Might genuinely be a possibility for this group 😭

Will there be any giants teams that suffer an upset and go home in the Round of 32?

I saw a lot of comments about people being happy that they are out. Did something happen that made people so negative about them?

Watching Canada - Bosnia, and this person was in the stands. Is this Mike Meyers from Austin Powers?

I'm pretty ignorant about world soccer/football in general (I'm Australian and mostly follow AFL, if anyone knows it), but I'm wondering: there are so many Middle Eastern countries, even like Jordan, along with other small nations like Cape Verde, Curacao, yet so few from Asia. I have heard Asia is a tough group, but it seems the only East/Southeast/South Asian nations that qualify are Japan and Korea, and Australia and sometimes NZ as they're technically part of the Asia federation.

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Are other Asian nations just not good enough? Why are Middle Eastern or West Asian countries better? If so, why? More ties to Europe? Obviously China and India have never played, but you'd think if they were serious they could put together a squad, with so much potential talent. I know cricket is king in India, but there is enough of a slice of that 1.5 billion that are football mad. China tried hard to develop the game but its not translating into even qualifying. Would like to see Indonesia there too, being a nation of over 200 million where football is dominant.

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I guess its also to do with qualification group...but its a shame most of Asia isnt really represented in the 'World Game' even if its the most popular sport through most of Asia.

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Hi all. Im an American who thought id just tune in for the world cup season and exit from there. Turns out I really like football/soccer. The WC has been so much fun for me even when my team isn't playing.

So, whats next? I know club season is in the fall. Which leagues are the most fun? MLS is easily the most convenient for me to watch so that'll be one i try for sure. I know of a few that are more popular intentionally but im looking for the most fun ones too.

What about the international scene? When does that get rolling again? Which tournaments are next?

Anything helps. Thanks everyone

At least in Mexico it feels like a lot of the excitement and the nation is treating June 11 like a national holiday. But because most of the games will be hosted in the US many people claim this world Cup as the worst, some calling it even worse than Qatar and Russia

But I need to know is that really true outside the internet world? Because I think with one Messi vs Ronaldo quarter-final game everyone will instantly tune in even at 4 AM

The US have played very well so far in the group stages, one could argue they haven’t played a quality team yet but they have looked better compared to years past. I am not entirely convinced they can beat even a mid tier European team in the round of 16 or quarterfinals. How far do you think they can go?

Messi and Mbappe are tied with 8 goals apiece, and Messi has two more matches to score - the semi final and either the final, or the third place match.

Haaland is out and stuck at 7.

Bellingham and Kane are both at 6 goals apiece and also have two more matches.

The third place match is historically high scoring. That puts Mbappe in a good spot. But if Argentina lose to England, Messi is in the third place and an Argentina-France rematch could be a shootout.

So who do you think takes it?

With the World Cup kicking off soon, I’m curious who you guys think will be the breakout stars.

I’ve got my eyes on Kaishu Sano. He’s been a total beast for Mainz 05 since joining from Kashima Antlers. The guy has played almost every single minute this season, and his work rate is just insane. I honestly think he’s one of the best central midfielders in Germany right now. I’m hyped to see if he can carry that form into the tournament with Japan.

Who is that one player for you that maybe isn't a mainstream superstar yet but will be after this summer?

So many teams have impressed or lacked vigour so far - who have you got that's flying under the radar? 🤔

I always seem to root for the underdog team. I love the Croatian team and how much they have progressed since their first WC. Following Croatia’s loss, I’d love Modrić to turn into some sort of Mr Miyagi in the future to bring the WC to Croatia.

I know there’s this conspiracy of FIFA favouring bigger teams for the purposes of marketing and selling different products. However, I was wondering whether there was a potential for any underdog team to actually win the WC? If so, who would be most likely to win?

Edit: “Small nation” = smaller footballing nation (e.g. China), lower ranked teams or countries that are small in population

Only 16 teams (33%) are eliminated. Makes group stage WAY LESS important to the better teams

I'm having such a hard time figuring out which Squishmallow is for what country. I feel pretty confident about 3, and that may be due to me being a new fan. If anyone knows what all (or most) of these countries are, please let me know!

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Just to preface this I don’t really watch soccer that much, but as a new fan I think it’s kind of crazy that the whole series is basically over and a country goes home over just one game. One game can be a total fluke like the USA vs Belgium game which easily could have been beat by the US on a good day if the best players performed. I think it should probably be a best 2 out of 3 series just because the games take so long. Also we’ve been able to stop clocks for hundreds of years now, so the concept of stoppage time is kind of weird to me.

Again, I am a new fan and I am really enjoying the world cup atmosphere. I don’t mean to offend anyone or say that the U.S. should have won because they lost fair and square. I just think that there should be at least 1 more chance to prove yourself. Changes like these could help make soccer even more popular and widespread like the NBA.

Seriously, I do not understand the VAR hate at all. Yes, it sucks that sometimes VAR decides against you on a super strict rule, but did people forget what the alternative used to be? Or better yet do they have no idea at all?

I'm convinced it's either biased fans who are currently angry due to last night's game, or just people who are new to watching the sport.

Look at games like Chelsea vs Barcelona in 2009, that game DESPERATELY needed VAR back then. I prefer rules being enforced very strictly than having shit like that happen again. (Not saying VAR automatically removes all possibilities of bad calls, but man does it help)

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To me vuvuzela was peak annoyance.

Look.. im not looking for biased reactions from the Messi fans so if you guys are reading this don't give me a bs answer.

On Argentina's side of the bracket moving on there is Norway, Brazil, Mexico, England, Egypt, Switzerland and now Colombia. Can any of these teams beat Argentina and take them out? Ive been told Brazil can take them out. Cape Verde almost did it and I risked my sanity watching that game.

I don't know thing 1 about football, just curious. Does the U.S. have a realistic chance to win the WC?

It’s wild to think that in nearly a century of World Cup history, the trophy has only ever been lifted by 8 different nations—and every single one of them belongs exclusively to Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL).

The breakdown is stark:

• South America (10 titles): Brazil (5), Argentina (3), Uruguay (2)
• Europe (12 titles): Germany (4), Italy (4), France (2), Spain (1), England (1)

Every other continent combined (Africa, Asia, North/Central America, Oceania) has a grand total of zero titles. In fact, even making it to a semifinal is a massive historic anomaly for teams outside the "Big Two" (like South Korea in 2002 or Morocco in 2022).

What do you think are the core reasons this gap remains so unbridgeable?

The title basically.

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There seems to be a feeling that next time will be better. However, I don’t see that being the case. No way the US gets a top seeding at the next World Cup and such an easy path to the last 16. Everything was in their favor this time and they lost against the first good team they played. There are probably 40+ teams in the world who could beat Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia on home soil. I can’t think of many European teams who wouldn’t for example. Pulisic has always been overrated and if he weren’t American would be thought of as an average player. The best players don’t even come through the US system. So yeah, I think this is as good as it gets and in 4 years it will be worse. Maybe if there wasn’t such a laughable qualification path for the US it would help. Playing Mexico 500 times a year doesn’t help either.

Men's soccer.

Let's pretend I never said Mexico.