2026 FIFA World Cup: Friendly matches

The French should be a bit concerned, IMO. Struggling to beat Northern Ireland at home.

 

Dutch finishing is beyond awful during these friendlies, they scored nothing against Algeria, which were atleast a good rival, but Uzbekistan looked really weak, especially in 1st half, and Netherlands managed to score only 2 penalties, one of them in last added minute of the game to win it 2-1...

 

Yeah, similar to the situation wiht France, these events in friendlies are only worth mentioning because the friendlies are highlighting a known issue that the team has.

In Holland's case, its the lack of a good #9, or any reliable goal scorer.
In France's case, Mbappe is not convincing of late.

 

Friendly results are always dangerous to read too much into, but some of these are interesting

The Morocco v Norway draw probably tells us more than most warm-ups, because Norway are exactly the kind of awkward opponent that can expose problems quickly. I still think friendlies are more about patterns than results, but there are definitely a few warning signs for some teams

 

87,000+ to watch Argentina x Iceland in Alabama, and Argentina starts a full B team.

Teeheee...

 

Senegal 0-0 Saudi Arabia

Saudi looked better than I thought, they were the superior team in their first half but their finishing was horrible. Maybe sacking Herve Renard was the right decision but we’ll see

 

The Morocco v Norway match probably would tell us more than most friendlies because both teams started their strongest lineups and both teams are on a similar level so there would be something to prove.

Watching Senegal v Saudi Arabia today it looked like the Senegalese didnt even care and they were very sloppy. Saudi was clearly trying to claim a scalp.

 

I saw their first half against an Ecuador B team, and they were completely dominating posession, I was surprised they ended up losing.

Yeah they are not that bad, I said this earlier. They can be OK, but they can be really poor at times too. They arent very physical , that's one of their problems.

 

So, what did that friendly tell you?

I wasn't really concentrating on that match but seemed like every time I looked up to the TV Morocco was on the ball and looking better than Norway. In the first half, at least.

 

The match told me that every time Norway plays decent teams they look ordinary.

I've seen them vs Netherlands, Switzerland, and Morocco. Nothing crazy to write home about.

Morocco could have scored 2 or 3 more goals in the first half. Norway only came into the game after Morocco subbed off a whole bunch of guys around the 70 minute mark.

Haaland had his least touches in a game since 2019 (Both for club and country)

Still they need to be respected, they have some dangerous players.

Morocco looked good until their subs came on.

 

Portugal 2 Nigeria 1
England 3 Costa Rica 0
Algeria 4 Bolivia 0

 

Costa Rica looks terrible. Unrecognizable from the country that won a WC group that included England 12 years ago.

But I understand their mindset must be totally different than teams heading to the WC. I see the same with Bolivia, who obviously aren't a good team, but they're not this bad.

 

Attendance at Jordan Hare Stadium for the game of Argentina vs Iceland 88,043 spectators good day for Birmingham Rugby World Cup in 2031 and Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau.