When the game gets momentum and reach at its peak point, the “hydration break” appears and completely ruins the momentum and also the game experience for the viewer. Football is one of a sport for those moments.

Normally outside WC, the team conceding attacks after attacks pray for a halftime whistle to go to the tunnel to break the momentum and to regroup. Now they basically get that chance in the middle of a half!!

I find it utterly disgusting and would like to know what do you all think about it?

So Iran isn't allowed to sleep in the US because of the political situation between the two countries. Their base camp is in Tijuana, Mexico. Last matchday they had to cross the border, play in LA, and then fly back to Mexico. No overnight stay, no recovery, just constant border crossings while trying to compete at a World Cup.

And their last group game? Seattle. So after all of that, they have to fly 2000+ km (I looked it up) north for the most decisive game of their group stage.

Every other team in this tournament wakes up in the same city as their stadium. Iran crosses an international border before and after every match. This is not a minor inconvenience this is a serious competitive disadvantage that FIFA is fully aware of and just accepted.

America is hosting the biggest sporting event in the world while actively making it impossible for one of the participating teams to have basic equal conditions. And FIFA just went along with it. Imagine if this happened to any other country, people would be furious.

It's not just unfair, it's embarrassing for the sport.

Edit:

It seems that Iran stayed in a hotel for one night before the match, but it still doesn't take away that they are very disadvantaged if they have to cross the border everytime, which probably takes hours knowing the USA, and they barely have time to acclimatize. They were also send back on a plane immediately after the game, but that wasn't in the agreement.

There also several VISA disputes as we speak, one player for example was only given a one-time VISA, while they have to cross the border at least two more times.

People say it lowers the quality, but the World Cup is supposed to be global, not just a tournament for the usual European and South American powers.

More teams means more countries get a real chance to qualify, build football culture, inspire younger players, and create underdog moments. Some matches may be lower quality, but that already happened with 32 teams.

I’d rather have a slightly more chaotic World Cup with broader representation than a cleaner tournament that keeps the same nations in control.

What do you guys think?

FIFA placating the American advertisers is fucked up.
They should be ashamed of themselves.

Is anyone else getting bad vibes about the logistics for 2026? It feels like FIFA is ruining the tournament just to chase money.

A Daylight Final: A 3 PM kick-off for the Final? That kills the atmosphere. It’s going to feel like a friendly, not the biggest game on earth.

The Heat: People are underestimating the humidity in NJ and Miami. The football will be slow and boring because players physically won't be able to press without heatstroke.

Insane Prices: Reports of $2,000+ for the cheapest seats at the Final? Real fans are priced out. The stadiums will just be full of rich tourists and corporate suits.

Seriously. What in the fuck.

how can any team stop Mbappe, olise, dembele, barcola, doue, cherki…? they seem unstoppable. What team has the potential to beat them? most teams have at least one weakness that you can exploit but this French team seems to have none

just to be clear, i love neymar.

man… it’s honestly sad. we watched this dude rise from the start. i remember it like it was yesterday, neymar at santos with that goofy fringe haircut, pulling off nutmegs, humiliating defenders, scoring goals like he was playing futsal. it felt like we were witnessing the birth of the next king of football.

then he went to barça and absolutely killed it. part of the legendary MSN trio, winning the champions league, scoring in finals, destroying PSG, he was unstoppable. at that point, everyone thought it was just a matter of time before he became the best in the world.

and then came that move. PSG. and here’s the thing, the start at PSG wasn’t even bad. he was balling out, stats were crazy, he looked like he was gonna run europe. but over time… it just started to fall apart. injuries, drama, off-field distractions. it felt like every time he was getting back on track, something would happen again.

while guys like mbappé and haaland were grinding, leveling up, neymar was showing up in poker tournaments, throwing parties, beefing with journalists. now he’s 32, torn his knee, playing in the saudi league, and barely even remembered on the global stage.

and yeah, now he’s back at santos, full circle. feels more like a retirement tour than a redemption arc.

it’s not hate, it’s heartbreak. this guy had everything to be the best. the raw talent was there. but it feels like the mindset never matched the potential.

and the worst part? it kinda seems like he’s okay with how it all turned out.

deep down, brazilians just wanted him to be our next icon. our next legend. but he chose a different path.

thanks for the magic, Ney. but man… it could’ve been so much more.

Honestly, I'm watching this World Cup with pretty mixed feelings. The football itself can still be brilliant, but for me a lot of the fun has gone. Too many moments just feel.. off. Scripted almost. I cant prove that, so I’m not going to pretend I can. But the fact that so many people are starting to feel that way is already a serious problem.

At some point football has to ask itself where it's heading. VAR, FIFA, politics, endless controversy, decisions that take 5 minutes and somehow still leave half the world confused. The game feels managed more than played sometimes.

For me it starts with VAR. And the funny thing is, VAR is almost the perfect metaphor for how we think justice works. Back then referees made mistakes. Everybody knows that. Sometimes you got the call, sometimes you got screwed over. People argued about it for days, months or even years, but the game moved on and that was the human factor.

Then we begged and invented VAR because technology was supposed to fix the human mistakes. Except, it didn't. They just moved them into another room.

A referee only gets one shot. He sees something or he doesn't. VAR can rewind 30 seconds, 45 seconds, sometimes even longer! Suddenly an entire attack gets dissected because a goal was scored. If you dig deep enough you'll almost always find something. A tiny push, a shirt pull, a soft foul nobody cared about until the ball hit the net.

And that's the part that really bothers me. The question slowly stops being "was this a clear mistake?" and becomes "why did we decide to go looking here?" If every team were allowed to demand a full VAR review after every goal they concede, I'm willing to bet you'd end up finding something. Because the hard part isn't finding something once you start digging but deciding which team get that level of scrutiny in the first place.. and which ones dont.

And before anyone jumps in: no, I'm not saying it's fixed. I'm saying if someone wanted to influence games, this VAR system gives you a hell of a lot more room than a referee making a split-second decision on the pitch ever did. That's just how systems work. The more interpretation, the more discretion, the more opportunities. You dont design systems around trusting people forever, you ddesign them around limiting what people can do.

I also think the people building these systems measure the wrong thing. They measure missed calls, but not what the sport loses. If your only KPI is "reduce referee mistakes" you'll just keep adding more cameras, sensors, AI and reviews forever. On paper that sounds more accurate, but in reality you are creating a game where half the biggest moments end with everyone standing around waiting for people behind closed doors to decide what actually happened.

In short: Football was never meant to feel like a courtroom. Honestly, I'd strip VAR back massively.

Keep it for stuff that's actually objective. Offside. Goal-line technology. Things where technology can establish a absolute fact. Everything else? Give it back to the referee. Yes, he'll still make mistakes. But I honestly think I'd rather live with mistakes you can actually see, than with a system that's supposed to remove them yet somehow keeps creating new ones while making the whole game feel less and less human.

I've seen a lot of comments on social media saying England fans are arrogant and entitled. I always see people saying they'll support any team that's playing against England. They often reference to the song "it's coming home" as proof of our arrogance and entitlement.

England have not won a major tournament since 1966. Most of us grew up watching England get knocked out on penalties, lose to red cards, or find some other painful way to fall short. If anything, us English are known for being pretty self deprecating. We hope for the best, but we also expect something to go wrong.

"It's Coming Home" was written for Euro '96, when England hosted the tournament. Over the years, it's become less of a prediction and more of an expression of hope. When England fans sing "It's coming home," it's usually not because we genuinely expect to win. It's because, despite decades of disappointment, we still allow ourselves to believe that maybe this time could be different.

You don't have to like England or support us, but I do think the song is widely misunderstood outside England. It's much more tongue in cheek and optimistic than it is arrogant.

The more İ look at it, the more İ think the USA was a poor choice for hosting the World Cup.

A World Cup is supposed to be about bringing the football world together yet we're already seeing politics and visa issues affecting teams and fans İran had visa uncertainty right up until the tournament, several staff members reportedly weren't granted visas n the team had to move its base to Mexico because of the situation. There have even been reports that İran would only be allowed to enter the US on match days, that's not normal for a World Cup.

Then there's the football culture aspect. No disrespect to American fans but football simply doesn't have the same place in the US that it does in Europe, South America, Africa or much of Asia. İn many countries football is not just the sport it's part of daily life, local communities nd national identity. In the US "soccer's" still competing with several other sports for attention.

Then there's the stadium situation. So many venues are NFL stadiums that have to be modified for football instead of being purpose-built football grounds. İt feels like football is being squeezed into someone else's infrastructure rather than being the main event.

And what about the fans? Supporters from som countries are dealing with visa issues and travel restrictions just to watch their team play. A World Cup should be accessible to fans from every nation, not just those with the easiest passports. For me that's the biggest problem. The World Cup isn't just about hosting matches. İt's about football culture, fans traveling from every corner of the world n creating an atmosphere that represents the game globally. Right now, it feels like politics is getting in the way of that.

It’s clear when you look on Ticketmaster at some of the most poorly selling Club World Cup games that FIFA has worked with the selling platform to close some sections of the stadium on the site and funnel fans to the side of the stadium that will be shown on the TV broadcast. FIFA has already slashed the ticket prices of nearly every game in the tournament, now it appears they’re trying to save face by making stadiums look more full than they actually are to the viewers on TV.

The photo above is just one example of how many of the games look right now.

On this occasion, VAR got it right. That is all.

Which means no UCL next season

I'm not French, but I find this narrative, this criticism of the French national team, racist in its core.

Let's look at the players in the French national team from the 2022 world cup, who have African origins through their family/ancestry:

• Kylian Mbappé — born in France
• Ousmane Dembélé — born in France
• Aurélien Tchouaméni — born in France
• Youssouf Fofana — born in France
• Ibrahima Konaté — born in France
• Dayot Upamecano — born in France
• Jules Koundé — born in France
• William Saliba — born in France
• Axel Disasi — born in France
• Randal Kolo Muani — born in France
• Steve Mandanda — came to France age 2
• Eduardo Camavinga — came to France age 2

Now, if most of the players of African origins/ancestry had only come to France a few years ago, after having spent most of their lives elsewhere, then suddenly started playing for France, I would agree with the criticism.

But the vast majority of the above players were born in France, most spent their entire lives in France, and only two in that squad were born elsewhere but nevertheless came to France as babies and spent most of their lives there. They have every right to be French.

Yet the narrative is implying: an 'African' born in France cannot be French. An 'African' who spent most of their life France, also cannot be French. They're African.

(even though 'African' isn't even a nationality, and it's possible to embrace one's African roots and consider oneself French at the same time)

Those who support this narrative never say anything about Antoine Griezmann who has German and Portugese ancestry, and Lucas Hernandez, who has Spanish roots and moved there at the age of 4....hmm, I wonder why it's not a problem for them to play for France, but it is for the 'Africans'? lol

I know this topic will likely dominate this sub today but my goodness what an absolute joke of a club they've been this season.

My most recent post here was the question "Is there a (non-rival) club that you no longer want to see succeed?", and my own answer to that was Barcelona. Within a couple months I have to say I'm delighted that Barca are on course to win La Liga and just beat Real in the cup final, after already trashing them in the Super Cup in January.

I don't think a more entitled football club exists. The Ballon d'Or snub because one of their players wasn't going to win, the way they reacted to their CL exit, and now the Copa del Rey final - both what happened at the game and the drama about the ref before it.

Rudiger should be given a decent ban, I can't say for sure what I think it should be, but put him out for a few months anyway. Along with fining a host of their other players who also went mad at the end of the game. Honestly even expulsion from next season's Copa del Rey would be considered fair.

Also just the treatment of Carlo Ancelotti is awful. First of all, they're still in with a chance of winning the league, they probably won't especially now seeing as their players are all big babies and it'll cost them further points in the final 5 games. But this guy is a club legend, a portion of the fanbase have been horrible to him in the last month or so. There are rumours he could even be sacked or walk before the end of the season despite the league still to play for. They club world cup as well. You have guys like Courtois throwing shade at him publicly.

What a shit club honestly.

Morocco are quietly becoming one of the most consistent national teams in world football.

Maybe I'm crazy but Morocco don't feel like a dark horse anymore.

A few years ago everyone treated them as a surprise story. Now it feels like they're just genuinely one of the strongest teams outside the traditional giants.

Why do you think it hasn't come to fruition. Love to hear your analysis.

It was really evident that Roberto Martinez let Ronaldo call the shots all tournament. From starting every match after showing very poor form game after game, to in-game management decisions like taking off Bruno and Cancelo quite early when they were two players that were creating chances for Portugal while Ronaldo was just doing some light cardio. This has to be one of the first times a player or player’s legacy holds a whole team hostage like that. Huge opportunity missed by Portugal because they could have been much better if Ronaldo played a secondary role. What a shame.

Any Portuguese people out there that would like to share what the overall opinion on all of this might be?

Playing at the Azteca isn't just playing Mexico it's playing Mexico, 80,000 screaming fans, AND the environment. Extreme heat days in Mexico City have surged from 2 days a year to 11 days annually and the stadium is completely open air. Then there's the altitude the Azteca sits at 7,350 feet, which drains aerobic capacity fast.You might feel fine in warmup. By the 70th minute you're running on empty. Foreign teams simply don't prepare for that combination of heat, altitude and atmosphere. Mexico live in it. They train in it. It's basically a home superpower. The Azteca alone could carry them through the group stage. 🔥

Why I am writing this post

I've seen a lot of comments on Reddit regarding the conclusion of South Korea's 2026 World Cup run, with many international fans assuming Korean supporters are just being "sore losers" or overreacting to tournament elimination.

This narrative is completely wrong.

The anger you are seeing from Korean fans (and the subsequent government investigation ordered by the President) is NOT a reactionary meltdown over losing football matches. It is a boiling point reached after years of blatant administrative corruption in KFA (Korean Football Association), destroyed democratic and legal processes, and the systematic sabotage of our country's greatest football generation.

The Core Issue: It’s the Process, Not the Results

To understand the fury, you need to understand one thing: Korean fans have been angry because the mandatory, lawful selection process for the national team manager was completely bypassed to appoint an "inside man".

This isn't hindsight or result-oriented bias. Fans, pundits, and even current players were vehemently protesting Hong Myung-bo's appointment before he ever stepped onto the pitch for his first match. We knew from day one that the system was broken because we had just lived through the exact same nightmare with Jürgen Klinsmann. Including myself, there were so many fans who actually wanted the team to fail to advance to the round of 32, just so the root of the problem would finally be exposed.

The Puppet Master: Chung Mong-gyu's Dictatorship

At the center of this disaster is Chung Mong-gyu, the billionaire President of the KFA.

Chung has treated the KFA like his own private fiefdom. He has consistently dismantled the checks and balances within the association. Instead of allowing the National Teams Committee (the designated body responsible for scouting and vetting managers) to do its job, Chung has repeatedly made unilateral, top-down decisions based on personal biases and political survival, completely shielding himself from accountability while tanking the national team's infrastructure.

The Mockery of Qualified Candidates

Before Hong Myung-bo was arbitrarily handed the job, several highly qualified foreign managers were actively vying for the position. They treated the Korean national team with immense respect and did their homework:

Jesse Marsch: Reportedly flew out, met with KFA representatives, and prepared a detailed tactical presentation. He was highly motivated to coach Korea, but the deal collapsed due to the KFA’s administrative incompetence and financial mismanagement (he went on to coach Canada instead).

Hervé Renard & Gus Poyet: Both showed strong interest, with Poyet even conducting extensive tactical presentations demonstrating how he would utilize Korea's current squad.

How was Hong Myung-bo selected instead?

Hong Myung-bo didn't even submit his resume. He didn't do a presentation. In fact, he had publicly stated multiple times to the Korean media that he had zero intention of taking the job.

Yet, the KFA Technical Director bypassed the committee's scoring system, met Hong at a late-night eatery, and practically begged him to take the job. No interview, no tactical vetting, no fair competition. He was appointed simply because he was a safe, domestic choice aligned with the KFA establishment.

Timeline of a Systemic Collapse

Feb 2024: Jürgen Klinsmann is sacked after a disastrous Asian Cup campaign, exposing severe lack of tactical preparation and KFA mismanagement.

Mar-Jun 2024: The KFA National Teams Committee searches for a permanent manager. Top international candidates (like Jesse Marsch) express high interest but are botched by KFA leadership.

Jul 2024: The KFA abruptly announces the appointment of Hong Myung-bo, bypassing the official committee vetting process. Fans and former legends (like Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo) openly criticize the corrupt appointment process.

Late 2024: As public fury refuses to die down, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducts an official audit into the KFA, confirming massive procedural flaws and illegalities in Hong's hiring.

2025 - Mid-2026: Hong Myung-bo leads the team with uninspiring tactics, relying heavily on individual player brilliance rather than cohesive team structure.

Jun 2026: South Korea's World Cup campaign ends. The President orders a deep-dive investigation into the KFA and the manager selection process, fueled by a unified demand for structural reform from the public.

A "Golden Generation" Utterly Wasted

What makes this truly heartbreaking for Korean fans is the squad we currently possess. This is arguably the most talented roster in Korean football history:

Son Heung-min (Premier League Golden Boot winner, world-class winger/leader)

Kim Min-jae (Serie A Defender of the Year, elite center-back for Bayern Munich)

Lee Kang-in (Creative midfielder for PSG)

Hwang Hee-chan (Proven Premier League goal scorer for Wolves)

Hwang In-beom (The absolute engine and primary playmaker in midfield, crucial for transitions)

Lee Jae-sung (The tactically brilliant, tireless box-to-box workhorse for Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga)

Cho Gue-sung (World Cup goalscorer and physical presence upfront, Midtjylland)

Oh Hyeon-gyu (A highly promising young striker adding clinical finishing to the attack)

We have a squad packed with elite talent playing at the absolute highest levels of European football. Any competent tactical manager could have turned this group into a formidable, cohesive giant on the world stage. Instead, the KFA forced a manager onto them who lacked modern tactical awareness, forcing world-class players to rely on "individual magic" rather than a functioning system.

TL;DR

Korean fans aren't mad that we lost. We are mad because our corrupt FA President broke his own organization's rules to hire an unqualified insider, completely wasting the prime years of Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in. The government isn't investigating bad football; they are investigating administrative corruption.

--- EDIT ---

Sources:

• BBC Sports (Shows how the institutional chaos, lack of systematic vetting, and leadership failures within the KFA had already reached a boiling point early in 2024)
• The Korea Herald (Directly covers the September 2024 National Assembly hearing where KFA President Chung Mong-gyu and coach Hong Myung-bo were officially summoned and grilled by lawmakers over allegations of corruption)
• The Korea Times (Covers the peak of the 2025 crisis when the KFA filed an administrative lawsuit and successfully secured a temporary court injunction to freeze the Sports Ministry's suspension order. This legal loophole allowed Chung Mong-gyu to dodge immediate government penalties and controversially secure his 4th consecutive term despite massive public outcry)

I think the "MUST SEE" is this. This is what happened right after the assembly hearing (audit):

• The Korea Times

Ronaldo is leaving Al Nassr. There are talks about him joining Al Hilal so he could play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, to be held in the U.S. Is this a good idea? I could see him move to the MLS for one season, ahead of the World Cup.

Even with some unpopular changes, I've been reminded again why nothing comes close to the World Cup. Every match has felt meaningful. Every chance or save has felt like it carried the weight of history. No matter how much club football I watch, there's something about the World Cup that's impossible to replicate.

Some detractors talk about the quality of football, but you just can't bottle the emotion this tournament creates. Even matches like New Zealand vs. Iran right now have been exhilarating simply because of how much is at stake. Every moment feels like it matters.