If you didn’t watch that game it was genuinely one of the weirdest I’ve ever seen.
Saudis played a suicidal high line and Argentina scored 3 offside goals in the first half. A few off by an inch or two. They could get in at will, Saudis got over half maybe once.
Then they scored 2 brilliant shots and Argentina lost their edge
I think Saudis, Qatar and Costa Rica are the 3 “lol how are they here” teams but they still have 2 wins between them somehow.
You could probably put Wales in that group too.
NPR did a podcast series on Messi/Argentine Immigrants called The Last Cup. Pretty good - talked about Messi’s career, how opinions of him in Argentina are more mixed than I would have originally thought.
In it, it mentioned that back when Messi was a teen, whichever international team someone first played for in a match with paying customers, that was the team the player had to play for going forward. Argentina set up a friendly quickly with few fans in the arena, just to lock up Messi (Spain was also hoping to get him, apparently, because he already lived there).
But - I guess if that’s true, it changed at some point, right? Because it looks like Yunus Musah originally represented England in international youth tourneys. Or is there a minimum age to make that decision?
Anyway - if Qatar / Saudi Arabia want to be soccer powerhouses, I wonder if they’ll ever start trying to give citizenship to young, talented, players and buy their international tournament rights. Or is something like that banned somehow in FIFA?
Even though Ramsey and Bale are 2-4 years past it, James, Allen, Ampadou, Neco Williams are top level quality. Disappointing no doubt, but I’d have them above Aussies and Mexico for talent.
Aussies obviously the big surprise to advance, congrats to them obviously.
There have been “Is Messi Argentinian or Catalan” arguments for over 15 years.
That was quick
Mexico very live
I don’t know if this is what happened with Musuh, but Wikipedia says there was a change to allow switching.
FIFA instituted a comprehensive revamp of the eligibility system in January 2021, giving players who might otherwise have been tied to a nationality through junior representation or even full national team caps the ability to switch to another nation.
And I guess they do have some phrasing to prevent someone like KSA buying players’ eligibility:
In 2004, in reaction to the growing trend towards naturalisation of foreign players in some countries, FIFA implemented a significant new ruling that requires a player to demonstrate a “clear connection” to any country they wish to represent.
If the points are tied and the goal differential is tied, what’s the next tie-breaker?
This tournament Ghana got some new players in in the last few weeks. Most were English born with Ghanaian parents I believe.
You used to be able to just have a relationship via a grandparent, that’s no longer the case.
donovan jjust said goals scored
goals scored and then result between them then a coin toss I believe
wow mexico
Es un milagro!
This year in the CL Benfica and PSG tied in points. They drew both their games together. Same goals for. Same goals against. It went to total away goals.
1 more and they’re in! (If Arg holds)
mexico guy kinda flopped
they showed the saudi goalie face after the 2nd mexico goal and he looked like he realized he has to figure out how to defect and get his family out
What a goal