The 2018 FIFA World Cup

[VinnyVideo]

Anyone following this year's World Cup in Russia? It should be an interesting event, as usual. There'll be some notable absences, though - Italy, the United States, the Netherlands, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast all missed out this time.

[Yoshin]

Germany
Germany
Germany

Lando Never Dies
pfp by Plasmi

[Damarioman]

Go Portugal!

[Mariotroid]

Go CANADA!!!

Y'all like my funny joke?

[zelma]

>No America


No watch. Terrible Sport.


USA.

[VinnyVideo]

This year's World Cup has been off to an interesting start, with Germany losing their opening game and Brazil and Argentina eking out draws against much smaller-profile opponents. Iceland's population is a fraction of the size of the city where I live, but they held their own against Argentina, who made it to the 2014 final. The Portugal-Spain game was one of the most memorable opening-round World Cup games I've seen.

Also, the 2026 World Cup has been awarded to the "United Bid" of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Other than the 2002 World Cup played in Japan and South Korea, there's never been a World Cup played in more than one country. I'm not saying North America is perfect, but we're a whole lot more qualified to host the World Cup than Morocco, the other country bidding. So this'll be cool to see - even if I'm not particularly excited about the World Cup expanding to 48 teams.

Germany
Germany
Germany

Germany was my original prediction to win this year's tournament, but I'm not so sure now! It'll be interesting to see if they can rebound after losing to Mexico.

Course clear! You got a card.

[Honey Saucer Gengar]

Belgium and Germany

I have the Thunder Dragon Statue. Also, I'm not gay

[Honey Saucer Gengar]

Dammit! Germany's out .

I have the Thunder Dragon Statue. Also, I'm not gay

[VinnyVideo]

@gengarmaster Yeah, Germany getting knocked out was quite a surprise.

It's been a very interesting World Cup so far. We've had a lot of interesting games, and the officiating has been very solid. VAR has made a big positive difference.

It'll be interesting to see how the knockout rounds go. I could see an unexpected team making the semifinals or even the final.

Course clear! You got a card.

[littlelum]

Wow, both Argentina and Portugal are out. I wasn't expecting both to lose at the same time

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[Damarioman]

Portugal is out...
Ah well... I still have England to root for.
Go England!

[littlelum]

Not Spain and Japan too!

I'm a forum guy living in a Discord world

[VinnyVideo]

So this year's World Cup is in the books. France played a very solid tournament, and I'm not stunned to see them win. (They were one of my semifinal picks, for what it's worth.)

Overall, it was an entertaining and well-played tournament. 2.64 goals per game is pretty good, and the four red cards was historically low. I think VAR has played a major role in preventing major officiating mistakes, which is nice to see. We've come a long way from the bloodbaths and often-capricious officiating that marred some recent tournaments (especially 2006).

I was sort of hoping that Croatia would win it all since their national anthem is the official theme song of bad political fangames - but Croatia's run was impressive nonetheless.

Also, it's interesting to think that Croatia's population is about 1% that of the United States. Despite their small population, Croatia made the final while the United States couldn't even make the tournament. Plus, unlike most Americans, Croatia's players spent their early lives in a literal war zone. Then again, maybe overcoming adversity is what made Croatia's team great. I don't know. I actually don't feel like saying anything overly inspiring right now - instead, I just feel like making my Obligatory Oversized Post-World Cup Post.

Course clear! You got a card.