WORLD CUP 2026
- Thread starter Mick O'Toon
- Start date
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Will FIFA continue with this ridiculous format for the World Cup after this tournament? After the Group stage only a third of the teams will have been eliminated and thirty two will face off in the knockout stage.
What is really annoying about the knockout stage is the way that the fixtures have already been scheduled so that teams know who they could be playing. This means that some teams will try to manage their results to get a more favourable opponent.
What they should do is have a draw that seeds teams according to their performance in the tournament. Something like this seems fairer:
Pot 1 – the 8 best Group winners (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Pot 2 – the other 4 Group winners plus the best 4 Group runners-up (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Pot 3 – the other 8 Group runners-up
Pot 4 – the 8 best third placed teams (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Now draw Pot 1 v Pot 4 and Pot 2 v Pot 3. This would incentivise the best teams to win their Groups to get the potentially easiest last 32 match up.
At the last 16 stage, now have two pots: the winners of the Pot 1 v Pot 4 games and the winners of Pot 2 v Pot 3 games. Then at the quarter finals and the semi finals you just have a straightforward draw. This means that anyone can play anyone in the Final right from the start of the tournament.
What is really annoying about the knockout stage is the way that the fixtures have already been scheduled so that teams know who they could be playing. This means that some teams will try to manage their results to get a more favourable opponent.
What they should do is have a draw that seeds teams according to their performance in the tournament. Something like this seems fairer:
Pot 1 – the 8 best Group winners (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Pot 2 – the other 4 Group winners plus the best 4 Group runners-up (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Pot 3 – the other 8 Group runners-up
Pot 4 – the 8 best third placed teams (by points, goal difference or whatever tie breaks)
Now draw Pot 1 v Pot 4 and Pot 2 v Pot 3. This would incentivise the best teams to win their Groups to get the potentially easiest last 32 match up.
At the last 16 stage, now have two pots: the winners of the Pot 1 v Pot 4 games and the winners of Pot 2 v Pot 3 games. Then at the quarter finals and the semi finals you just have a straightforward draw. This means that anyone can play anyone in the Final right from the start of the tournament.
Every country has it's fair share of mental fans but I think the Dutch win hands down
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Football is a ****ing farce and has been for over 30 years now.
All about the money, sponsorship, TV rights and **** the punters. Why people still pay to sit and watch utter ****ing drivel and pay through the nose for it......................well, they're ****ing mugs and should all be executed, twice.
Messi is going to single handedly win it again
freak of a player
every other team looks garbage and hes in god mode
freak of a player
every other team looks garbage and hes in god mode
England completed 347 passes in the first half, 340 of them were pointless short passes between Guehi and Konsa, serving up some absolute muck here
EDGE.
Official POTY 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018 & 2023
Youse were neutered when Ghana went to 'park-the-elephant' mode.
No doubt, Scotchland manager, Steve "Jurassic" Clarke, will have seen the Negro tactic and thought "rats *hic* how we wull play *hic* vershuz brashil"
Then we will get trounced and send him to think again, and the Tranny army will then focus on the ABE mantra while flashing their cocks at any pooves in the USA.
I wish I had bet on the bore draw. I knew Engerlund would not be able to break down the Ghana 9-0-1 formation.
It is quite astonishing that Tuchel could be so stupid. In the first half they played on the wings and crossed the ball in and were no real threat. In the second half he made a load of substitutions and they played on the wings and crossed the ball in and it still did not work. Perhaps he should have changed the system that clearly was not working. He could have told them in the break between the third and fourth quarters.
Declan Rice’s corners were absolutely useless and just for good measure he made a right dog’s dinner of the free kick that he took from just outside the box on the left side. Let us not mention the possible penalty incident...
Nigeria 2002 world cup
Algeria 2010 world cup
Costa Rica 2014 world cup
Slovakia 2016 Euros
Scotland 2020 Euros
USA 2022 world cup
Slovenia 2024 Euros
Ghana 2026 world cup
All 0-0 draws in the group stage for England, what do they all have in common? They are all dross that the best team in the world should be beating easily.
Algeria 2010 world cup
Costa Rica 2014 world cup
Slovakia 2016 Euros
Scotland 2020 Euros
USA 2022 world cup
Slovenia 2024 Euros
Ghana 2026 world cup
All 0-0 draws in the group stage for England, what do they all have in common? They are all dross that the best team in the world should be beating easily.
