GENERAL World Cup Thread

your year were shafted !

I did Inter in 87 and Leaving in 89…….. Lovely free time for Euro 88 and World Cup 90 😎

it has the smell of a destabilizing sideshow but we will see

I had to sit in on an interview for a new hire that ran over, we were due to shut down at 12 to allow us to go watch the match. There were no buses or taxis to be got but the guy passed me on the road and gave me a lift, I made sure he got the job.

I think the heat will be more of a factor than boring tactics.

It will be very slow football.

My reading of Ecuador is they would beat the worst team in the tournament 1 0 but will probably only lose 1 0 to France or something. I'd hate to play them if I was one of the favorites, would be a real slog

WC History

1990: I wasnt even 2, but told I wanted to wear some tshirt that had the whole squad on it

1994: Not much memory but remember some family gathering at granny's house for one match, think was Italy game, which was great

1998: remember France winning the final. And Croatia....the picnic blanket jersey ensured that. Left a hotel in kilkenny when they had a cracking game, think a 3-2 vs i want to say Netherlands (/Holland)

2002: fierce excitement and being off school before 1st game. Roy Keane....Robbie Keane, good times.

2006: remember enjoying it but not much else in terms of teams or matches, bar the final as they put it on screens at Oxegen between Franz ferdinand and RHCP.

2010: vuvuzelas and being pissed at France for being a pathetic no-show. Was this the one NZ first qualified and went unbeaten, love seeing stuff like that

2014: the 7-1 being most memorable, germany getting over the line, watching bits at a festival in Belgium

2018: the mad stand in Ekaterinburg, Mexico gk heroics, the assumption there'd be dodgy calls for Russia to get them the wi

2022: winter WC, but was fun too. Lot of entertaining games anyway, final being great fun in the end.

2026: I'm actually excited to see lot of the smaller countries in their first WC. Yeah quality be diluted, but i assume the fans will be enthusiastic and make it a fun atmosphere....unless they all get deported of course. Will be strange missing a load of games but can't expect that to be different

Was this the one NZ first qualified and went unbeaten, love seeing stuff like that

Close, they were unbeaten and just missed out on the last 16, but their first qualification was 1982.

1978 - I was 6, remember Kempes and the final with the ticker tape.

My father's spinster aunt decided to visit just as the final was starting, he was annoyed.

I also had a world cup wall chart.

1982 - Remember loads of it, the early goal for Robson v France, the Kuwait whistle controversy, Cameroon, Hungary getting 11 v El Salvador, Poland coming third

I still have the official annual with the scores written in it. I keep it in my laptop bag, I consult it every now and then for inspiration like the way a religious person might read the Bible to help them.

1986 - Really enjoyed staying up for the late starts.

1990 - Needs a thread of it's own. Was 18 and doing the LC. No other sporting event will equal it the way it took over Ireland. I still refer to it by it's Italian name "Italia Novanta" when talking about it so as to give it the respect it deserves.

I think I'll write a book about it.

1994 - Apart from the Italy game and the pub strike in Dublin that day it was a damp squib. A lot of high expectations after Italia Novanta that were (or could not be) lived up to.

1998 - Was living in the US for most of it but was home for a wedding during it, other than the final can't remember much.

2002 - Was at the group stages. Was behind the goal v Germany, was at England v Denmark with all the Beckam mania from the locals. Japan was such a great place to visit.

2006 - Can't remember much, watched the final after being at the Munster football final.

2010 - The one I remember the least.

2014 - The kids started getting into it, remember the driving header by the Dutch guy.

2018 - Watched most of it but can't remember anything in particular.

2022. - Didn't mind the winter element of it but other than the final can't remember anything special.

2026 - Will probably be posting here at 1:42am while watching some game that I hadn't planned to.

And it's no surprise that I remember more about the tournaments from 40 years or more ago than the recent ones, it's just the age we were and times in our lives that they happened.

How big is your wall😂 its all App based now.

FIFA FF announced. There are some surnames in the squads that I hope get on the ball, just for the craic!!

Will dig them out later. The rules look complicated, but might just be me!

Doesn't seem like a WC year ..or not as I remember them, just a continuation of endless tournaments

Has the CL final ever been played so close to the opening 2 weeks and England playing a friendly day before the opener seems odd

• Suarez excluded even after he tried to kiss and make up with Bielsa
• Since bielsa is their manager they could be a great watch but the Copa in America was an unhappy camp appartently although they held Brazil to a nil all after 120 mins which must not have happened that much in Brazils entire tournament history
• They were incompetently managed by Diego Alonso in their last tournament. Baffling selection calls. Might be a dark horse. Easy group with Spain, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. Probable round of 32 tie with Argentina.

I see also that Breel Embolo hasn't gone to the US with the Swiss squad because his ESTA authorisation was placed under review, after a Swiss court ruling linked ⁠to a 2018 altercation. He was convicted in 2023 of making multiple threats and ​handed a suspended fine, a verdict upheld on appeal after judges rejected his account of the incident. As he decided not ​to take the case to the Federal Court, the judgement is seen as ​final, and he may have to watch it all, like us, on the telly.

It'd be nice to see Curacao get a result versus Germany… Cape Verde too in their games, don't want to see them embarrassed but them maybe some drubbings would highlight if the quality has been reduced too much and bring FIFA back to their senses.
Be nice to see Mexico do well as hosts, better than the US, would show them up.