World Cup 2026

[Fishy]

Egypt winger Mostafa Zico, whose goal was denied by VAR, speaking after his side's defeat:
"The referee was really not fair. Not fair. Referee not fair. The injustice was clear.
"We did a really good job in the early stages of the match. There's been an unfairness right from the start of the match.
"A 2-0 lead isn't enough to beat Argentina.
"It is clear that this tournament has been fixed. But God is sufficient for us."


Oh dear.. as soon as you bring God into your thinking you've lost the argument..

[Matt2112]

The Sphinx, Alexander The Great, Cleopatra, Tutankhamen - Tutankhamen - your boys took one hell of a beating

Wasn't ATG a Bubble?

Yes, specifically Ancient Macedonian.  There's a statue of him and his horse in Thessaloniki in northern Greece which, guess what, I've visited:

Highslide Image Viewer

[dom]

Yeah just looked it up and he spent less than a year in Egypt, certainly less Egyptian than Mbappe is French 😂

[David L]

Quite possibly 😂 I was struggling to think of famous Egyptians - I did consider Ramses II

Sam the Sham 

[David L]

France v Morocco -  Mbappe has a soft penalty saved after trying to cheat by placing the ball 12" closer to the goal than it should've been. He was repeatedly told to place it correctly by the ref and then, after trying to fool the keeper with a stuttering run up, placed it right in his mitts!
 

[dom]

Awful pen, I thought all the delay was down to VAR though not ball positioning?

[pxr5]

Awful pen, I thought all the delay was down to VAR though not ball positioning?

A bit of both I think. A shit penalty for sure, but as I type it's 2-0. Why didn't VAR go back to the potential handball like they did for that stunning non-goal that Egypt scored? Fishy, fishy FIFA and now our guy has a 2 game ban - probably in case we meet the Argies in the semis. These dodgy decisions favouring the likes of Argentina and the USA are really putting off football.

[dom]

Must admit I was a little concerned when every match official including all the VAR lads were announced as Argentinian. Needn't have worried, only complaint being why VAR spent 3 minutes checking it when it was so clear cut.

Mbappe's finish was a beauty so he made up for the penalty miss

[dom]

2nd goal killed the game as a contest and it petered out to its inevitable conclusion.  Belgium or more likely Spain will be a much tougher test

[dom]

As for the handball as the ball rebounded off Rabiot's foot and  onto his hand so it's counted as accidental - that's why VAR didn't overturn the goal

[Fishy]

Stuttering penalty nonsense.. shouldn't be allowed.. just run  up and hit the bloody ball ffs..

[Slim]

I think the goalies have generally got used to the stuttering penalty technique, actually I think it's to their advantage now.

[Thenop]

Of course they have, if you shoot hard enough they simply don't have the ability to react fast enough. Stop and stutter will impact the force you put into it.

It is either the speed, or the placement that makes for a good penalty (or both of course, ideally).

But being Dutch I am at the bottom of the expertise list to talk about penalties...

[Fishy]

Being Scottish i have no  expertise whatsoever...

[dom]

I think the delay caused by VAR really ups the pressure on the striker - even the best in the World - they probably need some mindful training or something.  I remember in the 90s Davor Suker used to measure his heart rate by feeling his carotid artery.  And that did the trick for him.  He never missed in regulation play - didn't work in shoot-outs - he definitely missed one in a European tie for Arsenal.