2026 World Cup

[VeguerosMAN]

Egypt conceded 3 goals in12 minutes. No excuse. 

[Astro70s]

16 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

that is all fine and most of my ancestors are english (were english?). i lived there for several years late 80s, studied and worked. some of the best times of my life. still have extremely close friends from then. but during that period, england won an Ashes series in Australia. i would have poms lining up outside my office to endlessly take the piss. would not have been so bad if they were mates but most of them i had never met, nor did they bother to even introduce themselves (that was a regular theme in england, which as an Aussie, i found bizarre). day after day. and they laid into me, our cricket team, australia in general and convicts (most poms seem to be under the bizarre impression that all Aussies are born in jail - they conveniently forget that all the convicts here 200 years ago all came from england). it was relentless (speaking of the intolerant) and little i could do but grin and bear it. i could give other examples but that was more than enough, as much as i might love the place, to ensure that you could not come up with a team in any event, from anywhere, that i would not back if they were playing england.

lazy and outdated, i would dispute that. predictable, sure. 

at least we agreed on spain today. 

I hear you Ken. Again, I view that "Aussie convict" stuff equally as lazy and inaccurate, and am sorry that you experienced this relentlessly when you were over here. A great many of us are not like that. 

Myself and what’s left of my family are currently going through a rough patch as my sister is seriously ill, and I was slightly triggered by your post, which caused me to snap. 

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for you guys on this fine forum, and will avoid politics from now on. 

[99call]

13 hours ago, Astro70s said:

I hear you Ken. Again, I view that "Aussie convict" stuff equally as lazy and inaccurate, and am sorry that you experienced this relentlessly when you were over here. A great many of us are not like that. 

Myself and what’s left of my family are currently going through a rough patch as my sister is seriously ill, and I was slightly triggered by your post, which caused me to snap. 

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for you guys on this fine forum, and will avoid politics from now on. 

I wish you and your sister the very best, I hope things get better for you.

[El Presidente]

13 hours ago, 99call said:

I wish you and your sister the very best, I hope things get better for you. 

Amen 🙏

[Ken Gargett]

3 hours ago, Astro70s said:

I hear you Ken. Again, I view that "Aussie convict" stuff equally as lazy and inaccurate, and am sorry that you experienced this relentlessly when you were over here. A great many of us are not like that. 

Myself and what’s left of my family are currently going through a rough patch as my sister is seriously ill, and I was slightly triggered by your post, which caused me to snap. 

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for you guys on this fine forum, and will avoid politics from now on. 

first, very sorry to hear about your sister and i wish her all the best and a quick recovery. things like that certainly put a game of soccer, or game of anything, into perspective.

next, absolutely no offence taken by your post. i responded in some detail so you would be aware that there was a reason (whether a good one or not might be debatable) behind it. i am all too aware that a great many people, on both sides, simply take the position. there will always be a huge rivalry between the nations. sport does that - hell, for two weeks before our origin series, i will not let a car with a nsw number plate cut in and i try and avoid nsw wines. 

and as i said, my time in england was some of the best in my life and i still have some very close friends from there who i catch up with when i can. 

[Ken Gargett]

one comment on the actual world cup. is there an uglier trophy on the planet? seriously, who saw that and thought it would be good to roll it out every four years? it looks like a blind child took a half melted easter egg and wrapped cheap gold alfoil around it and then dropped it a few times. 

[Fugu]

18 hours ago, VeguerosMAN said:

Rodri won golden ball for scoring 0 and assisting 0. Messi should have won it, in my opinion.

That’s not what you expect as the prime task of a holding midfielder and playmaker. Going by your logic only offensive players would be eligible for honours. Which, alas, in actual practice it mostly is…

But I concur, Messi had been a worthy contender, judging by his previous appearances. But not in this final, with Spain putting him largely out of game.

On 7/20/2026 at 11:08 AM, Ken Gargett said:

agreed with rob on shakira

She’s sweet, still! 😊

[VeguerosMAN]

Deep down English fans are glad that the World Cup isn't coming home yet again. 😁😁

[LaoFan]

On 7/20/2026 at 12:28 AM, ha_banos said:

Just watched the final with @LaoFan. We were the only Argentina fans in the joint. Only because of his gambling! Lol The stats showed a total Spanish domination. But still only one ET goal. Nuts. Sorry buddy. And thanks for the cigar!

Was an absolute ballache to watch seeing my hard earned benjamins being burnt minute by minute 🤣

But good smokes, solid beers, and great company brother!

[ha_banos]

4 hours ago, LaoFan said:

Was an absolute ballache to watch seeing my hard earned benjamins being burnt minute by minute 🤣

But good smokes, solid beers, and great company brother!

Cheers dude. Good to meet you! Singing Ludacris at the people standing in front of the screen not one of my best ideas in that scenario.  But I think I read the room enough! Phew! Just glad we found somewhere!