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The World Cup 2026 thread!

Killer Angel said:
beware! down that road there's white eternal guilt and reparation for slavery...
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I'm sorry I don't understand the premise. There is no mercy for the weak. ;)


Reminds me a few years ago when @Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER and myself went for a river float. Occasionally we came across old bridges with graffiti painted on them. Slogans such as "do you want to be a colonizer" or "do you want to be part of a colonizer lineage". I turn to @Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER and mention that colonizer is just another word for conqueror. So essentially the question is do you want to be a conqueror or the conquered. Seems like a pretty easy decision. I'm not of the generation that wants to be victims.

More seriously, I don't feel any guilt for actions that I had nothing to do with. People are only responsible for their own words or actions. Generational guilt transfer is some North Korean level shit.
 
NIGHTBRINGER said:
I sense a bit of resentment in you.
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Not resentment, more just perplexity at how he is so lauded...

NIGHTBRINGER said:
The dude is 6'5" and over two hundred pounds. Fast and strong. The other day when we were watching the game, my wife commented that she noticed that a Brazilian defender ran into him, bounced off as if he were a child, while Haaland didn't even move.
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Big and strong... perhaps, but so far Norway's strategy largely seems to have been for the other players to mark defenders and generally get in the way and breach the line to allow Haaland to just walk up and tap the ball in. He doesn't seem to be much of a dribbler or tackler (as opposed to your fave Messi), he just seems to let his teammates do much of the work and doesn't seem to contribute much himself except scoring the goals once the opposition has been dealt with. Much like Wayne Rooney, one of the top goalscorers for England in the early 2010s, but was as dumb as a rock and relied on his mates doing all the work to set up goals for him.

Also... I would question whether his bun is the most manly haircut he could have chosen for himself. As mentioned earlier it would look a lot less girly if he grew a beard too to go the full Viking look, but as it is... it just dampens the tough image he seems to want to project :p


NIGHTBRINGER said:
has a generally friendly and humble attitude.
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Fair enough if he's a decent person off the pitch, though I'll rate him more when he contributes more as a team player and less as a glory-hunter.

NIGHTBRINGER said:
That's an interesting way of phrasing it.

According to the FIFA men's ranking, as of today,

England (ranked #4) beat Mexico (ranked #10)
While...
Norway (ranked #19) beat Brazil (ranked #5)

Or if you prefer:

England (1 WC championship) beat Mexico (0 WC championships)
While...
Norway (0 WC championships) beat Brazil (5 WC championships)


The Norway victory is much more monumental. It's their first time going so deep in the tournament. They are the small country underdogs. The Cinderella story of the tournament, now that Cabo Verda have been dispatched. They've sort of become the sweetheart team that the neutral fans cheer for.
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True, but I would assert also that their victory is not just down to them playing well, but also Brazil playing particularly poorly. Brazil had been playing particularly lazily in this tournament, showing all the signs of an overpaid primadonna team... passing the ball to each other in triangles as if it were a Saturday morning kickabout, not doing enough to get the ball up the pitch, defending sloppily and generally not taking the game seriously. I've seen this sort of play many times before with England (especially during the Rooney years), but to see the mighty Brazil stoop so low is unheard of.

Not to take away from Norway's achievement, but they certainly had a bit of luck there to be facing Brazil at the weakest they've been in a very long time.

By contrast, England's performance was just great to see... the odds were very much against them, at their opponents' home turf, at an altitude English players are by no means used to playing at, with the Mexican fans trying every trick in the book to disrupt their sleep and thus hamper their play, and even the ref at times playing against them (red-carding one of our players for a slide tackle merely executed with the wrong foot and giving a penalty for what was merely a case of two players aiming a kick at the ball and one kicking a little later than the other were both needlessly mean decisions). Yet they played as they should always be playing (yet don't always seem to)... as a team, passing to one another, supporting one another, getting the ball aggressively up the field and defending very well, a major improvement from their Group Stage games (particularly the one against Ghana). Keep it up, lads!


Don't get me wrong... I have a great respect for Norway. Their Viking history is admirable, I'm a fan of Norse mythology, we British have had a cordial relationship with them since we came to their aid in WWII, and I'm certainly pleased they, as an underdog, have done well... but it'd be a lot better if they were less reliant purely on Haaland and brought out some other top players. Perhaps this success in the Cup will inspire them to do so...

NIGHTBRINGER said:
Plus they do that awesome Viking row!!
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I can't deny it's a thing of beauty. Great to see Norway celebrating its heritage in that way. We English need to think of something similar...

A drill from His Majesty's Guards, perhaps?

Germano-British shield bash with wyvern flags?

Or bringing on one of those few folk who know how to play the Ancient British Carnyx, if one really wants to go back to Antiquity?

NIGHTBRINGER said:
Both have absolute world class strikers, but England has the much deeper bench. England are deservedly the betting favourites, but Norway always has a chance.
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It'll be an interesting match for certain. If England play as well as they did against Mexico, I have a feeling their greater teamwork will carry the day, but if they become complacent as they have done in previous World Cups, Norway could certainly punish them for it.

Keep the shieldwall strong, Fyrd and Thegns of Aenglaland!

NIGHTBRINGER said:
Almost as if his ancestors were killing your ancestors and pillaging their lands ;) .
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Killer Angel said:
beware! down that road there's white eternal guilt and reparation for slavery...
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Ha, those scores were settled centuries ago, particularly by the Battle of Stamford Bridge (as alluded to in my previous post), a crushing English victory that began the end of the Viking Age in Scandinavia and fended off the last Viking attack on English shores for good. No need to do a Leftist and start the reparations nonsense ;) (though of course one could merely as a means to mock said Leftists :coolest:).
 
Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
Not resentment, more just perplexity at how he is so lauded...
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I mean, he's played 54 games for Norway and scored 62 goals. How many players can claim to have a better than a goal a game average for their national squad? Norway wouldn't be where they are without him. This is the best they have ever done, and he is a very large part of that success.

Furthermore, they said that his goal scoring prowess would not hold up in the English Premier League, and guess what, he broke the single season scoring record. He is a goal machine wherever he goes.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
True, but I would assert also that their victory is not just down to them playing well, but also Brazil playing particularly poorly. Brazil had been playing particularly lazily in this tournament, showing all the signs of an overpaid primadonna team... passing the ball to each other in triangles as if it were a Saturday morning kickabout, not doing enough to get the ball up the pitch, defending sloppily and generally not taking the game seriously. I've seen this sort of play many times before with England (especially during the Rooney years), but to see the mighty Brazil stoop so low is unheard of.
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Brazil did create a lot of great chances, but the Norwegian keeper stood on his head.

Brazil was one of the favourites to win the tournament and did manage to win their group. They might not be what they were a couple of decades ago, but they are still a formidable team. On top of that, Vini Jr is an absolute world class player and always looked dangerous on the field.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
but it'd be a lot better if they were less reliant purely on Haaland and brought out some other top players. Perhaps this success in the Cup will inspire them to do so...
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They do have other great players, but Haaland is clearly their best. Haaland is currently one of the very best players in the entire world, so of course they are going to be quite reliant on him. Argentina relies on Messi. England relies on Kane. Only France has a deep enough roster that they could lose Mbappe and still stomp the competition.

Norway are a small football nation, but as you say, this will likely go a long ways for future development.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
He doesn't seem to be much of a dribbler or tackler (as opposed to your fave Messi)
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We can't use Messi as the benchmark, because he is the greatest of all time. Messi is miles above anybody else.

You're right, Haaland is not much of a dribbler, which is why you don't see him trying to rely on that. If he started trying to dribble past the defenders as Messi had, he would just end up coughing up the ball to the other side. What would be the point of that? Haaland plays to his strengths. Guys of his size (6'5") aren't typically great dribblers, just like guys of Messi's stature aren't super great headers of the ball. We work with what we have.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
and doesn't seem to contribute much himself except scoring the goals once the opposition has been dealt with.
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Scoring goals is his primary role, so that is what he does. It got them through the WC qualifiers and now all the way to the WC quarter finals. He's currently tied for second in the golden boot race, just one goal behind Messi. The only problem is, is that Norway sometimes have difficulty getting him the ball. But there are few in the world that can capitalize on chances like Haaland can. He can go an entire game and have like 8 touches, but who cares if 3 of those touches are goals. Can you imagine if he had a guy like Messi feeding him the ball :eek: :eek: :eek: . At the end of the day, scoring goals is a pretty big asset to bring to the table.

That said, I think you are a little bit harsh on him. His off-the-ball movement opens up space for his teammates. Also, because of his size and aerial supremacy, he is often a key defensive player inside his own box during the opponent's corner kicks and free kicks. That shouldn't be discounted. Also, his passing game is slowly getting better under Pep at Manchester City. He'll never be a Messi, Xavi or Iniesta, but that isn't his role either.

Let the goal scorer score.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
Much like Wayne Rooney, one of the top goalscorers for England in the early 2010s, but was as dumb as a rock and relied on his mates doing all the work to set up goals for him.
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Rooney was a hot head and couldn't control himself. Admittedly a highly skilled player (though not as potent as Haaland), but without the positive personality characteristics of the big Norwegian.

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
Also... I would question whether his bun is the most manly haircut he could have chosen for himself. As mentioned earlier it would look a lot less girly if he grew a beard too to go the full Viking look, but as it is... it just dampens the tough image he seems to want to project :p
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What makes you say that he wants to project a tough guy image? I don't follow him too closely, so there maybe something you've seen that I have not, but I never got that impression from him. He comes off as more humble and playful than a tough guy. His signature goal celebration is a meditation pose... hardly tough guy material.

I could be incorrect, and if you have evidence, please provide, but claiming that he wants to put on a tough guy routine seems more of projection (or assumption) on your part. For one, he doesn't need to push a tough guy image. The dude is 6'5", athletic and strong; in my experience those types of people don't need to puff out their chest to look tough. They already are. And two, at the end of the day, he is a Football player, a sport hardly known for its toughness. We Canadians love our hockey, and those guys make soccer players look like pansies. Not to mention UFC fighters.

Like I said, in my personal opinion, he doesn't seem like he goes out of his way to put out a tough guy vibe. But, I don't follow him too closely, so I could be wrong.
 
UPDATED: this is the order of the teams in terms of how much I WANT them to win it all (not who I think will win, but who I want to win):

1. Argentina
2. Norway
3. Canada
4. Brazil
5. Switzerland
6. England
7. Spain
8. Belgium
9. USA
10. Mexico
11. Egypt
12. Paraguay
13. Columbia
14. Morocco
15. France
16. Portugal
 
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741248762_1003161752598242_3374146925995766157_n.jpg



UPDATED: this is the order of the teams in terms of how much I WANT them to win it all (not who I think will win, but who I want to win):

1. Argentina
2. Norway
3. Canada
4. Brazil
5. Switzerland
6. England
7. Spain
8. Belgium
9. USA
10. Mexico
11. Egypt
12. Paraguay
13. Columbia
14. Morocco
15. France
16. Portugal


On the plus side, the entire bottom half of my list, save for one, has been wiped out. But on the negative side, that one (France), is currently the most likely to win it all. :rolleyes:
 
Killer Angel said:
yeah, expected outcome but a disappointing match.
Morocco's goalkeeper tried his best, but just by himself couldn't win.
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He really carried the team for most of the game.
But no surprise here

I see Belgium having a good chance against Spain to take themselves to the seni-final.

Grrr, Imrahil
 
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