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***Official 2022 World Cup Thread*** (1 Viewer)

B/R Football

@brfootball

Adidas’ 2022 World Cup ball will feature a tracking device used for semi-automated offside technology for the first time. The ball gives VAR precise data ‘to support fast and accurate offside calls’


here is a short video explaining how the technology works.  It is pretty cool.

https://twitter.com/fifa_bryan/status/1542781226557243394?s=20&t=ZfylEjPrbZ1LwU4iYB5NBg

Unfortunately it is going to again lead to even more goals being taken off the board because players were ruled offside because of their hands being ahead of their body, hands of course which can't even be used to score goals.

 
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roadkill1292 said:
I'm really sorry that I didn't get to watch a lot of peak Diego Forlan.


One of my favorite non-US players all time.  I was just becoming a United fan when he played for them.

That was a fun video to watch.  Crazy how many goals he had in it - think he was the leader with 3 or 4.

 
My favorite World Cup memory (outside viewing US games on TV) was being able to see Bergkamp score a goal in person back in '94.  Then partying and drinking with the Dutch fans after the game.  They will always be my 3rd favorite team for that reason.

 
The Bergcamp goal was memorable for me because it was when the light first came on. "Wow, this sport has some amazing stuff in it."

Forgive me, all, for being late to the party.

 
oh wow, this is huge potential news.    Tons more revenue and no team goes home after only 2 games and removes the nasty taste of collusion that is going to be rampant in 3 team groups.

==========================

Grant Wahl

@GrantWahl

FIFA now considering 4-team groups for World Cup 2026 instead of 3-team groups that could be a collusion disaster

 
oh wow, this is huge potential news.    Tons more revenue and no team goes home after only 2 games and removes the nasty taste of collusion that is going to be rampant in 3 team groups.

==========================

Grant Wahl

@GrantWahl

FIFA now considering 4-team groups for World Cup 2026 instead of 3-team groups that could be a collusion disaster


48/4 = 12 groups.

That does not work very well with a round of 16 so I bet they stay with the idea of a round of 32, which means 8 3rd place teams move on.

I like it a lot better though than the 3 team group mess.   If we are going to expand the WC, lets get more games.  The groups of 4 accomplishes this.  We have 3 countries, we can manage it.

 
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This guy came up with a fascinating idea for the groups in 2026.  He keeps the 16 groups of 3 but removes the problems of only two games and collusion.

Scroll down to the "Paired Groups Format" section if you already understand why the current 16 groups of 3 format is so horrendous.

https://www.natgoldc.com/2026

 
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48/4 = 12 groups.

That does not work very well with a round of 16 so I bet they stay with the idea of a round of 32, which means 8 3rd place teams move on.

I like it a lot better though than the 3 team group mess.   If we are going to expand the WC, lets get more games.  The groups of 4 accomplishes this.  We have 3 countries, we can manage it.
Is there a reason 24 advancing but 8 getting byes is considered unacceptable?  I think I like that better than having 8 3rd place teams move on.  It might be a little bit tricky as it's going to be preferential to certain group winners over others, but missing out on a maybe deserved bye is not the end of the world.

The paired groups format you linked is a nice elegant solution, but to me it feels a little bit exotic to get widespread buy-in.  Maybe I'm wrong - I'd certainly far prefer that to the 3 team round robin.

 
Is there a reason 24 advancing but 8 getting byes is considered unacceptable? .


I don't know what is considered acceptable or not.

I don't like the bye idea only because of luck of the draw.  Say a team gets a really soft group in the draw, that could give them a walk all the way to the quarterfinals.  That seems way too powerful. 
 

But I also don't like the "x number of 3rd place" teams advance because that is just as unfair.

I do agree the paired group format may be too fancy but it does solve a ton of problems and keeps as much sporting integrity as possible in a tournament setting.   The fact that FIFA has taken so long to at least acknowledge the mess their current format holds for 2026 does not give me a lot of hope that they will make a good decision.

 
This guy came up with a fascinating idea for the groups in 2026.  He keeps the 16 groups of 3 but removes the problems of only two games and collusion.

Scroll down to the "Paired Groups Format" section if you already understand why the current 16 groups of 3 format is so horrendous.

https://www.natgoldc.com/2026
Do we really expect FIFA to do anything but the most horrendous option?

 
Do we really expect FIFA to do anything but the most horrendous option?


It may be Charlie Brown kicking the football but I have a smidgen of hope that they will improve upon the current, which is terrible, solution, else they would not have expressed that they are looking into changing it.

There is no one perfect formula for 48 teams like there is for 32 but there has to be numerous better ways to do it than what was originally proposed.

 
8 groups of 6 teams, top two move on to Round of 16 after 5-game round-robin.

BOOM


I would love it but I bet the club teams would raise hell over it.   

One of the reasons FIFA came up with the original, horrendous, solution was that they were trying to placate clubs into saying that the players would not be playing any more games than normal.  

8 groups of 6 teams also creates a TON more tournament games in general I think, and they would very likely need to reconsider how many host cities to have and maybe have issues with various TV providers around the planet since there would have to be numerous times games overlapped just to fit the game into a decent schedule. 

People were already complaining that 108 games total would be too much for the entire tournament, which is the number if we use 12 groups of 4.    8 groups of 6 I think is 120 games just for the group stage alone.

 
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Zigg said:
Portugal/Uruguay France/Denmark 1A/2B Drunk Hooligans/Qatari Police
Qatari Police have to be like +900, right?  Here's hoping the Hooligans prevail, love a good underdog story.  

 
Ghana are picking up solid dual nats at an accelerated pace.  I think they have gotten 4-5 decent pros to make official switches to represent ghana in the last couple of months.

Inaki Williams, Eddie Nketiah and Callum Hudson-Odoi among them.

 
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NewlyRetired said:
Ghana are picking up solid dual nats at an accelerated pace.  I think they have gotten 4-5 decent pros to make official switches to represent ghana in the last couple of months.

Inaki Williams, Eddie Nketiah and Callum Hudson-Odoi among them.


and another one

ESPN UK

@ESPNUK

Tariq Lamptey has switched international allegiance from England to Ghana

==================

I am fine with dual nats but I feel like there should be rule that if you switch countries you should at least have had to play in qualifying before going to the WC.  At this rate, Ghana is going to have a ton of players on the WC roster than had nothing to do with qualifying.

 
Canadian friendlies in Sept.

=================

[Gareth Wheeler] I can confirm Canada will play Qatar on September 23rd and Uruguay on the 27th in Vienna, according to multiple sources. Fantastic friendlies for #canMNT

 
What a crazy thing to think about.  Mario Gotze is still only 30.  He was a 22 year old kid when he scored that goal and was one of the best young players in the world.  Obviously health problems and a falling off in production came after that, but wow.  What a moment for a young kid.


And the assist from Andrea Schurrle who was about the same age at the time but whose career went downhill at an even more shocking rate than Gotze. I just looked him up and it seems he's been completely retired for two years now.

 
CEO Oliver Kahn: "We have agreed to release Robert Lewandowski. We have a verbal agreement with FC Barcelona, the contract is still pending. We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern’s world did not fall apart. On the contrary, it often continued with even more success."

 
Mjolnirs said:
CEO Oliver Kahn: "We have agreed to release Robert Lewandowski. We have a verbal agreement with FC Barcelona, the contract is still pending. We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern’s world did not fall apart. On the contrary, it often continued with even more success."


The insane part of this is Barcelona "finding" this money for the fee.  This team is in so much financial trouble and no one seems to care that they are continuing to spend.

 
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Mjolnirs said:
CEO Oliver Kahn: "We have agreed to release Robert Lewandowski. We have a verbal agreement with FC Barcelona, the contract is still pending. We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern’s world did not fall apart. On the contrary, it often continued with even more success."
Such a German reply.  Just the right amount of arrogance, respect and matter of fact-ness.  Love it.

 
Mjolnirs said:
CEO Oliver Kahn: "We have agreed to release Robert Lewandowski. We have a verbal agreement with FC Barcelona, the contract is still pending. We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern’s world did not fall apart. On the contrary, it often continued with even more success."
WRONG THREAD

 
how is that even possible.

Gotze= speedo boner man
LOL.  I mean I had forgotten about the moment itself, as in... wow! I haven't thought about that for a long time, not that Gotze was the Speedo boner man.  It's arguably his most famous moment..... and that's including his WC winning goal.

 
This would be a good change as I think it would make the WC start on a Sunday instead of a Monday
==============

The Associated Press
@AP

BREAKING: The World Cup in Qatar could start one day earlier than scheduled with FIFA looking at a plan to let the host nation play Ecuador on Nov. 20, a person familiar with the proposal tells @AP.
 
Extending my deepest sympathies to the large cadre of El Tri fans on the board. Tecatito out of the World Cup. Probably Mexico’s most consistent attacker as El Chucky blows hot and cold and Tata gets **** all out of his strikers.
 
The US group stage games will be highly partisan it looks like

=======

Meg Swanick

@Meg_Swanick


[Inbox] According to FIFA, ticket sales for #Qatar2022 have reached 2.45 million. In no specified order, FIFA names the following as topping charts by country of residence: Qatar USA Mexico England Saudi Arabia UAE France Argentina Brazil Germany Australia Wales
 
Extending my deepest sympathies to the large cadre of El Tri fans on the board. Tecatito out of the World Cup. Probably Mexico’s most consistent attacker as El Chucky blows hot and cold and Tata gets **** all out of his strikers.

by the way, this injury sounds NASTY!! :sadbanana:

Broken fibula AND ruptured ankle ligaments (the ligaments will be harder to recover than the broken leg).
 
That in injury is still not as violent as what Tecatito did to Dest that time.

 
Extending my deepest sympathies to the large cadre of El Tri fans on the board. Tecatito out of the World Cup. Probably Mexico’s most consistent attacker as El Chucky blows hot and cold and Tata gets **** all out of his strikers.
Is there any chance Vela could play again for them? Is he past it now anyway?
 
Extending my deepest sympathies to the large cadre of El Tri fans on the board. Tecatito out of the World Cup. Probably Mexico’s most consistent attacker as El Chucky blows hot and cold and Tata gets **** all out of his strikers.
Is there any chance Vela could play again for them? Is he past it now anyway?

I think he could. At the very worst he would be an excellent second half sub. But Vela made his bed years ago. I would be shocked if he was called after telling Mexico to stick time and again.
 

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