2018 FIFA World Cup Megathread

[MERIZoC]

I dunno how its controversial to say Kane played pretty poor this tournament. Out of those 6 goals how many were in open play and intentional? 2? 1? Lukaku was the far superior striker to me.

[MERIZoC]

As for my team of the tournament—

Courtois
Vida Godin Marcelo
Kante Modric
Hazard Griezmann Mbappe Neymar
Lukaku

dont @ me

[Outer Sparta]

I dunno how its controversial to say Kane played pretty poor this tournament. Out of those 6 goals how many were in open play and intentional? 2? 1? Lukaku was the far superior striker to me.

Lukaku, Modric, and Mbappé were the three best players in this world cup.

[Sharania]

Why didn’t any ‘World Cup heroes’ stand up for Russia’s LGBTQ+ people?
Not a single player wore Stonewall’s rainbow laces. It was left to Pussy Riot to show true bravery

As Dejan Lovren raised his hands to grab a protester sprinting across the pitch during the 2018 World Cup final, teenage sensation Kylian Mbappé raised his to high-five another. It seemed to some like the youngest player to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958 understood something to which many of his older peers were oblivious: that the bravest people at the Russian World Cup were a group of people who weren’t even meant to be on the pitch that day.

Football, we are led to believe by misogynists, is “a man’s game”. What we saw from the members of Pussy Riot on Sunday put into stark contrast the narrative we hear from commentators about “bravery” and “heroics” on the football pitch.

Here was a group of three women and a man, some of whom who had already served prison time, showing actual bravery at the risk of very real and serious consequences. More than that, they highlighted how totally disheartening this World Cup has been for queer people across the planet. This was the day of the final and it was the first act to draw attention to any of Russia’s numerous and grave failings.

For the opening game, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, sat alongside Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Fifa placed two of the most repressive regimes for LGBTQ+ people at the centre of their footballing showpiece. Nobody protested. Nobody spoke about Russia’s record. Nobody dared dull the shine of Worldcupville, Russian Federation edition.

When it was announced in 2010 that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, there was an outcry across the world because of the country’s appalling LGBTQ+ record. And in the years since, things have only got worse. Putin has made it illegal to promote “non-traditional sexual relationships”. Simply telling someone you are gay or lesbian or trans or whatever letter on the rainbow you claim is considered “promotion”. I could go on. Russia’s offences against the queer community are as numerous as they are heartbreaking. But for 30 days in Worldcupville, everyone decided to forget all that and just get on with having a good time.

We see the same sort of token concern every year around Pride. Companies are quick to switch out their avatars for something rainbow-tinged. For 30 days of the month they let us all know that they’re cool with the queers. But that’s all most of them ever do. They apply a Facebook border and then forget about it until it’s time to change it back.

Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is superb for raising awareness. You can tell by how many idiots on Twitter ask where the laces are for Straight Pride. Why did not one single player wear them in Russia? Countries were happy to pay a fine for wearing non-regulation kit for other reasons. England paid £50,000 because they pulled on socks made by the “wrong” company. Twice. Thousands of pairs of laces were sent to players. None were worn.

Months before the tournament started, the FA’s chief executive, Martin Glenn, said he was “proud” to wear a Rainbow Laces badge in Russia when he donned one for the draw. He must have forgotten to pack it for the tournament proper, though. If he did wear it again, not a single mention or image of it can be found online. It’s not really a protest if nobody notices.

Fifa, of course, bans all political displays. Is the LGBTQ+ cause actually political? That’s an argument for another day. However, we saw Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrate their goals against Serbia by making an Albanian double-headed eagle gesture with their hands. Players are willing to ignore Fifa’s directives when it suits them and suck up any fines that come their way. If they want to protest against something, they will. Their inaction during this tournament spoke volumes for their concern for their LGBTQ+ fanbase.

This World Cup will soon fade from memory and the Premier League will take centre stage once again. November will roll around and football clubs will unpack their rainbow laces for a day before shoving them back in the locker until next year. In Russia, queer people will still face atrocities that go largely unreported in the rest of the world.

And us queers? We are left to hope that people such as Pussy Riot continue to show more balls than all of football combined, and that the younger players such as Mbappé continue to get it. Maybe then we might finally see some meaningful change.

[Trumptonium1]

Why didn’t any ‘World Cup heroes’ stand up for Russia’s LGBTQ+ people?
Not a single player wore Stonewall’s rainbow laces. It was left to Pussy Riot to show true bravery

As Dejan Lovren raised his hands to grab a protester sprinting across the pitch during the 2018 World Cup final, teenage sensation Kylian Mbappé raised his to high-five another. It seemed to some like the youngest player to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958 understood something to which many of his older peers were oblivious: that the bravest people at the Russian World Cup were a group of people who weren’t even meant to be on the pitch that day.

Football, we are led to believe by misogynists, is “a man’s game”. What we saw from the members of Pussy Riot on Sunday put into stark contrast the narrative we hear from commentators about “bravery” and “heroics” on the football pitch.

Here was a group of three women and a man, some of whom who had already served prison time, showing actual bravery at the risk of very real and serious consequences. More than that, they highlighted how totally disheartening this World Cup has been for queer people across the planet. This was the day of the final and it was the first act to draw attention to any of Russia’s numerous and grave failings.

For the opening game, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, sat alongside Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Fifa placed two of the most repressive regimes for LGBTQ+ people at the centre of their footballing showpiece. Nobody protested. Nobody spoke about Russia’s record. Nobody dared dull the shine of Worldcupville, Russian Federation edition.

When it was announced in 2010 that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, there was an outcry across the world because of the country’s appalling LGBTQ+ record. And in the years since, things have only got worse. Putin has made it illegal to promote “non-traditional sexual relationships”. Simply telling someone you are gay or lesbian or trans or whatever letter on the rainbow you claim is considered “promotion”. I could go on. Russia’s offences against the queer community are as numerous as they are heartbreaking. But for 30 days in Worldcupville, everyone decided to forget all that and just get on with having a good time.

We see the same sort of token concern every year around Pride. Companies are quick to switch out their avatars for something rainbow-tinged. For 30 days of the month they let us all know that they’re cool with the queers. But that’s all most of them ever do. They apply a Facebook border and then forget about it until it’s time to change it back.

Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is superb for raising awareness. You can tell by how many idiots on Twitter ask where the laces are for Straight Pride. Why did not one single player wear them in Russia? Countries were happy to pay a fine for wearing non-regulation kit for other reasons. England paid £50,000 because they pulled on socks made by the “wrong” company. Twice. Thousands of pairs of laces were sent to players. None were worn.

Months before the tournament started, the FA’s chief executive, Martin Glenn, said he was “proud” to wear a Rainbow Laces badge in Russia when he donned one for the draw. He must have forgotten to pack it for the tournament proper, though. If he did wear it again, not a single mention or image of it can be found online. It’s not really a protest if nobody notices.

Fifa, of course, bans all political displays. Is the LGBTQ+ cause actually political? That’s an argument for another day. However, we saw Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrate their goals against Serbia by making an Albanian double-headed eagle gesture with their hands. Players are willing to ignore Fifa’s directives when it suits them and suck up any fines that come their way. If they want to protest against something, they will. Their inaction during this tournament spoke volumes for their concern for their LGBTQ+ fanbase.

This World Cup will soon fade from memory and the Premier League will take centre stage once again. November will roll around and football clubs will unpack their rainbow laces for a day before shoving them back in the locker until next year. In Russia, queer people will still face atrocities that go largely unreported in the rest of the world.

And us queers? We are left to hope that people such as Pussy Riot continue to show more balls than all of football combined, and that the younger players such as Mbappé continue to get it. Maybe then we might finally see some meaningful change.

nobody cares, there is no oppression in russia

gays are hardly a large fanbase of football

Fifa, of course, bans all political displays. Is the LGBTQ+ cause actually political? That’s an argument for another day.

dumbest question of the month

[Shofercia]

Why didn’t any ‘World Cup heroes’ stand up for Russia’s LGBTQ+ people?
Not a single player wore Stonewall’s rainbow laces. It was left to Pussy Riot to show true bravery

As Dejan Lovren raised his hands to grab a protester sprinting across the pitch during the 2018 World Cup final, teenage sensation Kylian Mbappé raised his to high-five another. It seemed to some like the youngest player to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958 understood something to which many of his older peers were oblivious: that the bravest people at the Russian World Cup were a group of people who weren’t even meant to be on the pitch that day.

Football, we are led to believe by misogynists, is “a man’s game”. What we saw from the members of Pussy Riot on Sunday put into stark contrast the narrative we hear from commentators about “bravery” and “heroics” on the football pitch.

Here was a group of three women and a man, some of whom who had already served prison time, showing actual bravery at the risk of very real and serious consequences. More than that, they highlighted how totally disheartening this World Cup has been for queer people across the planet. This was the day of the final and it was the first act to draw attention to any of Russia’s numerous and grave failings.

For the opening game, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, sat alongside Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Fifa placed two of the most repressive regimes for LGBTQ+ people at the centre of their footballing showpiece. Nobody protested. Nobody spoke about Russia’s record. Nobody dared dull the shine of Worldcupville, Russian Federation edition.

When it was announced in 2010 that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, there was an outcry across the world because of the country’s appalling LGBTQ+ record. And in the years since, things have only got worse. Putin has made it illegal to promote “non-traditional sexual relationships”. Simply telling someone you are gay or lesbian or trans or whatever letter on the rainbow you claim is considered “promotion”. I could go on. Russia’s offences against the queer community are as numerous as they are heartbreaking. But for 30 days in Worldcupville, everyone decided to forget all that and just get on with having a good time.

We see the same sort of token concern every year around Pride. Companies are quick to switch out their avatars for something rainbow-tinged. For 30 days of the month they let us all know that they’re cool with the queers. But that’s all most of them ever do. They apply a Facebook border and then forget about it until it’s time to change it back.

Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is superb for raising awareness. You can tell by how many idiots on Twitter ask where the laces are for Straight Pride. Why did not one single player wear them in Russia? Countries were happy to pay a fine for wearing non-regulation kit for other reasons. England paid £50,000 because they pulled on socks made by the “wrong” company. Twice. Thousands of pairs of laces were sent to players. None were worn.

Months before the tournament started, the FA’s chief executive, Martin Glenn, said he was “proud” to wear a Rainbow Laces badge in Russia when he donned one for the draw. He must have forgotten to pack it for the tournament proper, though. If he did wear it again, not a single mention or image of it can be found online. It’s not really a protest if nobody notices.

Fifa, of course, bans all political displays. Is the LGBTQ+ cause actually political? That’s an argument for another day. However, we saw Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrate their goals against Serbia by making an Albanian double-headed eagle gesture with their hands. Players are willing to ignore Fifa’s directives when it suits them and suck up any fines that come their way. If they want to protest against something, they will. Their inaction during this tournament spoke volumes for their concern for their LGBTQ+ fanbase.

This World Cup will soon fade from memory and the Premier League will take centre stage once again. November will roll around and football clubs will unpack their rainbow laces for a day before shoving them back in the locker until next year. In Russia, queer people will still face atrocities that go largely unreported in the rest of the world.

And us queers? We are left to hope that people such as Pussy Riot continue to show more balls than all of football combined, and that the younger players such as Mbappé continue to get it. Maybe then we might finally see some meaningful change.

It's hard to give a flying fuck about Pussy Riot, considering that they continuously fail to attract an audience of a decent size. They are so inept at presenting their viewpoints, so fundamentally moronic, that it's hard to give a shit about them, even for the most ardent LGBTQ+ supporters. Very few have the patience to listen to cretins 24/7. But, in spite of their sheer stupidity, they are proud attention whores. Not actual whores, (although that's arguable,) but attention whores. And since few of sound mind actually show up to their events, they attempt to hijack other events to spew their abominations of the English and Russian, Languages. And that's why they're despised.

Can we go back to talking about soccer now?

[Tobiasia]

I dunno how its controversial to say Kane played pretty poor this tournament. Out of those 6 goals how many were in open play and intentional? 2? 1? Lukaku was the far superior striker to me.

Couldn’t agree more, if any players were stand out brilliant from that team they were Trippier and Maguire. Trippier was a beast on the right wing and midfield, smashing wonderful crosses in and creating all manner of chances (plus his free kick was great). Maguire was solid at the back, dominating all aerial play and being a brilliant centre back. Just my opinion but Kane was good but lacked his Tottenham form.

[Solavorth]

Lukaku, Modric, and Mbappé were the three best players in this world cup.

My thoughts exactly!

[Shofercia]

And the best save belonged to Akinfeev!

[Conoga]

And the best save belonged to Akinfeev!

(Image)

Very good, but i'm pretty sure it's Lloris' double save on the Uruguay free kick.

[Shofercia]

And the best save belonged to Akinfeev!

(Image)

Very good, but i'm pretty sure it's Lloris' double save on the Uruguay free kick.

True, but that's a double save; I'm talking about the most effective single save

[The Blaatschapen]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

[Starblaydia]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

Good enough for a Semi-Final run, evidently.

[Bombadil]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

On the other hand Holland didn't lose a single game in the WC.

[Conoga]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

Better than England.

[Jerzylvania]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

Good enough for 4th and therefore bad enough to not matter in the end.

[Shofercia]

With three wins, three losses and one draw, how good was England actually?

Good enough for 4th and therefore bad enough to not matter in the end.

So they fulfilled their destiny

[Starblaydia]

Good enough for 4th and therefore bad enough to not matter in the end.

So they fulfilled their destiny

It* came home**



* For a given value of 'It'.
** May not represent actual physical location. Terms and conditions apply.

[Conoga]

So they fulfilled their destiny :P

It* came home**



* For a given value of 'It'.
** May not represent actual physical location. Terms and conditions apply.

If you take a broad, Angevin view of the rightful territory of the Kingdom of England, it is home.

[Banija]

I'll do group predictions too, alongside Arch! Because why not?

Group A:

Uruguay
Egypt
Russia
Saudi Arabia

It's pretty obviously clear that Uruguay is going to win this group. IN terms of the rest of the group... Russia's team is pretty much a disaster, and even with God clearly smiling upon them at the group draw, I can't imagine Russia gets out of this one. Egypt has Mo Salah... And where the other three teams are relatively equally matched, even with Russia's home field advantage, I think Mo Salah does enough to get Egypt a spot in the knockout stages. Egypt is a team that usually does well at major tournaments, having quite a few AFCON titles under its belt. I understand the World Cup is a different beast, but I think Egypt are favorites for second.


Group B:

Portugal
Spain
Morocco
Iran

I think Portugal can pull off a upset win over Spain. They were really impressive in qualifying- and, of course, are the defending Europeans champs. And in a close, tight game, they of course have the best player in the world..... Ronaldo [strike]runs away from screaming Messi fans[strike]. But yea, there's really no chance the Iberians don't go 1 and 2. I think it's interesting considering the geographic proximity of the three Mediterrenean nations... Should make for some entertaining soccer to watch.

Group C:

France
Peru
Denmark
Australia

I legitimately think France will go out to win this tournament. They have incredible squad depth, and there is too much firepower across the squad for them to be eliminated early in the tournament, especially at this stage. I think that Peru will pull second- they're an incredible story, and you can never underestimate a team that gets out of the gauntlet that is CONMEBOL qualifying.


Group D:

Argentina
Nigeria
Croatia
Iceland

You really can't pick against Argentina to not win this group, am I right? Unless Lionel Messi gets hurt at some point(which will take Argentina from first to last on this list, considering their performances without him in qualifying), there is too much talent there for them to not get first. I like Nigeria in this group as well- they've been playing extremely well lately, and, of course, beat Argentina 4-2 in Russia this past November. You've gotta love Iceland, they'll be a team I'm rooting for in this tourney without the Stars and Stripes there, but yea.

Group E:

Brazil
Costa Rica
Switzerland
Serbia

You can't doubt Brasil, can you? They're too strong, playing too well, to not get first. I've no idea how Neymar's doing right now- they may not need him necessarily in group play, but they aren't winning this tourney without Neymar. I think they could get to the final as well as the French. I am picking Costa Rica to get out of this group. Costa Rica is one of those nations that, surprisingly, has a really strong squad- they did beat Italy and Uruguay in South America last time around. I think they can surprise again- enough talent there to scrape second place in this group.


Group F:

Germany
Mexico
Sweden
South Korea

You can't doubt the Germans, can you? They'll get through easily to the knockout stages. In terms of second place, I think that Mexico has to be favored. They've gotten out of the group in the last seven World Cups, and they have one of their strongest squads in recent years, romping through World Cup Qualifying. I think they'll be able to get past Sweden, and sweep aside South Korea, en route to most likely losing in the Round of 16 for the 8th straight World Cup, to Brazil.


Group G:

Belgium
England
Panama
Tunisia

Belgium has a lot of firepower, and I think are a fairly safe pick for first place. England has a major developmental problem that has no real solution- I think they are the only squad in the entire tournament that has their entire squad playing in the same league, their own domestic league. This is a problem for a multitude of reasons- mostly because they don't get the kind of exposure to different styles of play, and such, that isn't brought home. It's an unsolveable problem, of course, because the league at home is also the one that pays the most- why would players go abroad to take a pay cut? But until you get English players starting to venture outside the country, they'll be in a consistent cycle of underperforming. I don't like their squad, but Tunisia doesn't have their best player, and Panama frankly shouldn't be there- so England will find its way to the knockout stages, where they'll likely lose there.


Group H:

Colombia
Poland
Senegal
Japan

I like the Polish side, but I like the Colombians even more. I think they have more to bring to the table, and will be able to eke out a victory in this group. Poland will get a close second, while Senegal and Japan will be fighting for scraps. Japan only recently got a new manager, which means their own World Cup prospects are probably dim, and I will admit- I know absolutely nothing about Senegal's side, though I do know about their run in 2002.

Not to gravedig and gloat, but..... Yea, I made that prediction May 21st