***Official 2026 World Cup Thread***
- Thread starter ISU3PtLand
- Start date
It's a way of organizing a free-flowing game played on a large field. Like how rugby bans forward passing by hand or football keeps a line of scrimmage. Even basketball doesn't allow offensive players to camp in the lane (and defensive players in the NBA).
Like olden American football, soccer shares a common origin with rugby where the forward pass was illegal, and it remained illegal in the early days of soccer. The word "soccer" originated in Britain as a short-hand for "association code football" as opposed to the rugby codes.
What’s the purpose of basket interference or goaltending in basketball? It’s not apples to apples, but it prevents the game from being unwatchable.
Soccer would be unwatchable without offsides.
Ok, let's look at a wide receiver that is aligned illegally by not covering up the tackle by the slimmest of margins - does that one inch give him or the offense any kind of advantage? No... but the ref will throw the flag anyway because that is the rule as it is written in the rulebook.
You only have two choices here: you can either enforce every rule written in the rulebook by the "spirit of the rule" and lose all integrity of the game... or you can enforce every rule as they written in the rulebook - no exceptions - and keep the game's integrity. You can't have it both ways.
You simply cannot let Messi take free kicks at that range - the goalie has zero chance to stop it.
Round of 32 (in bracket order)
| Date | Time (CT) | Site | Matchup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 6/29 | 3:30 | Boston | Germany vs Paraguay |
| Tue 6/30 | 4:00 | New York | France vs Sweden |
| Sun 6/28 | 2:00 | Los Angeles | South Africa vs Canada |
| Mon 6/29 | 8:00 | Guadalupe | Netherlands vs Morocco |
| Thu 7/2 | 6:00 | Toronto | Portugal vs Croatia |
| Thu 7/2 | 2:00 | Los Angeles | Spain vs Austria |
| Wed 7/1 | 7:00 | Santa Clara | United States vs Bosnia & Herzegovina |
| Wed 7/1 | 3:00 | Seattle | Belgium vs Senegal |
| Mon 6/29 | 12:00 | Houston | Brazil vs Japan |
| Tue 6/30 | 12:00 | Arlington | Ivory Coast vs Norway |
| Tue 6/30 | 8:00 | Mexico City | Mexico vs Ecuador |
| Wed 7/1 | 11:00a | Atlanta | England vs D.R. Congo |
| Fri 7/3 | 5:00 | Miami | Argentina vs Cape Verde |
| Fri 7/3 | 1:00 | Arlington | Australia vs Egypt |
| Thu 7/2 | 10:00p | Vancouver | Switzerland vs Algeria |
| Fri 7/3 | 8:30 | Kansas City | Colombia vs Ghana |