Your boy Olise could have been for the English side?

USMNT first pitch at Seattle Mariner's game








Chris Richards' AI is better than mine!

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN?

I predict Mexico advances.

Betting markets say England are a slight favorite:
England: -136 to -140
Mexico: +110 to +116

We will know if English Hooliganism has anything left - because those tards will be executed if they show up at Azteca.

Has FIFA allocated any tickets to UK fans and will they dare to show up?

Hahaha

In the final WC of Ronaldo, and maybe the final one of Messi, I thought people might be interested in an article I read about them like 10 years ago. It was called something like "the worker and the natural." I went to read the article figuring that Messi was the worker and Ronaldo was the natural. Messi was short (listed at 5'8'', but I doubt it) and ran in a not particularly impressive style and went from Argentina to Barcelona around age 12, partly to get growth hormones. Meanwhile, Ronaldo was at leat 6', built like a Greek statue, and fast as the wind. If you only see him now you see a slightly awkward poacher, but back then he played like Mbappe, impossible to stop in the open field and a great finisher with either foot who could finish without slowing down.

Except it was the opposite. Ronaldo was the worker. Of course he was blessed with speed, but he had worked tirelessly on his skills and improved into one of the top two players in the world. Meanwhile, Messi had been born, it seems, with sublime touch, able to do almost anything with his left foot. (We will not talk about his right foot.). His close controll and quick change of direction had always been unstoppable. Although Messi was probably not as fast as Ronaldo, it was close, as he was in the top 5 in speed in La Liga into his 30s. No one said that Messi did not train hard, it was just that he did not need to improve much from his middle teenage years. And as they have both aged and slowed, it is Messi's skills that have had more staying power. Portugal has a striker named Ramos who is considerably better than 41-year-old Ronaldo and should be on the pitch.

I wish I still had a copy of the article as it upended my world.

concordtom said:

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We will know if English Hooliganism has anything left - because those tards will be executed if they show up at Azteca.

Has FIFA allocated any tickets to UK fans and will they dare to show up?

Hahaha

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England has a much better team, but I could see them making a business decision to lose to leave with their lives intact. I hope it does not get ugly.

Should be a second excellent game today between Norway and Brazil. I think these teams are about even, a level below the top. We will see a rematch of Haaland (from Man City) against Gabriel (Arsenal). They get extremely physical with each other, I hope there is a good ref.

concordtom said:

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Your boy Olise could have been for the English side?

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Identifies as French, both culturally and in terms of playing style, his mother is French.

https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/led-zeppelin-last-us-show/

That was the last show for The Clash. They argued with the promoters. The argued with the audience. They argued with David Lee Roth. They argued with security. They argued with each other.

The local crew was so annoyed with The Clash, they switched their screen from "The Clash Not For Sale" to the $500k check they received. Ouch.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/clash-mick-jones-last-us-festival-1983/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-the-clash-say-goodbye-at-the-1983-us-festival-57636/

Overrated.

Group of Norwegians here on the Greek Isle already been drinking beer for a while and did some rowing calls. Trying to figure out where they'll be watching the game

Balogun red card has been overturned. He will play against Belgium.

oski003 said:

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Balogun red card has been overturned. He will play against Belgium.

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Let's gooooo!!!

oski003 said:

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Balogun red card has been overturned. He will play against Belgium.

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Cool, we've become an insider at FIFA

This is crazy.

Mexico fans outside of the England hotel at 2am before their World Cup clash. pic.twitter.com/w2gQrmc2pw

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 5, 2026

Anarchistbear said:

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oski003 said:

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Balogun red card has been overturned. He will play against Belgium.

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Cool, we've become an insider at FIFA

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I can't believe an American player is getting the Ronaldo treatment!

EDIT: Not sure if this is the official reasoning (it's just commentary from the Fox Sports story about it), but it would back up some of what I said about the process for reviewing the play seeming to go against the proper protocol. Generally you aren't doing video review for a red card if the ref on the field didn't call any foul in the first place, and you aren't supposed to use slow-motion to upgrade a call that way either.

“Under FIFA‘s own protocols, the play should not have been flagged to Brazilian referee Raphael Claus by the video assistant, who ask Claus to review the play on the monitor following a slow-motion replay of the incident. Balogun was not even cautioned by Claus on the field.” https://t.co/t3QmsFqc05

— Rob Collins (@RobCollinsTV) July 5, 2026

Balogun cleared to play vs Belgium.

Edited to add: boothed by a mile!

Looks like Trump must have put that Peace Prize to good use.

HOLY FLOCK!!!
What news is this?!?!?

USMNT striker Folarin Balogun available vs. Belgium after red-card ban suspended

If we lose to Belgium now, we suck!

dajo9 said:

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Group of Norwegians here on the Greek Isle already been drinking beer for a while and did some rowing calls. Trying to figure out where they'll be watching the game

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Dude, have a great time!!!

RED CARD 1-GAME BAN ON BALOGUN SUSPENDED!

The reasoning likely lies within Article 27 of FIFA's code of discipline.

"The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.

If the person benefiting from a suspended sanction commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked by the judicial body and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement."

concordtom said:

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HOLY FLOCK!!!
What news is this?!?!?

USMNT striker Folarin Balogun available vs. Belgium after red-card ban suspended

If we lose to Belgium now, we suck!

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I was totally not expecting this. Extremely rare for us to get a break on the international sports stage.

Win or lose tomorrow, at least we can give it our best shot. Go USA!

It's great that FIFA "caught" this error in the chain of officiating. Shows integrity.

GO USA!!!

🚨 Exclusive: The White House made a direct call to FIFA to ask Gianni Infantino to review Folarin Balogun’s red card.

FIFA approached for comment and referred to the findings of its independent committee.

FIFA sources insist White House influence could not affect the decision… pic.twitter.com/Rl97b1wm4X

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 5, 2026

Big C said:

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Win or lose tomorrow, at least we can give it our best shot. Go USA!

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we?
stay@home bear, and i'm not alone

Typical Trump.
Constantly wants to take credit for everything.

Shocker.

DiabloWags said:

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Typical Trump.
Constantly wants to take credit for everything.

Shocker.

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Where do you see that he tried to take credit for it? All I see is him celebrating the decision.

USA-USA-USA 🦅 https://t.co/yKnJxew9tU pic.twitter.com/75KmExgrUJ

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 5, 2026

No es el 5 de Mayo sino el 5 de Julio!!!

DiabloWags said:

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Typical Trump.
Constantly wants to take credit for everything.

Shocker.

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It's our birthday. FIFA needs to give tribute