Excellent Spain domination and it always felt like a goal was coming. Just amazing possession game.
Argentina will never beat the allegations of favouritism but today was a complete clown show with some of the interactions. Absolute sore losers. Messi was atleast a class act and shook everyone’s hand.
Glad the better team won in the end.
This was a fun thread and glad to be a part of it. This World Cup was really fun and had some really great moments. Amazing tournaments all things considered.
I’m totally biased as an Englishman, BUT.
Argentina should genuinely be banned from the next WC after their thuggery throughout the entire tournament culminated with that absolute shitshow. In 1966 Alf Ramsay described them as “animals” on the pitch and they’ve lived up to that ever since. Their interaction with England that same year prompted the creation of the yellow and red card system.
The 1978 fix, the 1986 hand of god, the 1990 spiking of Brazil’s water, 1994 drug abuse, 2022 vs the Netherlands 18 yellow cards were handed out making it the most carded game in WC history. In 2026 we have VARgentina, the AFA under FBI investigation for money laundering, political middle-fingers and 22 million signatures for Argentina Out. 3 of 6 red cards in WC finals were handed to Argentina, and they are the most yellow-carded international team. They should no longer be in these tournaments.
Been watching soccer/football since 2002, this Argentinean side is the biggest embarrassment of the sport I have ever seen. They did everything (fighting, diving, trying to get Spanish players carded) but play the sport. Absolute disgrace.
I feel bad for Messi. I know it might be hard for people to separate him from the Argentina team but I thought he would be a strong candidate for the golden ball. He carried Argentina all the way to the finals, without him they would have been punching air instead of other players.
Without Messi Argentina would’ve been out in the first knock-out match.
Argentina participated on easy mode the whole tournament. No opponent that was top 15 until they faced England. If they would’ve been able to avoid every single major football nation due to favourable group phase and ending up on the right side of the knock-out phase roster.
If the final would’ve been France - Argentina the outcome would’ve been the same.
I won’t be surprised if Messi will still get all kinds of rewards this year. The Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the Year are still out there. Knowing how bend Infantino is, he might even erect a new award that only Messi is able to win.
All that I hope now is… that other European nations will follow the path of Spain. A coach with a vision, no more protecting veterans for the sake of veterans. Continuos selection and improvement of the teams.
Hopefully the Dutch association settles on a good replacement for Koeman fast and really learns from the experience of this world cup. While Arne Slot is an excellent choice I think the guy should focus on finding a new club, and not coach a national team. Also, him being a former Feyenoord coach will bring bad blood because our national association is pro-Ajax to the core. I really hope they pursuit the option of Guardiola, which really would fix what is wrong with Dutch football philosophy.
And please get rid of the stupid hydration break, never ruin football again with half time shows and never introduce new rules before a major tournament that then are never really follow-ed up.
8 games, 1 goal against. Nuff said how deserved victory this was for Spain, they were miles above other teams this year. I do believe they also now have longest unbeaten streak of 38 games.
Honestly this tournament goes instantly to top 3 World Cups I’ve watched in my lifetime. Expansion to 48 teams was main thing that worried me beforehand but luckily the outcome was opposite, I still hope in future the total number doesn’t increase ANY higher.
We were able to see success stories like Cape Verde come alive ( funny how they were biggest pain in the flesh for eventual finalists ). I’m also extremely happy for countries like Norway/Switzerland: top8 run right after both finished 2nd/3rd in IIHF World Championship, amazing year in team sports.
Only few complaints I can think of are these:
Hydration breaks need revision, there were some games when players actually needed those but generally it breaks the flow of game
95% of rulings/VAR was fine but there’s always something to improve. Disallowing Croatia’s goal just because ball sensors touched few hair or letting England vs Norway continue after ball clearly hits the camera wire left a sour taste in mouth
The aftermath for Balogun’s red card was totally unnecessary drama which didn’t help game preparation for either USA or Belgium. No more cabinet decisions like this thank you
Finally big thanks to everyone who participated this thread, in early June I didn’t think the discussion would be so lively with 400+ replies for whole 5,5 weeks. Hopefully we meet again in 2030, 100th anniversary tournament with 3+3 host countries sounds already like loads of fun.
Yes. It has to be. With the next World Cup being played in the same time period in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Where the stadiums don’t have a roof or are not fully airconditioned will be an issue. Unless Spain and Portugal decide to move the majority of the matches in the Northern parts (Bilbao, San Sebastian, Porto, Braga) where the heat can be less intense. But for Morocco… that doesn’t work. Also Madrid and Barcelona won’t accept it if their stadiums aren’t featured on the big stage (come on, football wise Camp Nou is basically Saint Peters Cathedral).
But we seen last night… at every match interruption players fled to the sides to hydrate, especially in the second half/extention. The hydration breaks really weren’t there on the right moments.
+1! he made playmaking look absolutely effortless all tournament, a pleasure to watch. I know new talents like Yamal have a bright future ahead and are already brilliant in their own right, but there’s a calm, assured confidence in Messi’s abilities, even in his potential last few years on the pitch, that set him apart as the
Also wanted to say thanks to E4 for being the “local pub” during this world cup! Despite the oddities like the hydration breaks, the controversies and whatever, having the US host it has felt like a blast. Was fun watching the Scots make such an impact in Boston too LOL.
Scotland winning it all would be one of the biggest football stories ever. Even as a neutral, I’d be watching every match. I usually follow the pre-match discussions and lineups on StreamEast before kickoff. The fan reactions are half the fun.
). I’m also extremely happy for countries like Norway/Switzerland: top8 run right after both finished 2nd/3rd in IIHF World Championship, amazing year in team sports. 
