@Landon

18d

Welcome back Algeria

Algeria is back at the World Cup after 12 years and is looking to create some more magic and get back to the round of 16 and beyond. In WCQ (Wolrd Cup Qualifiers) the Algerians had 8 wins 1 loss and 1 draw. They scored 24 goals and conceded 8. Their top scorer was Mohamed Amoura who scored 10 of the 24 goals. Other than a silly loss to Guinea they walked right through qualifying. Their manger Vladimir Perkovic is on the hot seat to say the least. If this tournament goes wrong he will almost certainly be fired. Algeria plays a 4-2-3-1 and like many teams, they like keeping possession. They want to maintain control over the game with the ball slowing and speeding it up. They have some strong attacking flair, like I said Amoura scored 10 goals and had 4 assists in 10 matches. They tend to get exposed on the counter attack pretty often causing them to concede a goal when they are trying to get one back or trying to take the lead. I personally have not seen this but people say that they can be really slow and sometimes lazy with the ball. This is a very technical Algerian team compared to the past ones. Going over some players, obviously Amoura will be starting up top at striker for Algeria. He is by far their best scorer and brings the offensive pressure and energy. He’s exciting to watch play. Ryan Mahrez could be a huge key player or X factor if would. He played for Manchester City back in his prime but now plays for Al Ahli in the Saudi League. Bensebaini is a center back for Dortmund in Bundesliga, he currently is injured. It says his return date was June 11th but at the time of me making this it’s June 13th and I’ve heard nothing about him. Algerias midfield is nothing impressive but it’s not bad, it’s just mid. (Get it it’s a Mid field, Sorry) Algeria is in group J with Jorden, Austria, and the 2022 World Cup champions Argentina. Sorry but Jorden should be a win so there’s 3 points right there. Austria is going to be a tough game Argentinian too. If they can tie both of those games or win one they could make it out in second place or one of the third place teams. Looking long term of this tournament I don’t see Algeria making a deep run. I can see them giving a top team a scare like they did to 2014 Germany. But, I’ve been wrong before and they could prove me wrong and go on some deep magical run that I’ll never forget. I hope that the case Algeria, prove me wrong! 🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿

Algeria

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.