England Forum - FIFA World Cup 2026: Other Teams Thread

Joe Hart spends two years in Scotland and he thinks he's Scottish. He really is a total bellend

 

I really hate being ********ing English

 

Scotland is like Ireland with good bands

 

That's a tremendous goal by the Aussies

 

Hell of a win for the Aussies against a pretty highly rated Turkey side. Gives them a massive chance of making it through.

The goalkeeper will get man of the match but a very solid performance throughout and much more of a threat than I thought they would carry, a young side too with most the starting 11 24 or under which should bode well for their future.

In contrast very much the usual less the sum of their parts version of Turkey turning up.

 

Apparently, Turkey looked like an overhyped squad who supposed to win the USA’s group. Though, well played by Australia. They capitalised on Turkey’s underwhelming performance, as any good team would. Australia were organized, disciplined, and clinical when their opportunities came, while Turkey’s miscues ultimately proved costly.

From a U.S. perspective, this result is also beneficial. The Americans now avoid facing an Australian side coming off a defeat or even 1 point and playing with desperation. Instead, Australia will enter the match with confidence and points already on the board, which can sometimes reduce the urgency that accompanies a must-win situation.

 

Is this the start of roverman´s redemption arc?

 

@horrisengleton so looks like I stand corrected and you were right about not trusting Turkey to turn up in international tournaments. Was starting to wonder why I wasn´t waken up earlier by the noise of the Turks this morning lol. Have to say though for me that´s probably a bigger shock than Switzerland drawing Qatar as I´ve watched quite a lot of the Swiss games before and can´say I´ve been impressed. Their finishing above all has been very lackluster in these. Don´t rate Murat Yakin (on the contrary I rate Montella quite highly) and their striker options behind Embolo.

They´ve called up a journeyman who got surprisingly relegated with Düsseldorf to the 3. Bundesliga lol. Was by far their best player but it´s still only a second division whilst some of the options left out where playing Europa/Conference League with their Swiss clubsAnd he´s left some intriguing young strikers like Monteirro or Alessandro Vogt at home instead). Also pretty confident Shaqiri would still be one of their best wingers after having watched him for Basel against Stuttgart...

 

Was at a pub late into the night watching the Scotland and Australia games (unfortunate not to witness the @roverman show live). The Aussies defense was very solid and were scary on counter attacks against the Turks. They got some of the best young talent I've seen them bring to a World Cup since 2006. I had a sneaky suspicion that Australia would be a competitive team and they're definitely a tough out for a lot of teams. They'll be difficult to crack from a USA perspective.

As for the rest of Group B, I won't completely write off Paraguay since I analyzed their performance, they had a very bad plan and are better than what they displayed. I think Turkey were unlucky at times not scoring while also being wasteful, but they created plenty of chances so they should just keep doing what they're doing while not be caught on the break like Australia did to them twice. Many times we make snap judgments when it's best to look at the film for a 2nd time to get a better understanding.

 

Yeah still renember they gave Argentina a really, really tough time in the last WC with the exact same strategy.

 

Australia's had the misfortune of being in tough groups the last several World Cups:

2010: Germany, Ghana, Serbia

2014: Netherlands, Chile, Spain

2018: France, Denmark, Peru

2022: France, Denmark, Tunisia

2026 is their most favorable group since 2010 and they already beat one of the better teams in Turkey and have a great chance of qualifying.

 

English speaking nations are on a 3-game winning streak:

USA (4-1 Paraguay)
Scotland (1-0 Haiti)
Australia (2-0 Turkey)

 

Are you OK Rover?

 

I think group D is the most even group by FIFA rankings, basically a 9 places between U.S, Turkey and Australia. So can't say i'm massively surprised by Turkey losing, but on paper a few of there players should elevate them a level above Australia. That group is still wide open though.

 

This is one for @roverman but this honestly made me laugh. It’s ok for the Scottish to wear every shirt of the opponents we play against and the constant obsession with the English but she gets upset about one guy on a radio station wearing a Haiti shirt.

❌ "I am done defending you!"

😡 "You're an absolute disgrace Jason!"

Shebahn and these Scotland fans are fed up of Jason Cundy's antics!#fifaworldcup pic.twitter.com/nAxuCJkI05

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 14, 2026

 

I just cannot believe how bad Turkey are at tournaments. Guler, Yildiz, Kokcu, Calhanoglu in their midfield and they lose to ********ing Australia.

On paper Australia are absolute turd but they always seem to do better than expected at world cups and their world ranking is higher than it should be given their lack of quality. I honestly haven't heard of a single one of their players.

 

Irankunda and Toure have done well in the Championship this year, and you've got Souttar and Burgess as well. If you're solid defensively and organised with a decent counter attack, you can always perform above expectations at international level.

 

He did once say that he’d be happy to play for England, Nigeria or USA. If we’re being rational about it and considering his outlook he definitely made the right choice. If he stayed with England he’d have 0-5 caps. If he went with Nigeria he’d have to deal with all that comes with that through the incompetence of their federation and he wouldn’t even be a guaranteed starter. Nigeria failed to qualify for this World Cup as well. With the USA he has guaranteed World Cup qualification and he’s one of their star men. His earning potential through endorsements is easily the highest in such a rich and football talent sparse country as the USA.

 

Lol just Scotland get appaulded for being shit. If we played like that we'd be massacred

 

They've never made it out of a World Cup group stage, that's essentially the biggest win in there history, give 3rd gives them a great chance of advancing. Surely you see the context.

 

I see but u go on the bbc and when someone writes something positive In the in game text it gets 1000 likes. With England it gets like 500 dislikes. It just irks me

 

Yeah, sorry I know Souttar at Leicester, but he was poor in the PL and has barely played for them last couple of years when they've been even worse.

Looked up some of their other players and a couple play in Oz, one in the US and most of the others at a pretty low level.

Clearly they're greater than the sum of their parts but Turkey will be kicking themselves that they didn't beat them. No idea why Yildiz didn't start the match who's had a fantastic season at Juve.

 

Think that solitary goal might not be good enough for Scotland’s goal difference to get through. They’ll need to draw one of their next two games to get through.

 

Yeah was just thinking the same thing. I think there’s a very good chance they have a negative goal difference come the end so will that be good enough? I can’t see them getting a draw against either Morocco or Brazil.

 

Brazil 6 Scotland 0......Morocco 7 Scotland 0.

Scotland going home