World Cup 2026

gallsman · June 25, 2026, 06:20:12 AM

South Africa coming second in that group is a travesty for football.

JPGJOHNNYG · June 25, 2026, 07:53:25 AM

Quote from: gallsman on June 25, 2026, 06:20:12 AMSouth Africa coming second in that group is a travesty for football.

The expansion to 48 is awful. So many poor teams, and some are going to squeeze through in 3rd position to stink out the place for another week. Dont know what the Czechs were at with 1 point as that group looked fine on paper. Mexico good but the other 2 are very iffy. Maybe it's a blessing we didn't get there after all

statto · June 25, 2026, 08:00:11 AM

Quote from: gallsman on June 25, 2026, 06:20:12 AMSouth Africa coming second in that group is a travesty for football.

After watching first game V Mexico I can't believe they got through brutal. Canada v South Africa knockout game should automatically be put at 2.00am or 4.00am!

square_ball · June 25, 2026, 08:22:43 AM

Quote from: statto on June 25, 2026, 08:00:11 AM
Quote from: gallsman on June 25, 2026, 06:20:12 AMSouth Africa coming second in that group is a travesty for football.
After watching first game V Mexico I can't believe they got through brutal. Canada v South Africa knockout game should automatically be put at 2.00am or 4.00am!

Unfortunately not! Prime time slot of 8pm our time on Sunday evening.

Jesse Marsch looks like he would be hard work to play for.

imtommygunn · June 25, 2026, 08:30:21 AM

He seems like an idiot.

Poor auld scotland look out too. They surely can't be worse than south africa. Surprised they beat South Korea who must be bad.

Armagh18 · June 25, 2026, 08:42:18 AM

Have Scotland much of a chance? Goal difference might feck them.

No point moaning about the format, it's not going back to the old way, may as well let the minnows who'd never qualify otherwise enjoy themselves and fair play to them, support has been great. Just think of the group stages as warm up games for serious teams and the proper stuff will start from about the round of 16 on.

gallsman · June 25, 2026, 08:42:26 AM

Scotland have been atrocious.

gallsman · June 25, 2026, 08:44:32 AM

Don't understand the yapping about H2H, other than it's different to what people are used to. In a mini league where you play three games it's arguably a fairer tiebreaker. Most of the argument against it appears to be related to the impact it has on viewers on television.

Not as if it's new in football either. Used in plenty of competitions.

An Watcher · June 25, 2026, 09:00:29 AM

Quote from: gallsman on June 25, 2026, 08:42:26 AMScotland have been atrocious.

Is it really surprising? Greece played them off the park in bith matches of the qualifying but somehow managed to lose. Denmark should have beat them with ten men. They've some decent players but that keeper n centre halves trio is atrocious. Clarke deserves Credit for getting them there at all

tintin25 · June 25, 2026, 09:02:01 AM

Yeah, no issue with the H2H at all to be honest. As others have said, can't believe SA got through, they were woeful in that first game. To be fair to Canada they have tried to play abit of football for the most part and should beat SA. Your man Marsch comes across as a pure spoofer though.

An Watcher · June 25, 2026, 09:05:51 AM

Basically, theres 9 groups now n Scotland need 4 of them to finish with a 3rd place team worse off than them.
Some of thd groups look as though this will be the case. Others less so. But if an advantage for these teams as they know what they need to do.
That unexpected South Africa result last night could be the one that costs them. Scots waking up today after a heavy night last night would have been disgusted at that result

imtommygunn · June 25, 2026, 09:10:48 AM

Hard to see them qualify looking through the groups. They'll probably not be worst third place but at best third worst.

An Watcher · June 25, 2026, 09:48:27 AM

Need a few to go their way just. I'd say its about 60/40 against them qualifying at this stage

JPGJOHNNYG · June 25, 2026, 10:35:16 AM

Quote from: An Watcher on June 25, 2026, 09:48:27 AMNeed a few to go their way just. I'd say its about 60/40 against them qualifying at this stage

Im afraid they need to go home, think of all the great Scottish teams that haven't got out of a group. These guys play badly for 3 matches, so to somehow go through to the next round would be a joke.

AustinPowers · June 25, 2026, 12:07:19 PM

Quote from: gallsman on June 25, 2026, 06:20:12 AMSouth Africa coming second in that group is a travesty for football.

Woke up this morning and seen they won and finished second. They were absolutely brutal first game , worse Scotland have been.

On another note , Scotland have to wait 4/5 days to see if they go through. That's brutal for fans to keep them hanging on at added expense .

No doubt there'll be 64 teams next time to stop this happening again