Beyond pathetic to see so many great figures of the game crashing out of the World Cup like this because of a bunch of clueless teammates and coaches surrounding them.
WWC23 | England v Spain - Spain win the World Cup - and Rubiales gets sacked
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
German football in disarray. They're going to fire everybody before midnight.
Haha, yes. I mean Germany would have won this game if they would have hoofed long balls to Popp from minute 1, instead they did nothing but roll the ball around and kept Leupolz and Magull on the bench all game who has plenty of experience and fresh legs. This german coach is totally clueless.
Some underdogs in next round. Who would have thought.
That has always been international football.
George Best never even got to play at a major tournament. Like family, you can't choose your nation.
Germany were ranked number 2 in the world going into this tournament. This is a proper shock. What a result for Morocco though!
England really should make the semis at least
Congrats to Korea and Morocco - impressive work from them.
All the talk will be about Germany, understandably so, but it's a big day for Colombia and Morocco as qualifiers and Korea coming from nowhere to frustrate the second ranked team in the world.
Germany's own fault that they're out though.
All the talk will be about Germany, understandably so, but it's a big day for Colombia and Morocco as qualifiers and Korea coming from nowhere to frustrate the second ranked team in the world.
Germany's own fault that they're out though.
S Korea played a great match, kept thwarting Germany right to the end for integrity of the sport.
South Korea did manage to time waste 20 minutes this game aprox (almost 10 minutes out of 17 additional minutes were wasted), that must be a new world record. That was utterly disgusting. The womens game need to keep this under control, its becoming as bad as the mens game and even worse!
I hope so. To quote this great man culture that is UrinatingTree: they are going to purge a lot of faces that it will make Stalin wince, and I can't say it is undeserved.
In a group containing the 17th, 25th and 72nd ranked team in the world, that really is a poor show from Germany. South Korea were 17th as well, so the top ranked teams are out, what's going on?
Well done to the African teams, three of the four are through.
Well done to the African teams, three of the four are through.
Basically the African teams are making a mockery of the ranking system
TBF to FIFA it's all so new that they are still working it all out
Crazy that Morocco got thrashed by Germany but qualify ahead of them
Just like the men's tournament that's what makes the World Cup so good and different from the Euros.
That and the salty German tears of course.
It's great for the game that the likes of Morocco and Jamaica are through and building up nicely to be a great tournament.
Yes, I guess it's still pretty new to a lot of countries, and the FIFA rankings will certainly change over the next few years.
It's probably good organization, with several skilled players that allow these 'lower' teams to pull off some great results for themselves, but I thought the German team were lacking in ideas, especially towards the end of the game.
Germany were my bet for winning the whole thing.
The 2nd, 7th, 8th, 14th and 16th ranked teams are already out. Spain (6th) and Norway (12th) finished 2nd in their groups.
Going out in the group stages, our new signature move.
Hey, we all wanted the women's game to develop like the men's.
Not so bad for England? France the best team in their bracket, but they wont face them before the semi final.
The US has a tough route. Sweden followed by Norway/Japan and then possibly Netherlands or Spain.
The US has a tough route. Sweden followed by Norway/Japan and then possibly Netherlands or Spain.
Several of these countries are taking Women's football seriously for the first time ever
Morocco for example havent even been good enough historically to qualify for WAFCON, nevermind the World Cup. They invested a lot to bring in a big name coach in Pedros (2 time Women's CL winner) and reap immediate rewards.
Article here about how Bob Marley's daughter raised funds to keep the Jamaica Women's team going:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/22/sport/cedella-marley-jamaica-womens-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html
All three African teams are facing their colonizers, hope they wreck them 
The women’s game losing the moral high ground when it comes to play acting and time wasting. That was Barsa like from the Koreans.
You don't know the DFB.
Of course you shouldn't underestimate Nigeria (They have Oshoala) and then Colombia (They have Caicedo) or Jamaica (They have Shaw) but should England don't have really terrible performances in these matches then they should reach the semi-final.
Not so bad for England? France the best team in their bracket, but they wont face them before the semi final.
The US has a tough route. Sweden followed by Norway/Japan and then possibly Netherlands or Spain.
On paper looks like a far easier route for England than was predicted (Oz/Canada and then Germany) - no team has really excelled yet either so it's really a wide open tournament
A lot of factors coming into play at this WWC I think.
We're seeing more teams who are fit enough to play 90 minutes, because more of them have the time to train and the coaches to make the training count.
We're seeing more pro and semipro players overall, a lot of them based in Europe or the US because of the growth in the pro game.
We're seeing countries using their overseas talent more (including ones who qualify based on their parents/grandparents) partly because more FAs (or the teams own GoFundme appeals!) can actually pay for the flights to get them to the international matches.
Net effect - appointing the right coach and putting at least some money into a national team can really make a difference.
Some national teams are underperforming at the tournament, other teams have found the right combination of teamwork, talent and luck at the right time to progress. What seems to have changed even between this WWC and the last one is that big teams can't afford to underestimate their opponents - they can't just rely on an opponent's (lack of) fitness or an opponent's lack of organisation to go through.
We're seeing more teams who are fit enough to play 90 minutes, because more of them have the time to train and the coaches to make the training count.
We're seeing more pro and semipro players overall, a lot of them based in Europe or the US because of the growth in the pro game.
We're seeing countries using their overseas talent more (including ones who qualify based on their parents/grandparents) partly because more FAs (or the teams own GoFundme appeals!) can actually pay for the flights to get them to the international matches.
Net effect - appointing the right coach and putting at least some money into a national team can really make a difference.
Some national teams are underperforming at the tournament, other teams have found the right combination of teamwork, talent and luck at the right time to progress. What seems to have changed even between this WWC and the last one is that big teams can't afford to underestimate their opponents - they can't just rely on an opponent's (lack of) fitness or an opponent's lack of organisation to go through.
I’d say that Japan have been the standout team from the group stages, especially after their win against Spain.
I know we shouldn’t write off USA, but I’d honestly be surprised if they make the final. Could even see them going out to Sweden in the next round.
Yep agreed. The smaller nations have had funds invested despite the incompetence of their national federations and they're reaping the rewards.
It’s actually so good to see the smaller nations holding their own and also winning. Aside from a couple of teams, the rest of the field is pretty competitive.
Can’t see any other winner than Japan at the moment but England should be aiming for the semi finals
Can’t see any other winner than Japan at the moment but England should be aiming for the semi finals
Ye Japan probably most impressive of the group stage - only they, Sweden and England won all 3 games and they had more difficult group
Bookies now have England as favourites followed by USA, Spain and then Japan
I think a factor in the inpredictability is that the women's game has one glaring weakness, and that is goalkeeping has not matured as fast as the outfield in terms of overall standard.
This means that even low rated teams with a decent attacker have a chance to grab a goal.
Goalies like Mary Earps are rare at the moment, which is why I would still put England as one of the favourites.
Especially if they stick with the last formation that gets the wing backs, James and the attcking midfield high up the pitch where they can hurt teams.
This means that even low rated teams with a decent attacker have a chance to grab a goal.
Goalies like Mary Earps are rare at the moment, which is why I would still put England as one of the favourites.
Especially if they stick with the last formation that gets the wing backs, James and the attcking midfield high up the pitch where they can hurt teams.
There has actually been very few goals which you could attribute to keeper error, I don't think it's been a major factor this tournament
Levels of fitness, as more players than ever before are professionals, plus smaller nations becoming more tactically aware are much bigger factors here
Only have to watch Argentina to know that's not true.There’s no cheating in women’s football though
Morocco's 'explosion of joy' comes after years of work and investment
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66398182
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66398182
A tad sad Englands tournament will start in the semi-finals. With such a star-filled squad group that can keep WSL goal-digger Daily benched on a regular basis it would have been more fun to see England play USA in 16ths and Netherland in the 8ths before Japan in the semis and France in the finals than going up against these pretty easy teams that also has peaked and burned their energy in the group stages. I just have trouble getting excited for Nigeria or Jamaica/Colombia vs England in the playoffs, you know the result.
Hopefully some of these team gives the traitor Russo a proper bollocking, I could settle with that
Hopefully some of these team gives the traitor Russo a proper bollocking, I could settle with that
Hosting last year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations gave them a huge boost. Their FA prepared for it, made sure the team were ready for it by giving them proper training facilities. They appointed a top coach with women's team experience - Reynald Pedros won a couple of WCLs with Lyon.
In that tournament they beat Nigeria, who have been the top women's African team for years. They lost the final to South Africa. Crucially for the longer term, they captured the crowds - more than 45k at the semifinal and more at the final. A huge boost to women's football in Morocco and hopefully encouraging more girls to play.
Their FA liked it so much that they were the only bidder for next year's African tournament.
In terms of this tournament, a team that loses its first ever WWC match 6-0 but picks itself up to win the next two matches deserves a lot of respect.
A tad sad Englands tournament will start in the semi-finals. With such a star-filled squad group that can keep WSL goal-digger Daily benched on a regular basis it would have been more fun to see England play USA in 16ths and Netherland in the 8ths before Japan in the semis and France in the finals than going up against these pretty easy teams that also has peaked and burned their energy in the group stages. I just have trouble getting excited for Nigeria or Jamaica/Colombia vs England in the playoffs, you know the result.
Hopefully some of these team gives the traitor Russo a proper bollocking, I could settle with that
Not sure if this is a serious post or a troll one. Watching this tournament it’s impossible to call any game easy
R16: UK dates, times and TV broadcaster
I've updated the opening post to show the knockout round brackets.
For UK watchers these are the times and TV channels for the R16:
Saturday 5 August:
Switzerland v Spain - 6am - BBC
Japan v Norway - 9am - ITV
Sunday 6 August:
Netherlands v South Africa - 3am - BBC
Sweden v USA - 10am - ITV
Monday 7 August:
England v Nigeria - 8:30am - BBC
Australia v Denmark - 11:30am - BBC
Tuesday 8 August:
Colombia v Jamaica - 9am - ITV
France v Morocco - midday - BBC
For UK watchers these are the times and TV channels for the R16:
Saturday 5 August:
Switzerland v Spain - 6am - BBC
Japan v Norway - 9am - ITV
Sunday 6 August:
Netherlands v South Africa - 3am - BBC
Sweden v USA - 10am - ITV
Monday 7 August:
England v Nigeria - 8:30am - BBC
Australia v Denmark - 11:30am - BBC
Tuesday 8 August:
Colombia v Jamaica - 9am - ITV
France v Morocco - midday - BBC
10 knockout games in the round of 16? FIFA showing great innovation skills.
I've already edited it! Even the copy/paste time machine can't help Germany now