Knockout Stage General Discussion Thread

Are you sure about this? I thought that the rules were changed that whenever a player who covers his mouth with a hand, arm or shirt during a confrontation with an opponent is punished with a red car.

https://inside.fifa.com/organisatio...ng-mouths-to-conceal-discriminatory-behaviour

 

I am sure.

There has to be a confrontational element to it. You better believe if Rice was trying to escalate an argument or conflict of some sort the Argentinian players would have complained to the refs.

 

But how does the ref or VAR know w/o hearing anything?

From a birds' eye view, the only difference between Rice's and Almirón's was the reaction of the player being spoken to. Neither were 'confrontational' like the incident that resulted in this rule (Benfica - Madrid).

 

Yeah the whole point is that b/c they can't hear it, the covering of the mouth is an automatic red card.

But whatever, I don't like this rule being enforced in draconian fashion b/c the players have been doing it for so long that changing it so harshly and expecting players to follow it might be too harsh. But 100% its supposed to be a red card. . . I am sure that all the conspiracy theorists will ignore it (hahahaha)

 

I think it is a stupid rule because it is subjective and up to the discretion of the refs who review it.
But the reactions of the players did not give me the impression that it was considered confrontational or controversial.

 

I hate that the final is in NJ/NY. Like, why?
There were so many better venues.

 

Its safe to assume it was chosen because of the city, not the stadium.

 

I don’t care about the usual complaints and crybabies, Argentina could win 10–0 or 1-0 and haters would still blame FIFA, the referee, the weather, and the phase of the moon. But AI-generated images of Messi stepping on Spence are different: when the facts don’t support the “Argentina is favored” narrative, apparently the solution is to manufacture new ones.

At this point, it’s not criticism, it’s fanboys' fiction dressed up as evidence, pushed by influencers and kids that have only played soccer in video games, desperate to undermine Argentina’s achievements because their lives are failures.

 

I grew up in that part of the country.
What a depressing area, lol.
New York City is OK to visit for a day, but it's crazy expensive there.

 

Its a smear campaign initiated by Ronaldo fans.

They just couldn't take cr7 having another early summer vacation while Messi goes rolling along. Jon Obi Mikel made the same observation on the Netflix show This is Football a couple of days ago.

Of course, all the victims of the Argentina NT (France, England, Colombia, Africa, etc) have now piled on to give the conspiracy theory bigger wings.

sigh. People need to give social media a rest.

 

The referees are letting the Argentines play their rough game. The players would be foolish not to take advantage of it. Why not, after all? That’s sport.

In fact, many more people dislike the Argentine team for non-sporting reasons: because several players are nationalistic, racist morons. It’s as simple as that.

 

Everyone in England is too busy being angry with Tuchel to be interested in this. Obviously there will be some exceptions but it really is not a significant talking point. It is the least controversial England - Argentina match ever, probably.

Argentina should have received a lot more yellow cards throughout the tournament but that wouldn't have made any significant difference to their progression. Unless there is something very controversial on Sunday it is a non-issue.

Ronaldo should retire, at least from international football. The longer he goes on the less he will be remembered as one of the all time greats and the more he will be remembered for hampering his country.

Social media was bad enough but adding on AI doubles down on nonsense.

 

This WC is not made for the regular person making low-6 figure salaries. And the WC final especially.

Loads of big names from the footballing and non-football world are coming in not just for the match but to party for a few days. That's probably why the final is in New York. L.A. was the other option, but the EDT time zone works better for the WC final.

 

Wallstreet. Financial center of the USA. Aka beaucoup bucks! Also lots of nonstop flights from Europe and South America

 

You might want to learn some grammar.

 

I agree. MetLife Stadium works well as a sieve, separating high-income attendees from the rest.

Its pitch continues to be substandard, as it was during all semifinal and final matches in 2025 CWC. Organizers had no incentive to improve pitch substrate from 2025, while media focus will remain on money figures instead of match conditions.

Looking forward to tomorrow's match.

 

As soon as you guys learn futbol - you're mine. I live in your head rent-free b#@$

 

You sound insane.

 

I watched this match for the 3rd place and I consider it as the best one I've ever watched.
6-4 in football.
I congratulate England for this Bronze medal, the first medal since 1966.
I also congratulate France and Mbappé for this match.

 

Yup. We should also congratulate their bookies. People must be crying in Las Vegas.

 

This match definitely had a 'let's just agree to go and score goals and not worry about defense' vibe.

 

I'm glad that Mbappe scored two goals today. For the time being, he is two goals clear of Messi in the golden boot race and has the all-time record for most goals scored in World Cups. Mbappe can still improve as a finisher. He could have easily had 12-13 goals in this tournament. When watching him play, it's pretty obvious that he is significantly better on a technical standpoint than many of his teammates. I think in the national team we see the same problem that he has at club level -- he scores a lot of goals but he has been missing out on trophies. Moving forward, Mourinho's challenge at Real Madrid and Zidane's with the national team will be to come up with a system that makes the most of Mbappe's goalscoring prowess while also strengthening the midfield and defense to give him a better shot at winning the biggest trophies.

 

I will take your word for it.

Didn't watch it since tennis-scores were a high probability. Happy to see FIFA getting ridiculed by both teams.

 

Sometimes, I'd like to build a time machine. I'd travel to several weeks after a FIFA World Cup and buy some books about the FIFA World Cup.
I'd go back to my time a begin to go to betclick with all the results.
Imagine all the money I'd earn.