World Cup 2026

[Captain Obvious]

Cowardly display from Portugal.

What a waste of top class talent.

Cowardly manager got what he deserved in the end.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Martinez continues to spoof through life. Watch him end up in another great job and do f**k All

[laoislad]

Better team won, that Ronaldo fella is a cod.

[gallsman]

Ramos twiddling his thumbs on the bench again.

[Mourne Red]

Delighted with that.. Ronaldo's ego dented and that fraud Martinez who has failed upwards out.

Portugal offered nothing going forward.

[Milltown Row2]

Just seen the accident!

f**k me, stretcher and oxygen! Broken his wrist ffs!

[Grace Murphy]

From Belgium FA.

RBFA STATEMENT UPDATE
 
Following its previous statement, the RBFA wishes to publicly explain the events of the past few hours.
 
After learning through media reports of FIFA's decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.
 
As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
 
For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA's own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.
 
All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA's legitimate requests.
 
Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response.
 
To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player's eligibility for the upcoming match.
 
Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole.

I'm honestly can't believe the level of corruption here. (I know, I know, too naive!) Or rather the blatant nature of it. Surely there has to be some sort of pushback here?

Why all the shock isn't this what we do in GAA all the time.

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Don't remember an American president, or an Irish one just to humour you, getting involved in such matters, but continue

[ONeill]

That's the end of Ronaldo as a player but will probably see him managing Portugal in 2030 at home. If God spares me.

[From the Bunker]

Delighted with that.. Ronaldo's ego dented and that fraud Martinez who has failed upwards out.

Portugal offered nothing going forward.

You'd have to feel sorry for the Portuguese players - they have had about 5 years (at least) of this fiasco.

Martinez looks to have Ronaldo playing full games as part of his contract. And was content to roll with that and collect his wages.

You'd imagine jersey sales, sponsorship and endorsements of the Ronaldo image are an important part of the Portugal national team finances. Which makes Ronaldo the product more important than winning titles.

[ONeill]

He didn't play the full game in 3 of his last 7 international matches.

[AustinPowers]

That's the end of Ronaldo as a player but will probably see him managing Portugal in 2030 at home. If God spares me.

I'd say  he will  still be in the squad for the next Euros. Although as  a 10 minute man, if the  next manager has any balls.

[gawa316]

Delighted the Portuguese are out. Ronaldo could've played a bit part role this World Cup but he wanted the spotlight on him and messed their chances up as a result

[Wildweasel74]

Belgium playing like a pissed off team.

[weareros]

Belgium up for this. 1 up after 9 mins.