@Landon

20d

The Almost Champions Of Africa

Senegal, what a ride this country has been on with Afcon and the world cup. I could write an entire Did You Know just on 30 minutes of the Afcon final. But thats over and now their back in the world cup for the third Cup in a row. In WCQ they played 10 games, won 7 and drew 3. They scored 22 goals and gave up 3 goals. Their leader Sadio Mane scored 5 of those 22 goals. This Senegal National Team is in their golden age, its going to last for years to come. They have former World Cup experience and talented youth players. They play a 4-3-3 formation, like I said before the experience is going to be a strength. They lack midfield creativity and overall depth. One of my favorite goalkeepers Eduardo Mendy plays for this team. He spent time in London with Chelsea and now plays for Al Ahli. He is also a great penalty stopper. Kalidou Koulibaly the 34 year old with two World Cups of experience will be the starting center back for this team. He's a fantastic leader and such an important piece to this team. Idrissa Gueye plays for Everton in the Prem. He played in 25 matches and had a match average match score of 7.03, but he's also 36 so the stamina will be lacking. he's been on the national team since 2011. He's been playing in Europe for 16 years. Mane will be the primary goal scorer. He played for liverpool for a while and nows plays in the Saudi league. Pape Matar Sarr is my favorite player on this team. No, its not because of his cool name. This guy will have to really carry this team in the midfield. He's a do it all midfielder that you love to have on your team. Sitting in group L with Norway, France, and Iraq this is going to be a hard battle to get out of. But do not be surprised if they do. I REPEAT! Do not be surprised if they make it out. If they can beat Iraq and tie Norway and do their best against france they have a really chance for a second place in the group. I like this team and I think the could do really good or really bad. How far do you think they will go.

Senegal

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.