A Tough Cope, Mundial Sábado A.M.

Hola, hola. We’re into the last week of the 2026 World Cup, with the Semis during Shempiens days (TUE & WED), and then the final Sunday July 19. I was dreading July 19 because this has been a very fun Mundial—until this week. Since then, I must confess to some Mundial exhaustion.

IN THE BEGINNING,

The Mundial had a dynamite start: too many games, lots and lots and lots of goals, spectacular goalkeeping, physical play with non-calls and much MUCH less flopping… In short, there was a lot to cloud over real issues. To mention one: the mistreatment of Iran, off and on the field. Iran failed to advance to the next round because a suspect VAR offside nullified the winning goal at the end, among other questionable VARings.  Fun fact! Now Seattle can boast about hosting games where referees decided the game wrong in both fitbaw AND Lesser.

ELIMINATIONS

Nine African teams qualified for the Round of 32, deservedly. That is 28% of the field for Africa; Europe had 13 teams, or 40%. Among them were the Croatians, who failed to advance to the next round because a suspect VAR offside nullified the tying goal at the end, among other questionable VARings. By the Round of 16, seven teams were European (44%), seven were from the Americas (the three CONCACAF hosts and Suramericanos), which was a very, very welcome result. Then,

POISON.

FIFA did what it does. For Balogun’s suspension for the Round of 16 USA – BEL match, Trump made a phone call to Infantino to plead for a reversal. (Both cruds admitted to the phone call btw.) FIFA decided to suspend the game-suspension for a red card, not overturn the red card itself. Rightfully, UEFA protested. It concluded: “We express our disbelief at such unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision”. Agree, except for the “disbelief” part. FIFA, like 47, do what they want and don’t give a fuck about consequences.

Balogun’s suspension reminded me of January 2025, when 47 exited the New York State Supreme Court guilty of 34 felony counts, but without penalty: go and be President. (It feels ages ago.) As to Balogun, I had no problem with him deciding to play. That’s what expected of him as one of the best players on the team. If Balogun opted to sit, he would have been putting individual values over team success. Same for the coach, if he sat Balogun on principle.

The real problem was Trump and Infantino, and the suspended red card suspension was actual poison for this Mundial. Thankfully, despite delusions, it was resolved on the field. Belgium was fierce and the USA reverted to the overmatched squad we’ve seen playing European or South American competition up to 2024’s Copa América.

USA goalie really just pulled a Younghoe Koo huh? 🤦🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/h3HoxD8bNR

— C^4 (@chapmoney31) July 7, 2026

FIFA dodged a bullet from its favor to Trump, after the USA’s convincing elimination with Balogun. (Let’s be clear: the Balogun favor was for Trump, not for justice, not for the game, nor for the fans nor for the USA.) Belgium sucked out the poison of the suspended suspension from the Mundial, while Trump only ended up spoiling the USMNT’s campaign. Here’s hoping that, in the coming years, we get an exposé on the USMNT’s morale coming into that Belgium game. Not on Netflix, who would most center on Belgian futbolistas’ resolve and the bravery of USA and FIFA lawyers.

CURRENT POISON (ymmv)

And then came Egypt v. Argentina. I saw it and obviamente was annoyed at the ARG comeback, but saw no overt game-fixing. Plus, I have to give credit to BoSaF’s credo: staying back to protect a lead will get you beat (see, BRA 2 – 1 JAP, 2nd half of ENG 2 – 1 DR Congo).

But ever since the last Argentina game ended, with more and more I’ve read, I think Argentina’s advance is spoiling this Mundial. I’ll spare you the rant and give you a choice-slop tl dr

Jajajaja! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/12bYtLM2d4

— MarkOnce (@MarkDeReborn11) July 9, 2026

Shit like this, which feels far truer than ridiculous, makes me yearn for work. Honestly, work. But enough of VARgentina* already, we got a great game one on tap.

* Credit / Source unknown. Please forward my warm ¡Bravo! ¡Bravísimo! Un beso mmmmmUAH!

Norway v. England, 5 EST

Miami (forecast 89F, with clouds or showers 37%)

Erling Braut Haaland and Norway remain as the sole pure and easy story of this Mundial. That he’s going against fellow Golden Boot candidate Harry Kane makes this a prime World Cup matchup at an appropriate stage. Last 8 from 48 teams is a lot of winnowing for a game between two bona-fide contenders, you know…

England defender Jarell Quansah got the red card in the ENG 3 – 2 MEX. Surely, like Balogun, his suspension can be suspended too. Nope! It’s a two-game suspension for Quansah, per the Beeb.

Jude Bellingham was awesome against México, but Norway is superior. I have a favorite for this game, which is my favorite to win the whole thing, but I have seen every single team I like fall to the wayside—most recently Colombia, my Lessser RAAAAAIIII DUUUUUUURS, to the hated Swiss.

Predicción: No, oh no. I will not make a prediction, having proven incapable of choosing beyond what I’d like to happen, questionable preferences all (given the results).

FINALLY,

As I am fully in the anti-ARG crowd, I now have to root for the Swiss later tonight in a most lamentable enemy-of-my-enemy scenario. If SWI wins, that will make an All-European Semis and Final in this Mundial. For every Mundial I have watched, since 1990, this has been my most undesired outcome.

Otherwise, Argentina’s in the mix. I can only console myself with thinking the obvious: every ARG wins going forward, from tonight until the Final, will be soiled with an increasing FIXED narrative. The millions of Egyptians worldwide, and the more numerous and vocal Cristiano Ronaldo fans, will keep alive the Messi Smear.

These are my scenarios. Mood: