Michael Madison
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July 27, 2026
Almost every day during the World Cup Summer of 2026, I posted an essay about the tournament to my Facebook wall. Sometimes, two. My “friends” there seemed to appreciate the contributions (mostly) or tolerate them (at least), judging from comments on the wall and via other messages.
I never made it to a game in person, but I watched on television some or all of nearly 85 of the 104 matches contested in total.
After the World Cup ended, I posted a free-to-all wrap-up essay to Substack and decided, later, to collect my Facebook essays and post them, too, for whatever value or reading pleasure they might bring to anyone. That collection of essays appears below.
Here and there, I have corrected spelling errors and other typography, but the substance of the original posts is preserved entirely in its original form, including links to other material that I posted initially in Facebook comments to my own posts. The commentary blends soccer/football insider-dom with social critiques, observations about teams and players, governance, geography, history, and other things.
Comments and reactions are always welcome!
As Dani Rojas said on Ted Lasso: Fútbol is life!
June 12
World Cup 2026: a Day One review and forecast for Day Two.
Day One:
Mexico, country and team, kicked off the tournament with a spectacular opening ceremony and, more important, a decisive if expected (and tbh, mostly uninspired) win over South Africa. In front of a roaring, intimidating Azteca crowd, Bafana Bafana looked nervous and, once the nerves seemed to clear, undisciplined and overmatched. 2-0 was about the right result. The first goal was opportunistic; the second was gorgeous. You could see the goal building. Raul was the perfect target. He executed to perfection. Mexico is not often fluid, but the pattern and the result were a great release for him, for the team, and for Mexico supporters everywhere.
That said, three red cards in total were a bit much, even for a referee with a reputation as a disciplinarian. The first red was warranted. I might have given yellows for the second and third incidents. Referees know that they have multiple roles, especially on big stages like this one. They have to adjudicate in the moment, and they also govern the rhythms and tone of the game as a whole. This referee was too much of the first and not enough of the second.
South Korea and Czechia, 2-1 to the Koreans. Again an expected result, but an even more uninspired match. Korea ride mostly on the shoulders of Son Heung-min, and despite several good chances, he failed to deliver. Save of the game: Fox Sports putting the great Jacqui Oatley on the call.
Today, Day Two:
Canada lead off the Canadian wing of the tournament in Toronto, against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada have wind at their back right now, between the energy of Jesse Marsch as coach and the skill and speed of Alphonso Davies on the wing. Unfortunately, Davies’s hamstring is incompletely healed; I have read that he won’t play today. This could be a tight one.
The USMNT take on Paraguay in Los Angeles. This is both a signature broadcast for Fox Sports and a must-win match for the Americans. Expect a full house at SoFi, but also expect more Paraguay supporters than one might imagine initially. Really, the match is not just “must-win” for the US; the team needs to score in a bunch (against a stiff, physical defense), keep its collective head when bodies fly, and hope for a meaningful goal difference (Paraguay aren’t known for their attack). Later matches against Australia and Türkiye will be even more difficult and closer, in all likelihood.
In the words of the great Ian Darke: Go, go, USA!
June 13
World Cup 2026: a Day Two review and forecast for Day Three.
Day Two:
FIFA has to be happy. Its three hosts have won 2 games and tied a third.
The US beat Paraguay more soundly than even the most optimistic US supporter might have hoped. Privately, I told myself before the match that 3-1 was the outcome both anticipated and desired. And I came within 30 seconds of being right! The first half was likely the most comprehensively sound 45 minutes of soccer that the US have ever played. With Pulisic out for the second half fingers crossed that his calf is OK, the US lost its left wing fizz and McKinney’s power to oscillate between “dynamo left” (Pulisic) and “dynamo right” (Dest). Paraguay had no answer for that strategy. The US “B Team” (Pepi, Weah, Berhalter, Reyna) mostly showed why they are the B Team but with their teammates did a nice job of keeping their emotions in check while the Paraguayans chipped away at them. Reyna, of course, scored a pretty goal and on that basis alone likely earned another place on the substitutes’ bench; he is clearly a Poch favorite. Berhalter was probably the biggest disappointment for the red, white, and blue.
Also in Los Angeles, a broadcasting disappointment: I am happy to see Rebecca Lowe anchor the Fox Sports show but unhappy that Fox glammed her up and told her mostly to smile a lot. Bring back the slightly sour, smart NBC Becky. Zlatan will simply Zlatan, as Zlatan does; the less said about Alexi Lalas the better, as always he says enough. Thierry Henry shone, reminding me of the Ted Lasso line, “Shut up, Thierry Henry.” More Thierry, please.
Canada’s comeback 1-1 tie against a Dzeko-less Bosnia-Herzegovina was arguably a more thrilling game than US/Paraguay. Given the relative intimacy of the Toronto stadium, even through the television you could feel the passion of Canadian players and fans alike. (Hello, Ryan Reynolds and Mike Myers; it was much more satisfying to see the cameras find you than to see Fox Sports find Tom Cruise sitting next to David Beckham. And Paris Hilton, really?) The Bosnian supporters did themselves and their team proud. Canada doesn’t have skill on the ball to match a lot of the teams in the tournament. I started to write, “not even the US,” but the US have developed a fine first touch. Canada’s first touch let them down time and again. Sheer relentlessness kept Canada in the match, and eventually their persistence was rewarded with quite an excellent goal.
If Canada and the US make it out of their groups and meet each other later on, that will be a match to savor. Heavy metal football on both sides.
Today, Day Three:
We have three matches updated: well, four. 9 am Pacific means midnight for me.
The signature game is Brazil v Morocco, in New York. Morocco aren’t the dark horse that they once were, as regular qualifiers for the World Cup finals in recent years, a semi-finalist four years ago, and a massive success story in African tournaments. Achraf Hakimi, Morocco’s star man, is apparently fully recovered from the injury he suffered in April. Brazil need little help from anyone. But this is a curious Brazil team. Carlos Ancelotti is credited with bringing some of the classic “Jogo Bonito” spirit back to the team. That’s all to the good. But the roster is a mix of aging stars whose fitness for the World Cup sprint has to be in doubt Neymar, Casemiro and some of the most spectacular talent in soccer today (Vini Junior, Raphinha, Cunha.) I have long believed that Brazil’s defense rarely get the credit it deserves (hello, Carlos Alberto). This year, Marquinhos and the goalkeeping corps may justify my faith. I am looking for a 3-2 outcome. But I don’t know who will win!
That leaves Qatar and Switzerland in Santa Clara (the stadium formerly known as Levi’s) (prediction: 2-0 to the Swiss) and Haiti and Scotland in Boston (the stadium formerly known as Gillette) (prediction: 1-1, to the disappointment of the Tartan Army). I expect choppy games in both matches. But there may be a fair amount of entertainment in the supporters, especially in Boston. Given the fact that minnows will be competing in Santa Clara, one might anticipate a lot of empty seats. But the Bay Area soccer community is huge, diverse, and knowledgeable, and the stadium is in the middle of Silicon Valley. As Willie Sutton allegedly said once, speaking to a different type of capitalism, “that’s where the money is.” I am looking forward to a full house.
And Australia v Türkiye, in Vancouver. That’s the 9 pm Pacific, midnight on the East Coast match. It’s Türkiye’s game to lose, if they are in form, but Australia are not the lightweight team of years past. Mostly, this match gives me a reason to write “Socceroos,” which as everyone knows is the best team nickname among all of this year’s finalists, and that’s saying something in a competition that includes the Atlas Lions, Zmajevi, Los Cafeteros, Les Grenadiers, and Usood al-Rafidain.
Go, go USA!
June 14
World Cup 2026, a Day Three review and forecast for Day Four:
Clearly, I should stick to modest observations and stay away from scoreline predictions.
Day Three:
The marquee game yesterday was one that I missed (so far, at least): Australia 2, Türkiye 0. It’s the first genuine upset of the World Cup, but – I am told – one should not be surprised by the play of young Nestory Irankunda. Türkiye are the more skilled team on the ball, but finishing matters as much as the first touch. Australia are next for the USMNT.
Broadcasting bonus: Jacqui Oatley on the call again.
Brazil v Morocco was often fast-paced, but neither team really found a rhythm. Brazil in particular seemed sluggish, especially in the first half, and a step out of synch. Maybe injury problems caught them unprepared? And I thought that starting Igor Thiago over Matheus Cunha was a puzzler.
Switzerland 1, Qatar 1 was a loss for the Swiss, and you could see disappointment etched on the players’ faces after the Qatari goal. It’s been unusually warm in the Bay Area recently. Did the sun catch up with the Swiss? They controlled the game but certainly seemed to be low on focus in the finishing third – and then, again, in front of their own goal.
And congrats to the Tartan Army. Scotland 1 over Haiti 0. This was a chippy, physical, inelegant game from start to finish, which was no surprise. Is anyone thirsty in Boston?
Meanwhile, we should all be steamed about FIFA’s ridiculous decision to prohibit Haiti from wearing their original uniform design, on the ground that its depiction of the Haitian War of Independence was “political.” Right. Independence won in *1803* is “political.” American independence won only a couple of decades earlier and marked by the 13 red and white stripes on the US flag – to which the USMNT jersey unmistakably refers – is not “political.”
While FIFA clowns itself again, American fans are pulling out all the stops to reclaim the power of the retro 1994 denim USMNT shirt. Even Kareem got into the act (attached). I’ll have to dig into our dresser drawers to find ours!
Day Four:
We have a busy day ahead.
The Netherlands play Japan in Dallas in what may be the day’s most anticipated match. I am a huge Virgil fan, partly because I always have a soft spot for tall, lumbering, central defenders. I was one of those myself, once upon a time. But age and an ACL reconstruction have limited his effectiveness. The Samurai Blue may surprise.
Côte d’Ivoire and Ecuador meet in Philadelphia for what should be a rugged match. Les Éléphants versus La Tri (not to be confused with El Tri). A young but potent attack from the African side meets an Ecuadorian team that is talented – and physical – from back to front.
Germany, on brand and talent, should have little trouble with Curaçao, in Houston. But “Freddy the German” has been having a good time in his travels across the US; supporters have to hope that the party spirit has not rubbed off on the team. In a way, this match will be a battle of great 2026 WC uniforms. Unfortunately, as the “home” side Curaçao won’t be wearing their lemon-sweet “away” tops. But Germany apparently *will* wear their gorgeous 1994 throwback tops. When I see that shirt, I see Jurgen Klinsmann with a full head of blond hair, flying down the field.
Last but not least: Sweden and Tunisia kick off in Monterrey. In a phrase, no Zlatan, no Sweden. I will look up the result tomorrow.
Go, go USA!
June 15
World Cup 2026, a Day Four review and forecast for Day Five:
Day Four:
The tournament is picking up steam both on and off the pitch. I have loved reading stories and seeing images of soccer fans and communities around North America embracing teams and players from around the world. And the casual fan/non-fan is catching on. On my walk this morning, I chatted with a neighbor – a former college (American) football player – whose friends and family in Southern California encouraged him to fly out to attend the US v Türkiye game on June 25. As a former competitive athlete, he knows something about soccer, but he’s never been to a WC match. I said: you’re in for a real treat. These games can be thrilling to watch, in person as well as on TV, but the real pleasure lies in the shared experience in the stands and in the concourses and streets and parking lots. “Watching the game” is a very US framing; the World Cup is theater-in-the-round, and everyone is part of the show. Expect a kind of anticipatory giddiness. He’s psyched.
On to the games:
Germany over Curaçao by 7-1. It is actually boring watching a minnow get swallowed by a whale. Curaçao’s “Blue Wave” played nobly and even got a goal. That score seems to have awakened the Germans’ resolve. There is good news: Germany may play to its potential going forward.
Netherlands 2, Japan 2: Japan earned a tie with a late, deserved goal, as a somewhat lethargic game came to life over the last 30 minutes. These are two quality teams; I hope that both go through.
I’ll add this quick note and come back to it in the future: are there any other competitive sports in which the idea of “deserved” or “earned” results features as prominently as it does in soccer? Neither the Netherlands nor Japan “deserved” to lose yesterday, but it seemed fitting that Japan’s late second half industry culminated in a goal, and a tie. Aesthetics and ethics intersecting.
Côte d’Ivoire pulled out a last-minute 1-0 win over Ecuador. I didn’t see much of this match. The highlights video tells me that both teams created lots of chances, Ecuador more in the first half, the Elephants more in the second. Finishing, everyone! Ecuador have to feel hard done by Diallo’s late goal – and by the post and the crossbar (the woodwork punished both teams), and by some physical defending. (You reap what you sow, sometimes.) The folks in Philadelphia got their money’s worth.
And Sweden over Tunisia, 5-1. Another game that I missed. But 5 goals tell me that Sweden will be competitive with the Netherlands and Japan in Group F. Maybe Graham Potter’s cowboy act is paying off (see attached photo)? Along with the Norwegians re-claiming their Viking heritage, the Scandinavians are competing hard in the media game.
Day 5:
I’ll be honest: nothing grabs my attention today. Spain v Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), Saudi Arabia v Uruguay, Iran v New Zealand, even Belgium v Egypt. Sometimes I’m intrigued by different playing styles and national team histories (Uruguay: winner of the original 1930 World Cup and a repeat winner in … 1950!), sometimes by contemporary geopolitics (Saudi Arabia, Iran), sometimes by colonial and post-colonial history (Belgium and almost any African country), especially when there is striking contrast right in front of my eyes. But I’m not feeling it right now.
I will check out Spain because, well, Spain, and Belgium and Egypt to see how much gas De Bruyne and Salah have in the tank. De Bruyne is one of the most elegant attacking midfielders ever; Salah is the Samson of Merseyside (bring back the fro, Mo!). Individually, they are compelling and eminently watchable. Neither has been able to elevate his team consistently over the peaks of the careers, and now they are each past their peaks. I’ll bet that neither – at 34 years – is fit enough to take their teams deep into the tournament. That age gives each of them a couple of solid years to give to club soccer over a full season but legs that are unlikely to go the distance of a World Cup sprint.
The Mo Fro reminds me of a “game” that my family has played among themselves over every World Cup cycle since 1994. Who makes the tournament’s “all hair” team? Carlos Valderrama is the team’s emeritus captain-for-life, but every tournament brings a new crew of do’s into our experience. My first nominee: Tahith Chong, for Curaçao.
Go, go USA!
June 16
World Cup 2026, a Day Five review and forecast for Day Six:
Day Five:
The scoreline may read as if no team won and no team lost: Belgium 1, Egypt 1; Saudi Arabia 1, Uruguay 1; Iran 2, New Zealand 2; Spain 0, Cabo (Cape) Verde 0.
But of course, there were winners.
The Saudis did it again: they took down Argentina in the opening WC match in 2022 (Messi et al won the title nevertheless, of course), and now they’ve opened this tournament by holding two-time winners and Bielsa-ball side Uruguay to a draw. Bielsa is a mesmerizing figure. He seems to bring chaos to any team that hires him, yet he keeps getting hired. I don’t get it.
New Zealand, the lowest ranked side per FIFA among this year’s WC finalists, did the only thing that they could do: play through the powerful Chris Wood. When he’s fit, he’s a freight train. But the Iranian equalizer was a beauty. The massive Iranian crowd at SoFi had to be pleased by that, if disappointed by the outcome overall.
Egypt (Ashour) scored what has to rank among the best goals of the tournament, only to be intimidated later on by the very presence of Belgium’s aged (33 year old) wonder striker. Game ball, Romelu Lukaku.
That leaves Cabo Verde, who won the day via the story that every soccer fan already knows. May the odds ever be in their favor, perhaps. What a courageous performance, above all by their goalkeeper, Vonzinha. Spain looked lethargic, at least until Yamal came on toward the end. My guess is that La Roja will be OK, more or less as Argentina were after losing to the Saudis in 2022. It’s interesting to contrast this match with Germany/Curaçao. Curaçao may have made what in retrospect may seem like a tactical error: they scored a goal. Way to go! But that seems to have made the Germans mad. Cabo Verde just defended relentlessly, frustrating the Spaniards but not lighting a fire under them.
To sum up the tournament: lots of open play, lots of goals from open play, not too much cynicism on the field or off. Few teams have found their voice and their feet for 90 full minutes. Germany, aside from the opening quarter. The US and Morocco each for a (first) half. Japan and the Netherlands each for the final 30 minutes. And Sweden.
There are some powerful teams yet to take the field. Speaking of which:
Day 6:
France v Senegal is a must-watch both for the soccer and for the geopolitical history. I like France for this year’s title, but Senegal should test them. Sadio Mané is fit and dangerous. Nicholas Jackson can threaten. Mendy is solid in goal. And Senegal remember taking down France in 2002.
Argentina v Algeria means, of course, the return of Lionel Messi. He’s an old man now (38 years old), almost as practiced as David Beckham at extracting every last sponsorship dollar that he can find. (Once Zlatan really gets going, however, watch out. Advertisers may find that guy absolutely irresistible.) In my opinion Messi might be even more effective as a walking midfielder or withdrawn forward than he was in his youth. I remember watching Messi in his first WC, at the 2006 tournament: a little guy with long black hair flying down the field. That style is long gone. What returns is classic Argentine ruggedness.
Iraq v Norway features perhaps the most anticipated World Cup debut in a very long time: the one and only Erling Haaland. A real Viking, with the photo below to prove it. I’ve never been fond of Haaland at Man City; I have an impossible-to-prove suspicion that Guardiola would have won more titles there and lasted longer if Haaland had never joined the team. His presence was a sort of soccer black hole; Man City could not sustain its Cruyff-inspired style with a giant blond Norwegian up front. But Norway is a different side; Haaland cuts a different cloth for his country. This may be fun to watch.
And Austria v Jordan … meh. Sorry.
Go, go USA!
June 17
World Cup 2026, a Day Six review and forecast for Day Seven:
Today’s update is late and brief. The World Cup may be a global priority for a lot of people; in day to day life it has to take the occasional back seat!
Day Five:
The tournament shifted today from “what about the awesome over-performances of teams from whom little was expected” (US, Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia, Curaçao) to “let’s watch global soccer superstars do their thing.” Lio Messi, three goals for Argentina. Erling Haaland, two goals for Norway. Kylian Mbappé, two goals for France, including one “hold my Cabernet” goal that came almost immediately after Senegal scored and created the appearance of a match that just might become close.
Day 6:
More big guns and legends come out to play. The tireless Harry Kane and England take on the timeless Luka Modrić and Croatia. Antoine Semenyo and Ghana meet Los Canaleros The Canal Men of Panama. (Talk about team nicknames carrying geopolitical history!) The dazzling Luis Diaz and Colombia play upstarts Uzbekistan. As I type, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal are up against DR Congo. (I joke about Zlatan from time to time; CR7 may have an even bigger ego!) Marquee names and reputations don’t guarantee results, of course; this World Cup has several weeks to go. As a collection of matches and teams rather than as one-game-at-a-time, however, this World Cup seems to be finding its rhythm. Team, team, team or star, star, star?
Go, go USA!
June 18
World Cup 2026, a Day Seven report not a review, or a forecast:
Hydration break today.
Back tomorrow.
All eyes on Seattle. Go, go USA!
June 19
World Cup 2026, a Day Eight Report:
My local coffee shop was abuzz with activity this morning, because the day dawned blue and cool. World Cup jerseys made several appearances, my 2010 model USMNT top among them. Also spotted: France, and a bandwagon model Cape Verde away jersey. No judgment, no notes. But if the World Cup has penetrated a suburb that typically pays much, much more attention to baseball the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager is a native of my town and, of course, American football, then I can only imagine the great things that are happening in more soccer-rich communities around the US, not to mention around the world.
Speaking of around the US, I interrupt my reviews and forecasts to celebrate the United States’ 2-0 win over Australia today. As they did against Paraguay, the US showed a lot of fluidity in the first half and grit in the second, particularly toward the end, as an Association football match almost turned into an Australian rules football match. The Aussies seemed to feel hard done by, but from where I sat, it was a fair fight.
Right now, two of the three host countries are through to the next round, and the third – Canada – is on the cusp. The USMNT’s final group game, against Türkiye, won’t matter competitively, which means (one hopes) more rest for Pulisic and a break from the action for players with assorted bruises and tweaks. Up the middle, Richards, McKinnie, Adams, and Balogun have given as good as they’ve gotten, but they have to be hurting.
Can the US win a game beyond the group at a World Cup? We’re about to try … again.
Allez Les Rouges!
June 20
World Cup 2026, a Day Nine report and forecast:
I’m still catching my breath after yesterday’s Team USA win over Australia. (Completely predictably, after the match the Australians complained about the refereeing rather than about their disjointed play for the first 75 minutes. Link in the comments.) Combined with Paraguay’s beating Türkiye, the USMNT takes Group D with a game to spare and will play a knockout stage match in Santa Clara on July 1. I’m tempted to get on a plane, even if having no ticket means that I would simply bathe in the communal warmth that will undoubtedly surround the stadium. Go, go USA!
The rest of yesterday’s matches went more or less to form. It has been an excellent tournament so far, overall, but some of the results mean upstarts may be done upstarting. Morocco over Scotland, 1-0. McGinn, McTominay, and a loud Tartan Army opened up the throttle in the second half. Honestly, I enjoy the Scots on the field; they can be absolutely unapologetic about their game. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always bring results. Even in the second half, Scotland played a bit too slowly, a bit too rough-and-ready, to overcome a sound Moroccan side. And Scotland’s opportunity to make it out of the group is dimming, as their next match is against the winner of …. Brazil 3, Haiti 0. That was a game notable for the partial resuscitation of the Brazil that the world has come to love and for the possible loss of Rapinha to injury. Reloading time? Scotland aren’t done, of course, and as I generally give credit for originating the modern game to the folks north of what were once called the Marches the Anglo-Scottish border, I hope that they squeak through.
Today’s slate brings some real bangers: Two in particular – Netherlands and Sweden, and Germany and Côte d’Ivoire – should be worth setting aside the time. The other two perhaps less so. Even the casual soccer fan should anticipate Japan over Tunisia and Ecuador over Curaçao, and I don’t expect much in the way of entertainment value. Your mileage may vary!
I do want to call out some of the more distinctively amusing sidelights to the tournament so far.
One is the ducks. Both Mexico and Scotland have “adopted” them as team quasi-mascots, Merlin the duck in Mexico City and Dawny the duck in Providence. Link in the comments. It occurs to me to ask whether any of the managers will mount a Quack Attack, a la the original Mighty Ducks. Ducks fly together!
Two is the “Expected Gulls” predictor. An Aussie named Nick Volpe went viral the other day for speculating that World Cup success is correlated with a country’s number of bird species. Link in the comments. XG (expected goals, a more or less standard modern soccer data point) meet XG (expected gulls).
Three is the Fox studio team. Alexi Lalas was called out of the studio and up to Seattle as part of the team hosting Fox’s coverage of the USA v Australia match, leaving Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan to anchor the whole day for Fox. Thierry Henry quipped, “your plan is working” to Rebecca, and Zlatan couldn’t resist: “you’re welcome America.” Will Lalas be back with that group, or has the club closed and locked the clubhouse door? Rebecca Lowe is trying to keep her composure through the whole thing. Link, once again, in the comments.
Eventually I’ll get to what I think of the hydration break, to Almirón’s red card, to Korean goalkeeping, and to pink boots. And more nominees for the all-hair team.
This is fun.
June 21
World Cup 2026, a what-day-is-it-again report:
In some groups, the soccer family starts to sing: “So long, farewell, …”
Going, going?
Are Uruguay and Belgium simply colossal disappointments, or Cabo Verde and Iran really that much better than expected?
Gone:
Türkiye … out after 2 games. Something of a surprise, given pre-tournament expectations.
Tunisia … out after 2 games (and 2 coaches).
The plot thickens. There are 6 days of group play to go, and a host of watchable matches yet to come. England and Ghana. Switzerland and Canada. Scotland and Brazil. Germany and Ecuador. Norway and France. And Cabo Verde and South Africa.
Up tomorrow: Argentina and the surprising Austrians. How long can young Lio Messi keep this up? Norway in a potentially dynamite match against Senegal. Can France carry on its dominating ways against Iraq? And, well, Jordan and Algeria.
Go, go USA!
June 22
World Cup 2026, the days-blur-together report:
Really, it’s been a great tournament. Some of the minnows are swimming well, some of the giants have struggled, and there is abundant charm (and some schadenfreude) both on and off the field. But the price we pay for 48 teams and 12 groups is some toe-tapping and clock watching while we wait for group play to end. Can we just get on with the knockout matches?
While we all strap in, some commentary:
Haiti is going home, I expect. That’s not a certainty – yet – but who likes their chances against Morocco? Still, the fact that Haiti is at the World Cup finals – heck, the fact that Haiti has even been able to field a team at all – is remarkable. Especially considering the facts that fewer than half of the roster were born in Haiti and only one lives there.
Diasporas rule in international soccer, in a way, both in terms of national origin and in terms of where professional players ply their club trade. I’ve seen one report noting that six of the teams in the finals have zero roster players from domestic leagues: Cabo Verde, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Curaçao, Senegal, and Uruguay.
We are long, long past the era when most national teams played in a recognizable and distinctive style. Yes, we refer to the Brazilian Jogo Bonito, but the stars of this year’s side play in Europe. Italy still displays traces of the catenaccio. Italy did not make the finals. Is there a lesson in that? Scotland will always be Scotland; you can take McTominay out of the UK but you can’t take the Scot out of Scott. Scotland may squeak through to the next stage, but I don’t like their chances in a knock-out match.
Uruguay, despite fielding a team of men who play elsewhere, still play a rugged Uruguayan style, pride and the will to win sometimes taking over from common sense. Should I chalk that up to the ways in which football history and football culture shape Uruguay identity top to bottom, no matter where the players live and work? Uruguay gained independence only 100 years before it won the inaugural World Cup, in 1830; its national identity and its global soccer stature are linked more tightly perhaps than anywhere else.
England and Germany each have a lot of players coming from their domestic leagues, but that doesn’t make England “English” in style or Germany “German,” at least if we’re measuring by historical stereotypes. Since the Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice in 1995, both the Premier League and the Bundesliga have been so overrun by non-domestic players (along with La Liga) – all to the good in terms of those competitions – that national styles have almost entirely disappeared.
Speaking of Uruguay and speaking of schadenfreude, like a lot of people I enjoyed watching Luis Suarez gnash his teeth during Uruguay’s loss to Cabo Verde yesterday. Yes, I know that the final score was 2-2. And see what I did there?
Meanwhile, most of the way through group play we have reached the point where some nations are no longer just happy to have made the finals but instead are clamoring for recognition as they celebrate their versions of success. I don’t mean to diminish their accomplishments, which are real and which mean a lot to their supporters. A World Cup goal is a BFD, a sort of validation of national identity on the biggest world stage there is. When TV cameras cut to the supporters in the stands, you can almost feel the joy and relief bursting through the screen.
So for those countries that scored their first-ever goals in a World Cup finals, not all of which are minnows in non-sporting senses: Yay, Cabo Verde. Way to go, Jordan. Nice work, Canada. Standing tall, Egypt. Raise a glass, Curaçao. Well done, Uzbekistan.
At the other end of the emotional spectrum, and in the non-playing schadenfreude category: Zlatan continues to dunk on Alexi Lalas in the Fox Sports studio, and I am here for it. (Bring back Carli Lloyd. Where is Ari Hingst?) Link in the comments.
But I am mostly about the soccer.
So:
A word about the hydration breaks mandated by FIFA, taking place roughly 22 minutes into each half.
The format was announced way back in late 2025, as FIFA (arguably) tried to head off risks associated with players (and referees – they are athletes, too!) competing in what might be high heat and humidity. As implemented, the breaks have been criticized by those who watch as Fox Sports has chosen mostly to turn away from the games in order to show commercials; not all broadcasters have done that, by at least some players (who dislike interrupting the flow of the game, especially if one team – say, Curaçao against Germany – has taken the upper hand), and by soccer purists (who criticize a game of two halves being turned into a game of four quarters, and who dislike the greater power handed to coaches/managers to redirect a team’s strategy mid-way through a match). Health experts doubt the effectiveness of the breaks even on their own terms.
Me? I am interested in whether the hydration breaks somehow change the fundamental character of the sport. My answer? No. “What is ‘soccer’ (or ‘football’)?” is a question that has no single answer; the sport has no single definition. That uncertainty is part of the glory of the game. The rules (the ‘Laws of the Game’) have changed off and on for decades. I’m old enough to remember an era when no substitutions were permitted. Ever. FIFA and the IFAB (the Board that is responsible for the Laws) are always tinkering with the offside rule and with what it means to handle the ball. To hydration breaks, I say, “meh.” If they help with player and referee safety at the margin, then fine. Link in the comments.
Much more interesting to me is the rule change that makes a red card offense out of covering a player’s mouth when the player is in a confrontation with an opponent. Almirón, of Paraguay, was ejected on that basis against Türkiye. He’s a good test case, because he is a sound player who is also a master of what the British sometimes call shithousery.
No one has any idea why, exactly, Almirón covered his mouth; no one except (possibly) Almirón and the Turkish player near him knows what he said. The referee was Iván Barton, from El Salvador, a veteran international referee and, interestingly, a professor of chemistry. Undoubtedly he knew Almirón already, by reputation at least. The referees do pre-match homework. And the referees are briefed extensively on new rules. The hand went up, and out came the red card. “You covered your mouth” is a proxy for “you said something offensive.”
The question for discussion: is this a business that FIFA and IFAB and match officials should be in?
Trash talking is a time-honored if customary part of competitive sports of almost all sorts (maybe not golf?). Should sport be policing player and coach speech?
In almost all other respects, the Laws of football concern the shape and integrity of the game as it is played (the addition of the no-back-passes to the goalkeeper rule in 1992, after the disastrous 1990 World Cup); players and teams taking unfair competitive advantage of one another the offside rule; and player safety (no biting or spitting. Hello again, Luis Suarez!). The “no mouth covering” rule is directed to dignitary harm rather than physical harm. That’s new.
We’ll see how it works out. If Almirón is the “poster player” for the change and the only one, then maybe the change will have been worthwhile. The slippery slope may not be too slippery, after all.
But I wonder what Marco Materazzi thinks of all of that. He didn’t cover his mouth. Zidane retaliated. And the Italians won the World Cup.
Onward. Go, go USA!
June 23
World Cup 2026, a Day 12 report and Day 13 forecast:
Day 12:
By this point in the tournament, results are circulating well beyond even casual soccer fans in the US. In a local coffee shop early this morning (down the street from the venue I mentioned the other day), I overhead a group of grandparent-aged men/neighbors – a classic coffee klatch – talking about the amazing tall, pony-tailed Norwegian Viking who plays club soccer for Arsenal. Awesome and charming, because I could tell from the rest of their chat that this group knows about soccer mostly via the passions of their grandkids. But they know!
Still: missed it by *that* much, as Maxwell Smart used to say.
In other words, if there ever was a reason for me to comment on results day by day, every day, that reason is evaporating.
Instead, here are a few quirky notes:
First, about the ball. Every World Cup tournament since 1970 has featured a custom ball designed by adidas. (The current FIFA/adidas World Cup contract expires after the 2030 tournament.) The 1970 adidas “Telstar” ball turned the black and white version of the known hexagon-and-pentagon design into a global icon of the sport. Soccer insiders know that the contrasting colors were intended to make the ball visible on broadcast television. The 2026 tournament has the “Trionda.” “Trionda” is an invented word, “tri” (for three) meeting “onda” for wave, with the branding pointing to the three hosts of the tournament. “Telstar,” an homage to the Space Age, was and remains the king of ball names. Names aside, from what I can tell there have been few complaints this year about the ball itself. Notably, however, just as a car is no longer just a car (it’s a computer, on wheels), a contemporary soccer ball is largely a cluster of IT wrapped in a colorful aerodynamic package. In a way, each player, too, is simply a material representation of a digital “twin” generating data that broadcasters, advertisers, and coaches can use for training, competition, adjudication (those weird “offside” animations; goal line reviews), and, of course, capitalism. Is that really Christian Pulisic in those coffee shops? Or a Christian Pulisic avatar? Link in the comments.
Second, player uniforms and numbers. There was a time when soccer players wore shirts without numbers, just like baseball players. Numbers came along: 1 for the goalkeeper, up to 11 for the players on the front line. Again, as in so many ways, soccer and baseball kept pace with one another. Then last names were added, and more recently, numbers far beyond 11 and names – first, last, various family names, and so on. “These go to 11,” a la “This Is Spinal Tap,” no longer limits the soccer imagination.
But certain uniform numbers retain their power to signify, none more than the Number 9. The number itself is something of a throwback to formations of an earlier era; there was a time when teams lined up with 2 fullbacks, 3 halfbacks, and 5 across the front. The 9 was effectively or literally the center forward, with 8 and 10 on each side. The 9 was the tip of the spear, the potent one, the goal scoring machine. Even today, in an era of fluid formations (and no formations), the wearer of the 9 shirt often carries the weight of those historical expectations.
So: Erling Haaland? A 9 for both club and country. Harry Kane? Likewise. They are classic Number 9s, goal-scoring snipers of a high order.
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé both wear the 10 shirt. That makes them no less lethal; to me, I see in the 10 an echo of Pele, who also wore the 10 and who, like Messi and Mbappé, brought elements of other-worldly spontaneity and invention to the game that I don’t see as often in Haaland and Kane. Mbappé once wore the 9 shirt for Real Madrid but opted out when the 10 became available after Luka Modric left, and he wore 7 for Paris Saint-Germain. The man is a soccer chameleon.
Third, best of the rest? So much attention comes to be concentrated on the goal scorers, particularly in a tournament with such an embarrassment of incredible strikers, that commentary sometimes misses sustained, extraordinary excellence elsewhere on the field. In the comments, I have linked to one effort to remedy that omission, The Guardian’s recent “2026 World Cup team of the tournament so far without the superstars.” Folarin Balogun, step right up!
Today, Day 13:
Portugal and Uzbekistan. Messi still soars. CR7 hasn’t. His best path to redemption lies in team play. Does he have it in him?
Panama and Croatia. Modric is as timeless as Messi; he is almost as indefatigable as a neighbor of mine who flies a Croatian flag every day of the year. Panama will be a stiff test for a team that took a somewhat surprising beating from England.
England and Ghana. If England has a big game in them, this is the moment to lay it on the table. Ghana are a talented side and may be a tougher test than Croatia.
Colombia and DR Congo. I have read that DR Congo’s greatest fan, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, has arrived in the US and will be at tonight’s game. Should my eyes be on him and his motionless tribute to Patrice Lumumba, or on the dynamite Luis Diaz?
As ever, go, go USA!
June 24
World Cup 2026, a Day 13 report and Day 14 forecast:
Today, it’s all about the soccer. And all about some contrasts.
Day 13:
England had a chance yesterday to make its mark on the tournament, and that chance was squandered. England 0, Ghana 0. Passive tense there, because responsibility ought to be distributed broadly across English players, English coaches, and the stiff and resilient Ghanaian defense. One Nation, One Dream, say the Black Stars and their supporters. And #BringBackTheLove. The English attack had and missed several excellent scoring opportunities, especially in the second half, but what I noticed was less Harry Kane’s shooting a sitter over the bar and more Harry Kane’s complaining and whinging to the referee. That’s never a good look, and it’s evidence that Kane et al. were deflecting blame or trying to by venting frustration over their own lack of rhythm and finishing. Meanwhile, English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford escaped punishment late in the second half for taking out Ghanaian forward Prince Edu with a body block worthy of an NFL safety. Thankfully, it was not worthy of the West German Harald Schumacher. If you don’t know what that refers to, please do *not* look it up. Social media and Ghanaian supporters were and are calling for a red card; me, I thought that the game was poorly refereed from beginning to end.
After the match, Harry Kane tried to brush off the result by arguing that the tournament only really gets going once teams meet in the elimination rounds. That is technically true, of course, but some teams land in that round on a high and some struggle across the line. England, at the moment, seem to be struggling.
In a contrast with England, Portugal and CR7 there is no other way to refer to him showed up in a big collective way. Admittedly, they faced modest competition, dismantling Uzbekistan 5-0. The game was hardly a fair fight, but no team in the World Cup gets to choose its opponents, and the world would have noticed any other outcome. Portugal has fight in them worthy of the quality of their players. And, amazingly, the White Wolves are not eliminated yet.
Croatia 1, Panama 0. The Panamanians are brave, and the team is more talented than casual soccer fans might imagine, but watching the game you could sense the panic creeping into their play and the dismay and worry creeping into their supporters’ faces during the final 20 minutes. The whole nation of Panama seemed to recognize that a loss meant going home. To a neutral, that seemed almost tragic. Harry Kane, despite his stellar record for club and country, still might learn a thing or two about how to conduct himself when the going gets tough. When Croatia took Luca Modric off with 10 minutes to go in regular time, you could sense that the final result was essentially locked in. And Modric, never a flashy player, did not have a standout game.
That leaves Colombia 1, DR Congo 0. To me, this was the least glamorous match of the day. The Leopards pressed hard during the last 15 minutes but couldn’t match the Colombians’ skill. Luis Diaz had not one but two goals called back. Nevertheless, absolutely full marks to DR Congo both for playing hard to the final whistle and for the presence of their Lumumba-honoring superfan pictured below. DR Congo are still in the running in their group. With a final match coming next Saturday v Uzbekistan, we may yet see a goal … and a fimbu celebration!
Day 14:
As we move into the third games for each group, the schedule gets even more packed! In action today: two matches each in Groups A, B, and C. For those of us watching on TV, there are some difficult choices to make or some picture-in-picture to set up. Per tradition, and to avoid the risk of gamesmanship search for the infamous 1982 “Disgrace of Gijón” match between West Germany and Austria, in which the two teams conspired in an outcome that eliminated Algeria, the final group pairs are scheduled opposite each other.
Some of these games matter competitively; some do not. The difference, under this year’s World Cup rules, comes down to a technical shift. In earlier World Cups, ties in group standings were broken on a “goal difference” basis; this year, ties in group standings are broken on a “head to head play” difference. Link in the comments. To me, it’s a sensible change, but nothing in soccer is ever determined entirely and sometimes never on the basis of good sense, and to be sure, this change has its critics. Another link in the comments.
But on we go:
Switzerland v Canada. Two sound teams, arguably moving in slightly opposite directions. Switzerland have their act together after a poor opener v Qatar; Canada have to be struggling to find their feet a bit after losing Ismaël Koné to injury.
Qatar v Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, the Bosnians should shine.
Morocco v Haiti. Gives Morocco an opportunity to solidify their act before heading into the knockout round. Anything less than a solid win for the Atlas Lions will surprise and disappoint.
Scotland v Brazil is the match arguably many of the neutrals are looking forward to almost as much as Scottish and Brazilian supporters are. Not only will we see an amazing contrast of soccer cultures, but also there will be an epic contrast of fan cultures. The Tartan Army seem to be taking Miami just as much by the proverbial storm as they did Boston and perhaps all of New England; the Brazilians simply dance and drum their way through every city and region they experience. I expect much musical love and rhythm, North meets South, all day long, in the streets and in Hard Rock Stadium. Both teams have a lot to prove on the field, but in a way, the game is sort of secondary.
South Africa v South Korea and Mexico v Czechia feature three teams with knockout status to play for, and one Mexico with its place secure. My eyes will be on South Korea, partly to watch Son Heung Min up front his goal-scoring peers have set the pace; will he try to keep up? and Kim Seung-gyu in goal. Kim has played well in two games so far, but for one very visible and unfortunate mistake against Mexico.
In short, there is a lot of group soccer left to play, not the least of which is the USMNT v Türkiye tomorrow Thursday evening. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
As for broadcasting, clearly someone at Fox Sports sat down with Alexi Lalas and told him to behave himself. Which is sort of a shame, to be honest.
Last:
To those few of you reading along and commenting on my soccer posts, thank you! I love the back and forth, as almost all soccer lovers do. To those of you who have shared private notes about my soccer posts, thank you! I love hearing from you. To those of you lurkers who are enjoying my soccer posts, thank you! Lurk away. And to the rest of you, who are enduring my soccer posts, be assured that they will end. In a little less than a month.
Go, go USA!
June 25
World Cup 2026, a Day 14 report and Day 15 forecast:
Yesterday’s matches went mostly as expected, at least in the end.
Haiti gave Morocco a first half scare (including a stunner of a goal by Wilson Isidor), and the fourth Moroccan goal still has armchair referees screaming into the ether (“the ball was obviously entirely over the line”) when we will eventually, I hope, be shown a video review demonstrating otherwise. Bosnia and Qatar, yep; so long, Qatar. Switzerland is on the rise; start slowly and gain speed during the group – that’s the ticket. Canada will advance but will have to play it as it lays, to borrow a golf metaphor. In the battle of the South, I was surprised by South Africa’s win over South Korea, particularly given South Africa’s performance in the opening match against Mexico. Yet Bafana Bafana are going through! South Africa’s win also puts pressure on Scotland, which fought valiantly as ever but simply were no match for Brazil. That 3-0 scoreline means that Scotland might squeak through, for reasons too complicated to review here. Or might not.
Brazil seem to be rounding into form at last, so comfortable in their shoes that even Neymar got some minutes last night. There are two things worth noting about the Brazilians right now, one sporting, one not so much – but fun.
The sporting thing is that the Brazilian game really sings when the players remember to play samba soccer at speed. Brazil’s one-touch game may be second to none in its pace and imagination, when it’s on. (Perhaps France would like a word? Or Spain?) It was not on throughout the game last night, but it was on a lot, and Scotland – like almost any other team that might have been on the other side of that ball – looked helpless, with nerves giving away that first goal and nearly giving away a second. McTominay spent most of his night chasing the game. Speed kills, metaphorically.
The non-sporting and fun thing is that Endrick got in the game, though only at the 80th minute. That’s a plot point, not just a talent point. Even Neymar subbed in before Endrick did, and at this point in his career, Neymar is more mascot than competitive threat. Little of the theater surrounding Endrick has penetrated the US World Cup mediaverse, but among the Brazilian faithful and in Europe, at least those on social media (which is to say: a lot of them!), Endrick’s omission from the pitch has been a source of constant baying at Ancelotti, the manager, and humor, mostly at Endrick’s expense.
(Background: Endrick is young and incredibly talented forward. He signed with Real Madrid for a boatload of money; Ancelotti was the manager there. And Endrick struggled to get minutes. Evidence of anti-Endrick bias on Ancelotti’s part? Or evidence that Real Madrid – and Brazil – are so stuffed with extraordinary talent that superstar kids have to earn their places? Even before the World Cup began, Endrick and the perception that he is an entitled teenager was the subject of a lot of social media criticism, which explains a lot of the humor at his expense. And Ancelotti is a legendary coach; it’s a lot for Endrick to appear to question his judgment. But a lot of Brazil supporters would like to see Endrick play. Meanwhile. Vini, Jr. seemed to do OK yesterday in the striker’s spot.)
And the memes! Ancelotti’s alleged “snub” of Endrick has been meme-ified in dozens if not hundreds of ways, so much so that even big-time social media accounts have joined the action, Ryanair and Domino’s Pizza UK – unsurprisingly, happy to pile on an intra-Brazil drama – among them. This is fun! Link in the comments, and a bonus: a screenshot of the Ryanair tweet.
Anyway.
On to today’s action, in Groups D, E, and F.
Curaçao and Côte d’Ivoire. The Blue Wave and the Elephants. This should be a better game than it appears to be on paper. But in that group, most eyes will be on Germany. Can the Germans break down the Ecuadorian defense? Does the answer matter? Die Mannschaft have won the group and may throttle back. Ecuador needs a win to stay in contention for the knockout stage. If they play up rather than their typical low block, that may open the door to the German attack.
Netherlands and Tunisia. The Dutch have impressed me but need to stay on the front foot; a tie puts them through. A win, plus a win for Japan, would activate a goal difference tie breaker. I expect the Oranje to play hard. Hup Holland Hup! Sweden redux? Speaking of Sweden, they match up against Japan. I expect another rough ride for Blågult.
Paraguay and Australia. Both sides are known for an aggressive, physical style, and second place in the group is on the line. I expect zero elegance but maximum drama. Aussie rules, anyone? Maybe I should watch this one instead of …
US v Türkiye. The US on what amounts to its home turf – SoFi will be rocking the red, white, and blue tonight – in a match that is meaningless, competitively. But the American players are like thoroughbred racehorses, especially with two solid wins under their belts: they want to run and play, and the American-leaning crowd will egg them on. How much will Pochettino let them do their thing? Pulisic needs to be on the field in order to recover his rhythm, but I predict that he won’t play more than 60 minutes. Maybe 45. Purely in terms of fitness and capacity, Tyler Adams could use a break, and Berhalter and Reyna each could use some confidence-building. And that’s before counting players on yellow cards: Balogun, Richards, and Robinson, each of whom (along with Adams) will not start, according to Poch, in order to avoid the risk of picking up a yellow again and having to sit out the next match. Optimise. The Turks will be looking for dignity. I expect a cautious game, and a tie. Link in the comments.
Go, go, USA!
I keep using that phrase. It does in fact mean what I think it means! Link in the comments.
June 26
World Cup 2026, a Day 15 report and Day 16 forecast:
Yesterday was Day 15. Are we having fun yet?
To be honest, I am a little surprised by the fact that I am still writing these summaries. July 19, the final, is still a long ways off. Fortunately, the number of matches per day peaks this weekend.
Lots of interesting and notable things happened on the soccer field Ecuador over Germany was modestly surprising, but not completely out of left field. The one thing worth commenting on, of course, is the United States losing to Türkiye, 3-2, literally on a last-minute Turkish goal.
I predicted a tie, yesterday, and as it turns out I should have stuck to my declaration two weeks ago that I should not be in the prediction business! One less twisted ankle to Auston Trusty, and I would have been dead-on balls accurate. Auston, get up! 45 fewer seconds writhing in pain! Your country and your teammates and Paris Hilton (wait, what? A thousand amazing celebrities at the match last night and *Paris Hilton* is center stage?) needed you.
Oh well. That last-minute lapse in concentration – Kaan Ayhan was left entirely unmarked – is forgivable, at least to me. For the most part, the US “B” team played reasonably well, at least in the second half. We and Poch learned things that we all knew already: Tim Weah is no Christian Pulisic. Ricardo Pepi is no Flo Balogun. Seb Berhalter is no Tyler Adams. Poch’s faith in Gio Reyna is mostly unjustified. And if the USMNT had met Türkiye in game 1 rather than in game 3 of the group, these last 2 weeks might have played out quite differently for the Americans.
Trusty aside, it looks like the US escaped the group without an injury that will hold them back next week against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The team was competitive last night, which means a lot in terms of “momentum”; compare the US to Canada, which walked away from a loss to Switzerland wondering a bit about its direction, especially against a South Africa side that seems to have found some form.
Full credit to Türkiye, of course. Last night we saw a credible version of the team that some people picked to make a deep run in the tournament. The win won’t quiet critics of the team or of the coach, Vincenzo Montella, who apparently is under an enormous amount of pressure back home. But the wild celebration on the field after the final goal and game-ending whistle was evidence of how much this game meant to the players and supporters in the stadium. They didn’t care that they had beaten the United States. They were celebrating the recovery of an identity.
We’ll see what happens when their plane lands on the other side of the world.
Meanwhile, one last note about last night: the refereeing was among the worst performances I’ve seen at this tournament. The opening game, Mexico and South Africa, was called strictly but consistently, at least in my view. Last night, the center referee – Mustapha Ghorbal of Algeria – never found his rhythm. There were long stretches of play where players from both teams were bodied off the ball or bodied without the ball nearby! without punishment, and then other stretches where the referee whistled comparatively minor “he stepped on my foot” infractions. At several points, he seemed to deliberate excessively before blowing his whistle, and he also at times appeared to react not to what he saw but to what players complained about. At several points players’ tempers came close to boiling over, which is partly evidence of the emotional tenor of the match and partly evidence of the absence of a playground monitor near the sandbox. It was clearly all the fourth official could do to keep Montella and much of the Turkish bench under control, as they protested the referees’ calls and non-calls. It is difficult to blame the Turks for their frustration. I would not say that Ghorbal came close to losing control of the match. I would say that he never clearly established his control of the match. I will be surprised if FIFA gives him another opportunity in this tournament.
Day 16, today:
The schedule is full of watchable games from Groups F, H, and I.
Norway and France is the marquee, up in Boston (well, Foxborough, which is in Massachusetts even though it is closer to Providence and do they have a Dunkin’ in the stadium?). My guess – not a prediction – is that France have the midfield firepower to keep Martin Ødegaard in check. Ødegaard has been rampaging for Norway in a style that surprises no one who has been disappointed in how Arteta keeps him under control at Arsenal. But Ødegaard to Haaland will struggle today, I think.
Meanwhile, the Viking Row that is charming the world has appeared not only in soccer stadiums and Times Square but also in the Norwegian parliament and even in at least one Norwegian retirement home. (Imagine something similarly “all for one, one for all” in the US Congress! Well, of course not.) Link in the comments.
Uruguay and Spain could be great and could be a dud. Which Uruguay will show up? They have to win to be assured of moving on.
Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia, with Cabo Verde looking at a real opportunity to move into the knockout rounds. If Spain win and Cabo Verde win, the Blue Sharks take second in the group.
Group G is full of drama, even as Belgium snore meet New Zealand. The All Whites are still in this thing. Belgium may be theirs for the taking.
Down in Group I, while France and Norway stomp about, Senegal and Iraq will have a kickabout. National pride and all that, which is not to be underestimated in those countries and among their supporters. Just ask the Turks. Competitively, however, this game is all but meaningless.
And all eyes on Egypt and Iran tonight. Why? No reason. Why do you ask?
Go, go USA!
June 27
World Cup 2026, a Day 16 report and a Day 17 forecast:
Day 16:
I’ll skip past the matches yesterday that did not count and/or weren’t competitive France over Norway, Senegal over Iraq, Belgium over New Zealand, and focus a little on the ones that held – or produced – some interest.
Spain over Uruguay, 1-0. The result was far from unexpected, given Uruguay’s general disarray in this tournament and what seems to be a gradual and both public and private dis-enchantment between the players and Bielsa. Still, Uruguay never goes down without swinging, at least metaphorically. Well, everyone except goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, whose spaghetti-armed blunder gave the Spaniards their goal and who paid for his mistake by being pulled out of the game at halftime. The scenes toward the end of yesterday’s match, including a red card to Agustín Canobbio and the shouting and pushing afterward, were ugly. Uruguay go home.
In happier news, Cabo Verde’s tie with Saudi Arabia put the Blue Sharks through to the next round. That is a genuinely incredible result, in the almost literal sense of “it cannot be believed.” But here we are. What a tournament for team and country!
And Egypt! A 1-1 result v Iran means that Egypt go through, and we all get more Mo! That’s nice work, J.J., as Paul Newman might have said everyone go re-watch “The Sting”. Iran, third place in Group G, is waiting on today’s results.
Today, Day 17:
It’s the last day of group play, and we get matches in Groups J, K, and L.
In Group J, Argentina are safely through and Jordan are going home, so expect to see much less of Messi and the rest of the South American A team.
Algeria and Austria are an interesting matchup, partly because they either have a lot to play for second place in the group or nothing a tie likely puts both teams through to the next round. Winning the match means a sort of loss; second place in the group means meeting Spain in the round of 32. Does that mean we’ll see Algeria seek “revenge” for the “Disgrace of Gijón” in 1982? I mentioned that event the other day: Austria and West Germany played to a manufactured 1-0 result for West Germany that assured that both teams would advance – and that Algeria would be out. Soccer pundits are all over this one.
One good friend of mine, another soccer-focused law professor, suggested to me that the problem of third-game kickabouts is FIFA’s to fix. If the post-group brackets were drawn only after the results of group play were known, then strategic behavior in the third games of the groups would be eliminated. No team would know how its group standing would affect the identity of its next opponent. What do we all think of that idea? Comment away!
Colombia and Portugal in Group K is another match that may look more interesting on paper than on the pitch. Both teams are assured of moving on. Only CR7’s ego makes this game interesting. It appears that he will start, again, and on the field, he has only one speed: his.
DR Congo and Uzbekistan matters to the African nation: win, and by a lot, and they may advance. Lose, and they go home. Dare to Dream!
That leaves Group L, England and Panama and Croatia v Ghana.
Ghana and Croatia both advance with a tie; Croatia needs a win to take second or, if England lose, first in the group. The Group L runner-up may play DR Congo in the next round, which may reinforce Ghana’s low block tendencies. This is likely to be a cautious match.
And then … there will always be an England, as Vera Lynn sang. The Three Lions are heavily favored v Panama, but Panama are a rugged side as the USMNT has learned, and having been eliminated already, Los Canaleros will be playing for pride. England won’t take this game for granted, one hopes, even if only to get a competitive and entertaining match. The Ghanaian witch doctor who allegedly cursed Harry Kane reportedly has lifted the curse, freeing Kane to keep his knee over the ball and aim his shots at the goal frame. So much for Kane’s post-soccer place-kicking dreams! England are through to the next round, so Thomas Tuchel has every reason to rest some folks. Observers are questioning Tuchel’s perspicacity: he claims that Reece James’s newest injury was entirely unforeseeable. Um, didn’t Tuchel manage James at Chelsea? Somewhere, Trent Alexander-Arnold is still scratching his head; this is precisely the setting where TAA, not on England’s WC roster, could be the man of the moment. Then again, England looked out of sorts against Ghana, to say the least, and may want to try to use this match to get their transmission in order. Will Panama’s midfield master Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla play at all? He’s been sidelined with an injury. The all-hair team needs him!
I’m looking forward to some great soccer and, starting tomorrow, to being somewhat less breathless.
Go, go USA!
June 28
World Cup 2026, the knockout rounds dawn:
Take a deep, cleansing breath! The group stage is over. Many of the minnows are swimming home as expected: Qatar, Haiti, Curaçao, Tunisia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Panama. There are some surprises among the goodbyes – Uruguay, South Korea, Türkiye – and a couple of pleasant surprises among the teams going through: Cabo Verde, of course, Australia, and as of yesterday, DR Congo. I’ll put Canada on that list, and the United States.
I said Dare to Dream! yesterday as to DR Congo, and yes: they came through! Austria v Algeria was an up and down game, with Austria scoring with the last ball to level the match and vindicate my forecast. Both teams get to stick around.
On its way out the door, Iran has to feel hard done by both on the field and off, and their supporters are all over social media with anger at both the United States as a host nation, at FIFA, at the VAR system, and at both the structure the offside rule and how it is implemented with the digital twin system. But competitively, it is difficult to argue that three ties and two goals merits a place in the next round. Discuss.
At this point, the good-vibrations-and-global-village vibe of the tournament doesn’t go away entirely, but as the stakes sharpen, the vibe changes. Soccer fanatics get to fully unleash their technical geekery, historical references, and passions and antipathies. We have some great matches coming. I won’t do a whole bracket ahem, France v Argentina in the final, again?, but there are some great games ahead, to be sure.
Today:
Only one match! South Africa v Canada, at SoFi in Los Angeles.
Canada seem to be favored, but I can’t escape the feeling that the South Africans have all of the momentum. Bafana Bafana played dreadfully in the opener v Mexico, and Les Rouges roared out of the gate. But team cohesion and injuries have the two sides moving in opposite directions. Alphonso Davies has been the missing ingredient for the Canadians, and if he is available, the pendulum may swing in favor of our northern neighbors.
There are bangers ahead, tomorrow:
Can Japan clean out the Brazilians on the field as well as they and their supporters clean out the stadium and the locker room? The belief is there. The talent may be there. Can they keep pace with Vini, Jr. et al?
Netherlands v Morocco should be terrific. The towering Virgil van Dijk facing down the potent Ismael Saibari. The Dutchman playing in the EPL v the Moroccan playing in the Netherlands.
Paraguay aren’t favored v Germany, but Germany have not found fourth gear yet, let alone fifth. Lots of horsepower there. La Albirroja specialize in gumming up other teams’ works. The US learned that an early goal helps a lot. If the Germans are stymied for an extended period, Paraguay only grows in confidence.
Go, go USA!
June 29
World Cup 2026, the appetizer gets cleared away; here come some mains:
Yesterday’s Canada v South Africa match was a story of “missed it by that much” all game long, until Alphonso Davies came on for Canada in the 75th minute. Davies clearly isn’t fit, whether it’s the nagging hamstring or the fact that he is only a little more than a year removed from ACL-plus-more knee surgery. But he’s an electric player, and his presence clearly energized the Canadians on the field and in the stands. The South Africans’ rope-a-dope strategy put them on the back heel, and in stoppage time Stephen Eustáquio fired one into the net. The game felt like a warm-up attraction, a first course if you will ahead of the big plates to come today. But O Canada!
Congratulations! What are you doing next?
Disney World will wait; now, Canada will play the winner of …
Today’s Netherlands v Morocco match. Two heavyweight sides, both playing well, Morocco’s roster heavily weighted toward players born and trained in the Netherlands. Global migration patterns, and especially North/South rhythms, will be a big part of today’s story from Monterrey. Link in the comments. Two teams enter, one team leaves. I don’t make the rules.
But wait … like Ginsu knives … there’s more.
Tenacious, disciplined Japan take on an up-and-coming Brazil. It’s odd to label “La Seleçao” up and coming, given that the team is loaded with talent. But talent alone isn’t enough in a World Cup; teams that succeed over the length of the tournament cohere, especially at the right moments, and in big matches. Maybe they show up already in synch (see Japan!); maybe they come together over the duration of the competition (Brazil?). I expect a bright, furious game, with perhaps more physicality from both teams, including the Brazilians, than stereotypes might lead one to imagine.
In between Japan and Brazil 1 pm ET and Netherlands and Morocco 9 pm ET, we get Germany and Paraguay. Cards on my table. As much as I’ve admired Brazil since I watched clips of the 1970 WC final over and over on “Wide World of Sports” also: the Pepsi-sponsored Pele films, at soccer camps in the early 1970s, I’ve followed Germany, and before that West Germany, for at least as long. In the mid-1970s, “Soccer Made in Germany” was appointment viewing in our household; the announcer Toby Charles introduced me to the phrase “six of one, half-dozen of another,” and the regimented, midfield-dominated German sides of that era played the style that my youth teams tried to emulate. I loved Beckenbauer, but I watched hours and hours of Felix Magath.
All of which is to say that I want I *want* Germany to win. But this German team is sound but not spectacular. Neuer in goal is a madman, aging, wit sometimes substituting for quickness. Sane and Musiala are fantastic. Wirtz has uncommon gifts. Havertz has all of the tools, and the size. But the gears are not yet meshing. Meanwhile, Paraguay, depleted by suspension and injury, likely will put up a real fight, especially with master of shithousery Miguel Almirón back from suspension.
Go, go USA!
June 30
World Cup 2026, the opera continues:
Yesterday’s three matches likely exceeded all expectations for drama on the field, theater in the stadiums, century-defining joy, and unimaginable heartbreak.
Brazil topped Japan 2-1 on a late goal that had been building since halftime when Ancelotti took off Paquetá and put on (drum roll) Endrick! So much for the manager’s distaste for the young star. The switch, and the formation change that it included, allowed the Brazilians to assert control of the midfield and eventually push a ball over the goal line. Cue a sea of dancing canary yellow shirts. And the Japanese fans again cleaned up their areas of the stadium. Pure class.
Germany and Paraguay! Not simply a matchup of a legendary soccer country and a comparative small fry, but North and South, wealth and poverty … at every register, this was really something. And despite my paean to Germany yesterday, or perhaps because of it, I knew that the longer the Paraguayans held out, the better their chances got. That proved to be true. (The USMNT disrupted the Paraguayan game with a high press right out of the box; the Germans simply can’t play that way.) I thought that Jonathan Tah’s disallowed goal should have stood, although even during the play I saw the Paraguayan goalkeeper (Orlando Gill) go down after what has become a routine wrestling match during a corner kick. Was Humpty Dumpty pushed? Even Peter Schmeichel thought that there was no foul on that play; like Clint Dempsey, who am I to disagree with a legendary goalkeeper? Maybe this is a case where Paraguay earned a win even if, in the moment of that corner kick, Germany should have been given a goal. The Germans are legendary finishers from the penalty spot, and they simply failed to live up to their reputation. Gill had one terrific save (Woltemade), stopped a mediocre shot (Havertz), and Tah did his best Harry Kane impression. Over the bar it went. And the Paraguayans held their nerve. Discuss!
Netherlands and Morocco was always going to be a high intensity slugfest, almost literally. There was blood on the grass. Again, in my view Morocco earned the win. (The penalty kicks were tragicomic; nerviness was everywhere.) But Cody Gakpo earned the love, playing through personal heartbreak, scoring the go-ahead goal, and demonstrating a special combination of resolve and vulnerability that his teammates and many of those watching around the world recognized instantly. The mobbing of Gakpo after he scored is one of the most moving scenes of recent soccer memory. Again, as Dani Rojas said, “Football is life.”
Today’s matches aren’t quite as compelling, at least not yet. But we’ll see!
Norway and Côte d’Ivoire is the headline, because Haaland and Diomande are making headlines. Potent, powerful attackers for teams that otherwise bring very different styles to the field. And their respective fan bases are incredible. Even Norwegian *golf* fans are in on the “Viking Row” act. Link in the comments.
France are widely expected to have little trouble with Sweden, but that’s why they play the games. The winner gets … Paraguay.
And Mexico v Ecuador. La Tri (Ecuador) offer a stiff test for El Tri (Mexico); expect a fierce match. But Mexico should be invulnerable at the Azteca. That stadium is one of the great home field advantages in all of sports. Altitude, massive numbers of passionate Mexico fans, the history. Can Mexico advance farther than it ever has done in a World Cup? A win today puts it in the quarterfinals – again – and a date with the winner of England v DR Congo.
Go, go USA!
July 1
World Cup 2026, today’s the day!
Yesterday’s knockout matches followed the scriptwriters’ plan. No improv, no notes. France cruised over Sweden, Norway eventually proved too strong for Côte d’Ivoire, and Mexico handled Ecuador. On to the next round, all of you, and congratulations for playing your parts.
Today, of course, is a big day. *The* big day! The day that World Cup followers and soccer fans around the globe have been waiting for:
England and DR Congo.
Wait, there are other matches today?
“It’s coming home!” meet one of the tournament’s most inspiring stories of resilience, determination, and talent. That’s in the stands. Stand up, Lumumba Vea! On the pitch, this is no walk-over for England. No team gets to this round without playing at least credible soccer (easy for me to say, even after I watched Sweden melt against France). The pundits are all in for England, to be sure, and Harry Kane found his head (literally) against Panama. That’s the safe bet, and I won’t disagree. But this will be a game worth watching.
Belgium (snore) and Senegal, to select the team that faces the winner of some other match today. The several African nations in the tournament have had a hell of a run, and Senegal has some support among the commentariat to go with some EPL talent on the field. Will Belgium wake up in time? All eyes are on Jérémy Doku.
That other match is, of course, the marquee featuring the team playing on home turf: the United States v Bosnia and Herzegovina. Health and fitness will make a huge difference for the US: high press, stay upright, and stay calm. May the odds be ever in their favor!
And just a comment about omnipresence:
The first thing that seemed to be everywhere at the World Cup two weeks ago has … faded. That’s Zlatan. Still at the desk, always Zlatan, but not the center of attention. The second thing that seemed to be everywhere is still everywhere: the pink shoes. I’ve read a lot about the pink shoes. And I still don’t quite get it. But I played in the era when shoes came in one color: black. A gold stripe made special Pumas stand out. And the third thing that seems to be everywhere now, coming on stronger and stronger every day, is David Beckham. A low key, everyday sort of bloke, obviously the type that you’d just want to hang out with (ask Matt Damon), is *everywhere.* We can’t escape him. This is Beckham’s tournament as much as it is Messi’s or Mbappé’s or Haaland’s. Which may be Sir David’s, and England’s, ultimate comeback story.
Go, go USA!
July 1
World Cup 2026, extra time edition:
The red card to Flo Balogun was wrongly given, in my view, especially by a referee who let so much purposefully violent and reckless play go unpunished. Balogun was awkward and undisciplined, as forwards sometimes are when they compete for balls, and he landed heavily on Muharemovic’s ankle. But the play wasn’t violent, and Balogun – by my eyes – did not try to injure or obstruct Muharemovic or contravene what we sometimes vaguely wave at as the “spirit of the game.” Cue uncomfortable echoes of the ghost of the Victorian gentlemen who drafted the Laws.
A lot of people, veteran soccer watchers and casual fans alike, try to squeeze red card decisions into objective boxes. All fouls of a similar type must be treated precisely alike, always! Or they might squeeze red card decisions into unnecessarily narrow boxes: only intentional *and* violent conduct should be punished with ejection.
But in practice, red card decisions are judgment-filled and value- and values-filled, and that’s fine as well as part of the history and tradition of the game. A heavy foul might be a talking to at the start of the match; the same foul might be a yellow card mid-way through, and the same foul (!) might be a red card closer to full time. The rhythm of the game and collective discipline matter as much as the player and the conduct in the center of the dispute. The cards are red and yellow for a reason: they are signals, to players, coaches, supporters in the stadium, broadcaster, and people watching at home. With the whistle and the voice, they are tools of governance by the referee. Which is why we should usually trust the referee on the field, whose discretion is informed by being close to the players, and why, during this tournament, the VAR has been right to be quite restrained – generally – in differing with the referee.
In this instance: not so much. The VAR stepped in where the referee might not have. The US is fortunate that its collective resolve allowed it to win the match nevertheless, and unfortunate that Balogun will miss the match against a rejuvenated, but likely exhausted Belgium.
Red card right, red card wrong?
Discuss!
Go, go USA!
July 2
World Cup 2026, Ferris Bueller edition:
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once a while, you could miss it.
That’s Matthew Broderick as Boomer icon Ferris Bueller, and he could have been talking about the World Cup. With the final looming in a little more than two weeks (July 19), we’ve got fewer games and greater pace.
So:
Belgium woke up in the nick of time, scored two late goals and were blessed with an iffy penalty kick. Senegal go home, cursing 2026 and hoping against hope that their appeal of the AFCON result will go their way.
England came back read that again, soccer fans; it doesn’t happen often and topped DR Congo on the back of one “normal” Harry Kane goal and one “wait, what just happened?” Harry Kane banger. Kane isn’t graceful and sparkly like Kylian Mbappé, not quirky and fun and towering like Erling Haaland, not clever like Lio Messi, and not egomaniacal like CR7 (or, one has to say because one has to say it: Zlatan). Harry Kane has one job and dozens of ways to do it. (This reminds me of Jonah Hill as Peter Brand in the movie “Moneyball”: “He gets on base.”) When Kane doesn’t do it – Ghana! – the world and England fans take very special note. Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon also had excellent games for England. England v Mexico in the next round, at the Azteca, will be a game for the ages.
The US 2-0 over Bosnia is arguably the greatest international match the US men ever have played, even accounting for 1-0 over England in 1950. That was the Miracle of Belo Horizonte, in Brazil. Zero expectations for the US, a massive surprise for the British. This was an enormous stage, literally (in Santa Clara) and figuratively (the global TV audience), enormous pressure (this is why US Soccer recruited Poch), significant talent with high expectations (almost all of the starters for the US have professional experience in Europe and/or Great Britain), and a track record, truth be told, of not meeting the moment.
And yet.
US media want to anoint stars; at least some of the players (ahem, Balogun) seem to be going along. But the result was a collective effort to beat almost all collective efforts. (I am not a basketball fan or follower, but I hear that a team in New York did well recently with a similar ethic.) Pulisic was a fantastic spark plug. McKinney and Adams held the center (and Adams in particular took a beating). Balogun held his nerve (I won’t repeat my earlier comments here about the red card). The team rallied around him and stood together in crisis for the last 30 minutes and even – take that! – doubled the lead thanks to Malik Tillman’s David Beckham impression. (Also: more blood on the field.) There were two US goals called back! Through the TV, you could both hear and feel the passion of the stadium crowd backing the team. I can only speculate as to what it must have sounded and felt like to be there in person. (Comments?)
On to Seattle. Mark July 6.
Today’s high profile match is Portugal v Croatia, the creaky CR7 for Portugal and the creaky Luka Modrić for Croatia. Two teams hanging on to past glory while younger talent waits its turn. There will be a winner, because there has to be, but I don’t expect a sizzler, and the winner gets the winner of …
Spain and Austria. Likely Spain, though somewhat like Belgium, Spain are a team with a ton of talent that has yet to sparkle on the field. Spain are favored, of course.
Which leaves Switzerland and Algeria. Switzerland are on quite a roll and have momentum on their side. And every time I read or hear the name “Granit Xhaka,” my mind turns to “block of granite.” He’s a stalwart. Even though Algeria are younger than Switzerland across the rosters, they have the great but aging Riyad Mahrez as their leader, reminding us that the twin on-field themes of this tournament are great scorers and gerontology. The match may be rich with goals.
Go, go USA!
July 3
World Cup 2026, Rage Against the Machine edition:
Today’s games offer the least compelling lineup of any in the Round of 32, at least to me: Australia v Egypt should be Egypt; Colombia v Ghana the low block should not stop Luis Diaz; and Argentina v the plucky Cabo Verde the Blue Sharks’s charmed and charming run should come to an end.
But yesterday … Spain is cooking. Austria is cooked. Switzerland keeps rolling. Algeria got rolled. No surprises in either match.
But Portugal v Croatia! Where do we start?
That second half rocked. It just rocked. Goncalo Ramos soared between two Croatia defenders and headed home what proved to be the winning goal. The Croatian goalkeeper, Livaković, positioned himself poorly. But all credit to Ramos, and to Rafael Leao for a perfectly weighted cross. One wonders how the Portuguese attack might have fared if he had started instead of CR7.
Croatia, little Croatia, would not go quietly. No one expected that they would, not with Modrić on the field in what might have been (and what turned out to be) his final World Cup match, and in extra time, in what was effectively the last kick of the match (how many times have we said that in this tournament?), they equalized through Josko Gvardiol. The Croatian fans went nuts! The checkerboard pattern! A sea of ecstatic, shimmering red and white!
Oh. Wait.
Dallas calling. Toronto, we have a problem. Apparently a sensor in the ball (the “Trionda”) detected contact between the ball and the Croatian Igor Matanovic on its flight toward the goal, a cross from Ivan Perisic. Not contact with Matanovic’s head. Contact with Matanovic’s hair. If Matanovic did not play the ball, then Mario Pasalic, who received the cross and nudged it toward Gvardiol, was in an onside position, because the Laws have long said: measure onside v offiside position at the moment the ball is played. If Matanovic did play the ball, then Pasalic was offside. After the ball left Perisic’s foot, Pasalic moved behind the Portuguese defender.
(After Matanovic nodded at the ball, the ball bounced off the back of the head of a Portuguese player. That touch properly does not factor into the equation; under the Laws, a defensive player’s touch wipes clean the offside slate only if the defender actively played the ball.)
On the field and in the stands, no one – not the players, not the center referee, and certainly not the fans – detected a touch by Matanovic. The ball itself typically serves as primary evidence: was the flight of the ball directed differently? Did the ball itself move or spin in some new way? Players themselves often react instantaneously be careful with that word and essentially involuntarily to touches on the ball. They and the referee pay attention to body movement.
In this case, none of that happened, from what I could tell.
Instead, per the VAR and as confirmed later by FIFA, the sensing technology in the ball, a close cousin of the “Snickometer” or “Snicko” or “Ultraedge” technology in cricket, detected the proposition that the ball came into contact with Matanovic’s hair. Matanovic’s hair is part of Matanovic, ergo Matanovic touched the ball – even though not only did no one observe Matanovic touch the ball but no one could have observed Matanovic’s hair touch the ball – and Pasalic was in an offside position.
The referee initially did not think that the goal should be disallowed. The VAR changed his mind. No goal.
In a word (well, two words): absolutely ridiculous.
Wednesday’s VAR ruling that resulted in a red card to Flo Balogun was bad, and wrong, but it did not cost the US the match. The VAR call that went against Germany at the end of the match against Paraguay did cost Germany the match; I think that the call was wrong, but it was defensible.
So where do we end? What’s going on? A few thoughts:
One, the VAR system itself is not the cause of these problems, at least not in what we might think of as an ordinary cause. The problem is not that VAR is getting close calls wrong.
Two, the refereeing in this tournament has been up and down, but refereeing is always up and down. That’s what you get with human beings making what are often judgment calls, rather than yes/no calls. In tennis, automated line calling mostly works because tennis is largely “was the ball in or was the ball out?” In soccer, much of the time the referee has to decide “was the play bad enough to warrant stopping play?” If the referee thinks, “no,” because the victimized team nevertheless has the advantage, then there is no whistle. Referees fail to see things, which is weird but true. Maradona’s Hand of God goal, in which the handball was seen by thousands (and by England players) but not by the referee. France put Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup on a goal that followed Thierry Henry’s hand ball. The Irish players were understandably apoplectic. I always return to Toni Schumacher’s assault there is no other word on Battiston, Germany v France, 1982 (again: do not Google that play).
Three, and here’s where I steer in a different direction, problem one with the VAR system is not “how it’s applied” (too many things get reviewed? too few? wrong people in the booth? it takes away from the emotion in the stadium?). Rather, problem one is what it does to the game itself. As its core, soccer has long been essentially a holistic “thing.” An entity, with rhythms and flows, mostly (not entirely) on the field. It is a sport that charms precisely because it has long resisted being broken down and compartmentalized into individual actions, on any systematic basis. American football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, volleyball: these are sports and games of moments. Or at least they can be “decomposed,” to use a social science-y term, into moments. Information technology and broadcast technology accelerate and enhance their “momentization”; “momentization” turns quickly (has turned quickly) into “datafication.”
The character of the VAR tech accelerates and enhances the momentization and datafication of soccer. A single play is isolated, blown up, slowed down (although the VAR is supposed to review the play at speed), and enhanced. Outside of the competition itself, it ends up as a Top 10 item on ESPN or on TikTok (until FIFA gets it taken down). A collision of bodies on the field that seems uneventful in the context of the “normal” flow of play turns out to look extraordinary and risky in isolation. That’s Flo Balogun, and it’s arguably Jonathan Tah’s goal. The Croatian equalizer is an extreme version of this problem: the goal was ruled out on the basis of isolating and data-fying physics of the play that were literally unseeable.
Why play the game at all? E-sports will do. At least everyone knows that the rules are hard-coded into the algorithm, or are supposed to be.
Four (because Three is a problem that FIFA didn’t create and may not have the power to remedy), there is the “standard of review” problem. The lawyers and law professors in the crowd should recognize this one quickly. The center referee is more or less the equivalent of a trial judge; the VAR is more or less the equivalent of a court of appeals. The role of the court of appeals is to correct errors by the trial judge, but not every error gets corrected, and not every trial judge decision is open to review. There is an allocation of responsibility that keeps the legal system (when it is functioning properly, per history and tradition) in a kind of equilibrium. The point is that the trial judge is supposed to retain a lot of decision-making discretion, because the trial judge – unlike the court of appeals – is in a better position to evaluate evidence and to assess witnesses. Juries, when we have them, are assumed to be in the best position of all, and that’s one reason why courts of appeals are supposed to second-guess juries only in rare instances.
With the VAR, the “standard of review” is embodied in the principle that center referee decisions should be reversed in the event of a “clear and obvious error” or a “serious missed incident” by the center referee. (Technically, that’s not a FIFA proposition; that’s an IFAB proposition. Four out of the five seats on the IFAB are held by England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Post for a different day.)
Was that standard applied to the Croatian goal? It’s difficult to square a “yes” answer with what we all know what happened. The *consequence* of an offside / not offside judgment was dramatic: goal or no goal. The focus of the standard of review is not, and should not be, its effects. (I’d say the same thing about the Flo Balogun red card: the consequence of his standing on the Bosnian’s ankle was dramatic, even frightening. But that *result* should not necessarily drive the referee’s decision.) The focus should be on the center referee. Did the center referee fail to make a decision that the center referee – supported by the assistant referees – could have and should have made? In the Croatian case: no.
I wonder about the conversation that took place between the center referee (the Norwegian Espen Eskås, whose experience mostly has been in the Eliteserien, the top division in Norway) and the VAR (Christian Dingert, from Germany). Did the center referee simply listen to the VAR’s explanation of the data, and then go along? Did the center referee defend his initial judgment, perhaps pointing out that the game should be decided on the field (analog) rather than on the server data? If he did, why did he ultimately yield to the VAR’s view?
That leads to my fifth and final point:
In AI circles, ongoing debate about “AI good or AI bad?” includes concern about what is now called “cognitive surrender.” The argument, simplified, is that Generative AI in its many forms is not simply a tool, capable of being used wisely or poorly or worse. Instead, Generative AI seduces its users into a kind of interactive dependence on the system defined by the Machine. We don’t Rage; instead, we defer. We let the Machine think for us. Worse, we imagine that we are engaging productively with these powerful systems.
A simpler version of that argument is what I worry about with the VAR. Center referees know that they are being watched, not only by the human assessors who always conduct post-match reviews of their work but also by real-time digital reviewers who have the power to intervene and change the outcome of many if not all their high-stakes decisions (and some lower stakes decisions). It seems plausible to imagine not only that referees will act preemptively to minimize the likelihood of VAR intervention but also will over-defer to the Machine when confronted with seemingly inarguable digital evidence of “right” and “wrong.”
This has been a longer than typical and more argumentative than typical daily World Cup update, so I’ll end it here! I’m fully aware that my criticisms of the VAR are both more than a little on the conceptual or academic side, and that I’ve failed to solve any of the problems that I’ve sketched (“bad law professor!” “bad law professor!”). So: discuss!
I’m still having a good time. I hope that you are, too.
Go, go USA!
July 4
World Cup 2026, Jump the Blue Shark edition:
The jokes almost write themselves:
The Blue Sharks of Cabo Verde have elevated themselves into the “Greatest Sharks Ever” pantheon. Bruce, from Jaws; Bruce, from Finding Nemo; King Shark; Frickin’ Sharks with Frickin’ Laser Beams Attached to Their Heads; all of the sharks from Sharknado; Land Shark; and of course, Left Shark.
Candygram?
Yesterday’s Argentina v Cabo Verde match was the greatest World Cup game ever … except maybe for the 2022 final, and maybe for games yet to be played in this very tournament.
Vozinha … what an amazing goalkeeper. Staggeringly, unexpectedly robust and present, especially in an environment that was so unrelentingly hostile. The stadium was sea of Messi and Argentina fans, with a tiny pool of CPV supporters. Vozinha’s opposite number yesterday, Martinez, was no slouch!
For the referee: no notes. When Cabral ran into the stands after he scored his incredible tying goal, I was certain that he had earned a yellow card. In almost any other match, he would have been cautioned. The referee held his nerve and let the moment play out. That’s good refereeing.
Today, the quarterfinals begin. Round of 16. There are great games ahead. Potentially legendary games.
Canada and Morocco, and Paraguay and France. Two teams – Morocco and France – with abundant talent having already demonstrated that they are as actually potent as their potential suggests on paper. Two teams – Canada and Paraguay – that have already overachieved, now pushing themselves to the very edge of possibility. Aura and courage brought allowed Cabo Verde to push Argentina almost to the brink. Is it too much to ask to see another similar result?
Go, go USA!
July 4
World Cup 2026, July 4 supplement:
32 years ago today, my family celebrated July 4 by attending the US men’s national team round of 16 World Cup match against Brazil, at Stanford Stadium.
We had a glorious time, even while the team on the field suffered badly. 1-0 to Brazil. Tab Ramos had his skull fractured by Leonardo’s elbow to the head.
It was a bright, sunny, but not hot Bay Area afternoon.
The feeling both in the stadium and in the streets and among the Eucalyptus and oak trees outside was samba samba samba. The sounds of Brazilian drums thrummed loudly, all game long.
There was plenty of support for the USMNT but nothing approaching the color and sound that we saw and heard in Santa Clara last Wednesday. The Brazilian “Canarinho,” the canary yellow of its iconic jersey, dominated the stands. Link in the comments.
Soccer aside, I and – I think – many of the fans present understood that this was a special game on a special day. We celebrated the anniversary of American independence by witnessing US participation in an extraordinary global event. We felt, then, that we were witnessing history.
Happy 4th, everyone.
And of course: go, go USA!
July 5
World Cup 2026, “The Quiet Man” edition:
I’ll begin at the beginning.
After the final whistle in Philadelphia yesterday, the Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill turned to Kylian Mbappé and held out his hand. Peace, brother, he seemed to offer, the way that players often do after hard-fought matches. “Do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.” (Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew.)
Mbappé ignored him, smiling broadly and strolling over to celebrate with the France supporters.
Gill threw the ball at him.
That about sums it up.
Karma.
“The Quiet Man” is a 1952 John Ford film starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. It’s a little dated, but hear me out:
Kylian Mbappé is a Quiet Man.
The plot of the movie is this. Sean Thornton Wayne, son of an Irish village, has emigrated to America and earned fame and fortune as a boxer. Circumstances change. He renounces his life of violence and returns to his homeland from Pittsburgh! and is smitten immediately with Mary Kate Danaher (O’Hara), the spinster sister of the town’s Big Man ‘Red’ Will Danaher (played by Victor McLaglen). The two characters spend the movie facing off over Mary Kate’s loyalty and love, the peace-loving, love-struck “Quiet Man” Wayne and the gruff, patriarchal, bullying McLaglen. The whole thing culminates in an extended fight sequence, fisticuffs over Irish hill and dale between Wayne and McLaglen (friends in real life). And it has the ending you’d predict. Wayne knocks out McLaglen, the two men seal their new friendship over Porter, and the marriage to O’Hara is affirmed, Hollywood-style.
To me, that’s the most of the plot of France v Paraguay yesterday. France brought power and style, ready to play soccer.
Appropriately for the Philadelphia venue, Paraguay brought its best “Broad Street Bullies” game to a soccer match. (That’s a 1970s National Hockey League Philadelphia Flyers reference). If Cabo Verde was “fins up!” against Argentina, playing confidently and without fear, Paraguay showed up terrified of the French, crossing midfield only a handful of times, with zero shots on goal, and only their fists and elbows (and complaining to the referee) as tools. Galarza was the worst offender, but several of his teammates took turns taking shots on the ice – er, grass – to French faces and ribs, arguably out of the line of sight of any of the referees.
To pivot to a different movie source, “Dodgeball,” “It’s a bold move, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em.”
Not all of Mbappé’s France teammates handled the pressure with grace, at least not consistently, but Mbappé himself seemed to be smiling and grinning throughout. No wonder Didier Deschamps seems to love him.
I’m willing to bet that his teammates love him too, at least at this tournament. Every great team has a moral center as much as a competitive center, the player whose presence and performance on and off the field give the team confidence and coherence. Steady as she goes, so to speak, with this person’s figurative hand on the tiller. A Quiet Man, for the men’s teams.
Sometimes that person is the goalkeeper. For Germany, for example, that was Neuer at his best, or Lloris for France in 2022. Vozinha, for Cabo Verde. Sometimes it is a playmaker (Zidane, 1998, which is one of the reasons why his 2006 fall from grace was so stunning). And sometimes it is the tip of the spear. Mbappé, right now, for France. The team is stocked with intergalactic talent, but the stars orbit around him.
That’s my take, anyway.
Mbappé’s penalty at 70 minutes opened up the game a bit, because Paraguay realized that the play-like brutes-for-120-minutes-and-hope-for-the-best-on-penalties strategy was not working. But Paraguay’s response for that last stretch was as much “put up your dukes” (Duke, John Wayne, get it?) as it was trying to play toward actually scoring a goal.
When the game ended, not only did Gill act badly, but the entire Paraguayan team melted down. They surrounded the referees, complaining that they had been victimized … by what? The fact that French players were shown three yellow cards, and Paraguayan players none? Paraguay gambled. Teams do that. They lost.
If Argentina v Cabo Verde were the heights of this World Cup, France v Paraguay were the depths. Worst match of the tournament, unfortunately. All credit to Les Bleues for keeping their eyes on the target. To Paraguay:, go home, people. It’s over.
You, too, Mr. Center Referee (Ilgiz Tantashev). It’s a miracle that no one got badly hurt yesterday.
On to today and to brighter things!
Two amazing matches are on tap:
Brazil v Norway. Brazil has more depth and talent across the board and may be rounding into form. Vini, Jr. is Brazil’s own Quiet Man. But Norway has a globe-ful of Norwegian rowers, the best home uniforms in the tournament, a massive Viking, and choreography by Martin Ødegaard. Maybe that’s two Quiet Men? Are they enough?
And England v Mexico. England have been up and down, but Harry Kane is on fire at last. Can they exorcise the ghosts of 1986? Mexico are on an extraordinary roll and will be playing at home, before the Mexican faithful.
I expect two physical but competitive and possibly entertaining matches. Let us hope that the cynicism on the field is gone for good, from this tournament at least.
Go, go USA!
July 5
World Cup 2026, “Princess Bride” update edition:
Miracle Max was on the job. It only took 65.
Flo Balogun was only *mostly* suspended.
Have fun storming the castle!
Go, go USA!
July 6
World Cup 2026, “I’m tired, so tired” edition:
Quick hits this morning:
England v Mexico was exhausting, but more on that in a moment.
First: Norway v Brazil. A surprisingly dull game, all things considered. Brazil certainly had their chances: a penalty kick missed; Endrick (!) – use your right foot, man!; a finger on the ball by the Norwegian goalkeeper, Nyland. (Credit to Nyland for giving Neymar as good as he got in the trash talking department. Link in the comments.)
I’m as charmed as anyone by Erling Haaland’s Viking act. it was a lot of fun to watch him with the drumsticks after the match, leading both his team and the Norway supporters. Ro!
But in soccer terms, the Brazilians did an awful lot of ball watching yesterday. Haaland is Norway’s machine. Stop him, and you stop that team. How do you stop him? Don’t let him touch the ball. Haaland doesn’t get a lot of touches, but his goals-per-touch rate (1 goal per 14 touches in this tournament, better than his EPL and CL rates) is astonishing. Link in the comments.
Easier said than done, of course, but at times Brazil seemed to forget to mark him closely. Twice, at least, they lost him. And twice, Brazil paid the price. Now Norway play England in the World Cup game most resembling a Premier League match.
Second: England v Mexico was indeed exhausting. The game more or less went according to form: intense end-to-end action, both teams leaving their all on the field and elsewhere. Jude Bellingham had a monster of a match for England; Jordan Pickford came up huge in goal. Mexico launched almost 50 crosses into the England penalty area, which sounds like it should be some sort of record. Harry Kane should stick to his #9 role and occasionally drop back in the midfield. Defending is not his strong suit.
But the Mexican supporters in the stadium. Ugh. I am pretty sure that the Fox Sports commentators did not say anything about them other than to note the game-long roar that came through the TV speakers loud and clear. If you listened a little more carefully, however, even to the TV sound, you heard the ugly, abusive chanting for which Mexican soccer fans are sometimes known. Link in the comments. Yes, kudos to El Tri for advancing as far in the tournament as they did, but their supporters’ behavior leaves a sour taste.
The uglier story of the day yesterday, of course, was FIFA’s surprising decision to “suspend” the red card against Flo Balogun, releasing him to play tonight for the US against Belgium.
Donald Trump’s inserting himself and the White House into L’Affaire Balogun has muddied and politicized already murky waters, so I’ll comment only on what FIFA did and didn’t do, and then on what I think should happen next.
Trump or no Trump, it is hardly surprising that FIFA did what it did.
Despite initial statements that no appeal of the red card was permitted, FIFA has the discretion to act as it did. FIFA exercised that discretion similarly at least once in recent memory, in the case of Christiano Ronaldo. Why? The organization doesn’t even bother to hide its corruption; the answers are right in front of us. FIFA needs stars among players to shine, needs to keep its political stars aligned, and has sponsors to remember. None of that is even an open secret. It’s just open.
To me, that means that social media and soccer commentators are missing the point when they defend FIFA’s power to do what it did on technical grounds but deplore FIFA’s lack of “transparency” and the awful precedent that this sets. Link in the comments. FIFA might have been perfectly transparent. To do so it would have said something like, “We are selling out the soul of the game to ensure high ratings and returns for our broadcast partners and other commercial partners. FIFA’s purpose is to ensure that ginormous amounts of money are generated during the World Cup to pay for the international soccer infrastructure that FIFA supervises and benefits from. FIFA will do whatever it takes, whenever that’s needed, to ensure that the cash flows.” We know that’s what happened. We know that it may well happen again. Would FIFA’s making that explicit make us all any happier?
In other words:
Transparency isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
I can’t fix FIFA, especially not today.
So here is my solution, in the short term. I expect precisely no one to be made happy by this, and of course posting it on a Facebook wall guarantees that it will be seen by only a tiny number of people. But (checks notes) the idea is circulating on social media.
Don’t dress Balogun.
And USSoccer and the team by name should issue a statement that says, in effect: We disagree vehemently with the decision to issue a red card to Balogun, but principles of Fair Play dictate that we collectively accept the final decision of the referee and the suspension that a red card automatically brings.
Here’s a note of explanation that may resonate with the lawyers in the back:
Sometimes a final decision that manifests a functioning governance system in action is better than the right decision that manifests a broken system. Per Spock: the good of the many v the good of the few. Which is not to endorse a simplistic utilitarian calculus but only to note that if the World Cup means anything, it means that it is actually possible to sustain a system of global cooperation at the level of national and international interest, so long as the coordination mechanisms (formal and informal) are agreed to in advance and affirmed periodically and publicly as everyone goes along. The fact that the World Cup is happening right now and is, by most accounts, a huge competitive as well as commercial success, is evidence itself that the system is – mostly – working. FIFA is screwing that up. Why go along with what FIFA has done?
Some may feel the players shouldn’t be “punished” for FIFA’s venality, that they shouldn’t be dragged into the swamp of dysfunctional global governance. But the players and coaches know full well that no international soccer match is simply 11 of one country’s best players against 11 of another country’s best players. It’s not simply a contest to see which team is better. Players put on the shirt, they represent the country. See those people on TV and on the field kissing the badge? They know what they’re doing and why.
Duty, honor, responsibility. The US can be better than FIFA.
Why not us?, as Pochettino has been saying.
I don’t make the rules.
Go, go USA!
July 7
World Cup 2026, “Did I miss anything?” edition:
I’ve been away from the keyboard for most of today but figured that the delay would matter little. I don’t have much to add to the tsunami of commentary that followed the disastrous performance of the US v Belgium.
For what it’s worth: Belgium’s change of lineup and tactics worked to perfection and seemed to catch the US entirely off guard. And there’s more. The US may have out-performed its perceived capabilities over and over again during this tournament. The game v Belgium was in a way reversion to the mean: an unsteady defense and goalkeeper, a fragile midfield that wilted when jolted, and a front line that failed to find a consistent, collective rhythm. We saw that in the friendlies leading up to the tournament, yet a lot of US fans – both committed and casual – seemed to persuade themselves that the build up was the mirage and the results during group play were the reality. Maybe group play – and the win v Bosnia, fun and inspiring as all of that was – were the mirage.
A lot of countries around the world play pretty amazing soccer, including not only the charming and courageous Blue Sharks of Cape Verde, but also some small countries that have figured out how to build systems, not just stars, that perform consistently at high levels. Just because the US is a big place and Americans flatter themselves that we produce “great athletes” doesn’t mean that we can consistently hold our own against better organized sides. Bandwagons are real, and real fun, but the “why not us?” party in the US crashed into the reality that the US men’s team just isn’t good enough, consistently or often enough, to succeed in the cauldron of a tournament that crowns a winner having played 8 matches in 5 weeks. That’s not good enough strategically, not good enough mentally, and not good enough on the ball. (As I remind my family endlessly, to their everlasting annoyance: the first touch is key!) Maybe US Soccer could stop overpaying celebrity coaches though generally I like Pochettino and start paying attention to how Switzerland got so good.
(The Balogun/FIFA affair will end as a blip, I think, rather than as a stain on the tournament as a whole. FIFA is unembarrassed, as FIFA almost always is. The US Government looks a shambles, as it so often does these day. The Belgian players seem to have taken FIFA’s intervention and Trump’s role as a motivator – see the scenes of the Belgians dancing on the field after Lukaku’s goal – so: well done, everyone. Even if the American players were distracted – possibly – by the media circus of the 24 hours before kickoff, US Soccer is likely to be more stung by failure on the field than by controversy over whether the red card suspension should have been suspended. The memes, however, will continue. Loser’s bracket, anyone?)
Speaking of Switzerland, as I type the world is catching its collective breath after Argentina’s comeback win v Egypt and gathering its remaining energy for what may be a brilliant match between Colombia (no longer lurking in the shadows of this World Cup, and with an incredibly strong team) and Switzerland (ditto, after brushing off the effects of its opening tie with Qatar).
The World Cup Summer of Love is over. The World Cup Not Dead Yet Summer is gathering steam. Last minute goals galore. Multiple comebacks from 2-0 down. Don’t look away, even when Spain is playing Portugal. Bernardo Silva may miss a last-minute header, and Rodri may stand over him, taunting his former Man City teammate.
Not Dead Yet, figuratively, of course … except you, Christiano Ronaldo and Neymar. Belgium learned what Portugal and Brazil could not: the old guys, the legends, offer more value on the bench (or at home) than on the field. Did you see Kevin De Bruyne playing yesterday? Axel Witsel? Neither did I. Did Romelu Lukaku do anything more than collect a goal after the game was essentially over? Nope. Neymar got a goal and contributed little else to the doomed Brazilian cause.
The World Cup goes on. Those of us who love the game are still in thrall to the theatrics and drama on and off the field. Every game yet to come is guaranteed to be an edge-of-your-seat soccer feast.
I listened today to the “After the Whistle” podcast hosted by Rebecca Lowe and Brendan Hunt. (Strong recommend! Brendan Hunt is hysterical and knowledgeable, and Rebecca Lowe is even smarter and funnier than she is as a studio host.) The episode included a guest spot with Cristo Fernández, who played Dani Rojas in “Ted Lasso” and who is now back under contract to play professional soccer, with the El Paso Locomotive FC.
Hearing him talk about his early introduction to soccer, and then to acting and art, I realized something that had not really occurred to me until today: the one constant presence in my self-aware life – meaning from about age 5 or 6 to today – is soccer. I had school, hobbies and interests, more school, law, and more law. Got married, raised a family, moved around the country. All of that was woven through playing, coaching, occasionally refereeing, reading, watching, writing. Is still woven. Soccer is the common thread linking me with family and friends both locally and around the world, with schoolmates and law professor colleagues and with new people. Not only in Europe and Asia but increasingly in North America, soccer is my lingua franca.
For some reason, this surprised me. Perhaps you, my friends, are not surprised at all! Maybe that history is why I accept what happened to the US yesterday with disappointment but understanding. There is no assurance that the US will fail again, but also I don’t subscribe to an “always onward and upward” narrative about the national team – or any team, or even soccer as a whole. Setbacks and disappointments are too common. They are, in a way, what tie us (or me, at least) to the game.
I cannot end this post with my usual “Go, go USA!”( although it is still relevant: the US Women’s National Team will challenge for the World Cup title next year). Instead, as Dani Rojas said:
“Fútbol is life! But fútbol is also death. And fútbol is fútbol too. But mostly, fútbol is life!”
No games tomorrow. The quarterfinals begin on Thursday!
July 8
World Cup 2026, day off edition.
Only brief updates today:
I am modestly disappointed not to see a Colombia v Argentina among the upcoming quarterfinals.
Manuel Akanji, who missed a penalty kick for Switzerland, must be among the most relieved people on the planet.
I do have a thought about better alternatives to the penalty kick system for determining winners in tournament matches:
If the game is tied after 120 minutes, then neither team advances. Both go home. The expected opponent gets a bye.
If it’s a final, then the teams keep playing until there is a winner. No golden goal. Just 15 minutes at a time. I’d prefer a replay, but the money folks would not stand for that, and (more important) the supporters in the stands came to see “two teams enter, one team leave.”
Quarterfinals begin tomorrow.
Fútbol is life!
July 9
World Cup 2026, our long global nightmare (!) is over edition:
They’re here.
The quarterfinals. This is where things get real.
Wait? They weren’t real before? Of course they were. Just ask Egypt – unjustly deprived of a spectacular second goal. Who knows whether Argentina could have come back from *that.* Or Germany – unjustly deprived of a likely game-deciding winner v Paraguay. Or the United States – unjustly. Wait. No. The United States landed more or less where it should have landed. Justice was served.
(Which is not to say that one Candace Bruckner, columnist for the New York Times, knows what she is talking about in a column headlined “Let’s admit it: The United States is never going to win a men’s World Cup.” Link in the comments. Right conclusion; terrible, arrogant, ignorant reasoning. If only the Times would bring back the great George Vecsey, who took the time to learn the game’s history and culture rather than throw overripe tomatoes at it from the bleachers of youth basketball.)
France v Morocco today? There are terrific games yet to come, but it won’t get much better than this.
Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé, Doué, Barcola: France are the ’27 Yankees of international soccer right now. They have exuberance, elegance, and power. Even the MMA fighters of Paraguay couldn’t keep France out of the goal for an entire game.
Hakimi … he’s the one Morocco player who was on the tips of the tongues of virtually every soccer fan leading up to the World Cup. As with Haaland, Kane, Mbappé, and Messi, his star has aligned with his World Cup performance. Hakimi has clearly been Morocco’s engine so far. He’s their Quiet Man, to borrow a metaphor that I introduced a few days ago.
Collectively, Morocco have been thriving as innovative, improvisational underdogs. That identity doesn’t change today; Morocco’s top scorer Ismael Saibari, author of a magical strike against Brazil, is injured and likely won’t play. (As a Bayern fan, I’m happy to note that he will join the Müncheners for the coming season.) But Hakimi will. Right back meets Mbappé on the left wing. Friends and former PSG teammates. Borg and McEnroe. Evert and Navratilova. Bird and Magic.
Am I being too melodramatic, building up a confrontation that may not materialize?
Probably.
That’s why they play the game.
Fútbol is life!
July 10
World Cup 2026, Holy Messi or Haaland top that? edition:
France 2, Morocco 0, and it was never that close. Some better finishing and some less excellent goalkeeping, and that was 4-0 or even 6-0.
Can any team stop France?
Should any team stop France?
Tune in today, new FIFA time, same FIFA channels. Spain and Belgium. I may try to find a Tripel around here somewhere, because I expect that the beer will taste sweeter than the Belgian result. Spain are just too strong.
Meanwhile, in the US media, Christian Pulisic is taking a figurative beating from retired US superstars Landon Donovan and Carli Lloyd, while Alexi Lalas offers a half-hearted defense of “Captain America.” Links in the comments. [Lloyd, Donovan, Lalas.]
Lloyd and Donovan have standing to weigh in here. (Lalas doesn’t. “Shut up, Alexi Lalas!,” to borrow the line from “Ted Lasso.”) Are they right? Does it matter? Pulisic has lost the thread. Lloyd and Donovan are offering ways to find it, and for him to find his way back. As a person, as a player, and as a leader.
Fútbol is life!
July 11
World Cup 2026, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” edition:
I am hoping for drama today but expecting little.
The first two quarterfinals have been mostly hum-drum. France waltzed all over Morocco. Spain didn’t waltz over Belgium, but once I saw the opening lineups I knew that the outcome – with Spain already favored – was a foregone conclusion. Rudi Garcia the Belgium manager, put Kevin De Bruyne on the field, meaning that Belgium would try to play through the midfield and that Belgium would run out of gas after 60 minutes. Which they did. Rudi, you beat the US by going direct, even before Onana left with an ACL. Yes, Youri Tielemans got hurt, but De Bruyne was already on the card. Have the courage of your convictions, man!
The most moving drama of Spain v Belgium was the departure of Thibaut Courtois after 70 minutes, due to injury. Spain know him well, since Real is his club team and he spent several years at Chelsea. Lammens, the replacement, played well enough; the change in keeper wasn’t the reason for Spain’s scoring. But images of Courtois on the bench were saddening.
<Detour>
There was a time in professional and international soccer, decades ago, when formations mattered a lot and tactics mattered much less. The difference, to me, being “position-specific roles assigned to players” vs “how players actually move about on the field.” Thanks largely to the Dutch and Total Football, formations now matter much less and tactics matter much more. That shift is what has made household names of many managers over the last 25 years. Fergie. Wenger. Mourinho. Klopp. Simeone. Guardiola. Enrique. Ancelotti. For the history, read two books: “Mister: The Men Who Gave The World The Game,” by Rory Smith, and “Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics,” by Jonathan Wilson. Notably, while good books about soccer come from all over, all of the best books about soccer are by British authors, except the very best, which is “Soccer in Sun and Shadow,” by Eduardo Galeano.
</Detour>
Tactics bring me to today’s games:
England v Norway is the closest thing this tournament has gotten or will get to a slightly-jumbled English Premier League match. Virtually all of the stars of both teams either play or have played extensively in the Prem, the notably exception being Jude Bellingham. Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard, the key midfielders for each team, are teammates at Arsenal!
That familiarity means that tactics matter a lot. By default, both teams would ordinarily build through the midfield, kick the ball around in the final third, and look for an opening for their striker, either via a through ball or a cross from one of the wings.
As a would-be manager, I’d change things up.
If I’m Tuchel for England, I put Rice on Ødegaard. That stifles a lot of the service to Haaland. If Haaland can’t get the ball, he can’t score. And Norway don’t have a lot of other firepower. I put the ball at Bellingham’s feet as much as I can. Don’t play through Rice; play direct soccer-ese for get the ball up top quickly rather than knock it around the midfield in order to set the offense.
If I’m Solbakken for Norway, I tell Ødegaard to play wide rather than centrally (i.e; steer away from Rice), and to direct as much of the play as possible to Norway’s left England’s right. England are down two and arguably three right backs. Apparently Djed Spence – who has played until now as an England *left* back – is the next man up.
Argentina v Switzerland has the potential to be the more entertaining match, given Switzerland’s underdog status. How did the team that barely managed to tie Qatar – Qatar! – get this far?
Answer: tactics. By turning it up “to 11.” But you don’t need a “Spinal Tap” reference, let alone a “Dumb and Dumber” reference, to know what the Swiss tactics should be. Be like Cabo Verde. Don’t be intimated, play hard and strong for 90 minutes (or 120 if necessary), and stifle the Argentine midfield. Again: squeeze the air out of the Argentine midfield, especially out of Mac Allister. If Messi can’t get the ball and he is unlikely to go chasing it – to him, soccer sometimes seems like golf seemed to Samuel Clemens: “a good walk, spoiled” – and hope for the best. If the Swiss manage to get a goal or two, or even the lead, don’t be Egypt. Don’t let up! Give Argentina an inch, especially as the curtain starts to fall, and they’ll take a mile. That’s Messi’s gift.
I know that a fair number of people are hoping for an England v Argentina semifinal, because those two teams (not to mention those two countries) have such a chummy history. Not! Maybe we’d get to see and hear the rehabilitated David Beckham, holder of a red card v Argentina in 1998, in some role other than advertising hustler. Michael Oliver or Anthony Taylor aren’t among the hopefuls. Apparently they have each been ruled out of officiating that match, if it happens, because of concerns that memories of the 1986 war between the two countries would taint their decisions, or at least taint how their decisions are viewed.
Referees aside, although I quite like both Oliver and Taylor, let’s go with that. Destiny Awaits. Games on.
Fútbol is life!
July 14
World Cup 2026, Bastille Day edition:
As the French say: “So, it is down to you, and it is down to me.”
Maybe that was someone else? Link in the comments.
From a field of 48 teams, the strongest four make the semi-finals. France and Spain today, in Dallas. Argentina and England tomorrow, in Atlanta. The final, next Sunday, in New Jersey.
FIFA seeded all 48 teams before the finals began, per its “World Ranking,” organizing the seeds and distributing them in “pots” that were used to draw the groups, so that 1 would play 2 in the final, if groups and knockout matches followed the hierarchy.
So it has come to pass. In the World Ranking: 1 = Argentina; 2 = Spain; 3 = France; 4 = England.
In other words, the fix really has been in, for conspiracy theorists. FIFA loves it when a plan comes together. Link in the comments.
Who edges whom today? I’m looking at a 2-1 result, but I can’t know which team comes out on top. It’s strength on strength: Midfield strength Rodri, Olmo, Ruiz v midfield strength Olise, Dembélé, Rabiot, Tchouaméni. Up front: Wunderkind Yamal (plus Oyarzabal, super sub Merino, and perhaps Torres, Williams) v supreme scorer Mbappé (plus Doué, perhaps Barcola). In back: rugged defenders Laporte, Cubarsi v rugged defenders Upamecano, Saliba. Both goalkeepers are rock solid, too. Maignan has had more work to do so far, for France; Simon, for Spain, has yielded a ridiculous *one* goal.
Perhaps Spain has an edge solely on account of shithousery specialist Cucurella. I want that guy on my team. So does Jose. He is leaving Chelsea for Real.
Red v Blue. Sarge v Church.
Allez! Vamos!
Fútbol is life!
July 15
World Cup 2026, “Hey Jude” edition:
Spain pressed the “That was easy!” button from Staples, and that was all for France. France created moments here and there but never seemed to synch up, as much because of the success of Spain’s not-Phil-Jackson triangle offense and defense, and everything as because of anything French itself. Total Football link in the comments.
Once you saw the triangles, you could not unsee them. Once you focused on Rodri pulling the Spanish strings, you could not help but be mesmerized. And he is only a little more than a year returned from an ACL. Olise et al. spent the better part of 90 minutes chasing the ball, and in the moments of French control, they couldn’t find space through the Spanish defense.
As I pointed out to my family while watching the match, Rodri – all six feet, three inches of him – plays with his jersey tucked in. That’s a power move by a power player. He is so unruffled on the field that he doesn’t need the freedom of movement that untucked jerseys arguably provide.
When I was playing, back in the 1970s and 1980s, coaches and referees were stubborn and insistent about jerseys being tucked in. Making sure that your shirt was inside the waistband of your shorts was part of the pre-game inspection, as much a part of the ritual as checking your cleats to ensure that there were no sharp edges amid the rubber. Around the world and in leagues from top to bottom, that script has flipped entirely: jerseys are cut today on the assumption that they will be worn outside the shorts.
Rodri goes his own way.
(I was glad to see Nico Williams back on the field for a bit. He and Marc Cucurella are the stars of my all-hair team at this World Cup. Haaland just misses the cut, because he doesn’t play with his hair down.)
Spain look unbeatable.
Nevertheless, there is a game today. The little old man that everyone believes that FIFA wants to crown as champion again v an England side led by a rising superstar who plays for a Spanish club power, Erling Haaland’s former Dortmund teammate and Kylian Mbappé’s current Real teammate Jude Bellingham. I expect a bruising match and far less style than we saw from either team yesterday. 1-0, again with the winner a toss up.
Is it coming home, as the English hope? Or will Argentina put itself in position to be the first country since Brazil to win back to back World Cup trophies?
Fútbol is life!
July 16
World Cup 2026, “Ship of Theseus” edition:
The better team won each semi-final. The final should be epic.
That said, a note about style:
Spain is always Spain; Argentina is always Argentina, and so on. The manager and the players change. But the legend of the Ship of Theseus (a wooden ship replaced part by part until no original part remains – yet the ship retains its identity) teaches that once the name and the jerseys stay the same, then the styles and tactics mostly stay the same, too.
Spain are no longer playing the tiki taka game that took them to the World Cup 2010 title, but the swirling, passing, make-them-chase game that we saw against France (and in bits and pieces before) is still – like tiki taka – a recognizable descendant of the game that Cruyff brought to Barcelona in 1973. Call it Spain’s revenge for the Eighty Years’ War. Spain is better than the Netherlands at Dutch football. Much better and more Dutch, as we saw in 2010 (when the Dutch abandoned their swirling game, to be honest) and ever since, than the Dutch themselves. In some respects the current team honors the legacy of Di Stéfano and the so-called “underachievers” of the 1950s and 1960s, but in more respects Spain is a thoroughly modern team. Same on the outside, entirely re-built on the inside.
Argentina, in a way, tells the opposite story. Entirely different on the outside with exceptions – see below, and the same motor on the inside. Ask me to describe the style, temperament, and personality of Argentine soccer, and I’d say: Fierce. Unrelenting. Physical. Argentina does not play Brazil’s “beautiful game.” Not samba — that is, Carnival. Instead, tango — that is, passion. Argentina will never stop never stopping. Link in the comments.
I knew that identity well before yesterday’s match. It takes me back to 1978 and Kempes and Menotti, setting aside the shenanigans that kept Holland from the title. It covers the 1986 team led by Diego Armando. The title-winning 2022 side. And it describes to a “t” the team that I knew would show up yesterday v England.
The contemporary embodiment of that style and spirit is Giuliano Simeone, whose relentless shithousery tactics all over the field yesterday were perfect Argentine football (unlike Marc Cucurella’s shithousery for Spain, which was simply Cucurella being Cucurella). Soccer insiders will recognize Simeone’s lineage: he is the son of the legendary Argentine player and current Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone – the man who prompted David Beckham to kick out in 1998 and draw a red card. Like father, like son. Whatever it takes. Leave it on the field.
The “Ship of Theseus” irony here is that Argentina’s current “outside” identity is represented not by Simeone father or son but instead by little old Lio Messi, the least likely Argentine footballer around. That delicate, lethal left foot! The subtle slithering runs with the ball! The walking! None of that is classic Argentina. It is entirely Messi.
But beneath Messi’s stylish boy-like exterior, as we all have seen, is the spirit of Argentina. He has an iron Argentine will, no matter his age, no matter where he lives or plays his club football. And we saw it again, yesterday, in both Argentine goals. England let their guard down, swapping midfielders and attackers for defenders with 20 minutes to go. Didn’t Tuchel watch Argentina v Egypt? v Switzerland? Give these people an inch, and they will take a mile. And they did.
Fútbol is life!
July 19
World Cup 2026: Once more into the breach edition:
Yesterday’s “bronze” match was unexpectedly exhilarating and exhausting, and that was just the watching. At halftime I sat back said predicted a 4-2 finish. I was right about the 4 goals. Wrong about the team that scored them. Jude Bellingham seemed to sweep in at the last minute and declare: I’ve got this. And he did. That was an unbelievable run.
I fully expect that today’s match will exceed that standard. The 2022 final was incredible. This one may be better.
Argentina don’t have Spain’s fluidity but they have competitive lethality, and Spain have not yet had to deal with a team that sticks around … and sticks around … and seems to get stronger and stronger during the last 15 minutes.
But no predictions.
Fútbol is life!
July 20
World Cup 2026, finally:
We have a winner.
Shakira, Burna Boy, the PS 22 Chorus.
In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
Thanks for reading.
Fútbol is life!
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