@Landon

30d

The Japanese

Japan, I’ve always wanted to visit this country. I will someday but that’s irrelevant. What is relevant is the dominance of this team lately. Especially in the WCQ and friendlies. In World Cup Qualifiers Japan played 16 matches. They scored 54 goals, they conceded 3. Just hearing that is insane, but it’s true. They won 5-0 three times, they beat china 7-0, and they scored over 4 goals six times. The first question you might ask is probably what country’s did they play in the first place. Some of the bigger names they played are China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Syria. In friendlies they played a lot better teams. They beat Brazil 3-2, they beat Iceland 1-0, they beat England 1-0, they beat Ghana 2-0, they beat Bolivia 3-0, they beat Scotland 1-0, they drew Paraguay 2-2, they drew Mexico 0-0, and they lost to the United States of all teams 0-2. That’s some incredible stuff right there. Lots of clean sheets. Some key players for this team would be Ayase Ueda, and Junya Ito. They are some of Japans top scoring threats. Japan plays in a 3-4-2-1 formation trying to play fast and counter attack their opponents. As we saw from some of their scores, that shit works. They will press the ball the entire game in order to get a turnover, they have a amazing pressing team. The only real problem is the lack of size and physically defensive backs. If they go out early is going to be because of the defense. As we saw earlier with all those clean sheets, it’s good defense but there’s size is a problem. But Japan is very competent on defense and is a well oiled machine all over the field. Zion Suzuki is the staring goal keeper for this Japan national team and he could be a star in this tournament. He has made some incredible saves lately, I’m so excited to watch him play. Side note I know this does not matter but Japan probably has one of the best jerseys in the tournament. Another thing that might end up hurting Japan is the injury’s, this team will probably go through a hand full of injuries. They are not 100% going into the tournament but with all that adrenaline and some ice packs they might just be ok. Japan is one of my favorite teams heading Into the World Cup, and I can’t wait to watch them play. It’s going to be exciting, fast play that will put you on the edge of your seat.

Japan

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.