Whale.io 🐳 | ⚽ FIFA World Cup 2026: Tournament Discussion Thread

[JollyGood]

RESULTS LAST UPDATED 7TH JULY:

Sunday 28th June
South Africa 0-1 Canada

Monday 29th June
Brazil 2-1 Japan
Germany 1-1 Paraguay (Paraguay won 4-3 on penalties)

Tuesday 30th June
Netherlands 1-1 Morocco (Morocco won 3-2 on penalties)
Ivory Coast 1-2 Norway
France 3-0 Sweden

Wednesday 1st July
Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
England 2-1 DR Congo

Thursday 2nd July
United States of America 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Spain 3-0 Austria

Friday 3rd July
Portugal 2-1 Croatia
Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
Australia 1-1 Egypt (Egypt won 4-2 on penalties)
Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde (AET)


Saturday 4th July
Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Canada 0-3 Morocco
Paraguay 0-1 France

Sunday 5th July
Brazil 1-2 Norway

Monday 6th July
Mexico 2-3 England
Portugal 0-1 Spain

Tuesday 7th July
United States of America 1-4 Belgium
Argentina 3-2 Egypt

[tokeweed]

^  I think you got the matches mixed up.  We're done with the Ro16 and it's the quarter finals next.

These are the matches:

France vs Morocco
Spain vs Belgium
Norway vs England
Argentina vs Switzerland

Tbqh I think these underdogs could win at any given time.  But the underdog with the most chance of winning could be Norway imho.  Already made a small bet at Hyperliquid's outcome market.

[JollyGood]

^  I think you got the matches mixed up.  We're done with the Ro16 and it's the quarter finals next.

The final round of 16 match between  Switzerland and Colombia ended with the Swiss winning 4-3 on penalties. Here are the quarter-final fixtures:

Thursday 9th July
France vs Morocco

Friday 10th July
Spain vs Belgium

Saturday 11th July
Norway vs England

Sunday 12th July
Argentina vs Switzerland

Spain will have a difficult match because Belgium have started playing very well. Also, after what we witnessed when Argentina played Cape Verde and then Egypt, will be really be surprised if Switzerland beat Argentina?

[igebotz]

Spain will have a difficult match because Belgium have started playing very well. Also, after what we witnessed when Argentina played Cape Verde and then Egypt, will be really be surprised if Switzerland beat Argentina?

I've never seen Argentina struggles with teams from Europe in a competitive games; their problem has always been teams from South America that was why most European fans wanted Colombia to win instead of Switzerland cause they're would have had a better chance against Argentina..

Switzerland would not be a much trouble to them,. they're a good team but I see a lot of weaknesses Messi could exploit.

[tokeweed]

^  I think you got the matches mixed up.  We're done with the Ro16 and it's the quarter finals next.

The final round of 16 match between  Switzerland and Colombia ended with the Swiss winning 4-3 on penalties. Here are the quarter-final fixtures:

Thursday 9th July
France vs Morocco

Friday 10th July
Spain vs Belgium

Saturday 11th July
Norway vs England

Sunday 12th July
Argentina vs Switzerland

Spain will have a difficult match because Belgium have started playing very well. Also, after what we witnessed when Argentina played Cape Verde and then Egypt, will be really be surprised if Switzerland beat Argentina?

From what I've seen, Egypt was playing well against Argentina until the final minutes of the match when it looked like Egypt allowed those goals to come on from the opposing side.  Dunno tho...  But I'm not saying the game was rigged or anything like that.  Just a very unlikely scenario.

Not gonna bet against Argentina tho.  The only bet I made thus far is on Norway.  I might make another bet on Belgium.  Those two teams are prolly the two most live underdogs in the quarter finals.

[igebotz]

From what I've seen, Egypt was playing well against Argentina until the final minutes of the match when it looked like Egypt allowed those goals to come on from the opposing side.  Dunno tho...  But I'm not saying the game was rigged or anything like that.  Just a very unlikely scenario.

Not gonna bet against Argentina tho.  The only bet I made thus far is on Norway.  I might make another bet on Belgium.  Those two teams are prolly the two most live underdogs in the quarter finals.

Egypt got distracted, maybe the coach thought it was already over and started making some unnecessary subs, conceded the first goal and lost their head and shape. I blame coaches in situations like that because how do you stay composed for 78mins but could not do it for the final 12 mins to defend a 2-0 lead?

With this Argentina side it's never over until the final whistle - they're tactically disciplined, other teams would have lost their heads after the Egypt second goal but they didn't.

The Egypt coach is a bitter loser, whenever he loses a game he blames the refs.

[JollyGood]

Switzerland would not be a much trouble to them,. they're a good team but I see a lot of weaknesses Messi could exploit.

I cannot explain further but I have a feeling Switzerland will win 2-0 

From what I've seen, Egypt was playing well against Argentina until the final minutes of the match when it looked like Egypt allowed those goals to come on from the opposing side.  Dunno tho...  But I'm not saying the game was rigged or anything like that.  Just a very unlikely scenario.

Not gonna bet against Argentina tho.  The only bet I made thus far is on Norway.  I might make another bet on Belgium.  Those two teams are prolly the two most live underdogs in the quarter finals.

There is a simple rule, as long as a team has not been knocked out, there is a chance they could win the World Cup.

This World Cup has had moments that brought happiness and other moments that brought sheer frustration. I suppose that applies to every competition including the Premier League over the course of a season however when it relates to the World Cup, I seem to become unusually animated when important events occur on the pitch. Are you behaving that way too?

[tokeweed]

From what I've seen, Egypt was playing well against Argentina until the final minutes of the match when it looked like Egypt allowed those goals to come on from the opposing side.  Dunno tho...  But I'm not saying the game was rigged or anything like that.  Just a very unlikely scenario.

Not gonna bet against Argentina tho.  The only bet I made thus far is on Norway.  I might make another bet on Belgium.  Those two teams are prolly the two most live underdogs in the quarter finals.

Egypt got distracted, maybe the coach thought it was already over and started making some unnecessary subs, conceded the first goal and lost their head and shape. I blame coaches in situations like that because how do you stay composed for 78mins but could not do it for the final 12 mins to defend a 2-0 lead?

With this Argentina side it's never over until the final whistle - they're tactically disciplined, other teams would have lost their heads after the Egypt second goal but they didn't.

The Egypt coach is a bitter loser, whenever he loses a game he blames the refs.

Wouldn't be so surprised if it was rigged.  The FIFA brass are a bunch of corrupt mother fkrs...  But all in all, it's better to have Argentina in the quarter finals than seeing Egypt in it.  Lolol.

So yeah, I made my bets.  One for Norway and another one for Belgium.  Both bets made in Hyperliquid's outcome market.  If ever they give another big fat airdrop some time this year or in a couple of years, remember guys..  I told you so.

[JollyGood]

If Trump can telephone Infantino to protest about the red card shown to Balogun and then a short while later that red card being removed (and in the process facilitating the selection of Balogun for the next match against Belgium), then people around the world will have serious questions.

FIFA is supposed to have a neutrality position on politics and religion, yet it awarded Trump a peace award. This was their inaugural award and without doubt it breached FIFAs own rules. The NGO FairSquare has filed a complaint. It seems as though European politicians are supporting FairSquare in the complaint.

Wouldn't be so surprised if it was rigged.  The FIFA brass are a bunch of corrupt mother fkrs...  But all in all, it's better to have Argentina in the quarter finals than seeing Egypt in it.  Lolol.

So yeah, I made my bets.  One for Norway and another one for Belgium.  Both bets made in Hyperliquid's outcome market.  If ever they give another big fat airdrop some time this year or in a couple of years, remember guys..  I told you so.

[igebotz]

Wouldn't be so surprised if it was rigged.  The FIFA brass are a bunch of corrupt mother fkrs...  But all in all, it's better to have Argentina in the quarter finals than seeing Egypt in it.  Lolol.

So yeah, I made my bets.  One for Norway and another one for Belgium.  Both bets made in Hyperliquid's outcome market.  If ever they give another big fat airdrop some time this year or in a couple of years, remember guys..  I told you so.

It's highly impossible to rig games outcome for a particular team without all players getting involved - fixed matches only exists in lower divisions, never seen it on a professional level.

I only have problem with the refs in this tournament - it seems they're manipulating bookings for some personal gains.


Never liked Belgium since Hazard and Mertens retired - the current team is shit.

I have my money on Norway to knockout England tomorrow.

[JollyGood]

Here is another look at the quarter-final results and fixtures. France and Spain will play in the first semi-final:

Thursday 9th July
France 2-0 Morocco

Friday 10th July
Spain 2-1 Belgium

Saturday 11th July
Norway vs England

Sunday 12th July
Argentina vs Switzerland

The next match is played this evening. Norway beat Brazil and they have the players to beat England. Quite clearly, England also have the players to win the match and after beating Mexico they will be confident. Whatever happens, I cannot see this game going beyond 90 minutes.

[igebotz]

The next match is played this evening. Norway beat Brazil and they have the players to beat England. Quite clearly, England also have the players to win the match and after beating Mexico they will be confident. Whatever happens, I cannot see this game going beyond 90 minutes.

On paper, England is the favorite to win, but after seeing Norway defeat Brazil, I stopped underestimating them - they may approach the game the same way they did against Brazil: give England control, sit back and let them tire themselves before attacking in the second half. They have a robot, so it would just take a few attempts to score a goal.

It's a 50/50 game that could go anyway. I placed something on Norway to win. Let's see.