***Official 2026 World Cup Thread***

[jdoggivjc]

It’s not even about whether or not it should have been a red card…. it probably should not have been. It’s just the fact that the cry baby whiny spoiled Americans, yes that’s how we’re viewed by most of the world, cried about it and got their way.

Yeah, well the same people whining about how America got their way aren’t whining about how Christiano Ronaldo had his red card with considerable time suspended so he wouldn’t miss the first two games of this World Cup… which is why I’m enjoying the butthurt comments by the same people that insisted Balogun tried to break the Bosnian’s leg based on two cherry-picked frames when you instead look at the full video it was the Bosnian who hit Balogun from behind and knocked him off balance to the point he had no choice but to step on his leg… and thus proving exactly why VAR isn’t supposed to use slow-mo video and cherry-picked shots to signal a ref to review for a red card in the first place.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Love having Balogun but now Belgium will probably play with a chip on their shoulder.

Doku is a handful but he hasn’t even scored this world cup.

This is amazing to me, given how much havoc he causes.

I think we match up better against them Belgium than I intitially thought, but if Belgium plays to their potential, their skill will give us fits. They have sorta been sleep-walking for large chunks of their matches though. That's why I think an early lead is crucial to our success tonight.

 

[CY88CE11]

And concussion are dangerous, too. I don't get why nobody talks about that in soccer.

Or England's yellow card for the penalty yesterday. Both players did the exact same thing trying to high kick a ball. English player was a split second later than the Mexican player. English player's was a dangerous move. The Mexican player was rewarded.

To me, choosing to yank on a player's jersey from behind when you're beat should be a bigger penalty than a bang-bang play where the result looks bad in slow-mo on an otherwise innocuous play.

 

[NorthCyd]

It's also a fact that the ref used VAR incorrectly, so....is it okay to make that assumption, or should I only make assumptions that are approved by the majority?

You can believe whatever you want, but just to point out that VAR could have been used incorrectly and there still could have been political influence. Those two things are not mutually exclusive and the facts lean pretty heavily to one conclusion on whether political influence occurred. FIFA is a complete joke of an organization and completely corrupt anyways so I don't know why you wouldn't believe the narrative that is out there. It's hard for me to believe that FIFA makes impartial decisions on anything.

 

[3TrueFans]

Or England's yellow card for the penalty yesterday. Both players did the exact same thing trying to high kick a ball. English player was a split second later than the Mexican player. English player's was a dangerous move. The Mexican player was rewarded.

To me, choosing to yank on a player's jersey from behind when you're beat should be a bigger penalty than a bang-bang play where the result looks bad in slow-mo on an otherwise innocuous play.

Everyone knows not to be late to a challenge, that’s the risk/reward.

 

[Kaner04]

Love having Balogun but now Belgium will probably play with a chip on their shoulder.

Doku is a handful but he hasn’t even scored this world cup.

Guys like Doku don’t need to score to have massive impacts

 

[Bigman38]

How about a change of pace in this thread?

What's everyones thoughts on how we match up with Belgium? They are not the powerhouse they once were, but their experience is still relevant. Plus, Doku kinda scares the hell outta me. I'm thinking we jump on them with an early goal, trade goals over the next 70 minutes and then have to withstand a crazy barrage at the end of the match to win 2-1.

I think Belgium is probably the better team, but with home field and Balogun back we pull out a very tight game. Plus Belgium tends to drop these more often than not.

 

[Urbandale2013]

Yeah, well the same people whining about how America got their way aren’t whining about how Christiano Ronaldo had his red card with considerable time suspended so he wouldn’t miss the first two games of this World Cup… which is why I’m enjoying the butthurt comments by the same people that insisted Balogun tried to break the Bosnian’s leg based on two cherry-picked frames when you instead look at the full video it was the Bosnian who hit Balogun from behind and knocked him off balance to the point he had no choice but to step on his leg… and thus proving exactly why VAR isn’t supposed to use slow-mo video and cherry-picked shots to signal a ref to review for a red card in the first place.

This is my view. We got to the right result but the process was a total disaster.

 

[NATEizKING]

 

[cycloneman003]

Well we could attempt to have some real analysis here.

Belgium. They are good, but certainly beatable and have not been at their best at the WC. Going to play a 4-2-3-1.

What scares me about them...

• Courtois - the guy is still considered one of the best in the world, if not the best. On his day he can single handedly shut you down
• Doku - he's great, lighting fast and can wreck you if he's on his game
• Lukaku - been coming of the bench mostly and I'd assume that'll be the case again, he can be such a handful in spurts still even as he's slowed down. If he starts, less concerned with fresh legs

What I like

• Depending on who they play, I don't think they're a match athletically in the middle of the field. Last two matches they started Tielemans/Vakanen/De Bruyne. If they go with that trio, then McKennie/Tillman/Adams have a massive athleticism advantage that we can capitalize on
• Attacking pace against the Belgium backline - Belgium will come to actually play, unlike many of our games thus far and if we can get in transition on counter attacks, Plusic/Balogun/Dest can give them nightmares running at that backline
• Home support! Seattle is going to be the best home crowd we can put together. This will be huge

I cant want to see the lineups as that will be fascinating. Belgium could opt to rotate in some more youth/athleticism to try and match the US (Onana/Raskin/Ngoy), would they consider starting Lukaku for this one? Their first XI has more questions IMO.

I do wonder if Poch has any changes in mind or not. It seems pretty straight forward who the starting XI is but the Balogun situation had them thinking different gameplans until yesterday. I assume it'll be no surprises, but can't wait to see. Part of me wouldn't be stunned if Pepi got the start, just based on the prep, he's got good chemistry with Pulisic, mind games, etc. with all the hoopla around the Balogun suspension

 

[jdoggivjc]

This is my view. We got to the right result but the process was a total disaster.

I agree with this on multiple levels:

1. Despite what I’ve been saying, Balogun should have probably been given a yellow card in the field for that play.
2. VAR protocols should have been followed, in which there never would have been a challenge in the first place, or instead the ref would have been shown the video at full speed instead of the cherry-picked images, in which no ref would have ever been issued.
3. There should have been a protocol in which USA could challenge the red card, but because none existed, it went unchallenged.
4. Days later, FIFA upheld the red card, but then a day before the game reversed course and suspended the sentence, screwing over Belgium in their preparation.
5. Because FIFA waffled on this decision, they allowed outside political pressure to be perceived as an overwhelming influence to make an unpopular change, whether that influence had any affect or if the change was correct or not.

The bottom line is FIFA has handled this whole thing about as horribly as possible at every single level, and as a result of how they handled it ensured somebody was going to get screwed over.