Football (Soccer) Thread

[The Larch]

Metropolitan liberal elite bubble I fear there.
I've seen a bunch. Albeit less than would be normal I think, largely just in really scummy pubs, garages, the odd car, etc...

Just thinking about this again because flagged by Philippe Auclair too - and the other striking thing is the lac of pub advertising for matches.

Someone pointed out, and I think they're right, that it's clashing with Christmas parties/events which is the biggest money spinner for hospitality. That may be part of the reason it seems so understated/underhyped this year

Isn't that more well into december? By then it'll be the knockout stage and games will be more sparse.

[Sheilbh]

Isn't that more well into december? By then it'll be the knockout stage and games will be more sparse.

Yeah - but it'll be starting by next week. I booked a Christmas dinner with friends a week or two ago and the place was only had space left on one or two nights in December.

All the office Christmas dos, family gatherings, friends etc. Everything gets booked pretty quick and they'll all prioritise a big Christmas booking over what it's like during a World Cup.

[Josquius]

Well, I've not been in a pub lately but walking past some there's a number with England flags and one or two with the full standard flags of all competitor displays.

Quite a few of not particularly progressive people I know are pissed about the tournament as it messes with the real football.
I wonder whether non league teams might see a rise in attendance this month.

[Valmy]

Feeling a lot of Western Hemisphere pride about Ecuador's big win over Qatar!

Ok not really...but seriously good for Ecuador.

[Jacob]

I think even outside progressive concerns, "apolitical" football fans there are plenty of reasons to look askance at Qatar here for reasons that might be slightly chauvinist:

Qatar is obviously not a real football nation, it's the wrong time of the year, them getting the cup is obviously about money and corruption, the paid fan thing is tacky as fuck, do people in Qatar even care about football when they're not hosting the world cup, and just the connection with oil money buying clubs which makes them hateable.

[Josquius]

Ignoring human rights and assuming Qatar was perfectly nice on that front a Qatar world Cup still stands out as dumb for me due to the sheer size of the place.

The base idea of a middle east world Cup I'm down with (ignoring human rights here remember). They do love football in the region. I'm no Qatar expert but I think it's pretty popular there.

But Qatar is smaller than Northern Ireland. They don't have the infrastructure for it.
A sensible gulf world Cup would need to involve at the least Bahrain and the UAE too.

Considering climate change I hope future world cups revert back to the era before football turned big business and sticks to countries where a minimum of work is needed to get the stadiums and hotels built.

[Maladict]

FIFA introduced new captain bands at the last minute, presumably to get rid of the One Love bands several teams will wear. 

Yeah and they're on social media campaigns linked to their "official partner" charities - again to move from the the "One Love" and footbal is for everyone messages (both, I believe, previously endorsed by FIFA).

I think I read that the FAs in England and Wales have decided (in consultation with captains) to stick with the rainbow One Love band, which will mean fines.

It's interesting seeing the impact of the growing prominence of women's football on this. Four year's ago was the first time there was a woman pundit for the World Cup on the BBC and ITV. It's now more unusual not to have that - and obviously the England team won the Euros earlier this year so the team and WSL are more prominent than ever. There are many out women footballers who have been particularly vocal about this World Cup in Qatar - and while I get the sense that FIFA doesn't care about women's football much yet, as it becomes more popular (and lucrative) I wonder if that'll shift and start having an impact on the men's game too?

All teams are now playing with the FIFA band, after being threatened with yellow cards instead of fines. Very classy, FIFA.

[Sheilbh]

Yep

It would have been nice had they taken the booking at least in the first game.

Although I did enjoy seeing an Arsenal fan say this is an implicit acknowledgement that, away from the biased refs of the Premier League, Kane can't get through a game without a booking

[Maladict]

I wonder what it would take for countries to finally leave FIFA. A lot more than this shambolic WC, obviously.

[Gups]

Yep

It would have been nice had they taken the booking at least in the first game.

Although I did enjoy seeing an Arsenal fan say this is an implicit acknowledgement that, away from the biased refs of the Premier League, Kane can't get through a game without a booking

Kane getting a yellow card for wearing a rainbow armband woudl have been seen around the world. Spineless from the FA

[The Larch]

Yep

It would have been nice had they taken the booking at least in the first game.

Although I did enjoy seeing an Arsenal fan say this is an implicit acknowledgement that, away from the biased refs of the Premier League, Kane can't get through a game without a booking

Kane getting a yellow card for wearing a rainbow armband woudl have been seen around the world. Spineless from the FA

Hey G, are you in the Back Room?

[Gups]

Yep

It would have been nice had they taken the booking at least in the first game.

Although I did enjoy seeing an Arsenal fan say this is an implicit acknowledgement that, away from the biased refs of the Premier League, Kane can't get through a game without a booking

Kane getting a yellow card for wearing a rainbow armband woudl have been seen around the world. Spineless from the FA

Hey G, are you in the Back Room?

No I don't think I have access for some reason...

[The Larch]

Yep

It would have been nice had they taken the booking at least in the first game.

Although I did enjoy seeing an Arsenal fan say this is an implicit acknowledgement that, away from the biased refs of the Premier League, Kane can't get through a game without a booking

Kane getting a yellow card for wearing a rainbow armband woudl have been seen around the world. Spineless from the FA

Hey G, are you in the Back Room?

No I don't think I have access for some reason...

Weird... I'll PM you in a bit.

[FunkMonk]

Apparently taking a yellow card is more meaningful than making a largely perfunctory but still important gesture of solidarity.

Football is evil, most especially the international game. Just end the tournament now.

[Josquius]

You're kidding, they backed down?

I guess its back to laughing at England.