***Official 2026 World Cup Thread***

[mj4cy]

 

[twojman]

The good: the ideas offensively and pressing effectiveness. I've watched a lot of USMNT and I was expecting much less from our backups. At times our press was disorganized, but that's to be expected with the rotation.

The mid: winning our individual battles, loose balls. As the guys on the Scuffed podcast say, you need to dominate your space. I thought we did a lot better job in the second half than the first, where at times we looked timid. Perhaps a result of so many guys making their first start/appearance of the World Cup.

The bad: low block and transition defense. Switching off on the final possession. I almost put transition defense in "The Mid" category as we had some nice moments but we shipped three goals. We just aren't very organized in the low block and don't have the talent at the back to consistently erase opportunities in transition. The talent can't be fixed, but we will need to improve our organization to go deep. We will need to absorb pressure in a potential quarterfinal with Spain or a team of that ilk.

I'm not worried about the last goal. Looks like we switched off a bit waiting for the whistle. Turkey created next to nothing in the second outside of the final possession (0.07 expected goals). Still excited about this team!

Trying to remember but I think a poor/delayed first step by a US defender and then not the greatest angle allowed the 2nd turk goal.

I try and preach to my players that there is not a lot of time as you advance in age and skill level, every single moment/movement matters. The way your body is shaped, what you've scanned in the past 10 seconds and what you anticipate makes a HUGE difference. With my younger players I call it a cheat code. You can get a head start on your opponent just by doing those little things.

 

[Cyhig]

United States were being gracious hosts allowing a visitor to go home happy

 

[jdoggivjc]

I know Norway is kind of playing this like we did last night by sitting cardholders and are already looking ahead to the knockouts... but holy hell France is terrifying. The goals they've scored they probably would have scored even if Norway was playing their starting lineup.

 

[Urbandale2013]

Has anyone had trouble buying any of the merchandise from any of the national teams. We went to the Netherlands vs Tunisia game and the orange jersey's were out of stock. I figured I would just come home today and buy stuff online, but now stuff is disappearing from the website. Also wouldn't mind a US jersey, but that is out of stock too.

Don't need stuff right now, but frustrated I can't even seem to backorder something.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Has anyone had trouble buying any of the merchandise from any of the national teams. We went to the Netherlands vs Tunisia game and the orange jersey's were out of stock. I figured I would just come home today and buy stuff online, but now stuff is disappearing from the website. Also wouldn't mind a US jersey, but that is out of stock too.

Don't need stuff right now, but frustrated I can't even seem to backorder something.

yeah, everything seems to be out of stock now. I broke down and was going to buy the red and white stripes USA jersey, but I can't find one in my size anywhere anymore.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Has anyone had trouble buying any of the merchandise from any of the national teams. We went to the Netherlands vs Tunisia game and the orange jersey's were out of stock. I figured I would just come home today and buy stuff online, but now stuff is disappearing from the website. Also wouldn't mind a US jersey, but that is out of stock too.

Don't need stuff right now, but frustrated I can't even seem to backorder something.

Had my pick of the litter at the RSA vs. CZE game @ ATL including USMNT jerseys. I settled on a game scarf.

 

[JP4CY]

Red card just put his hands on the ref.

 

[JP4CY]

Losing his **** on the sideline

 

[isufbcurt]

Has anyone had trouble buying any of the merchandise from any of the national teams. We went to the Netherlands vs Tunisia game and the orange jersey's were out of stock. I figured I would just come home today and buy stuff online, but now stuff is disappearing from the website. Also wouldn't mind a US jersey, but that is out of stock too.

Don't need stuff right now, but frustrated I can't even seem to backorder something.

Where can I buy an Iran jersey?

And I don't even like soccer

 

[jdoggivjc]

I don't know what the group of death was, but Group G...

 

[enisthemenace]

Belgium would piss me off if I was Belgian. They are so ******* good with the ball, but have a hard time finishing. Their defense, when they need it, is very average too.

 

[Urbandale2013]

How the hell was that offsides?

 

[jdoggivjc]

They were checking for a hand ball, but then called offsides... um, ok

 

[CY88CE11]

You can't kick it backward there, dude. what an insane finish.

 

[KCClone1]

How the hell was that offsides?

I try and try to get into soccer, but I just hate the rules. Will someone please explain the justification of offsides? I only see the rule as a total buzz kill. Why does it even exist?

 

[Urbandale2013]

I try and try to get into soccer, but I just hate the rules. Will someone please explain the justification of offsides? I only see the rule as a total buzz kill. Why does it even exist?

I could be missing a nuance of the rule or just not seeing stuff accurately, but it seems like they just miss the one defender that keeps him onside.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I could be missing a nuance of the rule or just not seeing stuff accurately, but it seems like they just miss the one defender that keeps him onside.

I had to look this up myself - it's not last player; it's second-to-last player. By rule the Iranian player was offside.

 

[cyfanatic13]

I had to look this up myself - it's not last player; it's second-to-last player. By rule the Iranian player was offside.

“Second to last player” just means last defender, cause the goalie is technically the last one. It might just be the camera angle but it really looks like the Egypt defender at the top of the screen was behind the defender that they highlighted. It’s also crazy the broadcast said they were looking for a handball and then came back with the offsides call

 

[cyfanatic13]

I had to look this up myself - it's not last player; it's second-to-last player. By rule the Iranian player was offside.

“Second to last player” just means last defender, cause the goalie is technically the last one. It might just be the camera angle but it really looks like the Egypt defender at the top of the screen was behind the defender that they highlighted. It’s also crazy the broadcast said they were looking for a handball and then came back with the offsides call

I take it back. I didn’t realize where the goalie was, yeah that was the right call