FIFA World Cup 2026

[sportsvine]

It's the football offseason. So, how 'bout some futbol?

Seriously, I LOVE the World Cup.

The tri-hosts will play 3 of the first 4 matches with Mexico opening the tournament Thursday at 1pm vs South Africa, Canada playing Bosnia and Herzegovina Friday at 1pm and the USA playing Paraguay Friday at 7pm. (times MDT).

Of course, I'll root for USA, but I also will root for the underdogs in almost all the other matches. I would love to see a country outside of Europe and South America win the World Cup.

Betting question.... if there was a prop bet that one could bet on any team outside of Europe or South America to win the World Cup, what would the payout be? I would guess something like 200 to 1.

[crixus]

I'm not a soccer fan in general, but since it's the World Cup. Go USA!

[Discopooch]

It's the football offseason. So, how 'bout some futbol?

Seriously, I LOVE the World Cup.

The tri-hosts will play 3 of the first 4 matches with Mexico opening the tournament Thursday at 1pm vs South Africa, Canada playing Bosnia and Herzegovina Friday at 1pm and the USA playing Paraguay Friday at 7pm. (times MDT).

Of course, I'll root for USA, but I also will root for the underdogs in almost all the other matches. I would love to see a country outside of Europe and South America win the World Cup.

Betting question.... if there was a prop bet that one could bet on any team outside of Europe or South America to win the World Cup, what would the payout be? I would guess something like 200 to 1.

Shoot....probably more than that...

[Discopooch]

Opening match is tomorrow!! Pretty pumped now...all of the revelry and party before the matches....if you're near one, I'd go check it out. Pretty insane.

[Bballfan]

Apparently not everyone is so pumped.... https://www.npr.org/2026/06/08/nx-s1...tickets-prices

[sportsvine]

So what's the REAL reason for the mid-half hydration break? I think giving the players a chance to hydrate themselves is PURELY a secondary reason for these breaks.

[Thelakerman]

I guess I’m not of the “futbol” generation. I’ll probably watch some of the USA games/matches (whatever) but once they’re eliminated I’ll likely paint something so I can watch it dry.

[D2Rover]

So what's the REAL reason for the mid-half hydration break? I think giving the players a chance to hydrate themselves is PURELY a secondary reason for these breaks.

They've become pretty common even at the professional level, in "hot" (mild or warmer) temperatures. Somehow there's only a 15 degree Fahrenheit window where professional athletes don't need special treatment to be able to survive the weather.

[sportsvine]

Total and utter domination by the USA against Paraguay. I know it's Paraguay and many consider to be inferior, but they did play through the gauntlet of South America qualification past Chile, Peru and Venezuela (teams not in the World Cup)

Super impressed with USA through the 1st half. They dominated possession, often close to the scoring box with many scoring chances beyond the current 3-0 halftime lead.

Hopefully I didn't jinx it for the 2nd half but they look pretty damn good so far.

[sportsvine]

So AWESOME that FIFA will use VAR to reverse bad calls due to player flopping.

Also awesome that flopping is a yellow card violation.

[ctrabs74]

So what's the REAL reason for the mid-half hydration break? I think giving the players a chance to hydrate themselves is PURELY a secondary reason for these breaks.

It's because of the higher temperatures in North America. I guess they learned their lessons from Qatar four years ago.

The unofficial reason appears to be to give FOX a chance to sneak a couple more commercials in, which, to me, is overly tacky for soccer. So, in short, it's almost a glorified (if not officially sanctioned) TV timeout.

[SW_Mustang]

So what's the REAL reason for the mid-half hydration break? I think giving the players a chance to hydrate themselves is PURELY a secondary reason for these breaks.

They needed a reason to run ads. Anything beyond that is purely a silver lining.

I like the soccer clock - it's too bad we needed to mess with it.

[D2Rover]

Breaks are pretty clearly for ads.

Paraguay looked like a solid defensive side in qualifying, but were a perfect matchup for the US to exploit. They are strong down the middle and weak at outside back, and the States have guys that can exploit a bad outside back.

Australia and Turkey should both test the backline more, albeit in very different ways - Aussies has pace, Turkey will keep possession better.


I missed a few games, but Netherlands v Japan was the best game so far. I want to like Haiti but they don't seem like a threat.

And for my Canadians, it looked like our three best players are all outside backs until Larin subbed on. There were at least signs in the second half that we might figure it out by game 2.

[sportsvine]

Go Iran. Rooting for them.

And, of course, the USA.

[Discopooch]

So what's the REAL reason for the mid-half hydration break? I think giving the players a chance to hydrate themselves is PURELY a secondary reason for these breaks.

USA and corporate America wanting to show their ads....