World Cup 2026 - Time for a Dutch Trophy

England shows today that they may have the edge/tough mentality over Norway, winning with 10 players in front of 80,000+ Mexican fans. Joe Hart may not be better than Verbruggen but his timing is perfect to punch out those high balls. Bellingham was very good today and I was impressed the way he defended on Mexico's half by holding the ball, winning free throw. England defended the second ball/rebound and blocked shots very well. Norway is a good team but I think England can handle Norway' style of play. English players know Haaland very well and should be able to contain him.

 

Really sad that England won.

 

You mean Pickford. The criminal who ruined Van Dijk his knee and got away with this assault. This always happens whenever one of our players becomes "too good".

 

Yeah, FIFA are complicit in this mess. Check out the two fouls, Messi (uncarded) and Balogun (carded) and tell me they don't want Messi, err, Argentina in the final.

Not even a foul for Messi:

Straight red card for Balogun: pic.twitter.com/tceUjAQZ3G

— Banter FC (@TheFCBanter) July 2, 2026

 

EXCL: Keir Starmer personally stepped in to stop FIFA bringing forward England’s kick-off last night as he feared Mexico were trying to gain an advantage.

The PM told the FA they were not to accept moving the match.

https://t.co/kaBAJZpUAt

— Jack Elsom (@JackElsom) July 6, 2026

All this Big Power politicking neatly explains how and why 'we' are screwed again and again by the referees.

 

I understand the Balogun foul may not be red card justified but is this the first time FIFA set precedent of suspend a red card? What is the justification to suspend or can this set precedent for another team to ask for the same treatment the next time?
Messi gets special treatment from FIFA and referees most of the times and there is nothing anyone can do about it if this is what FIFA president wants. He can host the World Cup in a tiny country in a desert, playing World Cup in the winter...oh wait, they already happened. He can do pretty much what he wants. In fact, Netherlands does not need to hire Guardiola or produce talented players, just find a way in his good book and ask him to deliver the World Cup title, that would be the fastest way. Who care about later? Can FIFA change/replay the 78 final after that Argentina-Peru 6-0 match? It is what it is unfortunately. I used to cheer for Messi (Barcelona) but I lost respect for him after 2022. It is difficult to control your emotion but one should act with class.

 

Don't forget that you need to have the media and masses on your side. To actually possess a Big League and global brands like Bayern or PSG is a major advantage for this process.

 

Haaland is someone you can easily isolate and deprive of service. In the first half against Brazil he had only a few touches of the ball.

Argentina will be faced in the semi final. Until that stage it will be a quite easy path. With Congo, Mexico and Norway.

edit: Haaland had only 8 touches in the first half against Brazil.

 

Even Koeman managed to beat Norway recently

 

Haven’t seen Belgium playing this good since… circa 2018? Well-deserved victory. Controlled the game throughout and capitalized on errors. Alas, all this Balogun red card fiasco backfired for the U.S as it created the unnecessary distraction

 

Too bad Onana is injured now. They will miss him against Spain for sure.

 

Did you forget about the precedent set for Cristiano Ronaldo?

"Weird that UEFA is making outraged statements about Balogun's red card suspension being postponed," Miller tweeted. "Yet was perfectly content with Cristiano Ronaldo playing in the group stages for European team Portugal after FIFA…postponed his red card suspension."

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uefa-called-silence-cristiano-ronaldo-171046577.html

So Belgium kicked USA butt despite Balogun running around up front and with little to no balls served in to him. Good for Belgium; they showed they didn't need a handicapped opponent.

 

Argentina is the darling of FIFA. This game proved it. England a good second.

If you cancel the Egypt goal you should also cancel the Argentina winner.

Rigged officiating all around (not least against Oranje itself, which even Lothar Matthäus of all people noticed)

 

SALAH LAUGHING AS THE REF ONCE AGAIN GIVES A NOTHING FOUL TO ARGENTINA

HE KNOWS ITS RIGGED 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5uqScRl7ui

— fan (@NoodleHairCR7) July 7, 2026

This foul in the build-up to Messi’s goal against Austria wasn’t even checked by VAR, but Egypt’s 2nd goal against Argentina just got disallowed for a much lighter touch 😂

VAR only works when the goal it’s against Argentina , unbelievable 😂🤦🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/2sG8zRAMNL

— SENYO (@Senyyo) July 7, 2026

The football rules apply to everybody except you play for Argentina.

Not even a foul was called for this 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/vna5EvzYqy

— 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐯 (@heis_fede) July 7, 2026

- Penalty awarded to Argentina.
- Molina should've been sent off.
- Salah was wrongly called for a foul when he was clean through on goal.
- Egypt goal disallowed

What Infantino pulled today will go down as one of the biggest scandals in World Cup history. pic.twitter.com/rMXJ2SgW4W

— Dr Yash  (@YashRMFC) July 7, 2026

 

Thank you for that link! I was not aware of these suspensions.

I feel bad for Egypt. They came close to pulling an upset. It feels like it will takes more than 11 players on the field to win vs Argentina.

Portugal defended well but the movement of Rodri and Pedri without the ball helped Spain to distribute ball well to attack. When Torres sub in, he came back to midfield more pulling Dias or Dalot with him. When Merino and Ruiz sub in, Ruiz moved more to the left sideline, Dias did not follow him. Morino came in and played like the attacking midfield. For the goal, when Torres got the ball Dias moved up to challenge Torres. Neves made a mistake of not following Morino but also tried to cut off Torres but Torres made a perfect pass to Merino in between 2 Portuguese players. I don't know if this is de la Fuente's tactic or just Spanish players football IQ but it is a very good goal/attacking strategy to find a way through a good defense.

 

Absolute robbery. The foul Egypt was asking to go under VAR wasn’t the handball or even the foul on Salah. It was this one, Mac Allister pulls on Egypts player.#argentina #egypt #worldcup #fifa pic.twitter.com/WCvEjgASBe

— Luis Alves (@luisalves_11) July 7, 2026

This wasn’t even a card btw 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/mxTVvR4y9C

— . (@utdcynical) July 7, 2026

The number of penalties Argentina has received in the past three World Cups is insane. Brazil in their entire history has received 14 (in 23 World Cups).

One of many signs that something is not right.

World Cup penalties since 2022:

Argentina: 8
England: 3
France: 2
Portugal: 2
Germany: 1
Brazil: 1
Spain: 0
Netherlands: 0
Morocco: 0
Mexico: 0

Foul in the build up to a goal against Austria did not matter and also in this match the consistency was all over the place. Terrible stuff.

(Not surprised to see England popping up as #2)

edit: Argentina have committed 59 fouls in the World Cup and received 3 yellow cards. This puts their fouls per yellow at 19.67, Arsenal had 7.67 and that was the highest ratio in the Premier League last season.

 

The match officials for @FIFAWorldCup match 97 have been appointed. 🤝

— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 7, 2026

Just so that there will be sufficient damage.

 

What a bad look this is.

 

KNVB doesn’t hand over enough brown bags! Haha

 

Good compilation

2074633047996277091 is not a valid tweet id

 

I discovered that this list is not correct. England has had four since 2022 and is #2 on the list.

Argentina - 8
England - 4
Brazil - 3
France - 3
Portugal - 3
Germany - 2
Iran - 2
Poland - 2
Austria - 1
Canada - 1
Congo - 1
Ecuador - 1
Ghana - 1
Norway - 1
Mexico - 1
Saudi Arabia - 1
Senegal - 1
Spain - 1
Wales - 1

Netherlands - 0

Since 2018

Argentina - 9
England - 7
France - 6
Portugal - 5
Brazil - 3
[...]
Belgium - 2
Netherlands - 0

 

I think we can all agree on some predictions here now that we have established that the FIFA thumb is on the Argentina (really Messi) scale. The corporations support FIFA's efforts to keep Mr. Messi relevant for their adverts right to the end. (Messi selling credit cards; Messi eating a burger; Messi kicking a ball in a hotel lobby before grabbing a <brand name here> beer.)

Argentina will be in the championship final. Check

Argentina will be given one PK at least, and if Messi misses this one, the GK will be judged to have left the line early. So PK will be retaken. Check

Any opponent's goal will have the preceding 2-5 minutes VAR checked for a foul in the buildup. Check

Messi raking the calf of an opponent with his studs while ref isn't looking. Check

Any others?

 

The WC and FIFA had completely lost their integrity. I stopped watching anything FIFA related since mid-2022 WC, when it became obvious that Messi should lift the trophy no matter what. Judging by the reports of independent media and pundits this one is even worse. If half of what I've read only about Arg-Egipt game is true, this should be the last event in international football "organized" by the mafiotic structure. FIFA should be disbanded, but will UEFA and the other continental federations be able to sustain the inevitable financial losses? Honestly I doubt it. Yet still something must be done, for FIFA is killing the beautiful game.