2026 WC USA (et al): Worldwide Opponents Watch [all R's]

I think Deschamps deserves a ton of credit.
........................when you have a team of stars, it can be difficult to get them all of the same page like this.
[We've seen that issue before with France. 2002 and 2010. Just a mess.]

Look at Deschamps trophy cabinet as a player and coach.
EGADS. Its impressive. Is it an accident? Probably not. That guy wins wherever he is.

I mean, at the World Cup he's ONLY won one and finished 2nd the other time.

We all know soccer well enough to know the best team or the one with the most talent doesn't necessarily win.

 

Wasn't Luis Diaz's father kidnapped not that long ago?

 

The feels-like temperature for the Norway 🇳🇴 vs. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 quarterfinal in Miami is forecast to hit 107°F (42°C) at kickoff 🔥

Today will be the first time either team has ever played in heat like this.

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 11, 2026

 

I think also relevant how much more Mbappe tries with France. I don’t think it’s an accident that PSG has picked up since he’s left and that Madrid hasn’t done a ton since he got there (though he’s not the only issue at Madrid). But this is someone who had the worst defensive stats of any player in a top 5 league this past season and he’s very much giving an effort defensively with France this summer. An a Mbappe who tries on defense is the best player in the world.

But on top of that Olise is a top 5 player in the world as is Dembele.

 

So you're saying 3 of the top 5 players in the world now are French?

Sounds alot like a certain Brazilian national team a few decades back!

 

Rooting for Argentina?

 

Weird, even Americans i know who don't know a thing about soccer are openly rooting for Norway!

 

How France became football’s super power

“I don’t see African players I see street players”

And minutes. Ligue 1 gives more to 18 and under players than Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A put together

On the French golden ticket @TimesSport https://t.co/DAnyl02u5j

— Tom Allnutt (@TomAllnutt_) July 11, 2026

On the French developmental system.

 

Yup. I think it’s arguable though it’s hard to know where to put in Messi. You’d probably want to put Haaland up there as well plus Kane. Plus guys like Vinicius Jr, Bellingham, Rice, and Pedri probably just outside the top 5. It’s also the case that defenders tend not to get as much credit as they deserve when you come up with these lists.

 

So many people have been literally not commenting on this in media. I think only the dudes at soccerwise seemed to mention it and I've been at it all tournament.

I keep trying to figure out what it will mean and who it would advantage. I tend to think Norway, simply because of style of play and how they'd probably approach the game, but who knows.

This has been insanely unreported on, but I think the line movement with England suggests that the betting markets weren't buying that England was a lead pipe cinch because the line has gotten tighter and tighter all week.

But I will freely admit, I have no idea how this impacts things, I just think there's no way this can be a normal game because the field conditions will be so god awful that it will heavily impact performance, period.

 

I don’t think it really favors either team given they both come from countries where they don’t really experience this level of heat. The one advantage England has is they have significantly more depth to turn to on their bench compared to Norway. But it’s going to be brutal for both teams.

 

thank you! I’ve been meaning to google this.
Very interesting.

 

Seems normal, we like winners and super underdogs, nothing in between.

Would be hilarious to see England lose now, but so would getting Argentinaed again, or faceplanting in the final.

No other outcome is acceptable on a cosmically ethical basis.

 

What's weird about it?

 

East coast matches in the summer are stupid.

Next time the entire World Cup should be on the West Coast.

 

Yeah I have a number of friends not into soccer who’ve seen the Haaland memes on social media and now very into Norway.

 

haha. By mistake, apparently. The ELN is a shadow of what it was, and they're engaged in peace negotiations right now and released him pretty much straight away. FARC was the big guerilla group and they made a peace agreement in 2016 and entered into politcs.

 

Haaland barely touches the ball so far

 

1-0 yes. VAR might go back to Kane’s foul

 

Game ********ing on bitches. Super strike.

Not a foul but I’m biased.

 

VARgentinaed again?

 

Nope goal stands. Game on

 

LFG Norway!!

 

2 shot on goal and 1 goal