FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

I think if we score early we could open them up. If the game goes on and we put on a Ghana or Congo performance my belief will waver. Then I will be thinking haaland is going to get a late goal

 

Or Odegaard who carries a major threat too.

 

The closer we get the more doubtful I am. I know I'm a hypocrite but I can just see haaland getting a late goal after we miss chance after chance . I just can't see us advancing. This is genuine not looking for reassurance. Its that nagging feeling that we're so close, we're bound to ******** it up

 

Whatever will happen, will happen. I just hope we do ourselves justice and put a performance we know the team can, if the team do that and still lose you can accept it.

We will have to be on it with ball retention tomorrow given the heat. It's our first game in extreme heat and we'll need to adapt to the conditions. We did it superbly in Mexico and adjusted our tactics perfectly. We have a better midfield, better players on the ball than Norway as a collective and we really need to be looking to make them feel it.

Haaland is his own thing, the defence is a concern. But we have Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham against Heggem and Ajer also.

 

One thing we have going for us over Norway is experience. We have been in 4 quarter finals In the past 4 tournaments and progressed in 3 of them. Norway have zero experience at this stage in their entire history. Hopefully that works in our favour

 

The FA will pay bonuses of around £15m to the squad, £3m to Thomas Tuchel and approximately £1m to his backroom team should England win the World Cup - The Guardian

Almost 2,000 tickets for England's World Cup quarter-final against Norway are up for sale on the official Fifa site, raising the prospect of empty seats at Saturday's game - The Telegraph

 

Have some faith . The football Gods love to restore harmony back to the footballing universe. A Nation can only get so many near chances before eventually cashing in . You've been getting real close as of late. Its bound to happen . You can't sit at one star forever.

The only thing that would concern me with Norway is that they have nothing to prove . Win or lose they have already far exceeded expectations. So the question is does this team realize what's on the line , being this is likely the most realistic shot they have at winning a WC for quite some time , and leave it all out on the pitch? Or do they crumble at the first sign of heavy pressure on their defense ?

 

Another big day is here! Let's hope the boys do the business. More often than not they win this match.

It is football and it is outside our control as supporters. That is why we get nervous but that is also why it is exciting. I'm sure the team will embrace the challenge and do us proud.

Come on England!

 

England by two goals.

 

Christ you crack me up with your flip flopping

Rover, do yourself a favour and get down to the nearest beach and chill out for the afternoon and take your mind off it. Or even just get yourself down to Blackpool, have a nice walk along the prom and count how many Scottish fans you see wearing Norway shirts, anyway to take your mind off the game

 

My only prediction is both teams will score. No clean sheets tonight.

 

Going back to the idea of Harry Kane retiring after the next Euros, He's 24 goals away from becoming the 3rd highest international scorer in history, at his current scoring rate that would take him 3 seasons to achieve. Given he's getting into the last part of his career it could take 3-5 years. It's not impossible for him to catch Messi as the 2nd highest although it would be difficult and need him to play for England until he's the age Messi is now.

Of currents players Haaland has a chance of taking Ronaldo's crown as the top international scorer of all time currently with 62 goals and a crazy gpg ratio of 1.15! Mbappe despite his immense World Cup scoring record scores at a much lower rate of 0.62 gpg and is currently on 64 but could beat Kane's final total.

As impressive as Haaland's 1.15 gpg ratio is, he is still pretty far behind the player with the highest gpg ratio of international strikers that have scoring 50 or more international goals. That player is England's Vivian Woodward who scored 75 goals in 53 games giving him a gpg ratio of 1.42!

He captained England to two Olympic golds in 1908 and 1912. It's interesting looking at the results in the games that he scored in because we we're basically thrashing nations like France and Holland 15-0 and 9-1.

Shame the World Cup wasn't around then!

 

The post 2028 changes will probably stop Haaland from taking Ronaldo’s record. Norway won’t have any matches against the minnows anymore.

If there as a World Cup in 1908 the FA wouldn’t have took part anyway. It didn’t agree to it in the 1930’s.

 

It seems to me that, if we were to get past Norway, we will be missing Bellingham and or Harry Kane / Declan Rice. There is no way that we will be 'allowed' to go into a game against Argentina full strength............................yes I am afraid I do believe there is corruption going on in this world cup and somewhere down the line its about money - FIFA (Fixed It For Argentina).

 

Kane would need to get sent off. Has Kane ever been sent off??

 

Fwiw, I have woken up confident. Our odyssey does not end today.

 

Yeah we keep seeing this repeatedly. For anyone who still isn't aware: Kane is not on a booking.

The TV broadcaster got it wrong. Guehi got booked against Mexico, not Kane.

Bellingham, Rice, Guehi and O'Reilly are the players at risk of picking up a yellow card suspension.

 

You know that Uruguay wears 4 Stars on their shirt for that very reason . By virtue of winning two Gold Medals in the Olympic games and so were granted the privilege by FIFA to do so . Because prior to the formation of the WC it was still FIFA who organized the 1924 and 1928 editions of the football fixtures at the men's Olympic games . Furthermore because it was FIFA who organized those two Olympics , prior to the formation of the WC , well those gold medal wins were considered on the same platform as WC wins which began 1930 shortly after. As the Olympics by FIFA in 1924 and 1928 were considered the penultimate world competition for professional men's football.

I would imagine that because it was Great Britain ( correct me if I am wrong here ) and not England that specifically won those gold medals in those years and because those editions were not organized by FIFA , that England wouldn't be given the same exemption that FIFA gave to Uruguay. I always thought it was rather weak on Uruguay to request as much imo.


Also I believe Vivian Woodward captained Great Britain ( Not England ) to Gold Medals in 1908 and 1912 . So his record is for Great Britain in goal scoring and not for England. Unless he solely represented England in other types of competition.

 

Surprised @Fireburn47 hasn't picked up on a lot of people being unhappy that H Kane played a round of golf with Trump.

 

You are correct about him winning those Olympic medals with Great Britain but his goal-scoring record is for England and England Amateurs combined, the goals he scored for GB are not included, at least according to Wikipedia.

 

Yes , I went just now and caught this ( and edited ) . But thank you nonetheless.

Cheers .

 

If you're invited to play a round of golf with the President of the USA you do it. I'm more interested in why Trump wanted to meet Kane.

I'm on my way back from central London. Great vibes in the city today. A real positive feel to the place. Lots of England shirts about, as you would expect. Although I was particularly pleased to see a young Spanish speaker in a tour party wearing a Cambridge United away shirt.

 

Probably wishes that Spain played like the John Beck years rather than the way they do !

 

But then there's also Nyland who's had the game of his life against Brazil and is definitely capable of repeating such a performance. And as you've said Haaland against this defense doesn't look reassuring at all.

We also have to keep in mid their coach likes to swap both of his wingers at half time/shortly after to create a whole new dynamic in attack. It worked against Brazil with Schjelderup setting up both of their goals off the bech...

Still think the combined quality of Bellingham and Kane should be enough to advance but unfortunately can't see the game ending without at least one of Jude, Declan, Nico or Marc getting a yellow either...

 

The coaching staff will have been working on all that. As for yellow cards we will just have to deal with it if we get through.