World Cup 2026 Thread

[rickh150]

How did US clinch round of 32 with two wins? Couldn’t two other teams in Group also still go 2-1 and US lose to go 2-1 and have a 3 team tie? Is this because possible 3rd place teams cannot get to two wins -6 points- anymore? Please explain.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, rickh150 said:

How did US clinch round of 32 with two wins? Couldn’t two other teams in Group also still go 2-1 and US lose to go 2-1 and have a 3 team tie? Is this because possible 3rd place teams cannot get to two wins -6 points- anymore? Please explain.

Every 3rd place team with 6 pts will advance.

[rickh150]

43 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Every 3rd place team with 6 pts will advance.

Couldn’t that still happen with more than 8 Groups?

[adambr2]

2 hours ago, rickh150 said:

Couldn’t that still happen with more than 8 Groups?

No, it could not, as there are too many tied results in more than 4 groups to produce more than 8 six point third place teams, which in itself would already be a practical impossibility.

It is all academic now as the US has clinched the group. 

[Jimbo]

GO PACK GO!, wait...USA! USA!

 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Ideal outcome last night, they will now have essentially gotten Pulisic 3 weeks of rest.

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Ideal outcome last night, they will now have essentially gotten Pulisic 3 weeks of rest.

And the guys with yellows can sit out.

Full squad for R32!

 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Bosnia has slipped into the most likely opponent spot for the USA. Qatar and Jordan also in there. They would be a heavy favorite and Belgium is likely to meet them after that. That would probably be their first game as an underdog, but a team they can beat behind a home crowd. If they got a win there, this would have to be seen as a hugely successful tournament. That is what I'd like to see happen, win one game they shouldn't. They'd probably meet their maker with one of the big boys in the quarters.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

 

Couldn't script this.

[adambr2]

Supposedly Belgium not winning today is very good for the US but someone needs to explain it to me like I am 5.

[GAME05]

Yesterday I got home and looked up the long highlights of the US-Aus match. We won 2-0 so I was of course happy and excited. Only after I watched did I notice that the video was from a couple years ago, so I queued up the recent one and got to watch that, too. It was like getting to watch the Packers win different playoff games twice in the same day.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

Supposedly Belgium not winning today is very good for the US but someone needs to explain it to me like I am 5.

If Belgium doesn't win the group, they get dumped into a different side of the bracket. The US, if they make it past their knockout game, will play the winner of a Group G winner vs. a 3rd place team. That was pretty much penciled in as Belgium before the tournament. Now there's a real chance it's Iran or a 3rd place team they lose to.

They will likely win G still if they just beat New Zealand, but they've left the door open now. Iran win + another Belgium draw, Iran wins the group. Then there's New Zealand winning, which could knock Belgium out completely.

[endaround]

15 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

If Belgium doesn't win the group, they get dumped into a different side of the bracket. The US, if they make it past their knockout game, will play the winner of a Group G winner vs. a 3rd place team. That was pretty much penciled in as Belgium before the tournament. Now there's a real chance it's Iran or a 3rd place team they lose to.

They will likely win G still if they just beat New Zealand, but they've left the door open now. Iran win + another Belgium draw, Iran wins the group. Then there's New Zealand winning, which could knock Belgium out completely.

After last night, my guess is Egypt wins the group thinking they can handle Iran. But with how bad Belgium looks, not sure that is better for the US.

[young guns]

I don't watch a lot of soccer, but Morocco's 4th goal impressed me.  Hati trying to just let it go out of the endline? I think it's called, moraccan player goes between the Hatian players legs just before it goes out saving it, hustles back to the ball passes to a team mate for a wide open goal.  Haitian goalie definitely gave up on the play thinking it was out, but still.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

On 6/22/2026 at 11:07 AM, endaround said:

After last night, my guess is Egypt wins the group thinking they can handle Iran. But with how bad Belgium looks, not sure that is better for the US.

That's one of the better balanced groups, but Belgium is head and shoulders the most talented team in it, so I will take Egypt every day of the week. 

Looking like USA vs. Bosnia on 7/1, and USA vs Iran/Egypt on 7/6. I really want Iran. You just can't get better TV than that.

[adambr2]

I can see why many of the guys for the US tonight aren’t in the usual lineup.

[Samurai Bucky]

If I had shot for very time they lose their shape, I’d be trashed.  
 

Unless u6 sharks and minnows is a shape…

[adambr2]

Hopefully this gives them some motivation going into the knockout stage because that was pretty piss poor. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I've probably asked myself why and how Tim Ream is still a starter 40 times the last 2 weeks, but I got my answer.

[Jimbo]

Can we here on BF call this a "Sunday Lineup"?

I think we'll being seeing more of that #8 in the future.  That guy with the mohawk looked dangerous as well.

On a personal note, nice to see Soyuncu as a late sub.  He was one of my favorites during his tenure at Leicester City.

 

 

[adambr2]

I do get a kick out of the Twitter/X overreactions. Before yesterday no one was going to stop us from winning the World Cup. After losing with our B squad now we’re trash and will probably lose to Bosnia. Most likely neither is true.

The tweets from the super casuals who think they just learned the rules of soccer last week, lamenting about how Turkey was offsides on their last goal (no, they weren’t), or about how the whistle didn’t automatically get blown at 97 minutes (not how it works), are also entertaining.

All that said I thought it was a very poorly officiated game. A lot of swallowed whistles on really obvious fouls only for multiple promising attacks to get killed by whistles on ticky tack crap.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The rebound shot from whoever that was after Pulisic's first shot is embarrassing for a professional soccer player. Last night doesn't really change anything I thought about this team, whose ceiling I still think is the quarterfinal (MAYBE making the semi if they get a favorable draw and play exceptionally well), but it's clear they have very little depth.

Ousmane won Ballon d'Or last year and he doesn't even automatically start for the French. Spain and Argentina's bench are starters almost anywhere else. The US ever winning this tournament was beyond silly. It's about the same as plopping Ohio State in the NFL and thinking they might win the Super Bowl.

[owbc]

That was an entertaining game with the referees letting the physical play happen. I loved it. 

It will serve everyone well to have expectations tempered down a bit. There are no guarantees in this tournament, as evidenced by many of the favorites getting challenged by highly-motivated underdogs. 

I agree that there is a pathway to the quarters and then you just hope they hold their own and maybe get a few bounces in their favor. 

[Samurai Bucky]

I think the effort was there.  You can tell that they haven't played together as much because there wasn't as much communication and they didn't play off each other as much.  That said, I would have expected better.

I would have liked to see the forwards make more runs.  When Pulisic was on the field, it was night and day.  He didn't only make vertical runs, but he made some incredible diagonal runs, too.  

For those who complained that Pulisic got nutmegged at the end of the game -- he was covering for his injured teammate.  Oh... that wouldn't have been a problem if the coach didn't use up all of the subs.  Since it was a "meaningless" game (as we heard over and over and over), it wasn't that big of a deal.

Oh well... rest, recover, and get ready for the Milwaukee Messi.