I think it’s mainly just due to our record of pretty much being bottle jobs! I mean it’s kind of hard to take us seriously with our track record with one exception. We just can’t seem to get it over the line and until we do, I think we will always be seen as not serious contenders.
I mean it's understandable to a degree but I had this conversation on a different thread with an overseas fan and said I think people give too much weight to history in these situations. You have to analyse what's in front of you rather than what's happened in yeas gone by. Plenty of people thought Liverpool would never win the Premier League because "they never do it", but it's always that way until it isn't. There's an implication with England that there's some sort of mental block and right now, that's not necessarily what I see with this particular England side. If anything, they've done nothing but overcome alleged preexisting mental blocks at the last four tournaments. I think pretty much every game we've lost at a tournament since 2018 you can put down to the other team simply having better players or clearly being a better collective team, and having performed far better than England did throughout the entirety of the tournament in question prior to knocking us out. The England team also constantly changes at a very fast rate. There's a good chance we start games in 2026 with 4-5 players in the starting XI who either weren't in the Euro 2024 squad, didn't play a minute or only got a few minutes here and there. This team will be quite different from the last, and the one before that. The two main questions for me are always: a) are the players good enough to match up to the best nations in the world?, and b) are the players being (or close to) collectively maximised? I'm confident that A is very much the case, and while we're probably not going to know for certain about B until the tournament itself, I think the signs are clearly positive. I don't think you can say both of those boxes were simultaneously ticked at any World Cup or Euros in the last 25 years. Heading into previous tournaments, I've always found it easy to pick major holes in England compared to other nations and come up with reasons as to why we don't have a serious chance of winning, but I'm finding that harder this time around. We're far from perfect and there are still major question marks surrounding the team, but that's the case for pretty much every other major side too. I have no idea who's going to win the competition and if you put a gun to my head I'd probably say we'll fall short again, but if we did win it, I would not be surprised.
Just realised that Ghana aren’t in Afcon. For a team that many think should ( including myself) be a decent test for us on paper with their strongest line up, it’s not at all bad especially going forward but if they can’t qualify for Afcon, maybe as a team they aren’t particularly strong after all……
I wouldn't read too much into that. Qualifying for AFCON was in late 2024 over a two month period, so teams could easily be impacted by injuries. It was squeezed in in the middle of the two year World Cup qualifying group schedule.
Yes. I doubt most European leaders will have the b*llocks to truly stand up to the USA in a seriously impactful manner in that scenario, so I FIFA certainly won't. There'll be momentary hysteria and a lot of finger-wagging and performative symbolism, but it'll cool down fairly quickly and that'll be that.
I could see Denmark boycotting it and likely Norway and Sweden (if in) following too. There could even be a coordinated European effort.
It will really hit a real sore spot in the Nordics I'm sure, but as I say, I just don't see any major European country standing up to the US like that, barring maybe the French. Certainly not ourselves, and certainly not the Germans, the Dutch, the Italians etc. The FAs of European nations would only boycott the World Cup if there were major pressure from their own governments to do so.
I feel like they could well be such pressure if Greenland was invaded. I’m also not sure Canada and the USA could continue to co-host.
Pressure from who? It would have to be China and Russia, because European countries are basically just vassal states of the American Empire anyway.
It will seriously piss off a lot of people and practically make NATO completely irrelevant if a member Country invades another. Could Europe fight against America militarily, probably not but they could probably make things very tricky economically and the bigger picture will be that trust between Europe and the US will be compromised to say the least. It would become messy and can’t imagine Europe welcoming the Orange baffoon to Europe for tea anytime soon.
I think Europe could object to taking part in the World Cup and have similar reaction to the USA as they did with Russia invading Ukraine,
In theory, yes—European leaders and FIFA remain spineless when it comes to standing up to that authoritarian wannabe. But a lot can happen between now and the start of the tournament. Expect the unexpected.
I hate throwing the baby out with the bathwater or debunking the unrealistic hysteria that the corporate mainstream media has been feeding the public, but the United States will not—because it cannot—invade Greenland unilaterally for many political and economic reasons, including the same reason European leaders and FIFA are too spineless to stand up to that authoritarian wannabe in Washington. This is all about covering up Epstein from the media space. EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN!
If I was betting, I'd probably come down on the side that it will not happen. But I'm also loath to believe that there is no desire or intent in what Trump says.
The mainstream media has also not done a good job of portraying reality—too often it’s been nothing but hysteria for clicks. I’m proud of the fact that, in 2025, news consumers in America distrust and tune out the mainstream media more than news consumers in any other developed country. We may be uninformed now, but at least we are less exposed to the bullshit pushed on the telly and social media.
Pubs will be allowed to stay open as late as 2am during the World Cup, the Government has confirmed - The Sun Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal are heading to Mexico's party capital for the World Cup. That is despite Portugal having no matches in the country - The Sun
From a U.S. fan perspective, I really wish we aren’t hosting this World Cup for many reasons. I would be relieved if Mexico and Canada alone host the all matches.
It's a shit situation for proper American football fans. Infantino is using you as a cash cow at the expense of worldwide football fans which is no fault of your own. Many also didn't vote for Trump and most certainly didn't ask for this ICE scenario either, so I do sympathise.
Yeah, I feel really sorry for the many decent American people who suffer under this lunatic and his followers. That recent social media post portraying the Obama’s as apes just tops the lot of the most outrageously, outlandish behaviour which beggars belief coming from Trump and The Whitehouse! It’s completely off the charts!
The deportation of all illegal immigrants has strong majority public support in the US (and I suspect in the UK too) and he has a democratic mandate to carry it out. I find the ICE stuff the least objectionable thing about him. They should go harder, if anything. They're a long way off reaching their election promises with regard to numbers.
The prices are comparable to the US sports play offs. At the top end sure but unfortunately people will pay it. Also a large amount of immigrants who will pay to see their team.
There are more of us than those who choose to turn a blind eye. Keep in mind that, in general, Americans aren’t die-hard football fans — they deeply concern and care more about issues they see as genuinely important than football, including American football. They will react to this.