FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 - DISCUSSION AND WATCHALONG THREAD ⚽️

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

Wasn't sure where to put this, so ive put it here for now, as its where I put the Arsenal Premier League win one.

I'm really looking forward to the World Cup, and want an England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 win (although I am of course behind Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿!)

I've got the BBC sport notifications turned on, and will likely watch with the BBC, rather than ITV.

I'll be watching my matches from home alongside my dd and cat, who are both uninterested!

Anyone fancy joining me? Will you stay up for the games of the country youre supporting?

Supporters of all countries welcome 🙂, expect football chat and banter, favourite goals/matches, fun facts about countries etc, what we're doing in celebration etc.

Happy viewing 🏆

The hydration breaks are 100% for adverts on american television and are ridiculous/infuriating and nothing at all to do with player welfare.

Whilst I agree with the advertising side of the hydration breaks, I do think in matches where it's above 30 degrees they are needed.

I saw they were giving away Panini sticker books in Tesco a while back...

And now I've got 3 packets of stickers and am not quite sure if I can bring myself to break them open and start adding them in

I totally disagree. Football has enough natural pauses and breaks in the game for players to grab a drink when needed- it may not be the same time for every player. Have bottles around the pitch and they can self regulate.

The ad breaks are ruining the fliow of games and it's ridiculous to dress them up by saying players aren't capable of knowing when they need fluid. Talk about dumbing down the sport.

Edited to add that it is actually incredibly disrespectful to the professionals in the game who have trained hard to reach the top level.

😆 🤣 😂

@Llttledrummergirl I couldn’t agree more. This tournament is going to ruin the World Cup forever. Ridiculous co-hosts, too many countries included, “hydration” breaks

I do disagree with this, players cannot just leave the pitch and they can't have water bottles on the pitch. I don't see it as disrespectful to the player, there needs to be some kind of order and rules around drinks. The players do get a drink if they want when there is a pause. Yes they are elite athletes but they are human and are subject to dehydration like us all. I was at Wembley for the play off final over the BH and it was so hot you could see the players struggling.

There is no need for drinks breaks in air conditioned stadiums or when the temperature is below 25c

You have to standardise it. It’s drinks breaks for every game or none at all.

Not if you use it solely as a drinks break rather than tactical talk time.

I can’t see the hydration breaks being abolished now it’s part of this World Cup. It must be annoying of you don’t agree with it, but I bet they like the little chats from the other team members and coaches. If they all do it , it seems fair enough I suppose they can’t say much in a few minutes really that helps a huge amount most of the time.

They do drinks breaks in cricket but they’re playing all day!

They explained why they still had them in air conditioned stadiums and it was to keep all matches the same and consistent

I can see the arguments against it when it’s in an air conditioned stadium to be fair, but adverts are king and it’s how it is for this tournament. It does break up the momentum though. Apparently a few managers are fine with it , but it’ll be interesting to see if it goes on for the Euros.

That’s the point. Whether the opportunity is used to talk tactics or whether it’s disruptive to the flow of the game everyone will have to be subject to the same advantages/ disadvantages.

The need for hydration depending on the circumstances then becomes secondary.

When players get a drink during Ramadan it doesn’t take 3 minutes so a drink can be done quickly.

They are in the UK they will need hot drink breaks 🤣🤣

And the advertising money

Hot drinks breaks! Lol
Fancy a brew or a hot chocolate mate ? Marshmallows with your coffee?
The Euros are being held in Europe , they could go the whole hog and have a chip van on the go as well. Fit in loads more ad breaks

Well England were impressive (apart from the defence which in my opinion was too deep).

The defence is deep because of Pickford.

H reckons the hydration breaks are because the Americans just wanted it to be “quarters” 😀

but I thought it stoped flow play yesterday

they should be whistled with a natural break - corner, throw in, goal kick so leeway with minutes not at a set ad break time

but hey I am sure the players hate it as well

All the goal songs

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS7ah6yLjn5p4Tzaohul4jbHj1Q1jUu3z

Acually, it's not all the goal songs, just a selection ⬆

I feel this way too, the USA bringing its charmless capitalism to everything we hold dear.

Thought last night was exciting in a way I haven’t seen for a while - very much about the attack, I didn’t sense the nerves I usually do and they weren’t rattled by Croatia scoring.