@Landon

28d

FIFA #2

Earlier this morning I woke up at approximately 3:46 AM and went to my kitchen to chug water. After that I went back to my room to sleep. But, for whatever reason I could not stop thinking about the Spanish National Team. I mean for a good 45 minutes then I feel back asleep. I’m not sure if this is a sign or anything from the Spanish intelligence that they invaded my memory. That’s probably to far, let’s jump into it. Spain played 6 WCQ games winning 5 and drawing 1. They scored 21 goals and conceded 2. Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal both scored 6 goals. Oyarzabal also had 4 assists in those games. The Spanish plays a 4-2-3-1, they are a very talented, technical, explosive, and versatile team. The strengths go on and on. They do lack the ability to press the ball, if they’re in a situation where they need to press the will struggle to do so. Penalty shootouts are also a “weakness” but I’m not worried about that. Someone will step up. David Raya will most likely be the starting goalkeeper. As we all know he just lost a champion league final with arsenal. They have one of my favorite players ever in the back Marc Cucurella. He will be joined by Laporte, Cubarsí, and Llorente. In the midfield you have Pedri and Rodri, both really strong midfielders. Up top you will see Oyarzabal. Yemal will most likely come off the bench but I can definitely see him starting later on in the tournament. This team’s number one competitor and opponent would be France. Both of those teams are the best in the world and definitely deserve to be in the finals. The expectations of this team is to win the tournament. Anything else will probably be a let down for Spain. If Spain goes down early it’s going to be off a deflection up front causing Spain to press the ball, fail, and lose. If that does happen it’s France’s tournament to lose. How far do you think Spain will get?n

Spain

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.