OFFICIAL 2026 US/Canada/Mexico World Cup Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

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[falafel]

Here is the biggest problem with the red card rule: it is absurdly punitive. Send a guy to the bench? Fine. But play down one person the rest of the game.? That is just stupid.

Well, its meant to be for really egregious fouls and that want to heavily deter, like a flagrant 2 in the NBA which is ejection. I know that's not the same as a red card, but basketball isn't the same as soccer. I played competitive soccer at a high level (for Utah in the 90s) for 15 years and personally I only ever received 1 red card.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That was fun. I wish Cape Verde had pulled it off

[tooblue]

Such a fun match—sad it had to end.

[Omaha 680]

Balogun available vs Belgium!!!

[dabrockster]

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49277378/usmnt-folarin-balogun-red-card-suspended-belgium

Yeeesssssssss!!!!!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Great news.

[Omaha 680]

The whining by the Belgian federation and coach is a bit ridiculous. I'm trying to be fair and think how I would react if De Bruyne or Lukaku had received a similar red in their round of 32 game and then had it suspended today. Yes I would be disappointed because Belgium's chance of victory would increase, but I think I would recognize that the foul was not egregious or sportsmanship related and maybe was not even a yellow.

The Belgians are harping on integrity of the game issues with the suspended punishment. That's very soft. Having a gift of a very poor call rescinded and thereby needing to actually beat your full strength opponent is not an integrity issue. I hope Balogun scores 3 goals.

Side note: Haaland beating Brazil all by himself was fun.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The whining by the Belgian federation and coach is a bit ridiculous. I'm trying to be fair and think how I would react if De Bruyne or Lukaku had received a similar red in their round of 32 game and then had it suspended today. Yes I would be disappointed because Belgium's chance of victory would increase, but I think I would recognize that the foul was not egregious or sportsmanship related and maybe was not even a yellow.

The Belgians are harping on integrity of the game issues with the suspended punishment. That's very soft. Having a gift of a very poor call rescinded and thereby needing to actually beat your full strength opponent is not an integrity issue. I hope Balogun scores 3 goals.

To the Belgians:

Side note: Haaland beating Brazil all by himself was fun.

Agreed. I love Haaland.

[Omaha 680]

To the Belgians:

Hearing the outrage communicated in a thick French accent does make it that much more delicious.

[Omaha 680]

And Mexican fans just can't help themselves with the p-word chant in a big game. FIFA is supposed to stop the match and give warnings and ultimately suspend the match if the fans dont stop. I doubt fifa have the balls to actually do it.

[dabrockster]

All the Insta and TikTok videos of Haaland have been hilarious.. The one where he is chowing down a burger in Texas and frightens himself in the mirror had me rolling.

[Jeff Lebowski]

This Mexico-England game is nuts.

Another BS red card, IMO.

[Omaha 680]

A little bit of everything in the England/Mexico game. Can someone explain to me why a red was not given (or even discussed by the broadcast team) to the Mexico keeper for the foul that gave England the penalty?

[Omaha 680]

This Mexico-England game is nuts.

Another BS red card, IMO.

I think that red card was 100x more justified than the Balogun card and I can live with it. What I dont understand is not showing a red to the Mexico keeper and also this latest VAR review that awarded Mexico a penalty.