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FIFA 2026 WC - general

Just got back to Australia. What a Fucking trip to Mexico that was.

The coolest ppl in the planet. Did some wild shit and it’s just total football vibes everywhere.

Personal highlight was getting invited to some rich cunt’s house, getting greeted by 3 smoking hot chicks before chilling at a dining table with just, me him the chicks and guns all sitting on it 😬😅
Weirdest part was he was playing aboriginal music. Thought I was in a tv show.

Still don’t know what was happening or who they were but it was fun.

Viva Mexico
 
Just got back to Australia. What a Fucking trip to Mexico that was.

The coolest ppl in the planet. Did some wild shit and it’s just total football vibes everywhere.

Personal highlight was getting invited to some rich cunt’s house, getting greeted by 3 smoking hot chicks before chilling at a dining table with just, me him the chicks and guns all sitting on it 😬😅
Weirdest part was he was playing aboriginal music. Thought I was in a tv show.

Still don’t know what was happening or who they were but it was fun.

Viva Mexico
Sounds like you had a great time! I’ve been wanting to go to Mexico for years now.
 
Just got back to Australia. What a Fucking trip to Mexico that was.

The coolest ppl in the planet. Did some wild shit and it’s just total football vibes everywhere.

Personal highlight was getting invited to some rich cunt’s house, getting greeted by 3 smoking hot chicks before chilling at a dining table with just, me him the chicks and guns all sitting on it 😬😅
Weirdest part was he was playing aboriginal music. Thought I was in a tv show.

Still don’t know what was happening or who they were but it was fun.

Viva Mexico
Great to hear all worked mate - what a bonus the invite from a cartel dood hahah
Yes great people I’ve enjoyed many a trip there.
Correct many a smoking female they are hot.🔥
 
Technical is all we were. We had nothing else. Too passive with the ball for most of the tournament.
Only saw the Spain game that featured Portugal.

As I’m looking at a greater range of countries, Portugal’s technique on the ball is one of the best in the world. They’ve also been Spain’s toughest opponent to date.

To be better technically than England, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, even Argentina, is impressive. Also, Portugal only has a population of 9 million.

Any idea if the Portuguese Football Fed Tech Dept is scrutinizing and adopting Spanish football practices ATM?
 
Just got back to Australia. What a Fucking trip to Mexico that was.

The coolest ppl in the planet. Did some wild shit and it’s just total football vibes everywhere.

Personal highlight was getting invited to some rich cunt’s house, getting greeted by 3 smoking hot chicks before chilling at a dining table with just, me him the chicks and guns all sitting on it 😬😅
Weirdest part was he was playing aboriginal music. Thought I was in a tv show.

Still don’t know what was happening or who they were but it was fun.

Viva Mexico
Any chance of writing an article for Fan View?

Which WC games did you attend? A recount of them would be good.
 
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All this media criticism I've been reading about Thomas Tuchal and from a French perspective Didier Deschamps over the last 2 or 3 days has got me thinking about a very famous political speech by Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 called "Man in the Arena".

Here it is.....

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

It highlights that true value lies in daring to act, not in critiquing those who do. For managers like Tuchel and Deschamps, media scrutiny is an inevitable consequence of their high-stakes roles. But it's easy to be critical and it requires no skin in the game. It is a position of comfort that avoids the risk of failure.....

To be the manager is to set the strategy, select the squad, and take the blame when it falls apart.and it equires the courage to be wrong in front of millions.

And that is the difficulty of leadership....

If a manager like Tuchel or Deschamps fails, they lose their job, their reputation, and their project. The newspaper/ media guy just moves on to the next article, the next broadcast, or the next talking point. There is no personal cost to being wrong.and they simply pivot to the next controversy.....
 
All this media criticism I've been reading about Thomas Tuchal and from a French perspective Didier Deschamps over the last 2 or 3 days has got me thinking about a very famous political speech by Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 called "Man in the Arena".

Here it is.....

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

It highlights that true value lies in daring to act, not in critiquing those who do. For managers like Tuchel and Deschamps, media scrutiny is an inevitable consequence of their high-stakes roles. But it's easy to be critical and it requires no skin in the game. It is a position of comfort that avoids the risk of failure.....

To be the manager—to set the strategy, select the squad, and take the blame when it falls apart—requires the courage to be wrong in front of millions. And that is the difficulty of leadership....

If a manager like Tuchel or Deschamps fails, they lose their job, their reputation, and their project. The newspaper/ media guy just moves on to the next article, the next broadcast, or the next talking point. There is no personal cost to being wrong.and they simply pivot to the next controversy.....
Well said, FUL.
 
I think teams should just point and laugh and Argentina when they fake injuries or do illegal stuff. It might result in a booking for taunting but it'll probably frustrate them into doing something stupid. A few nearest players should just mock them and call them cheats.
 
Just got back to Australia. What a Fucking trip to Mexico that was.

The coolest ppl in the planet. Did some wild shit and it’s just total football vibes everywhere.

Personal highlight was getting invited to some rich cunt’s house, getting greeted by 3 smoking hot chicks before chilling at a dining table with just, me him the chicks and guns all sitting on it 😬😅
Weirdest part was he was playing aboriginal music. Thought I was in a tv show.

Still don’t know what was happening or who they were but it was fun.

Viva Mexico
So you did bring the suitcase back then...?
 
All this media criticism I've been reading about Thomas Tuchal and from a French perspective Didier Deschamps over the last 2 or 3 days has got me thinking about a very famous political speech by Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 called "Man in the Arena".

Here it is.....

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

It highlights that true value lies in daring to act, not in critiquing those who do. For managers like Tuchel and Deschamps, media scrutiny is an inevitable consequence of their high-stakes roles. But it's easy to be critical and it requires no skin in the game. It is a position of comfort that avoids the risk of failure.....

To be the manager is to set the strategy, select the squad, and take the blame when it falls apart.and it equires the courage to be wrong in front of millions.

And that is the difficulty of leadership....

If a manager like Tuchel or Deschamps fails, they lose their job, their reputation, and their project. The newspaper/ media guy just moves on to the next article, the next broadcast, or the next talking point. There is no personal cost to being wrong.and they simply pivot to the next controversy.....
There is no personal cost to being wrong.and they simply pivot to the next controversy.....

Much like every politician and senior bureaucrat in Australia.
 
Only saw the Spain game that featured Portugal.

As I’m looking at a greater range of countries, Portugal’s technique on the ball is one of the best in the world. They’ve also been Spain’s toughest opponent to date.

To be better technically than England, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, even Argentina, is impressive. Also, Portugal only has a population of 9 million.

Any idea if the Portuguese Football Fed Tech Dept is scrutinizing and adopting Spanish football practices ATM?
The population is 11 million. We are punching way above in terms of producing quality players. Spain has close to 50 million.

No idea if we are looking at Spanish practises.
 
So based on this World Cup, it would be (new teams in italics):
  • AFC (10): Australia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, UAE, Uzbekistan
  • CAF (11): Algeria, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
  • CONCACAF (7): Canada, Curaçao, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, USA
  • CONMEBOL (8): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela
  • OFC (1): New Zealand
  • UEFA (26): Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales
  • Playoffs (1/4): Gabon (CAF), New Caledonia (OFC), Oman (AFC), Suriname (CONCACAF)
Alternatively (and preferably), UEFA could scrap the second round and Nations League provisions entirely and it would be:
  • UEFA (26): Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales
For the playoffs, I’d predict Suriname to beat Gabon in the final, giving them the final spot.
Gianni Infantino holds Swiss, Italian, and Lebanese citizenships. He was born and raised in Brig, Switzerland, to Italian immigrant parents. He also officially obtained Lebanese nationality through a presidential decree due to his marriage to Lebanese citizen Leena Al-Ashqar. Infantino will continue to expand the World Cup until Italy and Lebanon both qualify
 
The population is 11 million. We are punching way above in terms of producing quality players. Spain has close to 50 million.

No idea if we are looking at Spanish practises.


Yep....I think that Portugal’s ability to compete at such an elite level is a testament to the structure of their domestic academies and their deeply ingrained footballing culture.

Successful production of players which is generally attributed to its own highly effective, long-standing academy systems (like those at Benfica, Porto, and Sporting) which have their own well-established, independent methodologies.

Add this to it's footballing culture....an intense, almost theological, devotion to the sport. There's a real emotional depth to football in Portugal and it shows....

Young players who start in those local street games or small community clubs, moving through structured academy ranks....

That's where you get this pipeline of technically gifted players who look so comfortable on the ball and are in demand by club's across the biggest leagues.

When you look at the "Success-to-Population" ratio, Portugal belongs in a category of its own. It is undeniably one of the most successful "smaller" nations in the history of the sport.

Similar to Uruguay in South America.
 
If it was up to me then Britain would "give up" it's current governance status of the Falkland Islands....

Despite the Falkland Islanders right to "self-determination" I think that it would be for the best in the long run and improve our overall relations with the Greater Latin American region.

I'd say transferring the Falkland Islands is theoretically possible through various frameworks, though any would face significant ethical and legal challenges regarding the islanders' right to that self-determination.

Initially Britain could work a phased transition where the UK and Argentina share administrative authority over a decade or so, slowly integrating the islands into the regional economy.

Then, the islands become a self-governing state, transferring defence and foreign policy oversight to a regional body, thereby decoupling them from current British rule.

It'd also be a financially transactional transfer where the UK relinquishes any financial sovereignty claims and induces a managed compensation and relocation package for residents who want to relocate to Britain.
Thee whole issue is worthy of a Jonathan Swift satire a la Gulliver's Travels.
 
I think that many of us football fans hold a deep-seated belief that the game operates on a moral meritocracy, with the "best" (most skillful/organised) team should win.

When a team like Argentina wins by using picardía (the artful manipulation of rules and grey areas), it creates cognitive dissonance for those fans. It forces them to confront the fact that "honor" isn't a winning strategy....

In the 1980s the Northern Italian press often focused intensely on refereeing decisions that favoured Napoli.....

When Napoli won, the newspapers in Turin and Milan would highlight every subjective call, questioning the integrity of the referees.


But it wasn't really about the referees. It was a projection of the Northern insecurity a fear that their cultural and economic dominance was being eroded by a city they had long considered "lesser."

When you see people today calling Argentina "VAR-gentina," you are essentially watching a replay of 1980s Italian sports journalism.....

It is the exact same vocabulary being used by the same type of "establishment" fans who are struggling to accept that the "natural order" of football has been permanently broken.

We're aren't just watching a match here, we’re watching the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle for who gets to own the "narrative" of football. Whether it was the Mezzogiorno against the North in 1987, or Argentina against the "Eurocentric" powers in 2026, the narrative remains the same....

Who was the great player who took Napoli to the summit of Serie A again???? 😋
Aye laddie, the grrreat Scott McTominay!
 
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