I was thinking about the fix too but was there a prop bet for goals allowed? Just does not make sense to lose by that many on purpose. I think they just could not keep up with such a tall physical team after playing a rough South American squad. Playing 3 games in 7 days can take its toll on the weak teams.
I think Honduras hoped to win the last game against Norway and hopefully advance. No point for them to lag behind and go for 0-0 against a team that has lost both of its last 2 games. They went off aggressively, were overrun and lost hope of moving forward, they seemed to be neither tactically or mentally prepared to limit their losses. In addition, the goalkeeper was very poor. That said, match fixing is much more prevalent than many believe. However, it usually happens in a more subtle form. If it were to be proven the match was fixed, would FIFA "delete" the mtach?
Oh, Panama is out for sure. Saudi Arabia will make an example out of Panama, like Norway did with Honduras. A lot of money riding behind that Saudi squad. Regarding new minnows after expansion, prepare yourselves for u20 WC expansion after 2026. Youth WC was last expanded on 1997 (16->24). Time to give Concacaf more u20 WC spots son!
USA beat Qatar 1-0 from a Tim Weah goal in the 79th minutes. https://www.fifa.com/news/the-week-in-numbers-x7209 says: "9 times is what Erling Haland scored against Honduras to shatter the record of Adailton, who netted six in Brazil’s 10-3 win over Korea Republic in 1997, for goals in a FIFA U-20 World Cup game. The son of Alf-Inge Haland helped Norway win 12-0 to surpass the competition’s previous biggest victory: Brazil’s 10-0 defeat of Belgium in 1997." I hoped they would say the record for goals by a player in a game in any FIFA competition. He could get another big stage soon as he plays for Red Bull Salzburg, who will start in the Champions League Group Stage. It's three years after Honduras's U-23s finished fourth in the Olympics. Has match-fixing ever been proven during a tournament that takes a month or less? Investigations can take a long time. Not that poverty justifies match-fixing, but Honduras being poor made a big difference in flight quality between Honduras and Australia when they played a WCQ playoff in November 2017.
Korea with the upset against Argentina who started many 2nd stringers. Portugal is eliminated with a draw against South Africa. Big surprise. Panama goes through.
Portugal is out. Tied on pts and goal difference but Panama scored more goals. Round of 16 is- Italy v Poland Colombia v New Zealand Uruguay v Ecuador Ukraine v Panama Nigeria v Senegal Japan v South Korea France v USA Argentina v Mali
Portugal were arrogant and casual. Deserve to go home, hopefully these alleged world class talents learn a lesson here. Absolutely absurd not qualifying considering the playing roster. From what I’ve seen, Italy France & Uruguay are the teams to beat.
A couple of tough-looking brackets: France-USA v Uruguay-Ecuadoris a tough route to the semis. Also: Argentina-Mali v Italy-Poland(considering Poland are hosts).
Might want to give South Africa some credit too. Its keeper did a proper job, despite being eliminated already. Kudos to Panama too. I did not think it would pull thru. Conmebol teams still want to party.
I’ll give the keeper credit apart for the penalty save, all the other saves he made are to be expected. Ive always liked the style of the South Africans, they always try to go past a man, fun to watch. Their gamesmanship however was as bad as the middle eastern teams which soured it a bit for me.Wasting time to protect a draw made no sense!
So... what you were saying? Panama had big games against Asia and Africa U20 Champions, we deserved a spot in the next round for sure. This generation will give us a lot of joy in the future, they play frankly well, a tough defense and a structured attack with a lot of ball movement and through passes. Expecting a good match vs Ukraine, the boys will do good, no doubt.
It’s weird to read a post of you saying this kind of comments about my country, Panama. Good for you my friend, making progress!
He scored more than the next three highest scorers combined. He scored 9, two players scored 3, and fifteen players scored 2.
Not as many goals but it reminds me a bit of when Russia played in WC '94 (and was eliminated in the Group stage) and beat up on Cameroon with a player who tied as the golden boot winner
I would say that it makes sense. Remember that some national teams will protect those draws because they are what can be salvaged from a tough tournament. It is tough to play handicapped, during the month of Ramadan.
I saw PAN defending with 5-6 players at the back, against teams fasting because of their religion. Highlights of PAN vs MLI & KSA (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Highlights of PAN vs MLI & KSA (open) Highlights of PAN vs MLI & KSA (close) PAN vs MLI PAN vs KSA I bet PAN will park the bus against UKR too.
I hate some of the pk hand ball calls in soccer now. Today Poland lost on one of those calls. The Polish player had his arm to his side next to his body a ball deflected off a head on to his arm that is not an intentional handball. FIFA has to make refs stop calling handballs that are not intentional.
Reminds me of the penalty call made yesterday in the CL final. Not a penalty at all imo. Although it was very stupid to have his arm extended all the way out like that.
This New Zealand team is for real. Good to see the progress. I reiterate my invitation: come join Conmebol and get the experience that you need.