World Cup 2026

[Meadowmufn]

My new favorite thing is watching people from all over the world getting to experience the US for the first time while they're here for the World Cup. I especially love seeing the Tartan Army (seeing as I'm about half Scottish) and the folks experiencing the South (authentic BBQ anyone?). Boston has a large population with Scots-Irish ancestry, as does the South, so it's not surprising they're feeling like kindred spirits.

[HossC]

The Tartan Army are confusing the people of Boston by putting traffic cones on statues.

[HossC]

Out of interest, how many of y'all are watching the World Cup? I really only watch motorsports, but I keep an eye on the scores at Word Cups and watch bits here and there. England had a good win in their first match, and I'll watch some of their games as they progress, but the time difference means that a lot of the fixtures are taking place in the middle of the night over here.

[RogerDuke]

I'm not a soccer fan. Probably because I wasn't exposed to it as a kid but I'll start paying attention after they get down to a handful of teams. Those guys are amazing athletes. Some of those highlight plays don't even look humanly possible. 

[Meadowmufn]

On 6/19/2026 at 12:07 AM, HossC said:

The Tartan Army are confusing the people of Boston by putting traffic cones on statues.

I saw that. It's hilarious.

[Meadowmufn]

11 hours ago, HossC said:

Out of interest, how many of y'all are watching the World Cup? I really only watch motorsports, but I keep an eye on the scores at Word Cups and watch bits here and there. England had a good win in their first match, and I'll watch some of their games as they progress, but the time difference means that a lot of the fixtures are taking place in the middle of the night over here.

I haven't watched any yet, but been keeping an eye on the scores. I'll probably watch a few over the weekend. I'm not a huge soccer (or what most of the world calls football) fan, but I catch a game every so often when I'm at my sister's house. One of my nieces played soccer throughout high school and I watched her games.

[HossC]

USA won their second game yesterday, so they should be progressing to the knockout stage. Scotland, however, have never reached the knockout stage and will have to wait until their last game after losing yesterday.

At the World Cup, players play for their country, but on a weekly basis, 154 of them play in the English Premier League, 94 in the German Bundesliga, 78 in the French Ligue 1, 74 in the Spanish La Liga and 68 in the Italian Serie A. The ninth highest with 37 is England's second division, the EFL Championship.

[HossC]

There don't seem to be many songs for this year's tournament, so for Meadowmfn, here's Andy Cameron's 'Ally's Tartan Army' from the 1978 World Cup in Argentina (I couldn't embed the Top of the Pops version!).

England's best-known football anthem is 'Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)' by Baddiel & Skinner & Lightning Seeds. It was actually written for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, which England was hosting. FYI. Jules Rimet is the World Cup trophy and "30 years of hurt" refers to time since England won the World Cup in 1966 (we don't like to talk about it ).

We've been spoiled for football songs. Here's New Order's 'World in Motion' from the 1990 World Cup. It was co-written by comedian Keith Allen, who is singer Lily Allen's father. He appears in the video along several of the players from that era.

Finally, for a bit of football mixed with humor, Keith Allen was also behind Fat Les's 'Vindaloo' for the 1998 World Cup which was co-written by Blur bassist Alex James and bassist Guy Pratt. It was written as a parody, but has since been adopted as a chant by England fans. The video is a parody of The Verve's 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', and was filmed on the same street in Hoxton, London.

 

[HossC]

Can I just say that everyone outside of the US knows that the "hydration breaks" have been introduced for this tournament because American TV couldn't possibly show 45 minutes of sport without commercials. They ruin the flow of the game and are unpopular with fans. Obviously, the players need to stay hydrated in hot weather, but they've just had the break in the England-Panama game and it's being played in the rain! We've managed without them for over 150 years and I hope this is the last time we see them. They are not part of the sport.

[Garrett Duke]

5 hours ago, HossC said:

Can I just say that everyone outside of the US knows that the "hydration breaks" have been introduced for this tournament because American TV couldn't possibly show 45 minutes of sport without commercials. They ruin the flow of the game and are unpopular with fans. Obviously, the players need to stay hydrated in hot weather, but they've just had the break in the England-Panama game and it's being played in the rain! We've managed without them for over 150 years and I hope this is the last time we see them. They are not part of the sport.

That's pretty much about how I feel about the segments in NASCAR now. The breaks would definitely interrupt the flow of the game. 

[Hobie Hartkins]

1 hour ago, Garrett Duke said:

That's pretty much about how I feel about the segments in NASCAR now. The breaks would definitely interrupt the flow of the game. 

I feel the same way! I think some things have changed, that they should've  left alone!

[HossC]

8 hours ago, Garrett Duke said:

That's pretty much about how I feel about the segments in NASCAR now. The breaks would definitely interrupt the flow of the game. 

When I had time to watch NASCAR a few years ago, any incident seemed to be an excuse for a commercial break. Sometimes, they'd come back from the break, tell the audience that the incident was still ongoing, and go for another break. I sometimes forget how lucky we are over here with much stricter constraints on the amount of advertising that's allowed to interrupt TV shows, although obviously things are a bit different nowadays with many people streaming their shows.

[Garrett Duke]

5 hours ago, HossC said:

When I had time to watch NASCAR a few years ago, any incident seemed to be an excuse for a commercial break. Sometimes, they'd come back from the break, tell the audience that the incident was still ongoing, and go for another break. I sometimes forget how lucky we are over here with much stricter constraints on the amount of advertising that's allowed to interrupt TV shows, although obviously things are a bit different nowadays with many people streaming their shows.

You are so lucky with that. There were a lot of times where the accidents happened while they were on a commercial break. That is so aggravating. You just see replays of it and then more commercial breaks. It's non stop here...

[Garrett Duke]

12 hours ago, Hobie Hartkins said:

I feel the same way! I think some things have changed, that they should've  left alone!

I feel like a lot of things they changed should have been left alone. They've ruined a good thing...

[HossC]

I know I've made this comment before, but when one of the satellite channels over here was showing Dukes a few years ago, it was the first time I'd ever seen it with commercial breaks.  It was originally shown in the UK on the BBC which doesn't show any commercials, and then I got it on DVD. Other shows like The A-Team, Knight Rider and the Fall Guy were shown on ITV which does show commercials, but not nearly as many as the US.