2026 FIFA World Cup Thread

[Who]

Penalty kicks are just so nerve-wracking and intense. I feel extremely nervous just watching, I can't imagine how the players and goalies feel

There's a lot of reports now that yesterday, a lot of the Germany players (I think 4 of them) were scared to take a penalty kick when asked, so they sent in someone (Jonathan Tah) who had never taken them before and he missed it.

So even the players feel the tension

I was listening to a stat / bit of triva:

Germany missed 3 penalties in that shootout. They had not missed a penalty in a shootout since the 1982 World Cup Semi-Final against France prior to this.

It is that rare to see a German miss a penalty. But 3 missed penalties? Shocking!

[Who]

That was a fantastic goal by France from the corner. Played it short, a bit of misdirection, little run by Mbappe in behind, great feint towards the touchline stepover back middle, bang! Goal.

Fantastic ability by Mbappe and clever setup play to help put him in a good position.

[Phantom255x]

Mbappe is phenomenal. Yes, the parity in the World Cup is awesome and it's nice seeing countries and teams get opportunities that they usually wouldn't, but it's still a loaded class with the likes of Mbappe, Messi, Haaland, Ronaldo, Yamal, etc. etc. that makes it incredible.

[SparzWizard]

Penalty kicks are just so nerve-wracking and intense. I feel extremely nervous just watching, I can't imagine how the players and goalies feel

There's a lot of reports now that yesterday, a lot of the Germany players (I think 4 of them) were scared to take a penalty kick when asked, so they sent in someone (Jonathan Tah) who had never taken them before and he missed it.

So even the players feel the tension

Wow. Too much pressure? I personally think guarding the penalty kick is much harder than kicking it

[ozgod]

Sweden, getting hammered by France now? 3?0 and there?s still 15 minutes to go, Mbapp? with a brace and barcola with another

[ozgod]

Sweden thrashed, France move on. Anything can happen, but it's looking like a France-Argentina final again.