2022 FIFA World Cup

[JayhawkCO]

Oh my what a finish!

USA advances as 2nd place in Group B and plays the Netherlands Saturday at 10am ET. England win Group A and face Senegal Saturday at 2pm ET.

Final Group B table:

England 7
USA 5
Iran 3
Wales 1

Despite Gregg's woooooeful substitutions. Shaq Moore and Haji Wright were horrific.

[1995hoo]

I believe "Iran" is more properly spelled "Also Ran."

[NWI_Irish96]

Oh my what a finish!

USA advances as 2nd place in Group B and plays the Netherlands Saturday at 10am ET. England win Group A and face Senegal Saturday at 2pm ET.

Final Group B table:

England 7
USA 5
Iran 3
Wales 1

Despite Gregg's woooooeful substitutions. Shaq Moore and Haji Wright were horrific.

Their strikers are so bad, why not just put Aaronson out in Weah's spot and let Weah be a false 9?

[thspfc]

A big reason why Iran was able to build up so freely and consistently in the last ~25 minutes was how far the US forwards and wingers, particularly Wright, were dropping into defense. The difference between 10 and 9 players sitting behind the ball in the defensive third is little to none. With that many it becomes difficult to coordinate the defensive effort since organization goes out the window and everyone is expecting everyone else to do their job. Wright should have stayed higher to put pressure on Iran's center backs following clearances. And in a back 5, which the US switched to, wingers shouldn't have to do the jobs of fullbacks. Dropping so deep 1) allowed Iran to get the ball back up quickly and easily, and 2) gave us no chance of holding the ball.

So in short, I think the team panicked defensively late in the game, which often leads to giving up goals. There should have been a calming influence from one of the players, but with it being such a young team (missing Pulisic at that), it's not surprising that there wasn't.

In the end, it doesn't matter. They're through. Netherlands is very beatable, and I think a performance similar to the England game would earn a victory against Netherlands.

My predictions are 4/4 so far, with the order being correct except for 3. Wales and 4. Iran.

[JayhawkCO]

Their strikers are so bad, why not just put Aaronson out in Weah's spot and let Weah be a false 9?

Or maybe play arguably our best player, Gio Reyna?

[JayhawkCO]

A big reason why Iran was able to build up so freely and consistently in the last ~25 minutes was how far the US forwards and wingers, particularly Wright, were dropping into defense. The difference between 10 and 9 players sitting behind the ball in the defensive third is little to none. With that many it becomes difficult to coordinate the defensive effort since organization goes out the window and everyone is expecting everyone else to do their job. Wright should have stayed higher to put pressure on Iran's center backs following clearances. And in a back 5, which the US switched to, wingers shouldn't have to do the jobs of fullbacks. Dropping so deep 1) allowed Iran to get the ball back up quickly and easily, and 2) gave us no chance of holding the ball.

So in short, I think the team panicked defensively late in the game, which often leads to giving up goals. There should have been a calming influence from one of the players, but with it being such a young team (missing Pulisic at that), it's not surprising that there wasn't.

In the end, it doesn't matter. They're through. Netherlands is very beatable, and I think a performance similar to the England game would earn a victory against Netherlands.

My predictions are 4/4 so far, with the order being correct except for 3. Wales and 4. Iran.

I think the worst part of our play late game was due to the substitutions. Haji Wright did literally nothing well. He didn't hold the ball up; he didn't apply any pressure. When he got the ball, instead of making a decent pass or dribbling to the corner flag, he tried a shot that I could have accomplished just as well. Shaq Moore did nothing well either. He didn't use his pace to intercept a pass; he ignored Turner's call and headed an easy to read ball out for an unnecessary corner.

Switching to a 5-4-1 was also just horrible given how horrible our "1" was. Zimmerman was fine, but putting in Reyna would have allowed us to have possession when Iran wasted theirs and would relieve the pressure on the back without sitting back and absorbing. CCV and Ream were doing just fine back there and didn't appear to be tiring like our midfielders so it was the midfield who could have used more help.

[webny99]

I believe "Iran" is more properly spelled "Also Ran."

I(also)ran 

[NWI_Irish96]

Their strikers are so bad, why not just put Aaronson out in Weah's spot and let Weah be a false 9?

Or maybe play arguably our best player, Gio Reyna?

A big reason why Iran was able to build up so freely and consistently in the last ~25 minutes was how far the US forwards and wingers, particularly Wright, were dropping into defense. The difference between 10 and 9 players sitting behind the ball in the defensive third is little to none. With that many it becomes difficult to coordinate the defensive effort since organization goes out the window and everyone is expecting everyone else to do their job. Wright should have stayed higher to put pressure on Iran's center backs following clearances. And in a back 5, which the US switched to, wingers shouldn't have to do the jobs of fullbacks. Dropping so deep 1) allowed Iran to get the ball back up quickly and easily, and 2) gave us no chance of holding the ball.

So in short, I think the team panicked defensively late in the game, which often leads to giving up goals. There should have been a calming influence from one of the players, but with it being such a young team (missing Pulisic at that), it's not surprising that there wasn't.

In the end, it doesn't matter. They're through. Netherlands is very beatable, and I think a performance similar to the England game would earn a victory against Netherlands.

My predictions are 4/4 so far, with the order being correct except for 3. Wales and 4. Iran.

I think the worst part of our play late game was due to the substitutions. Haji Wright did literally nothing well. He didn't hold the ball up; he didn't apply any pressure. When he got the ball, instead of making a decent pass or dribbling to the corner flag, he tried a shot that I could have accomplished just as well. Shaq Moore did nothing well either. He didn't use his pace to intercept a pass; he ignored Turner's call and headed an easy to read ball out for an unnecessary corner.

Switching to a 5-4-1 was also just horrible given how horrible our "1" was. Zimmerman was fine, but putting in Reyna would have allowed us to have possession when Iran wasted theirs and would relieve the pressure on the back without sitting back and absorbing. CCV and Ream were doing just fine back there and didn't appear to be tiring like our midfielders so it was the midfield who could have used more help.

Pulisic and Weah are both plalying well, so you aren't taking them away. Aaronson has been the first sub over Reyna for whatever reason. I'd start all three of Pulisic, Weah and Aaronson up front and have Reyna be the first sub off the bench.

Sargent can subbed in if they fall behind.

As for the back, no more Moore. Use Yedlin if you need to sub off Dest or Robinson.

[Bruce]

Reyna is injury-prone and a risk. Saving him for the Round of 16 may be the smarter move.

7 am on Saturday is something I'm not looking forward to. As long as the 2030 World Cup is awarded to the right bid (Southern Cone), the next two will be in much better times for us West Coasters.

[thspfc]

Reyna is injury-prone and a risk. Saving him for the Round of 16 may be the smarter move.

You don't save anyone for anything at the World Cup. It's too short for comfort to begin with. The only possible exception is if you're already locked into the round of 16 before the final group game. In that scenario it's understandable to rest a star player if they're slightly hurt.

[NWI_Irish96]

Final Group D table:

France 6 (+3)
Australia 6 (-1)
Tunisia 4
Denmark 1

Australia is a potential quarterfinal matchup for the US if both can pull upsets in the round of 16.

[JayhawkCO]

Pulisic and Weah are both plalying well, so you aren't taking them away. Aaronson has been the first sub over Reyna for whatever reason. I'd start all three of Pulisic, Weah and Aaronson up front and have Reyna be the first sub off the bench.

Sargent can subbed in if they fall behind.

As for the back, no more Moore. Use Yedlin if you need to sub off Dest or Robinson.

Give me:
                   Sargent (If healthy)
           Pulisic         Weah
     Aaronson               Reyna
                   Adams
Robinson  Ream   Carter-Vickers Dest
                   Turner

McKennie and Musah sit. McKennie hasn't looked great for me this tourney and while Musah is everywhere, he tired super quickly last game so he can be first sub. If Sargent can't play, put in Musah and put Weah and Aaronson up front with Pulisic tucked in behind.

[NWI_Irish96]

Final Group C table:

Argentina 6
Poland 4 (+/- 0)
Mexico 4 (-1)
Saudi Arabia 3

Mexico came up one goal short of advancing. Argentina faces Australia in the Round of 16, with the winner meeting the USA/Netherlands winner in the quarterfinals. Poland gets France in the Round of 16, with the winner facing the England/Senegal winner in the quarterfinals.

[Alps]

Pulisic and Weah are both plalying well, so you aren't taking them away. Aaronson has been the first sub over Reyna for whatever reason. I'd start all three of Pulisic, Weah and Aaronson up front and have Reyna be the first sub off the bench.

Sargent can subbed in if they fall behind.

As for the back, no more Moore. Use Yedlin if you need to sub off Dest or Robinson.

When they were both subbed off at the exact same time, that was the Weah Dest moment of our IR game. (:

[NWI_Irish96]

Final Group F table:

Morocco 7
Croatia 5
Belgium 4
Canada 0

Big shock that Belgium fail to advance. Canada join Qatar in exiting without registering a single point.

[NWI_Irish96]

Final Group E table:

Japan 6
Spain 4 (+6)
Germany 4 (+1)
Costa Rica 3

Japan plays Croatia and Spain faces Morocco in the Round of 16.

[JayhawkCO]

Final Group E table:

Japan 6
Spain 4 (+6)
Germany 4 (+1)
Costa Rica 3

Japan plays Croatia and Spain faces Morocco in the Round of 16.

For a few minutes when Costa Rica was winning, Spain AND Germany were both out.

[thspfc]

So much to unpack from today's games.

First off, group E is the embodiment of why you run up the score at tournaments like this. The USWNT was bashed hard for not letting up against Thailand in 2019. Admittedly, the difference between Spain's 7-0 vs. Costa Rica and 13-0 isn't much in terms of benefit since it's such a large margin either way, but as long as you have the opportunity to cushion your position a little more, why not do it? Some would say that it was pretty much a guarantee that the USWNT was going to advance out of that group anyways, but could the same not be said of Spain after they thrashed CRC? Nobody predicted that Spain would only take 1 point from their final two matches, and if it weren't for how they piled it onto CRC, they wouldn't have advanced. Not to mention that the CRC/Germany game could easily have been a blowout in Germany's favor, as Germany hit the post no fewer than three times and had many other excellent chances on top of the four they scored.

Spain, though, might rather face Morocco than Croatia, who Japan will face. Spain will have no trouble holding possession against Morocco. It should be a breeze if they finish their chances and don't make major defensive mistakes. But today showed that those are big "ifs".

Speaking of Morocco, I picked them to advance  Belgium is washed.

Overall it's just been a very weird group stage. 3 of 6 group winners thus far have a loss, which is unusual. But through all the chaos it's hard to dispute that the teams who made it through are the ones who have earned it (aside from Poland who put in an awful performance against Argentina, but Mexico weren't too impressive either).

[JayhawkCO]

The only major critique I have of yours is that Morocco, to me, is pretty clearly the worst team in that group.

@OldTakesExposed

[Bruce]

Japan's second goal was judged to be valid because the ball was a millimeter in bounds:



The 3 minutes where Costa Rica looked like they were going through were also hilarious.

[GaryV]

Final Group E table:

Japan 6
Spain 4 (+6)
Germany 4 (+1)
Costa Rica 3

Japan plays Croatia and Spain faces Morocco in the Round of 16.

For a few minutes when Costa Rica was winning, Spain AND Germany were both out.

And if Spain had managed to score in extra time, they would have knocked Japan out.

[webny99]

I saw a take today that the World Cup is now a bigger deal in the US than the World Series. I haven't followed soccer at all, but curious if anyone thinks that's true, and/or has any thoughts on the apparent shift.

[ran4sh]

It's not. Especially for matches that don't involve USA

[thspfc]

I saw a take today that the World Cup is now a bigger deal in the US than the World Series. I haven't followed soccer at all, but curious if anyone thinks that's true, and/or has any thoughts on the apparent shift.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's true, but if the World Series only happened once every four years, it would be bigger than the World Cup here for sure.

[jeffandnicole]

I saw a take today that the World Cup is now a bigger deal in the US than the World Series. I haven't followed soccer at all, but curious if anyone thinks that's true, and/or has any thoughts on the apparent shift.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's true, but if the World Series only happened once every four years, it would be bigger than the World Cup here for sure.

This is along my lines.  If the USA is in the cup, then it's sort of like the Olympics - a lot more people will care.  If there's certain regions that have a large number of people from a certain country that's in, they will care.  But otherwise, while the World Series will mostly have fans from the cities that are playing, a decent portion of the country will care.

Overall though, it's a passing interest many people have, but they won't necessarily go out of their way to watch it.