World Cup 2026

[Rubashov]

Nah you wanted to be in the Asian qualifier cos the Oceania qualifier finalist have to square off against the South American to qualify.

You didn't want to, hence you ditched the Oceania qualifier where you should have been.

It’s a cheat, let’s just call it what it is.

Doesn't surprise me, cos that’s what Aussies are good at.

Again you're an ignorant ************, who the teams play off against is drawn via lottery. In the old days deals were done between federations, because FIFA is corrupt Oceania would always end up playing South America. Now if you look back to the last World Cup, we beat Peru to qualify. Just a little reminder.



Oceania now gets a full place it would be easier for us to qualify through Oceania, however the quality of opposition would be an overall negative, more competitive games against quality opponents is in the long term interest of our football.

 

[The Midnight]

Again you're an ignorant ************, who the teams play off against is drawn via lottery. In the old days deals were done between federations, because FIFA is corrupt Oceania would always end up playing South America. Now if you look back to the last World Cup, we beat Peru to qualify. Just a little reminder.



Oceania now gets a full place it would be easier for us to qualify through Oceania, however the quality of opposition would be an overall negative, more competitive games against quality opponents is in the long term interest of our football.

Yeah but you joined Asian qualifier under the OLD system in 2006 cos you were afraid of the South American tie at that time.

You cheated your way into the World Cup for more than 2 decades by leaving Oceania and taking the quota away from real Asian countries.

You probably paid your way into joining them.

That’s indisputable and truly despicable mate.

 

[Rubashov]

Yeah but you joined Asian qualifier under the OLD system in 2006 cos you were afraid of the South American tie at that time.

You cheated your way into the World Cup for more than 2 decades by leaving Oceania and taking the quota away from real Asian countries.

You probably paid your way into joining them.

That’s indisputable and truly despicable mate.

Again you're a ****ing ignorant ************. We qualified in 2006 after beating Uruguay the fifth place South American team.



Just a reminder

The process that ended up with us playing them again was so corrupt that the process was changed to a draw system for 2010 at which point we had joined the AFC. On joining the AFC were were the highest ranked team in Asia. Plus the AFC was interested in the marketing and sponsorship opportunities of gaining access to like the 12th biggest economy in the world.

 

[The Midnight]

Again you're a ****ing ignorant ************. We qualified in 2006 after beating Uruguay the fifth place South American team.



Just a reminder

The process that ended up with us playing them again was so corrupt that the process was changed to a draw system for 2010 at which point we had joined the AFC. On joining the AFC were were the highest ranked team in Asia. Plus the AFC was interested in the marketing and sponsorship opportunities of gaining access to like the 12th biggest economy in the world.

Again, is Australia an Asian country?

If not, then they have no business being in the Asian qualifier and taking up Asian quota.

Simple as that.

Aussies are cheats and always will be.

 

[Rubashov]

Again, is Australia an Asian country?

If not, then they have no business being in the Asian qualifier and taking up Asian quota.

Simple as that.

Aussies are cheats and always will be.

Australia is Asia's neighbour as an Island continent it cant compete against itself so it should compete in Asia.

Is Israel in Europe because they compete in UEFA?

 

[The Midnight]

Australia is Asia's neighbour as an Island continent it cant compete against itself so it should compete in Asia.

Is Israel in Europe because they compete in UEFA?

You can compete in Oceania like every other countries in the region.

But no, you had to get cute at the expense of everyone else.

This is like the underarm bowling incident all over again, mate.

It’s in your DNA to cheat I guess.

 

[FalseFlagg K]

45 years one live. Time to pluck your head out of a sheep’s arse and get over it

 

[Rubashov]

You can compete in Oceania like every other countries in the region.

But no, you had to get cute at the expense of everyone else.

This is like the underarm bowling incident all over again, mate.

It’s in your DNA to cheat I guess.

Have you got any knowledge or facts or is it just more bull ****? **** off you tool

 

[The Midnight]

And .. representing Asia…. “Australia”!!!

LOL …

Talk about blatant cheating.

 

[Rubashov]

Again staggering ignorance. **** off and troll somewhere else ****.

 

[Rubashov]

It is official.

 

[The Midnight]

Again staggering ignorance. **** off and troll somewhere else ****.

“**** off?”

That’s what the Asian Confederation should have said to Australia years ago.

How much did you have to pay off the top representatives?

Again, Australia is NOT an Asian country.. lol..

 

[Rubashov]

“**** off?”

That’s what the Asian Confederation should have said to Australia years ago.

How much did you have to pay off the top representatives?

Again, Australia is NOT an Asian country.. lol..

Captain spastic is back again!!!!

 

[Schrödinger's Gerbil]

I'd like to hear what people think as to why the USMNT sucks so badly. The recent 4-0 thrashing by Switzerland is just the latest in a decades long string of disappointments, the nadir of which was failure to even manufacture a tie with Trinidad & Tobago (surely, one of the world's least distinguished football/soccer countries) back in 2017 to qualify for the World Cup. The US competes in perhaps the world's weakest football confederations (CONCACAF) but still struggles to qualify each qualification cycle. It can't beat good teams with consistency and consistently loses to marginal teams (e.g., Honduras). For years we heard it's because the men weren't playing in the top European leagues, but now they are, and they still suck. We were better and more competitive when we were MLS-centric.

It's good that the US is hosting the WC this year, giving us an automatic qualification. Otherwise, I think that there are quite good odds we would not qualify.

It's an embarrassment. There's got to be some explanation, perhaps cultural, perhaps talent, perhaps both, or perhaps other factors. But, there's definitely something going on there. Any ideas?

I had hoped and prayed the USMNT would hire Klinsmann, but I though Pochettino might be a nice consolation prize. But apparently not.

I don't mean to highjack this thread. I tried to create my own, but it appears I lack credentials on this site to do so.(Not sure why that's the case.) I'm hoping people here have some views and insights on this, because, frankly, I'm baffled.

If someone else wants to start a separate thread on this, please do.

 

[fishonjazz]

I'd like to hear what people think as to why the USMNT sucks so badly.

Answer is super easy. For men in the US soccer (football) is like the 4th or 5th most popular sport to play in the US. In pretty much every other country soccer is the #1 most popular sport to play.

 

[Schrödinger's Gerbil]

Answer is super easy. For men in the US soccer (football) is like the 4th or 5th most popular sport to play in the US. In pretty much every other country soccer is the #1 most popular sport to play.

Sure, that makes sense. That, and that soccer appears not to be a major part of the sports culture among African Americans, the primary feeder of talent into American football and basketball.

That's a good place to start, but it strikes me as a bit too simple.

The US has a significantly larger pool on which to draw, even if much of the talent is diverted into other sports. Even after drawing off thousands of top athletes to other sports, thousands of top-flight athletes remain for soccer. There's no shortage of elite athletic talent to go around. We have no problem, for example, producing world class athletes in other sports that compete at the international level.

At the same time, our players are mostly playing in top flight European leagues. That's an indicator that our talent is competitive on a world-class level. Yet, still, we can't win even when we have the talent.

 

[Rubashov]

I'd like to hear what people think as to why the USMNT sucks so badly. The recent 4-0 thrashing by Switzerland is just the latest in a decades long string of disappointments, the nadir of which was failure to even manufacture a tie with Trinidad & Tobago (surely, one of the world's least distinguished football/soccer countries) back in 2017 to qualify for the World Cup. The US competes in perhaps the world's weakest football confederations (CONCACAF) but still struggles to qualify each qualification cycle. It can't beat good teams with consistency and consistently loses to marginal teams (e.g., Honduras). For years we heard it's because the men weren't playing in the top European leagues, but now they are, and they still suck. We were better and more competitive when we were MLS-centric.

It's good that the US is hosting the WC this year, giving us an automatic qualification. Otherwise, I think that there are quite good odds we would not qualify.

It's an embarrassment. There's got to be some explanation, perhaps cultural, perhaps talent, perhaps both, or perhaps other factors. But, there's definitely something going on there. Any ideas?

I had hoped and prayed the USMNT would hire Klinsmann, but I though Pochettino might be a nice consolation prize. But apparently not.

I don't mean to highjack this thread. I tried to create my own, but it appears I lack credentials on this site to do so.(Not sure why that's the case.) I'm hoping people here have some views and insights on this, because, frankly, I'm baffled.

If someone else wants to start a separate thread on this, please do.

I actually had the US as a smoky for the tournament, or at least to make a very deep run. Pochettino is an excellent manager, the US squad on paper should be deep, there is a heap of talent, a stack of players are playing and playing well in Europe, The MLS is one of the better leagues outside of Europe, there really is a lot of positives for the US team.

That said they have been terrible, I mean really awful and its hard to work out why. It could be the lack of competitive football, too many friendlies can be an issue, teams can end up with a kind of torpor and get caught out against match hardened teams. The French experienced this heading into the 2002 World Cup, I think at the time they were world and European Champions so had automatic qualifying to both the WC and Euro Championship, Outside of those two tournaments they hadn't played a competitive game in 6 years heading into the 2002 WC and they were properly awful.

 

[Rubashov]

Answer is super easy. For men in the US soccer (football) is like the 4th or 5th most popular sport to play in the US. In pretty much every other country soccer is the #1 most popular sport to play.

Is it 4th or 5th in participation? I believe for kids under 14 its number 1 in Australia, its the only football code that is played nationally. (Rugby is played in NSW and Queensland, AFL everywhere else.) Commercially the A-league is probably 4th or 5th in professional leagues in Australia.

The bottom line is sporting codes are generally competing for a limited pool of athletes, sportsmen are regularly choosing one sport over another, between say cricket or football, AFL or basketball, and so on. Im sure its the same in the US