at least neymar could actually win it

I'm in Brazil right now. Libertadores is getting plenty of attention since the group just started and there's 8 Brazilian teams playing but after that it's all Neymar vs the club surgery v no surgery and the aftermath of the decision

I fondly remember the "Wade der Nation" (calf of the nation) hype when Ballack missed the opener in 2006. You're right, it wouldn't be as fun without getting far too carried away for crap like that

"Would you join the world cup if Janne Andersson called you?
- We'll see, it's a tough question. I don't want to join just because I'm Zlatan. The door isn't closed, but we can't discuss it when I'm not even playing."

IT'S HAPPENING

Dude I’m living in Rio. Where in Brazil are you?

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th at 12:00 Moscow time, 5am EDT, is the start of the final ticket sales period. First come first served.

What do we think of Michael O'Neill making a **** of himself while trying to call out Martin O'Neill and the Irish setup?

Completely out of order imo, arsehole knows fine well we are Irish by birthright and not so many would be willing to turncoat like he has done.

Absolute **** iyam.

So a former Russian spy was just poisoned in England, and Russian TV is coming with the goods:
NOW we're World Cuppin'

Usual ****e. He should know better.

USA#1 with the most tickets bought so far

But who will then attend the losers tournament that USSF is planning to orgainze?

BTW if anyone wants to do a proper World Cup tournament OP, we can close this and move there. There are group threads but nothing for general conversation, and it's always better to have a catch-all because the conversation is too fragmented otherwise.

surely its mostly Mexicans living in the US, no?

One would think so.

Probably because Mexico qualified for the World Cup while the US did not. I'm not sure, though.

It's really strange. The American pösters here all said that the USMNT was a top-ten team in the world. How did they not qualify?

Trump fans visiting the homeland.

I'll put something together if I find the time on Sunday. If not, others can go ahead

And South Americans, Koreans, Japanese, Nigerians, Costa Ricans, Hondurans...

Wait. You mean Americans?

Americans yes. Not U.S. Americans, though, because the USA did not qualify as far as I know.

Thinking about what questions to run with, thoughts on stuff to add/remove:

1) Name a team to win their first match
2) Name a player to score in the opening round of matches
3) Name a goalkeeper who will keep a clean sheet in the first two rounds of matches
4) Name a team who will be without a win in the first two rounds of matches
5) Name a team who will be undefeated in the group stage
6) Name a team who will finish bottom in the group stage
7) Name a team who will be a favourite (per oddschecker to qualify market) to make the last 16 which doesn't
8) Name a team who will be an underdog (per oddschecker to qualify market) to make the last 16 and does
9) Name a player who will have at least three scorepoints in the group stage
10) Name an outfield player that doesn't play a single minute in the group stage (that's in a squad obv, no picking USA#1 players)
11) Name a team which will be eliminated in the last 16
12) Name a player to have picked up a man of the match award up to the quarter final stages
13) Name a team which will reach the quarter finals
14) Name a referee who will officiate a game in the quarter finals onwards
15) Name a team who will be eliminated on penalties
16) Name a player to score at least three goals during the tournament
17) Name a player to accumulate at least five scorepoints during the tournament
18) Name a player who will be sent off or pick up two yellow cards during the tournament
19) Name a team who will pull off an upset win during the tournament (per eloratings.net ranking at the start of the tournament, wins on penalties do not count)
20) Name a team who will reach a further stage in 2018 than in 2014
21) Name a team who will be eliminated quicker in 2018 than in 2014 (for these two questions, only the 20 teams who qualified for both tournaments can be correct)
22) Name a player who is named in the team of the tournament

hey now, don't lump all of us in with that noise. From what I remember, there have been very few US posters that have claimed such nonsense (non-footy posters don't count as they probably voted for our dictator-in-chief)

edit: for those in footy threads, I've been drinking for the past 6 hours. Those that have been around, know what that can look like

With USMNT USA buys more tickets than any other non-host country

Without USMNT USA still buys more tickets than any other non-host country

Guess the US hates soccer

Well I'm sure a non-trivial number are non-citizen expatriates. I'd be interested in the breakdown, but I'm sure it's not 100% American citizens.