The men's national teams will be coming together starting next week (Thursday June 11th 1400 hours) in Mexico as they start the tournament off against South Africa (and Mbo!) followed by South Korea vs Czechia later that evening (2100 hours). This is the first time the World Cup is at 48 teams and it will be in the familiar four team groups...however, the knockout stages will start at 32 not the usual 16 so the top teams advance from each group as well as all the second place teams (as usual) but also 8 of the third place teams so...anything may happen. I threw this thread in for World Cup pertaining talk (hopefully about soccer) and to have a little fun with the poll.
Thanks. I have been thinking about starting a World Cup thread, but was struggling with doing a poll. Then I realized I sadly do not care that much.
Adnan and I made our brackets on Sad Bois and I was successful in convincing him that Japan and Senegal are gonna be heavy hitters this tournament. But at the end of the day, it's probably just gonna be Spain. But I'll still vote for Japan.
That and I will be in Poland (trying to convince Lewandowski to sign...I wish) for the important part of the World Cup. Now that I think about it, if I do that, I could write the trip off as a business expense. AND, since I will also be in Croatia, I could try to drum up support for Modric. Oh, wait, he will be in the US. Damn.
I find at the World Cup like at the March Madness I enjoy seeing the...expected lesser teams. And tend to root for them more often then not. I loved Morocco getting to final four not long ago for instance.
Yeah. I think that Bosnia's gonna be a fun Cinderella story somehow getting into the quarterfinals, where they will be ruthlessly slaughtered by Spain.
While I'm always excited for the World Cup, my enthusiasm for this iteration is relatively low compared to previous incarnations. Some combination of impossibly greedy ticket prices, global anger at the United States and a sinking feeling about the USMNT's direction under Pochettino has me looking forward to Spain in 2030. I never thought a home World Cup would be harder for me to attend than flying to Qatar.
Mexico goes home in the first knockout round, like always. Well, they made the Quarter Finals twice in their history, both times when they hosted, so maybe they make it out of the first knockout round, but I doubt it. They do hold the record for the most total losses in World Cup (sorry, FIFA World Cup™) history, so they do have that going for them. If it was not for Brazil, Mexico would probably me least favorite team. Mexican fans I knew were always "We have made every FIFA World Cup™ (and, yes, they would say "trademark" every single time ). and I would say, "Well, except for the one where you were banned for corruption." and "Sure, but how many times have your progressed past the quarter finals?" They ALWAYS appreciated that last question. Frankly, but for the "home pitch advantage," I would not favor them coming out of the Group. South Korea will win the Group. Czechia is a pretty weak at the moment, but could put up a good fight. South Africa is the fourth team. They will not give up a single goal in the Group due to our secret weapon: Mbekezeli Mfanufikile Mbokazi
ESPN has asked AI to predict every match...so we all do not have to do so: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...s-picking-winner-every-game-entire-tournament Group Predictions: Predicted Group A standings 1. Mexico: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 2. South Korea: 5 points, plus-1 goal differential 3. Czechia: 4 points, even goal differential 4. South Africa: 0 points, minus-4 goal differential Boo-South Africa takes the group (well, they won't but...) Predicted Group B standings 1. Switzerland: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 2. Canada: 7 points, plus-2 goal differential 3. Qatar: 3 points, minus-2 goal differential 4. Bosnia & Herzegovina: 0 points, minus-3 goal differential Can't really disagree much here. Predicted Group C standings 1. Morocco: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 2. Brazil: 6 points, plus-3 goal differential 3. Scotland: 4 points, even goal differential 4. Haiti: 0 points, minus-6 goal differential I just do not rank Morocco that highly, but they are on a roll. Predicted Group D standings 1. United States: 4 points, plus-1 goal differential 2. Türkiye: 4 points, even goal differential 3. Paraguay: 4 points, minus-1 goal differential 4. Australia: 3 points, even goal differential This is up in the air. This could happen, or the inverse. Predicted Group E standings 1. Germany: 7 points, plus-7 goal differential 2. Ecuador: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 3. Ivory Coast: 3 points, minus-1 goal differential 4. Curaçao: 0 points, minus-9 goal differential I could see Côte d'Ivoire progressing, but Ecuador have been good. Predicted Group F standings 1. Japan: 7 points, plus-2 goal differential 2. Netherlands: 6 points, plus-4 goal differential 3. Sweden: 4 points, minus-1 goal differential 4. Tunisia: 0 points, minus-5 goal differential Again, any of the top three could advance. Group G standings 1. Belgium : 7 points, plus-2 goal differential 2. New Zealand: 4 points, even goal differential 3. Iran: 3 points, even goal differential 4. Egypt: 1 point, minus-2 goal differential Yeah, the "Group of children" (and Belgium). Frankly, Belgium should pick up all 9 points. If Salah is on, Egypt could win a match or two. Predicted Group H standings 1. Spain: 9 points, plus-9 goal differential 2. Uruguay: 6 points, plus-4 goal differential 3. Cape Verde: 3 points, minus-7 goal differential 4. Saudi Arabia: 0 points, minus-6 goal differential Can't see this going any other way. Go, Cape Verde! Predicted Group I standings 1. France: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 2. Norway: 5 points, plus-2 goal differential 3. Senegal: 4 points: plus-1 goal differential 4. Iraq: 0 points, minus-6 goal differential Pretty much as I would say. Predicted Group J standings 1. Argentina: 7 points, plus-4 goal differential 2. Austria: 5 points, plus-2 goal differential 3. Algeria: 2 points, minus-1 goal differential 4. Jordan: 1 point, minus-5 goal differential I could see Argentina being the big collapse team (like France 2002, Italy 2010, Spain 2014 Germany 2018) as champion out in the group stage. Fortunately for them, they have Algeria and Jordan to prop up the Group, so Argentina and Austria get through. Predicted Group K standings 1. Colombia: 9 points, plus-4 differential 2. Uzbekistan: 3 points, minus-1 differential 3. Congo DR: 3 points, minus-1 differential 4. Portugal: 3 points, minus-2 differential Portugal dead last is bold. Predicted Group L standings 1. England: 7 points, plus-5 goal differential 2. Croatia: 7 points, plus-3 goal differential 3. Panama: 3 points, minus-2 goal differential 4. Ghana: 0 points, minus-6 goal differential I think Ghana could pick up a point or two, but this is probably how it turns out for the Group.
Round of 32 South Korea 1, Canada 2 Morocco 1, Netherlands 1 (Netherlands win in penalties) Germany 2, Paraguay 0 Japan 1, Brazil 1 (Japan win in penalties) Ecuador 1, Norway 2 France 3, Sweden 1 Mexico 1, Scotland 0 England 2, Congo DR 0 United States 2, Ivory Coast 1 Belgium 2, Czechia 1 Uzbekistan 0, Croatia 1 Spain 3, Austria 1 Türkiye 2, New Zealand 0 Argentina 1, Uruguay 0 Colombia 1, Senegal 1 (Colombia win in penalties) Switzerland 0, Iran 1 Predicting the World Cup round of 16 France 2, Germany 1 Canada 1, Japan 0 Norway 1, Netherlands 1 (Norway win in penalties) England 1, Mexico 0 Spain 3, Croatia 1 United States 2, Belgium 1 Argentina 1, Türkiye 0 Colombia 2, Iran 0 Predicting the World Cup quarterfinals France 2, Canada 0 Spain 2, United States 0 Norway 1, England 0 Argentina 1, Colombia 0 Predicting the World Cup semifinals Spain 3, France 3 (Spain win in penalties) Argentina 2, Norway 1 Predicting the 2026 World Cup final Spain 2, Argentina 1
https://groupofdeath.gg/ I couldn't find a nice worldcup bracket visualizer out there so ended up building one. There is no login, no ads, runs client side and the share link feature allows you to share your bracket without any login. The full bracket is encoded in the URL. The calendar feature is nice. I wanted to build my own schedule for the games I was interested in. There is full calendar that you can subscribe to as well, that gets updated as the fixtures get decided. I also wanted to be able to interactively change things and visualize the whole knockout stage. Let me know if you find it useful. Here is the link for my prediction: https://groupofdeath.gg/#BAUCEBAQEA...srcPYkMHogUcPIskoUcskcsUkQQEEAAAEgAAgFCBEuHM7
_____ Thanks for posting this. I saw the article yesterday and saw four things to comment briefly about: 1) No African side survives the round of 32? That seems odd (though I confess that I haven't done a deep dive on any of the qualified sides enough to be in a position to debate it); 2) having been adamant that I would consider anything less than a semi-final a failure, I'd be willing to suffer a quarter-final loss to Spain (my tourney favorite, narrowly over France, to be the first European side to win the Cup in the western hemisphere); USA getting past both Ivory Coast and Belgium? A tall order WITH a healthy Chris Richards. If he's not at or near 100% by the knockouts, we go out at round of 16 at best; 3) I have Ecuador as my dark horse side. Slot them in for Norway, but not getting past England; 4) Like you, I can see Argentina falling off a cliff, given their age and injury list (and FFS, no Senesi? The curse of the Cherries be on ye. ; 5) Mexico to get through their group, as always, yet don't quite keep up with their tradition(?) of making the quarter-finals as host and fall to England in the round of 16; 6) Scotland advance beyond the group stage? Aye, let's have it!
DJ Step may have just made ‘it ‘a thing’ for this WC The PA system at Soldier Field started blasting FREEBIRD after this Antone Robinson golazo pic.twitter.com/MUBsRqltGs— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 6, 2026
I'll be in Greece for most of the world cup. Pete (will be happy to hunt down any players you guys want recruited )
Chicago appeared to be a perfect host city for the 2026 World Cup. But when Rahm Emanuel, the city’s 55th mayor, scrutinized FIFA’s hosting agreement, he turned away. Emanuel believed the proposal left 'Chicago taxpayers as the dumb money at the table'.It also included the… pic.twitter.com/ReB4iwb5qr— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) June 8, 2026
Nice layout of the matches 🚨 World Cup group stage schedule in full: pic.twitter.com/2imYbUkKro— Footy Xtra HQ (@footyxtraHQ) June 8, 2026
The truth is probably closer to the fact that it would have been difficult for him or his friends to grift off of it because FIFA locked this one down hard. It was not necessarily the best choice for the city.
Well that just pisses me off. Pete (assumed the reason was that Soldier Field was too small in capacity)