World Cup 2026

[Cereal Killer]

Ah well, it’s gonna be the same final fixture as the last Euros won’t it.

Poor France, on Bastille day too.

Tuchel is going to gamble with too many half-fit players, Rice, Saka, James and it’ll show

[StirlingBlue]

As good as Spain were today I think the set up and expectations suited them vs France.

When they had to play Belgium in the quarters and be the side expected to take the game to Belgium they struggled and only won due to a goalkeeping error.

[Gash]

Half time show during the final to be 'at least' half an hour. The sooner they get the fuck out of this country and stop them trying to ruin everything and 'Americanize' it the better. Knock the four quarter games on the head and fuck off with half time shows.

[bigmanbob]

Tuchel is going to gamble with too many half-fit players, Rice, Saka, James and it’ll show

Don't think James will be gambled with

[Cods]

Ah well, it’s gonna be the same final fixture as the last Euros won’t it.

Poor France, on Bastille day too.

Unity triumphs over football royalty.
Poetic really.

[Cods]

I enjoyed that, I thought Spain were superb and they didn’t bore me. Particularly enjoyed Dani Olmo, I haven’t seen much of him before but thought he was excellent (as were most of the Spanish to be fair).

France should be ashamed, too many threw in the towel in those last 15-20 minutes including Mbappe.

Worth checking out Olmo in the last Euros if you get the chance, he was outstanding in the semi against France.

[Shogun]

Think many (me) would have overlooked that these days especially it's the most defensively sound teams who play as a unit that tend to win things as we've just seen with Arsenal in the Premier League.

Spain won the Euros conceding 4 goals in 7 games (never more than once in a match) and they've conceded 1 goal in 7 games in this World Cup. It's mightily impressive stuff and clearly there's nothing flukey or lucky about it. If you can play 14 matches in a row at major tournaments and never concede more than once in a match then you're a seriously impressive team.

I'm not sure France with the players they have can be anything other than what they are. A flashy team that catch the eye but just aren't strong enough as a unit to cover their weaknesses which to be fair seems like it's still good enough to beat maybe all but 1 or 2 teams. Be interesting to see how Zidane does with that team, because feel like all it can be is a continuation of the same thing.

[kramer]

As good as Spain were today I think the set up and expectations suited them vs France.

When they had to play Belgium in the quarters and be the side expected to take the game to Belgium they struggled and only won due to a goalkeeping error.

I think that’s what makes international tournaments to interesting.

The teams play together less, they’re worse than club teams, and the differences between the best ones are so small. So much comes down to randomness of how styles match up.

That’s what made the Spain team that won two consecutive Euros on either side of a World Cup so impressive. They were so good at getting the one goal they needed and playing keep away that they managed to transcend all the noise of a knockout tournament. Near impossible stuff for a national team. I think Spain has a natural advantage for cohesion with many of their best players tending to feature for two huge clubs but it’s still hard.

[MIG]

That was a real reminder of how much I used to love watching Rodri play. He looks like his team have an extra player. Plugging gaps wherever needed and then dictating the game. He’s so class.
Cucerella too. That’s the first time I’ve ever watched him and not hated him. He was so up for it. The passion and commitment was fantastic.

[blueforyou]

A 30 minutes half-time show?

They'll be on stand by for a half-time in extra-time show

And then the interlude before penalties

Forgot all about the football

[TheRam]

Anything can happen in a one off game and all that but when have you ever seen England beat a team like Spain?

[Risky]

Half time show during the final to be 'at least' half an hour. The sooner they get the fuck out of this country and stop them trying to ruin everything and 'Americanize' it the better. Knock the four quarter games on the head and fuck off with half time shows.

I do worry though that this is Infantino, and like many things in modern football once the genie is out of the bottle there's no going back.

[Shogun]

Merseyrail have this now, so we can assume Argentina are winning comfortably tonight

PXL_20260715_073745286.jpg

[Toddacelli]

New Brighton station displays this morning…

[AjaxAndy]

Anything can happen in a one off game and all that but when have you ever seen England beat a team like Spain?

They've struggled against low blocks and Tuchel is tactically great, so I'd say we'd have a decent chance if we just let them have as much of the ball as they want, don't chase them around, sit in a deep block and hit Gordon and Madueke early to exploit the space in behind.

France didn't do any of this and just played in to their hands, believing they could overpower them with their usual game, and it didn't work at all... I think we'd be way more savvy.

I'd still have Spain as favourites, maybe 60/40 in their favour, but we'd have a decent chance. Certainly more than if we'd faced France.

Got to get through tonight though, and it's a completely different tactical challenge. I'm taking nothing for granted and fully expect extra time and maybe penalties.