GoonersGuide to Gambling

Fulltime - France 0-2 Spain
Well done to Spain, commiserations to France.

Probably one of a handful of games where there was quality and attacking intent on both sides of the pitch.

This world cup has not been the best.
High on quantity - low on quality.

The top four seeded teams reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Spain (1st seed) v France (3rd seed)
Argentina (2nd seed) v England (4th seed)

Despite all the moaning and whining by SOME teams when they're eliminated - there is little doubt that these four sides are the top four.

Game on.

Twelve wins in row !! 😎

round of 32 set ...

OK - this is still too early as group positions may change, and 3rd place spots are REALLY flexible due to FIFAs 8/12 combo jumble - but here are some currently projected Round of 32 matchups.

Brazil vs. Japan (June 29, Houston)
Germany vs. Scotland (June 29, Foxborough)
France vs. Sweden (June 30, East Rutherford)
Mexico vs. Uruguay (June 30, Mexico City)
USA vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina (July 1, Santa Clara)
Argentina vs. Cabo Verde (July 3, Miami)

Note : only Germany, USA. Mexico and Argentina have clinched 1st place so far - so it's REALLY little more than guesswork.

But this page on the NYTimes is pretty good and gives estimates of each team's likely chances for a spot.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/interactive/fifa-mens-world-cup-2026-tracker/group-knockout-bracket-projection/

2026 World Cup: Bracket projection 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup bracket with chances for each team to make it out of the group stage into the Knockouts.

Portugal beat Uzbekistan 5-0 and Christiano Ronaldo scored twice.

Afterwards, he gives an interview ... "I have arrived" ... not we (Portugal) but "I" .... He really is quite easy to dislike. 😠

Group D is pretty much done - after FIFA decided to abandon the GD tie-breaker in favour of H2H.

The United States holds H2H over Australia and Paraguay so are confirmed Group Winners - while Turkey have lost to Australia and Paraguay so are confirmed in 4th spot and eliminated.

Previously the 3rd round games were always "live" because even 3rd place was potential qualification with 3 points - so most teams had something to play for right to the end of the group.

The back and forth reactions as goals went in on the alternate games were pure gold and part of the special World cup magic ...

So this new tiebreaker is ... so very FIFA. (def :awful)

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New word definition for the webster dictionary ...
FIFA = awful (use : We lost 0-5 - we were totally FIFA)

6 Red Cards in the World Cup

Learn this life experience without it costing $1,000,000 ...

DON'T BACK BAD VALUE BANKERS !!

Someone bet $1m of Spain to beat Cape Verde at odds of -1200 which is about 1.08 decimal odds ... to potentially win $85K

Yeah - SPAIN 0-0 CAPE VERDE
40 yo Cape Verde goalkeeper wins man of the match.

2026 World Cup: 1 trader lost $1 million after Spain's 0-0 tie with Cape Verde Cape Verde held Spain to a 0-0 draw in a huge win for sportsbooks.

What do we think of the refereeing today?

I don't want to make it about referees on a day when Norway score 4 and France and Argentina score 3 each, with Messi, Mbappe and Haaland deserving credit ...

But ...

How was that foul on Mbappe in the 66th minute not a foul and a penalty - especially after a VAR review ...

And ...

How did Messi stay on the pitch in the 31st minute when he launched into an uncontrolled tackle on the back of the Algerian calf in the 31st minute ... clear red card?

https://www.tiktok.com//video/7652191647547133206

Or superstar special treatment? he went on to score three goals.

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In the good ole days, we could have shrugged our shoulders, said "that's football" and got on with it.

But they've inflicted VAR on us. Ruined the spontaneity of the game and the instant referee decision - and somehow VAR and FIFA try to tell us afterwards that the interpretations were CORRECT ?!?!

WTF?

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