On 7/3/2026 at 3:13 PM, HossC said:

Who did you think the Prince and Princess of Wales represented? 
 

I knew that but I thought Wales was the equivalent of Alaska or something....more like a state and not its own country. I also thought the same about Scotland. 

5 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

I knew that but I thought Wales was the equivalent of Alaska or something....more like a state and not its own country. I also thought the same about Scotland. 

Scotland is indeed its own country, but part of the UK. Just so you know, Roger, many Scottish fans are rooting for Mexico against England today. 🤣 There's a bit of a rivalry there. 

17 hours ago, Meadowmufn said:

Scotland is indeed its own country, but part of the UK. Just so you know, Roger, many Scottish fans are rooting for Mexico against England today. 🤣 There's a bit of a rivalry there. 

And we let the Scot's down again by beating Mexico!

Maybe Americans can now start to appreciate a famous quote by Bill Shankly who managed the English soccer team Liverpool from 1959 to 1974:

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that".

On 7/6/2026 at 11:40 AM, HossC said:

And we let the Scot's down again by beating Mexico!

I guess the Scots will need tae get behind Norway as they cannae get behind England. 

I'm about as much English as I am Norwegian, but I am about half Scottish, so... 🤷‍♀️

On 7/10/2026 at 12:58 AM, Meadowmufn said:

I guess the Scots will need tae get behind Norway as they cannae get behind England. 

And once more we let down the Scots. Another great result for England last night as they sent home Erling Haaland's Norway with a goal in extra time. Now England face reining champions and FIFA's favorite side Argentina in the semi-finals. At least that match is on at a more reasonable 8pm. I was up until 1am last night and I'm very tired this morning.

BTW. When I googled Erling Haaland's name to check the spelling, a load of Vikings danced across my screen. I don't know if this Easter egg works in other countries.

After he scored both England goals last night, Jude Bellingham was serenaded by the crowd singing the Beatles' 'Hey Jude'.

 

Well, last night was the end of England's chances of winning this year's World Cup when they lost 2-1 to Argentina. The final on Sunday will now be between current European champions Spain and current World champions Argentina. England will play France for third place.

I wasn't going to watch last night's third place play-off, but I switched over with about 20 minutes gone and found England were already 2-0 up against France. By half-time they'd doubled that to 4-0 and it looked like being a walk-over. The French coach must've given his team a strong talk during the break, because within 10 minutes of the second half they had pulled back two goals. It was a nail-biting time for England as France then made it 4-3. With three minutes of regular time left, France conceded a penalty which England's Bukayo Saka scored to complete his hat-trick - 5-3. France weren't done, and brought the score back to 5-4 in injury time. Then, with seconds left on the clock, late substitute Jude Bellingham scored an amazing goal for England to make the final score 6-4. It's shame that England missed out on tonight's final, but it was an action-packed way to end their 2026 World Cup. You can see all the goals in just over two minutes here.

On at a more reasonable 8pm, I decided to watch the final last night. It was a long way from 10-goal thriller the night before, and the game was still goalless after 90 minutes. There were a few yellow cards and two of them went to Argentinian Enzo Fernandez which meant that he was sent off just before the extra time. He became the sixth player sent off in a World Cup final, three of whom have been from Argentina. Spain scored the winning goal in extra time against 10-man Argentina to claim this year's trophy. They are one of the co-hosts for the next World Cup in 2030. The action didn't end at the final whistle, and Argentina's Leandro Paredes also received a red card when a fight broke out between the players. Maybe they'd spent too much time in Waffle House while they were in the US. 

I'm not a big football fan, but I hope this marks the end of hydration breaks and half-time shows, both of which ruin the flow of the game. It would also be good if it was the end of highly inflated ticket and transport costs, and questionable choices by FIFA, but especially the latter seems unlikely.

Just a little stat that amused me when I heard it yesterday. Sunday was also the date of this year's All Ireland Senior Hurling final (Limerick beat Galway 1-29 to 1-18). I know the global viewing figures are hugely different, but attendance at the hurling final at Croke Park in Dublin was 82,300. Attendance for the football at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was only 80,663.