# 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:** 77
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1521 "2026-06-22T16:48:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You honestly ask @Frodo this question? Haven’t you read the thread? 😂 (or any other football thread) That question was certainly in jest. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1522 "2026-06-22T16:50:53Z")
So what do you all think? Does Austria stand a chance against Argentina? Ralf Rangnick is a very experienced and skilled coach, and his team has performed quite well since he took over. And most of their players play or have formerly played in the Bundesliga, so it’s a very experienced squad. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1523 "2026-06-22T16:56:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That question was certainly in jest. If that’s the case, I apologize, I’m sometimes easily whooshed… 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1524 "2026-06-22T17:09:12Z")
Now Messi’s big chance to break the Klose record! ETA: and he fucking misses!!! Miserably so! Unbelievable, poor @Frodo! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1525 "2026-06-22T17:11:32Z")
It’s a joint record, not Klose’s record. Not a great PK, obviously. Messi got a lot of flack for being poor at PKs early in his career but had improved a lot in his later years. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1526 "2026-06-22T17:25:58Z")
Seems to be a very stop start game so far . The advert break doesn’t help . ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1527 "2026-06-22T17:28:56Z")
Do you all also always think “what a neck beard!” whenever the Austrian player with the chin/jaw mask is displayed? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1528 "2026-06-22T17:33:33Z")
Messi a little snakebitten? Argentina might be concentrating on Messi a little much. Martinez attempted a bad pass because of it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1529 "2026-06-22T17:34:42Z")
He’s quite invisible so far. But this can always change in an instant with a player like him. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1530 "2026-06-22T17:38:03Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Argentina might be concentrating on Messi a little much. Martinez attempted a bad pass because of it. I was going to say that Argentina seems more focused on getting Messi a goal than getting Argentina a goal. ETA: which I guess worked out in the end… ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1531 "2026-06-22T17:40:05Z")
Messi’s scored that exact goal 200 times in his life. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1532 "2026-06-22T17:40:44Z")
Damn, one walk to the loo, and I missed his record setting goal… ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1533 "2026-06-22T17:46:34Z")
Messi’s my favorite athlete of any type of all time, but even I think these announcers need to cool it and talk about other people too. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1534 "2026-06-22T17:48:31Z")
I agree. And I thought this was just a US thing, but Telemundo (or Peacock) is similar. I guess you need to sell a story line. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1535 "2026-06-22T18:09:57Z")
Or even more than a story give some tactical analysis (this is my number 1 gripe with all sports commentary). ---
**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:** [June 22, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1536 "2026-06-22T18:14:01Z")
One thing I like about Stu Holden, who actually played, is he drops in comments about field positioning (e.g. players dragging their markers out of position to create space) or set pieces. The other day he pointed out in a game that two corners had come into the near post and that looking at where people stood on the next corner that they were going to block a marker out and go to the far post, which is exactly what happened. This is a level of analysis I appreciate. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1537 "2026-06-22T18:37:27Z")
They’ve been the better team and are winning, but this game doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence for a deep Argentina run. Minus the penalty Argentina has only generated like 0.4 xG ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1538 "2026-06-22T18:44:56Z")
I still fancy Argentina to win the whole thing. Assuming Messi stays fit that is. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1539 "2026-06-22T18:52:51Z")
One of the great storylines in this Cup will be the competition between Messi and Mbappe not just for the Golden Boot but the all-time record. Mbappe probably felt pretty good after his first game with two goals which pulled him ahead of Messi’s lifetime total but then Messi fired back spectacularly with three goals and now one to beat Klose’s record. He is now 3 ahead of Mbappe but that could vanish in one game. Of course in the long run, barring some catastrophe, the career record will probably be Mbappe’s and he may well create a mark that will last decades. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/1540 "2026-06-22T18:53:43Z")
I reckon Mbappe has one more World Cup in him, so he better be fit for it if he wants that record. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962.md?page=78)