English transcript:

Praise be to God, we were the better team... I mean, I see it as not fair. what happened today is not fair. We had a goal disallowed, a goal was ruled out and I completely don't know why it was disallowed! After that, we could have been up 3-1, but it was turned into 2-2. Then there was the penalty incident where our player, Hamdi, was clearly pulled down inside the 18-yard box.

I don't know, maybe the whole thing has just become about marketing? Like, maybe they want to build the World Cup around certain things... they want to ensure the reigning World Cup champion stays in the tournament, they want to keep Messi in the tournament.

But we did our absolute best, and I thank my players so much. I tell the Egyptian fans, the Egyptian people, and all Arab and African supporters: many times you can exhaust yourself and do everything required of you, but at the same time, entirely external factors make it impossible. I really wished we could have brought you more joy than this. I am someone who despises losing, and when it's an unjust defeat like today's, I just want to tell the fans 'I'm sorry, don't be upset.' We truly wanted to make you happier, but praise be to God for everything.

Football nowadays involves things outside of what actually happens on the pitch; things happen beyond tactics and the match itself. Even if we are playing against the world champions, at the same time, there is backing from all sides for the world champions... marketing support, or whatever you want to call it.

This is for all of the fans that are confused about Mexico's first goal vs Ecuador.

According to Law 11:

1. Offside position

It is not an offence to be in an offside position.

A player is in an offside position if:

• any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half (excluding the halfway line) and
• any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent

As shown in the second image, it would seem that Quiñones (Mexico player) was offside because he was ahead of the second-last Ecuadorian defender. However, he is not due to the fact that no part of his body was in the opponent's half (excluding hands and arms).

Some beef after the match

So the rule states the attacker can’t be passed the second to last defender. It has nothing to do with who the defender is it’s just usually the goalie. When the goalie runs past another player they are now the last defender. Here’s an old match where Harry Kane was about to be open so the goalie rushed forward in order to force him offside. Smart play by him. Just so everyone knows Iran was offside per the rules, no blatant cheating or corruption occurred. Just unfortunate. I bet they still make it through however.

It’s a simulation absolutely clear as day. The Argentinian player literally does not touch the Swiss player and he throws himself to the ground, yells and winces and carries on, and throws his head back. Not the refs problem he got a deserved yellow earlier.

It’s utterly baffling to me that the broadcast is lamenting how harsh it is. He is simulating and that is a yellow card. Watching that guy cry and pout is joke to me, like what do you have to complain about?? It’s the correct decision 100/100 and there’s nothing unfortunate about it. The rule is there to discourage diving and maybe this guy will think next time he dives with no contact.

Sometimes, the better team wins because they are better.

They may not play better, but they generally score when it is needed and defend well throughout.

I feel this World Cup has brought with it so many people calling rigged this and favouritism that.
They watch 5 games every 4 years (well, parts of the game), get a refresher course on YouTube Shorts and parrot every controversial decision.

I’ve never seen anything like it.
The moment a “This still picture shows why it should have been a red card” Reddit thread/X post goes up. Suddenly the Mother-in-law, bus driver and post office clerk uses this as evidence to confirm this suspicion.
Worse still, is when they don’t even watch the game, or know the rules.

While I don’t think it has even the slightest chance to be overturned, this is for everyone asking if the Balogun red card can be appealed
“If the red card stands on the field, teams can still appeal to FIFA’s disciplinary committee after the match to try to get the suspension wiped from a player’s record.”

AFC teams were awarded three extra places this time around.

Should these middle eastern teams be getting so many qualifying spots? They have not added anything to this World Cup. Would have been so much better to see Denmark, Italy, Cameroon, Nigeria or Chile.

Regardless of the result of the Netherlands v Morocco, this has to be one of the craziest days of World Cup soccer. 90+ goals, wild shoutout. Just pure cinema.

Edit: Seems like people think this is my first time watching. It’s not. I just can’t remember a knockout stage day where all the games have been this dramatic. The expanded field helps. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Not even a week done, and we can already see new, inexperienced or mid-level teams giving good competition to big teams, giving their country a reason to come together and celebrate.

It is great for the sport and I am sure everyone is loving it!

Game time temperatures tomorrow are expected to be 100 degrees with humidity. So when person after person in match threads says tomorrow, "Why are they moving so slowly?! Why is Haaland looking like he doesn’t care?!" They will be playing in a sauna like swamp tomorrow. Everything you see tomorrow on the pitch should factor in that those players will genuinely lose anywhere from about 10-15 pounds in water weight between warm ups and the full match tomorrow.

😬

edit: I think some of you are short-sighted. Sure, it's not the most unfair thing that's ever happened at a World Cup but the point is that FIFA claimed that it hit nothing at all and that their data proves it. Either they lied or the ball sensor is not fit for purpose. This game is over but there are games yet to be played.

Right now Norway has a great supporting cast for him and they were able to easily qualify for 2026. 4 and 8 years from now that night not be the case. Haaland was already a freak of nature by 2022 but missed out on that edition of the World Cup.

We keep seeing the Messi and Mbappe tally’s, where Mbappe could finish this edition all time already and could end his run with over 30, maybe even 40 WC goals when it’s all said and done. Unfortunately for Haaland this might be his one and only chance. Like Messi and Mbappe had he been on a top nation, guaranteed to not only qualify each year and go deep in the knockouts.

Haaland is only 25 and playing it what might be his only World Cup ever when he could have possibly played in 5.

A match between the two of them without the trophy at stake would be quite interesting.