@Landon

1mo

The Legit Qatar National Team

It’s no secret how bad the Qatar National team was in the 2022 World Cup. They did not even deserve to be there. As we also know they bribed officials to make it into the tournament. Qatar had a pretty good WCQ having 10 wins, 5 losses, and three draws. They scored 37 goals and conceded 28 goals. This year Qatar actually has a good team that can and will compete. They play a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 formation of football. They love to control play and playing at their own pace. They can speed it up and slow it down. When Qatar plays a team that takes control of the game and dominate possession more than them they crumble. They’ll struggle to get the ball back and create chances to spark a comeback. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure every player on this team comes from Qatars Stars League. That’s another major strength of this team, chemistry. This team has been playing together for a long time. They have lots of experience with each other and know how to play together. Akram Afif is this teams spirt animal if you would. He has been playing Qatar football for all of his life. He scored 11 goals in WCQ and 15 in season play with his club team. His average score was 8.3 in club play. He’s a true goal scorer. In order for Afif to flourish he needs help from his teammates to create chances for him. Thats where Mohammed Al Mannie comes in. He could be a star for this team if he can create chances like he does in club play. In 19 matches of club play he has 5 goals and 1 assist with an average match rating of 6.96. Qatar is in group B with Bosnia, Switzerland, and Canada. This is going to be a tough group to make it out of. Realistically I see them as one of the pot 3 teams to make it into the knockouts. Qatar has nothing to lose at this point after their embarrassing 2022 Tournament. They will be try to slow it down and control possession into the knockouts but it’s going to be a tough challenge. Remember they won the Asian cup, that’s no small feat. The ceiling of this team is the round of 32 in my opinion but anything could happen. On June 13th we will see them play Switzerland in their first group stage game. I’m curious to see how they play against top level teams from Europe.

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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.