# FIFA World Cup 2026 - discussion etc **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-soccer-fifa\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962 "2025-10-14T15:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 208
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4141 "2026-07-12T16:42:35Z")
You say fallacy I say creative exageration 😃 > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Justice and avoiding bitterness is important for me. Aestetics and unbridled joy is important for you. This is so close to the right argument that we may close it there and be satisfied in respecting each other’s righ to be wrong wrong wrong 😃 . (However I don’t the see the “avoiding bitterness” part anywhere, more the opposite to be honest) ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4142 "2026-07-12T16:59:42Z")
I’m not sure I dare ask why such a fear of losing to England exists! I don’t want to stray off topic so I won’t ask further questions! Whatever happens I just really hope it isn’t a controversial VAR decision that is crucial. Can you believe Messi has never played England, it’s incredible. The last time we played was a fantastic ‘friendly’ back in 2005, when Michael Owen (presumably not Mr Popular in Buenos Aires) scored a late winner. I guess Messi hadn’t quite become a regular at that point? He has of course played against many English club sides. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4143 "2026-07-12T17:05:57Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > I’m not sure I dare ask why such a fear of losing to England exists! I don’t want to stray off topic so I won’t ask further questions! It strays into the extra-footballistic (is that a word? in Spanish we say “Extra-futbolistico”) for sure. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Whatever happens I just really hope it isn’t a controversial VAR decision that is crucial. Whereas many here are trying to find a way to replicate the Hand of God without VAR being the spoiler 😃 (not really, but some of the jokes in that direction begin to feel like “ha ha, only serious”). > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Can you believe Messi has never played England, it’s incredible. It is, I am as atheistic and rational as they come, in almost all aspects of life
 but in football, I don’t know man, some things can make anyone doubt his (lack of) faith. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Michael Owen (presumably not Mr Popular in Buenos Aires) There’s no particular animosity against Owen here, the only thing against him being the shirt he wears in international Football, in fact the most common commentary on him was “Fuck! the English got a Pibe of their own” ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4144 "2026-07-12T19:02:58Z")
So there are people calling the two semifinals “The Peninsular War” and “The Falkland Islands War” due to the participants. Out of four possible finals, only one would have no previous war between the opponents - France vs. Argentina. England’s gone to war with France and Spain more times than you can count on your fingers, and Argentina’s _guerra de la independencia_ threw off the Spanish yoke just over two centuries ago. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4145 "2026-07-12T19:09:32Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > Nope, French and English fleets were involved in a war with Argentina in the mid 19th century for control of the fluvial commerce in the Parana and Uruguay rivers. > Argentina sort of “won” that war by outlasting them and making the whole enterprise unprofitable, even if most, if not all, the battles were won by the Anglo-French forces. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4146 "2026-07-12T19:13:17Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > It may be of interest that the term guerrilla warfare (_guerra de guerrillas_) was allegedly first **[coined](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare#Etymology)** during the Napoleonic Wars in Spain, which we call Spain’s Independence War (**[Guerra de la Independencia Española](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_la_Independencia_espa%C3%B1ola)**) (curious that you call them Peninsular War, but yes, it makes sense seen from abroad). Napoleon even claimed that his downfall was due to the guerrilas in Spain, not to the much bloodier defeats in Russia. We’ll see soon whether that is a good omen for Spain. > > > [@SunUp](#): > > > > Argentina’s _guerra de la independencia_ threw off the Spanish yoke just over two centuries ago > > I would not have put it that way. **Frodo** , perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4147 "2026-07-12T19:18:25Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > > which we call Spain’s Independence War > > With the paradoxical result that when I googled “Guerra de la indepencia” it brought me results about Spain as the “independizing” country, which from a South American perspective is just _wrong_ > > I get why it’s called that, but it still looks iffy to me, like they are trying to get into the independence band-wagon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4148 "2026-07-12T19:25:34Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > > I would not have put it that way. **Frodo** , perhaps. > > > [@Frodo](#): > > > > With the paradoxical result that when I googled “Guerra de la indepencia” it brought me results about Spain as the “independizing” country, which from a South American perspective is just _wrong_ > > Different perspectives 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4149 "2026-07-12T19:39:42Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > If you look for **[Guerra de la Independencia Argentina](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_la_Independencia_Argentina)** (or **[Argentine War of Independence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_War_of_Independence)** in English) you will find that it was not a war between Spain and Argentina, but a civil war between Argentinian Spanish Loyalists who called themselves **[realistas](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ej%C3%A9rcito_realista_en_Am%C3%A9rica)** (that is: royalists, not realists) and Argentinian Independentists, who called themselves patriots. > There was no war between Spain and Argentina, Spain was an occupied country. Of the four nations in the semi-finals I would claim that Spain and Argentina are the only two who have never fought a war against each other. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4150 "2026-07-12T19:45:54Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > But those Spanish Loyalists were fighting for Spain and all Spanish authorities were on their side, the fact that no peninsular troops were employed (because, as you say they were otherwise occupied fighting the French) doesn’t make the Spanish colonial troops fighting for Spain less Spanish. > But let’s stop this hijack here or we’ll spend the rest of the world cup in it. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4151 "2026-07-12T19:48:29Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Frodo](#): > > > > But let’s stop this hijack here > > Why? We’ve got plenty of time, the next game is the day after tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4152 "2026-07-12T19:51:19Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Well then I must be foolish
 Count me in your corner on this **Frodo**. (Of course when England and Argentina meet on the pitch, that’s where we part ways.) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4153 "2026-07-12T19:54:40Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > > Why? We’ve got plenty of time, the next game is the day after tomorrow. > > I don’t think the rest of the people in this thread want to see us fight the war again for 20 posts, may be a new thread? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4154 "2026-07-12T19:54:51Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > (Of course when England and Argentina meet on the pitch, that’s where we part ways.) As is good and proper! ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4155 "2026-07-12T19:58:27Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Frodo](#): > > > > Nope, French and English fleets were involved in a war with Argentina in the mid 19th century for control of the fluvial commerce in the Parana and Uruguay rivers. > > (Poking my head up from a rabbit hole) This was an outgrowth of The War of the Confederation? I guess if you have to sign a peace treaty to end it, it qualifies as a war
 and a blockade is certainly an act of war. > > > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > > (curious that you call them Peninsular War, but yes, it makes sense seen from abroad) > > In particular, it’s a very _English_ way of looking at “the Spanish ulcer” as Napoleon put it. > > Wellington made his fame on the Peninsula, which meant British authors were more invested in it than with the various battles of Central Europe - the Austerlitzes, Wagrams, and the like. The other piece of the Napoleonic Wars that loom large in the British imagination is Trafalgar, a potential direct threat to England itself. > > It gave the British a very peripheral view of war in Europe, one that they had to give up in WWI and field a large army in Flanders, though they still employed troops in peripheral operations like Gallipoli, Macedonia, the Levant and Mesopotomia. That experience caused a great deal of butting heads between the U.S. in determining priorities for WWII, where the British wanted to employ the peninsula-type strategy and the U.S. wanted to go for the heart of Germany as soon as possible. > > Anyway that’s a hijack of a hijack
 > > > [@Frodo](#): > > > > But those Spanish Loyalists were fighting for Spain and all Spanish authorities were on their side > > I would also note that Spain continued to claim Argentina as its possession for several decades afterward. (Though the English crown claimed France for 460 years, so
) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4156 "2026-07-12T20:00:17Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@SunUp](#): > > > > and a blockade is certainly an act of war. > > There were actual shots fired and troops disembarked fighting hand to hand, it was a proper war. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4157 "2026-07-12T20:01:19Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@SunUp](#): > > > > Anyway that’s a hijack of a hijack
 > > I’m lovin’ it! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4158 "2026-07-12T21:06:44Z")
[Moderating] I know that soccer hooliganism can get pretty bad, but I think that what counts as a war, of what sort, between whom, is a little too off-topic for the World Cup thread. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4159 "2026-07-13T02:55:33Z")
My posts were about VAR not war. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/4160 "2026-07-13T02:56:48Z")
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