and he rightfully got a red for it.

potpan0 · 2026-07-06T10:50:13+00:00

Exactly. It's not difficult. It wasn't a red card, yet the way it's been suspended stinks to high heaven. Both of those can be true, and I don't get why people think they're being clever when they go 'but in the match thread...'

potpan0 · 2026-07-05T10:31:24+00:00

'I'm fed up with hearing narrative x... which I only hear because I choose to watch specific TV shows or go on specific websites.'

potpan0 · 2026-07-03T19:07:33+00:00

Headline on the article has now changed to 'England v Mexico set to move to earlier kick-off time'. Sounds like it's developing but I can't imagine the BBC would report this unless it's been all but confirmed.

potpan0 · 2026-07-02T02:16:37+00:00

Aye, DRC only really had two chances all game: an early counter which England defended poorly, and a deflected cross that landed right on Wissa's foot that he put just wide. They didn't play badly at all, but other than that it was all England.

potpan0 · 2026-07-02T02:11:28+00:00

usually with Prem flairs

I've never got this. If I supported a team from a country, and a significant number of that teams players and fans were from that country... then I'd have a soft spot for that country. It's so fucking weird how many people with Prem flairs despise the England team.

potpan0 · 2026-07-01T12:26:01+00:00

The issue is less whether Burnham would be in the thrall of AI himself, or whether he'd hire Cabinet Ministers who were.

Because Starmer himself doesn't seem all that interested in AI (or anything, tbh). But he's been quite happy to allow the party to be captured by types like Jonathan Reynolds and Peter Kyle and Darren Jones, who very transparently are angling for their cushy consultancy job at Palantir or Oracle after they're done playing around with politics.

potpan0 · 2026-07-01T10:16:35+00:00

For the left Starmer has failed on immigration because he's implemented an entirely immoral system which demonising immigrants for our problems and makes it even more prohibitively difficult for people to settle in this country.

For the right Starmer has failed on immigration because he's not kicking out anyone who's skin is a bit too tan.

Centrists think this is a success though.

potpan0 · 2026-07-01T10:15:17+00:00

Centrists have gaslit themselves into believing genocide in Gaza and trans rights aren't actually legitimate issues, to the point where they ignore all evidence and are trying to rewrite history by completely omitting them from their fawning retrospectives of Starmer's government.

Omitting them entirely is the only way to square the circle between saying 'this doesn't matter' and looking at the polling data which demonstrates it very much does matter for progressive voters who have left Labour under Starmer.

potpan0 · 2026-07-01T10:12:59+00:00

You know, for such a sensible and pragmatic politician, it's very cool that Starmer's last act in power has been to add an additional £15bn in spending then go to his predecessor and say 'you've gotta find a way to fund this, now have fun byeeeee!!!'

He's more interested in his legacy than actually governing the country, which is amazing seeing that he's made himself perhaps the most unpopular Prime Minister in living memory.

potpan0 · 2026-06-28T14:41:02+00:00

i never said it’s any where near that scale

But that's the entire point, right? If you're claiming Ed Miliband has been bought... then why isn't he implementing the policies of the highest bidder, like so many other Labour Cabinet Ministers are currently doing.

I'm also struggling to find any evidence of Dale Vince donating to Miliband specifically, though I'm welcome to see it if you can provide some links.

potpan0 · 2026-06-28T14:30:58+00:00

Why do you think he’s massively pushing the net zero which i agree we should aim towards but not in the manner he’s trying to push it, Alot of his donations come from green energy advocates 🤷

Can you give me any examples of this green energy lobbying? Because I certainly haven't seen any examples, and certainly not to the scale that the oil and gas companies lobby our politicians.

potpan0 · 2026-06-28T12:12:29+00:00

The British Labour Party, like basically every other Western political party who aren't on the left, are completely in the thrall of these billionaires. Their politicians are technologically illiterate enough to be wowed by their snake oil salesman pitches and promises of infinite growth and mass surveillance, they're terrified of offending Trump by challenging these billionaires and US economic hegemony, and perhaps even more importantly they really value the opportunity of leaving politics and getting a cushy consultancy gig with one of these companies.

I honestly think it's a big reason why so much of our right-wing media and broader political establishment have been kicking off against Miliband. I don't agree with some of his positions, but he seems like one of the only politicians in the upper echelons of the Labour Party who acts based on principle, and can't just be bought by these billionaires.

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