@Landon

26d

Czechia 🇨🇿

Czechia has been out of the World Cup for 20 years. Now that they’re back they are looking to fight their way through their group and make it to the knockouts. Czechia played 10 games to get into the World Cup. In WCQ and playoffs they scored 22 goals and conceded 12. Patrik Schick scored 5 of the 22 goals. They beat Denmark in penalties to send them to the big show. That game has a 7.0 on RateGame. Czechia plays a 3-4-1-2 and likes to move the ball up the field fast on the counter attack. This is a heavy defensive team. They can be one of the strongest defensive teams all around. They are great at delivering set pieces and winning aerial battles. They lack physical depth and quality midfielders. They are a tall group having players 6’6, 6’4 and 6’3. Ladislav Krejcí the 27 year old Wolves player will most likely be starting on the right back., Robin Hranác the 26 year old 6’3 Hoffenhiem will probably be on the center back position and Tomás Holes from Slavia Prague will be at the right back. This Czechia national team has 9 Slavia Prague players and 3 Sparta Prague players. For those of you who don’t know who those teams are they play in the Liga 1 that Czechia’s main league. Sitting in a very strong group A with South Africa, Mexico, and South Korea they are going to be put to the test. I hate to look at South Africa has the worst team in this group because they are such a good team. But this group is truly so wide open I won’t be surprised no matter who wins it. Going into their first match will be against South Korea. If they can draw that match and beat South Africa I think they will be in good shape. But that’s easier said than done. I like this team I think they could go far if they get hot. I’m curious to see how they will fare against South Koreas offensive.

Czechia

Replies:

Iraq repeats Infamy

This one hurts because I have a soft spot for the Lions of Mesopotamia, however, with their 5-0 loss to Senegal, they have officially thrown their hat into the ring for worst World Cup performance ever. 3 losses, 1 goal for, 12 goals against and -11 goal differential I mentioned in the Tunisia did you know that 9 teams have ended a World Cup with a goal differential of -10 or worse. Well, before today, only 5 teams had ever ended a World Cup with a goal differential of -11 or worse. Iraq is now the 6th. Which World Cup is most like Iraq’s 2026? Believe it or not, North Korea 2010: 3 losses, 1 goal for, 12 goals against and a -11 goal differential The comparison is even more striking when you realize North Korea was in the group of death back in 2010 alongside Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. However, North Korea’s run was more humiliating than Iraq. After narrowly losing to an over-the-hill, but still daunting Brazil team 2-1, North Korea had an idea. Clearly feeling supremely confident in their squad, they broadcasted their 2nd game on local TV networks for the whole nation to see. They cut the broadcast in the 60th minute because North Korea was losing 4-0 to Portugal. The North Koreans went on to lose 7-0 and their government claimed the loss was acceptable considering Portugal’s talent (they did not mention that they lost 7-0). North Korea did not broadcast the last game against Ivory Coast, which they lost 3-0. Yes, 2026 Iraq put together one of the 10 worst World Cup campaigns ever, but they didn’t humiliate themselves. Hopefully they’ll be back in 4 years to make up for it. Ideally not in the group of death.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Tunisia’s Torturous Tournament

Tunisia’s 2026 World Cup campaign is mercifully over and it will go down as one of the worst ever. 3 losses, 2 goals for, 12 goals against, -10 goal differential. They became the 9th team ever to finish the World Cup with a goal differential of -10 or worse and the first to do it since 2010. Out of those 8 other teams, which runs are most similar to Tunisia? Once we take out the 5 runs with a goal differential worse than -10 and Greece’s 0-goal -10 in 1994, there are actually 2 that look identical: Mexico, 1978: 3 losses, 2 goals scored, 12 goals against and a -10 goal differential New Zealand, 1982: 3 losses, 2 goals scored, 12 goals against and a -10 goal differential Mexico 1978 was in Pot 2, Tunisia 2026 was in Pot 3 and New Zealand 1982 was Pot 4. By that logic alone, Mexico 1978 would be the worst of the 3, with Tunisia 2026 in 2nd worst, making them the 8th worst World Cup performance ever. However, I think you could argue they’re as high as the 4th worst performance depending on how much you consider the advances in a team’s football program and their prior history.

@Landon

No Neymar No Problem?

After Neymar was selected to the Brazilian national team the immediate question was when can he play? Now two games into the tournament Brazil tied Morocco and beat Haiti without Neymar. As we know Neymar is not the player he was 12 years ago in the 2014 World Cup. He can’t move like he used to and he’s had a rough couple years. The question is the Brazil team has been playing pretty decent without him, does Brazil need to add Neymar at all? Is it worth possible throwing off the chemistry that these players have built the past couple months? We cant answer those questions but we can maybe answer the question of when he returns. From what Ive read I think he could potentially return against Scotland in their last match of the group stage. He will mostly come off the bench in that game if he is fit to play. One things certain about Neymar, he will give it his all. After tearing his ACL he said that the recovery was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do and he seriously considered retiring. But he wanted to be back out there with his teammates fighting. He only played 8 matches with Santos FC but he scored 4 goals and had 2 assists with a match average of 7.5. Also, he’s not that old he’s 34. He could definitely make a mark and continue to add to his legacy of great Brazilian footballers. Only time will tell if Neymar can show up and deliver.