What... no FIFA World Cup thread? ;)

[Yespage]

Made it work. Iran came real close a couple times late in injury time which is more looking like overtime in some of these games. I've never seen such a bad dive as by the Iranian when the ball was just out of his reach at the keeper. It must have been hard for him because of it's location, he could drive his feet towards it, as it'd been a foul on the keeper (and very dangerous), but he had a slight tap on his shoulder and he goes butt first to pitch. Every Iranian player and fan is demanding a PK... while South Americans are watching it thinking... learn how to dive! Should have been a red card for being so awful of a dive.

US take on Netherlands. Yak! Not impossible, but not a team I'd prefer to play. Granted, in the knockout, there aren't many walkovers. Best chance the US has is Netherlands accidentally sends their speed skaters over to play.

 

[Ilya]

Not a 6:2 victory (like England), but we’ll take it!

 

[Yespage]

Belgium is out. Uruguay is old and out. Germany is out!

Morocco (first nation to recognize existence of US), South Korea (tough group), Australia (though that was a weakish group, but Denmark did not play like they had in the Euro qualifiers) are in. United States made it too, thanks to the victory over Iran. One last team to be admitted into the Round of 16.

The bracket? Winners of US v Netherlands takes on winner of Argentina v Australia, with alphabetical order really favoring the winner of both games. France and England could pair up in the Quarterfinals. Japan v Croatia could be something. The winner likely faces Brazil. Poor Morocco wins their group and draw Spain. Brazil seems like a heavyweight in their half of the bracket, three teams (France, Spain, Portugal) all look tough in the other half. England... have the talent, but have lacked the finishing in the past previous 45 editions of the World Cup.

 

[Don in CT]

Oh well, that was fun for a while. See you in 4 years.

 

[Foxbat]

Oh well, that was fun for a while. See you in 4 years.

Too many mistakes on Team USA’s part. Don’t we host in 2026?

 

[Don in CT]

Too many mistakes on Team USA’s part. Don’t we host in 2026?

Yes.

 

[Foxbat]

Well, at least we’ll have beer in the stadiums to help drown our sorrows…

 

[cosmo_kramer]

View: https://twitter.com/ussoccer/status/1601401947692863489?s=46&t=tIvz3Uq4DlzN-URCVDucZQ

 

[Foxbat]

He was covering the Argentina - Netherlands match and fell back in his seat during the Extra Time, adjacent reporters called for assistance and emergency service workers arrived quickly. Wahl had visited the medical clinic on Monday, he reported on his website, and had tested negative for COVID-19.

From the story over on Fox Sports:

Soccer writer Grant Wahl dies at World Cup match in Qatar | FOX Sports​

Rest in Peace…

 

[Foxbat]

Both of Friday‘s matches went into Extra Time and were decided by Penalty Kicks:

Just under 30 minutes to the start of today’s action:

 

[Yespage]

Morocco's run ends at France, but it was a valiant effort down to the end. Argentina dispatched Croatia. Morocco has a lot to play for in the 3rd place game.

France v Argentina in the final... hopefully it is decided in regular time. France has so much power and talent, but Argentina has a Messi who is near his last legs and desperate to bring the World Cup back to Argentina for the first time since '86. Either of these teams could win. Hopefully they both play to win.

 

[Foxbat]

So far the runners-up match got off to a fun start, Croatia and Morocco trading goals at 7’ and 8’, but now it’s settled down a bit.

 

[Ilya]

Wow! What a game! Couldn’t ask for better finals!

 

[Don in CT]

That dude from Hanson is pretty good.

 

[Foxbat]

All knotted up after Extra Time, so on to Penalty Kicks!

 

[Don in CT]

How does Fox handle this overflow.

 

[Yespage]

One of the best finals of all time, all sports. It was perfect!