Apologies for posting this in the main forum ...

Ryan Christie, Ryan Christie, Ryan Christie ... there we go, now its ICT related 😄

Do users want a separate sub forum for the World Cup (and by extension the Euros in a couple of years time hopefully) or should we simply stick with the "Other Football" category? A separate forum would allow us to keep it all in place and not get lost with other stuff, keeping it in the general football category could also be done if we just prefix every world cup thread with a tag of "world cup".

I am not bothered either way as neither is a huge task.

A shocking decision, just showing how corrupt certain people really are.

Thank you Belgium

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

Thank you Belgium

Yes...cheat your way of that one Trump and FIFA. Nobody likes a cheat...goodbye USA.

1 hour ago, Gringo said:

Yes...cheat your way of that one Trump and FIFA. Nobody likes a cheat...goodbye USA.

Apparently Trump knows a lot about sport, but doesn't understand red cards

He hasn't been to a single match...which is strange since he invented the game

Nice to wake up to that result!

I think now England should appeal against the Quansah ban. When the appeal is turned down they should then put FIFA on the spot and ask them to clarify what the difference is.

If FIFA should un-ban Quansah then it would need the moral high ground to be taken and him not be considered for selection.

Not one person outside of the USA wanted anything other than a resounding Belgian victory. Teams should be aware of this feeling before considering an appeal on red cards yet to be issued in this tournament.

No way should England appeal the ban. Now that the USA are thankfully out of the competition, we are back to a level playing field with regard to suspensions for red cards. The focus for England and the other teams still in the competition should be simply to prepare for their next games as best they can within the current rules. If people are unhappy with the rules, they can be reviewed once the competition is done.

Beyond that, there should be some quick repercussions for Trump's (ultimately counterproductive) political interference. It makes the prospect of him presenting the trophy even more distasteful than ever. Participating Football Associations could lobby for the trophy to be presented by Ronaldo. It was sad to see him playing for Portugal as a shadow of his former self, but he is one of the greatest players ever to play the game and this would be his only chance to get his hands on the trophy! I am sure the players of which ever team wins would be honoured to shake hands with Ronaldo but would be putting on disposable gloves if shaking hands with Trump.

On 7/3/2026 at 9:13 AM, Scotty said:

Absolutely, although, as you can tell, I prefer a good waffle with my maple syrup!

Just for the record, it was Belgian waffles this morning :)

Draw a line, move on. It will forever be in the history books and with UEFA going after Infantino before the tournament and now (quite rightly) issuing that statement in support of Belgium before last night's game, the current head of FIFA's days may be numbered. You know it is bad when even Blatter is saying it was a bad decision.

England should NOT appeal the red card. You are right to say this sets precedent, but they should take the moral high ground. If it were Kane or Bellingham perhaps they might think about it but with all due respect to Quansah, his studs up challenge is not the hill to die on for this question unless they want to be as reviled as the USA team yesterday.

5 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

I am sure the players of which ever team wins would be honoured to shake hands with Ronaldo but would be putting on disposable gloves if shaking hands with Trump.

Given Ronaldo's great affection for himself, I would certainly be putting on gloves if I had to shake hands with him!

It's reported that Balogun visited the Belgian dressing room after the game, and they told him that it wasn't his fault. That's good, from him and from the Belgians. Back to football now, please.

Pile the pressure on this cretin Infantino. The Spanish league (La Liga) president Javier Tebas has called out FIFA (or by implication) Infantino with their ‘complicit silence’ on the Balogun CARDGATE shameful debacle.

Well done Tebas and the La Liga. They have the balls to call out this crap behaviour for what it is - Simply corruption and the effrontery of the rules.

I wonder if our national football executives, President Mulraney and CEO Maxwell have the spine and courage to put their heads above the parapet and denounce FIFA. Well, thinking about that, that would need a stiff drink and something they lack; vision, conviction and spirit!

I bet Infantino was secretly praying and cheering on Belgium against the Yanks. His skinny a*s must have been twitching in his seat before Belgium secure the victory.

PS - Tried feathers for breakfast today but couldn’t swallow any more FIFA bile.

bc

Edited July 7Jul 7 by big cherly

I didn’t think it would be possible for Trumpfantino to debase this great tournament anymore than they already have done but they sure did.

To wake up to that great result from Belgium just proved to me that Karma exists and is alive and well!

I’m on holiday and watched the Arg 3-2 Egy match on a big screen with about 40 passionate Argentinians who obviously went through the wringer but were jubilant by the end.

4 hours ago, Yngwie said:

I’m on holiday and watched the Arg 3-2 Egy match on a big screen with about 40 passionate Argentinians who obviously went through the wringer but were jubilant by the end.

Great game and what a comeback. Shades of the ICT Pele years 😎

7 hours ago, Yngwie said:

watched the Arg 3-2 Egy match on a big screen with about 40 passionate Argentinians who obviously

Watched what I thought was the best advert for football so in this WC. It takes two teams to make a great match and Egypt deserve much credit for their part in the game and their willing to attack with speed when the opportunity presented it!

The game was kicked into life when Egypt scored early in the match. A penalty miss by Messi (who despite scoring the equaliser, I thought showed his age and had a poor game), just added to drama and tension.

The final 30 minutes of the match were absorbing with the final goal a great cross and header.

I feel the thing that got Argentina over the line were the Argentina fans. The racket and support when their team was ‘down’ was nothing short of remarkable.

bc

Edited July 8Jul 8 by big cherly

... and now the England player got an additional game ban. His studs up challenge WAS deserving of a red card, and possibly even the additional game, but with the Balogun situation, it's just made a nonsense of things. Not able to appeal either.

16 hours ago, Scotty said:

... and now the England player got an additional game ban. His studs up challenge WAS deserving of a red card, and possibly even the additional game, but with the Balogun situation, it's just made a nonsense of things. Not able to appeal either.

I can't make head nor tail of it. Both were deserved red cards. Neither intended to do what happened. Both were "out of control". Both (unwittingly) endangered their opponent - Balogun turning over the ankle as he couldn't halt his momentum and Quansah's leg bouncing up off the top of ball. I really struggle to see how they can be viewed differently from a punishment perspective.

Quansah went in studs first, his foot was halfway up shin level before he reached the ball, and if you can see his leg "bouncing" off the ball then you're a better man than I! One replay angle even suggests that he positively, actively planted his studs into the guy's leg - see at 0:17 in the video below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/videos/cp8rrwk5624o

Edited July 10Jul 10 by snorbens_caleyman

The point i am making - as BC seems confused on my earlier post - is that Balogun's card being suspended (which it should not have been once the decision was made) has made a mockery of every other red card whether it was deserved (like Quansah's), or whether it was deemed worthy of a review. This precedent (or should it be president) now gives anyone the ability to question almost any card and ask for it to be suspended rather than automatically applied and that is fundamentally wrong.

The ref calls the red card, and at this level it goes to VAR. It's not 100% perfect, but it's what we have. It is upheld or overturned on the field. Decision made. End of story. Player knows he is out for the next game at a minimum.

In the following days the disciplinary committee can look at it and determine the ref got it right or wrong. Again, not a perfect system, but it's what we have. They can choose to increase the automatic 1 game suspension (as they did with Quansah), or they drop it back to a yellow if they feel the ref got it wrong (which they didn't do in either case). However, the act of suspending a card is unheard of and let's be honest, was it on anyone's radar until this happened?

Personally, I have never heard of this happening before at almost any level. Even the 1962 card for Garrincha, which is the only other example cited in almost 200 World Cup red cards, was not suspended, a ban was simply not imposed. At that time, there was no automatic suspension like there is now, but a disciplinary committee chose to issue a warning rather than a match suspension after alleged pressure from the country leaders of each team in the match. [full story here and its quite interesting: https://fansided.com/soccer/bribery-secret-calls-and-a-vanishing-witness-inside-world-cup-red-card-fifa-actually-reversed].

England totally outplayed by a talented Argentinian team. Could have been 5-1 to Argentina if England had not been so lucky in defence.

Proves they were basically a last 32 or at best a last 16 team. Would have been criminal to see them in the final.

Should be a great final on the weekend.

5 hours ago, culduthel said:

England totally outplayed by a talented Argentinian team. Could have been 5-1 to Argentina if England had not been so lucky in defence.

Proves they were basically a last 32 or at best a last 16 team. Would have been criminal to see them in the final.

Should be a great final on the weekend.

I wouldn't say totally outplayed, but I would need to caveat that into a ' before we scored' and 'after we scored'. Before we scored it was pretty even, but after we scored and went super defensive, protecting the penalty box we handed the initiative to Argentina. You can't defend like that for 30+ minutes and expect to not concede. Tuchel took a risk with his tactics and substitutions, and f#cked it up, in the same way he took some risks with his squad selection and that didn't work out (selecting Mainoo and Jordan Henderson over Adam Wharton for instance, and no real back up for Reece James)

We weren't great during the tournament, but we got to the Semi's and might have gone the whole way with a bit more courage.

But to suggest England is a 'last 32 or at best last 16' team, is just not proven especially given our record over umpteen tournaments. Which given our resources is not that surprising....but anyway

I can't be arsed to watch the final since I am away in the Midlands for the T20 cricket finals day, but hope Spain win. As for the 3rd place play-off, who will watch that? France (who should have been in the Final, but for their own nightmare game) will beat England probably through a JP Mateta goal.

I don’t think England were totally outplayed culduthel, they were 50-50 for 65 minutes but were found wanting in the last 20-25 mins.

It was in Englands tool box to grasp a place in the final however they came unstuck (for me) for the following reasons:-

Tactics - Tuchel tried to ‘shut up shop’ by substituting flair / speed for bulk.

Players - Englands top players went ‘missing’ in this period. Ie they were either too exhausted or mentally drained to take the game onto /into the Argentina half.

Easy to say/ see with hindsight but England just came short at the very top level of football. I feel if Tuchel had brought on Rashford and Watkins instead of Burns O Reilly then the outcome could have been different. Ie Argentina would had to deal with running attackers and that would have released the pressure on the defence.

Three great goals, a intense & somewhat ‘in your face’ and absorbing match, with the presence of a once in a lifetime truly world class player, then with the atmosphere you have a contest unparalleled in any other sport.

Best team won on the night. England just short of what was required to get over the line.

bc

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by big cherly

It's all on Tuchel. The England players gave everything but he handed the initiative to Argentina after taking the lead. Contrast that to Spain on Tuesday who took the lead and then proceeded to control the game.

England had shackled Messi well for an hour but then with no out ball and everyone camped around the England box he, and others, had time and space. The outcome was inevitable from then on. As BC said the England players tired late on too which didn't help. The game was won and lost by the substitutions from both teams.

Still, that's that, I've always been a club before country man, so the important football can start now!

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by The Hammer

Good summary BC. England did pretty well keeping possession in the first half and not reacting (too much) to Argentinian dirty tricks. But they lacked the bravery to turn that possession into chances. Argentina looked to get forward more in the 2nd half and that gave us the space to attack with speed. That resulted in us scoring a great goal with a sweeping move.

What happened after that is a bit inexplicable. One of the things Tuchel had said earlier is that the way to stop Messi was to starve him of the ball. So what do England do? Sit deep and leave Messi in acres of space! We defended by hoofing the ball up the park with no player up for an out ball, so Argentina got the ball straight back to come at us again with Messi being given time on the ball. Argentina had previously come back brilliantly from 2 down against Egypt so it was pretty clear what they are capable on that situation.

Kane said after the game that the messaging was to keep going forward, but replacing Gordon with Konsa gave a very different message. It was a situation that was screaming out for the likes of Watkins up front who will chase and chase. Rice was clearly not fully recovered so fresh legs in midfield were called for. In the absence of Wharton (who would have been ideal in this situation), why not bring on Mainoo? Eze, Rashford and Saka could all have made it very difficult for Argentina.

As BC says, England had the tool box to beat Argentina, but on the day, poor decisions were made. Tuchel ultimately didn't have enough faith in his players. It is the players sitting on the bench who could have won it for us that I feel most sorry for.

Summed up very nicely in the posts above.

I really didn’t like the way Argentina approached the game, particularly in the first half, but England’s tactics after they took the lead (with a great goal) backfired spectacularly on them and, by the end, Argentina were deserved winners.

I’m rooting for Spain in the final.

I've become a wee bit fond of these 'Match Momentum' graphics which are handy in discussions like this. Auntie Beeb won't let me lift the graphic but the page is here...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c77yp11e4r6t#MatchStats
England shaded the first half I thought but the first 20 minutes were two teams kicking lumps out of each other.
Rather telling from the graphic that England had the initiative for 5 minutes after their goal then... nada.