World Cup 2026

[Durhamfootman]

Of course it is not impossible that Portugal could end up as the third team in their group - in which case England might draw them by winning the group !

trust me, that thought has occurred to me

[Durhamfootman]

Messi has now scored all 5 of Argentina's goals. No first round hiccups for them this year

[sussexpob]

Not seen this thread yet. Still bussing about Deniz Undav scoring 3/2 assists. Was at union in Belgium Div 2 not that long ago, and will forever be an absolute legend of the club. A great guy...I'm so happy for him

After an england win, seeing him lift the trophy would be special

And Norway also...but that won't happen

[Durhamfootman]

Messi, Mbappe and Haaland can't stop scoring, but then I suppose there are at least one and sometimes two teams per group in the 2026 edition that simply wouldn't have made it to the WC before now, so maybe it isn't surprising that the top goal scorers are banging them in right, left and centre

and there's an extra KO round with more weaker teams in it, so presumably the golden boot winner this year is going to need many, many more goals than would normally be the case

[Durhamfootman]

The BBC are reporting Guehi for Stones and Spence for O'Reilly tonight. As you were for the rest

I definitely agree with Guehi. Spence did well when he came on v Croatia. O'Reilly wasn't quite on it enough defensively for me last week.

[Durhamfootman]

5-0 to Portugal

Ronaldo-lite (the watered down diet version of the Ronaldo brand) scored 2 early on. I knew he wouldn't allow himself to be substituted, not with an absolute bunny to beat up and the chance to score 4 to catch up with the good players at this WC. I imagine his performance tonight, and I watched a chunk of the first half, will convince his bruised ego that he is still a force even at 141.... "bring on West End Boys club next, I'll show them how great I am"

From what I saw, Uzbekistan tried to play positive football and got punished for it. They did score a great goal, but it was chalked off by VAR for a foul in the build up.... which was a shame, because it was a cracking strike

[bigfluffylemon]

Normal service has been resumed, it seems. England struggling to break down Ghana.

[bigfluffylemon]

Same old England.

To be fair, they came close several times and were arguably a bit unlucky not to score. Ghana were playing 10 or 11 behind the ball and never even came close to threatening England - it's clear they were playing not to lose from the get go, and it's always difficult when a team just parks the bus. But disappointing when the alleged talent couldn't find a way through.

England will qualify for the next round - it's mathematically extremely difficult for them to go out. And a win against Panama will still see them top the group in all likelihood. No panic. Yet.

[Durhamfootman]

reverted to type.

I hope they're practising their penalty taking

[sussexpob]

England just lacked a bit of urgency, and were very static in their movements.

Didn't help that the referee was totally pants. 24 fouls in the final third and 1 yellow card for Ghana.... which is a hell of a lot of tactical fouling.

Then again, Konza's foul in the second half should have been a penalty, but apparently the ball in was offside (and hence not given), but I haven't seen a replay

[sussexpob]

For all the hype about Elliot Anderson, I thought he was rubbish last night. I dont really get the hype..... Forest rejected a bid which would make him the 4th most expensive player ever, and last night against two second division French players, he didn't get a single forward pass on, and just passed laterally.

[Durhamfootman]

I recorded the match to watch today, but I don't think i'll bother

sounds as though it was the same as every game England ever played under Southgate

BBC described it as a reality check and say we shouldn't panic. They're right we needn't panic, but perhaps we all ought to prepare ourselves for the inevitable.... which is nerve wracking games, momentary elation, lots of nail biting, hiding behind the sofa, with all roads leading to eventual disappointment...... thanks for playing, lets do it all again in two years time

Pretty much every England campaign since 1966, except that some of those waits were longer than two years

[sussexpob]

I dont think we need to panic, because England looked like a side taking it easy for large parts of the game. The small part of the match they looked like they upped the intensity, they started to do better. And I don't think they will face another team so negative

[Durhamfootman]

Panama will be equally as negative, but probably won't be as effective as it sounds like Ghana were

[Durhamfootman]

maybe not

I've just watched the highlights of Panama Croatia and they didn't look negative at all. Gave them a number of scares and Croatia seemed to be hanging on a bit at the end

England might not mind that. Need to be defensively aware though