Group B's General Discussion Thread

To be fair the equaliser was very difficult to defend against, it was a quality cross and a quality header.

 

LOL

Though years ago I did have a theory that UEFA qualifying draws were being rigged in favor of Switzerland.

 

Guys don’t look too much into this. Just a bad day for Switzerland with unlucky finishing and a very good one for Qatar. It was an upset.

like Saudi Arabia 2-1 Argentina last World Cup.

 

Deserved draw for Qatar! I'll need to look at that Swiss penalty call again.

 

They didn’t do bad in Qatar at all. In Brazil, a few UEFA teams disappointed but many were in bad form and not in the best shape during that time. Germany still won it.

In South Africa, same some European teams weren’t in the best form and in transition periods.

 

I am shocked. But happy for Qatar.

 

Except Argentina were good and monstrously unlucky with finishing and what, 4 offsides goals, while the Saudi goals were beautiful wonder goals.

This game the Swiss were complete and total ---, credit to Qatar. I did not think they had this in them at all, the Swiss helped, but credit them for taking advantage of the Swiss coasting to grab a point.

 

I don’t think the Swiss were anymore unlucky than Argentina were vs Saudi Arabia. Switzerland dominated and had so many chances. The Qatari goalkeeper and some defenders had the games of their lives. Saudi Arabia also played a very good game against Argentina.

If anything I’d even argue that Saudi Arabia matched Argentina’s level closer than Qatar matched Switzerland’s level. Very similar.

Offsides are offsides. They don’t count, and that was only cause Saudi Arabia was playing a very high line.

 

Switzerland used to inflate their world ranking by only scheduling friendlies that could help their numbers, so they were often over-seeded for draws. Poland used to do it too.

 

They do have talent though. Maybe not quite a powerhouse, but there is Akanji, Embolo, Rodriguez, Xhaka, and a lot of players in mid-table teams.

Also they tend to be very reliable as a team. I still think they’re top 12-13 in the world right now. They had bad finishing and got unlucky today, but I still think they’re Top 13.

I say:
1. France
2. Spain
3. Brazil
4. Portugal
5. England
6. Germany
7. Japan
8. Morocco
9. Austria
10. Argentina
11. Croatia
12. Switzerland

 

If it’s all fixed, why do you watch? Personally, I can’t imagine wasting my time watching a competition, knowing the outcome was preordained.

 

The penalty awarded Switzerland seemed bogus on all counts: the play seemed offside and even the foul called on the goalie didn't seem the right call to me.

Other than that, I actually don't think Qatar played as well as they are capable of playing, even if Qatar usually doesn't play all that well and is often very poor. But I have seen Qatar play much better as well.

The Swiss missed a lot of chances but were able to penetrate Qatar's defense easily. But that is mainly par for course when it comes to Qatar. What Qatar is capable of doing much better than they did against Switzerland is delivering very good long ball to set up their offense. Against Switzerland, they weren't able to do so for the most part. That basically weakened their ability to free Akram Afif in a manner where he could be more dangerous. Additionally, Moez Ali (their best forward) wasn't playing for some reason against the Swiss.

But the relative Swiss domination notwithstanding, the draw was the fair result: the Swiss goal came from an undeserved penalty while Qatar's goal was fine and well taken.

A good result for Qatar -- one that keep their hopes of advancing from this mediocre group alive.

 

Well, that was embarrassing.

We didn't play particularly well (don't think the midday heat helped) but it should have been enough to win this match. But that's what happens when you don't have a scoreline cushion, any opponent can score out of nowhere and that's exactly what happened.

Credit to Qatar for trying until the very end.

 

Seriously?

Infantino...I mean FIFA...has three darling member associations these days. Take a look at sponsors and commercial considerations. They are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the USA.

 

I don't think Infantino or FIFA have much to do with that bogus penalty, but the penalty was bogus and the fact that it stood VAR review naturally raises some suspicion. For me, the suspicion is more in the category of general anti-(...) and pro UEFA bias from officials than a real conspiracy.

 

Or maybe VAR just saw what we couldn't on television? Perhaps it was just onside? The foul call was certainly correct in my opinion. These wild conspiracy theories appear ridiculous.

 

Bias and conspiracy are not the same thing. You have a bias in favor of the Swiss team. Hence, you consider the "foul" certainly correct. From my perspective, even the foul wasn't really a correct call (but not black and white like the offside issue). Similar biases exist among match officials and the VAR crew.

As for the offside issue, if they saw something else, perhaps they could have shown what they saw? The failure to show how something that was clearly offside on the general tv view was not actually offside then lends itself to suspicion. The suspicion may not be uniform nor in all cases well founded, but the best tonic is being transparent and showing everyone what the VAR crew might have seen to uphold the call.

 

During the Qatar vs. Switzerland match in the San Francisco Bay Area, a brief technical outage prevented the onside animation graphic from being generated ahead of the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved.

The workflow of the VAR was… pic.twitter.com/ONpWxXDPE6

— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) June 13, 2026

 

It looked off live, but that should end that (but it won't).

 

I keep going back and forth on this group. Canada should get a big home boost, but Switzerland look like the safest pick to manage three cagey games. Bosnia feel like the one that could swing the whole group if they start quickly.

 

Yeah, I think it would have been better for Bosnia if the Swiss beat Qatar. Now Swiss are going to feel like they have something to prove in their next match and will probably be better at closing the game out if they're in a similar position.

 

This is looking like a Euro match. And not in a good way.