Anarchistbear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

I continue to think there must be a better way to handle these tiebreaks than the terrible penalty kicks, but I guess if no one has figured it out by now then there isn't.

---

Why change anything? It's both drama and performance under pressure

---

Both Shootouts yesterday were highly entertaining!!

Anarchistbear said:

---

Bunch of depressed Germans not happy Scots

Unfortunately we all have to watch Paraguay more

---

Thursday morning, instead of chants of USA, USA, we could be all chanting We Beat Paraguay, We Beat Paraguay!!

Which of course would turn us all into serious Paraguay fans! Beat France, too!

Anarchistbear said:

---

This is what makes sports great. Germany could have won that game on numerous occasions but in the end Paraguay persevered, was the better team under pressure and with a better goal keeper.

---

That GK was awesome, we decided to sign him up! Gill/Hill

Chance also played pretty well, don't you agree?

sycasey said:

---

Could be the biggest losing day for the Japanese and Germans in quite some time 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) June 29, 2026

---

Ha, ouch!

Cal88 said:

---

High drama in Monterrey. The Dutch better win in OT, I think Morocco wins the shootout.

Whoever gets through is going to take Canada to the woodshed.

---

Let's hope Chance wears a Canadian jersey! His shots always sneak in, sometimes by a sliver and sometimes off a random deflection - they never hit the crossbar.
He also is adept at kicking the ball into extended arms of lunging defenders, yet when the ball is kicked at him, his arm just happens to be in stride against his body.
And when two heads clash on a corner, for some reason it's the other guy who needs stitches while he gets to keep playing.

Chance and Fortune, when they play together, have a winning percentage of 75% at the World Cup.


Canada will face Morocco in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The match is scheduled for Saturday, July 4, 2026, with kickoff at 12:00 PM Central Time (CT)

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

There were a lot of blanks in that shootout. Fortunately for Morocco, they had one less than the Netherlands.

---

Save of the tournament by Netherlands.
Frame it!



Or was it chance?



He saved this one, by unknowingly, back heel kicked it in. So sad.



Chance played for Netherlands, but Morocco had Fortune.

Have I made my point?
If the USMNT bows out tomorrow, I'll try to not get too upset. I'll know that the cookie crumbles like in a Plinko game.



And, yes, Alexi Lawless disagrees with me on this. I accept.

Sepp Blatter quotes. He liked Chance:


"If our game becomes scientific then nobody will have any discussion any longer - if it was offside or not offside, if it's inside or outside the penalty box."(Speaking to The Guardian ahead of the 2002 World Cup final)


"Referees shall remain human, and we will not have monitors to stop the game to see if we are right or wrong... There will be no more discussion [between fans] and then no more hope and then no more life."
(Speaking to the Associated Press in December 2009 regarding the famous Thierry Henry handball incident)


"Fans love the debate... as long as fans are talking about football (in the pubs), whether it be in a positive or negative way, it is good for the sport."

Sepp's Qatar corruption is over, and so is his disdain for VAR. science is increasingly part of the game (including goalline technology).



Some might say that Justice suited up for Columbia on this day, because they topped the group.

When I was a player, and a ref, the saying went "Even Is On".

I bet some world soccer power brokers have hacked the VAR machine to redraw the lines in favor of (said paying client).

sycasey said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

sluggo said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

I continue to think there must be a better way to handle these tiebreaks than the terrible penalty kicks, but I guess if no one has figured it out by now then there isn't.

---

Why change anything? It's both drama and performance under pressure

---

Because the game should be won using major elements of the game, not an obscure element that does not happen in most games. Both teams lose in a shootout, one team just a little more.

---

Scoring and goaltending are not obscure. These are
major skills and penalties also lend themselves to strategy and practice, they aren't random. The most compelling thing is the ability to perform under pressure, again something that separates champions from
Journeymen.

---

It is pretty random in that the goalkeeper is often just guessing on which way to dive to try blocking a penalty kick and it sometimes comes down to who guesses right more often.

That said, in these particular shootouts the number of players who just missed the goal entirely was pretty stunning.

---

I think there are keys- history and behavior that lead to guesses. And, lots of players choked, more German and Dutch. . Hell, I could sky one five feet wide.

Read this update from Greg
https://bearinsider.com/forums/6/topics/135123

(It hasn't been a problem in this thread but I'm posting so eyes see it)

sluggo said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

I continue to think there must be a better way to handle these tiebreaks than the terrible penalty kicks, but I guess if no one has figured it out by now then there isn't.

---

Why change anything? It's both drama and performance under pressure

---

Because the game should be won using major elements of the game, not an obscure element that does not happen in most games. Both teams lose in a shootout, one team just a little more.

---

Well said.

As you said, it shouldn't come down to Jonathan Tah for Germany in a PK after he had played for 120 minutes.
The shootout does not display major elements of the game.

Dwight Way said:

---

sluggo said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

I continue to think there must be a better way to handle these tiebreaks than the terrible penalty kicks, but I guess if no one has figured it out by now then there isn't.

---

Why change anything? It's both drama and performance under pressure

---

Because the game should be won using major elements of the game, not an obscure element that does not happen in most games. Both teams lose in a shootout, one team just a little more.

---

Well said.

As you said, it shouldn't come down to Jonathan Tah for Germany in a PK after he had played for 120 minutes.
The shootout does not display major elements of the game.

---

It does, for one it displays goalkeeping skills, as well as offensive skills. Great strikers like Platini, Suker, Liam Brady, Shearer, Van Basten, Maradona all have conversion rates in the high 80%-90% range. When they step up to take their penalties, people expect them to convert with ease.

These are players who consistently win 1 on 1 duels and can read the GK , predict his reaction and beat him. Great players can also disguise their intention and generate good power and accuracy on a short run up and wind up.

https://www.si.com/soccer/best-penalty-takers-football-history

^This list is not exhaustive, but a good reference nevertheless.

The main reason Both Holland and Germany are out so early is that they don't field today players of the caliber of a Matthaus, Voller, Klismann, Rummenigge, Neeskens, Koeman, Gullit, Van Basten, etc.

Ironically enough, one of the best PK takers of all time is Ronald Koeman, former Dutch free kick great with a wicked strike who is the Holland coach today! He is 111 of 114 PK career attempts, and still holds the record for most consecutive penalties conversions in La Liga with 25... Perhaps the reason he didn't push his team to score in extra time.

Ivory Coast appears to outplay Norway, but Norway does a better job putting it in the net. 2-1 Norway.

Best quarter in the world cup so far?

Hard to see how anyone beats France.

(Now that I've said that I guess Sweden will come back and win on penalties.)

PAC-10-BEAR said:

---

I don't blame players so much for getting their penalty kicks blocked even if they weren't the greatest placed kicks.

But I just don't understand professionals sailing the ball wide or over the goal.

And no player so far at this World Cup has taken a penalty straight down the middle?

---

The goal keeper is generally standing in the middle of the goal when they start their penalty kick. It makes it a lot easier for the keeper if you blast it straight at him.

sycasey said:

---

Hard to see how anyone beats France.

(Now that I've said that I guess Sweden will come back and win on penalties.)

---

Nope! 3-0 France.

Seems like the team to beat.

sycasey said:

---

Hard to see how anyone beats France.

---

Morocco will be a competitive opponent.

Deeper into the bracket, both Spain and Portugal match up well with France, but if it's Brazil or England then it won't be that close.

MEXICO vs ECUADOR NEXT!

Weather Delay.

Quinones and now Jimenez at 31'

Mexico 2
Ecuador 0

Best atmosphere of the tournament, both there and in my local

If England wins they will be walking into a buzzsaw in Azteca.

Cal88 said:

---

sycasey said:

---

Hard to see how anyone beats France.

---

Morocco will be a competitive opponent.

Deeper into the bracket, both Spain and Portugal match up well with France, but if it's Brazil or England then it won't be that close.

---

Not arguing but how are you making these distinctions? I think more in terms of overall quality. Brazil is not very good but England is. I think Portugal has a Christian Ronaldo problem, best for them if he gets hurt.

Cal88 said:

---

PAC-10-BEAR said:

---

And no player so far at this World Cup has taken a penalty straight down the middle?

---

This has been a very polarized World Cup.

---

It's the Trump Effect

sluggo said:

---

I think Portugal has a Christian Ronaldo problem, best for them if he gets hurt.

---

Lol
That's a solution I hadn't considered!

Coach Roberto Martinez, it's a problem of his own creation.

I just realized the US game is one hour later than I thought and I need to be in a taxi 75 minutes after the game starts. Please kill me now.

sycasey said:

---

the number of players who just missed the goal entirely was pretty stunning.

---

Not really. There like 5 spots to kick it:
Low right
Low left
High right
High left
Middle.

Two of them, the high ones, are harder to execute than you think because you can get under the ball and sky it - Roberto Baggio style.



If you CAN go upper corner, you're golden. But it's risky so most players keep it low.

The GK is going to take one of those two away. So then it becomes a 50-50 guess as to which direction.
Unless you can hit it hard and to the extreme side, side netting, no GK can cover that far out.

The goal is 24 feet wide (8' tall). That's 12 feet left and 12 feet right. GK are often 6'6" with a standing reach of over 8'. Add a lunge, and you have a 2' window.

That's why guys miss wide left or right.

The cheekiest PK is the panenka. Down the middle, soft, after he dives:

Here are some examples:



Here are a couple stories about it:





Here are some failed panenkas, which show you why people don't try it often.



So, the GK can guess left, right, or middle.
But SOMETIMES, he'll guess upper right or upper left, no dive, as the Moroccan GK did to finish off Netherlands:




So, whether you are the kicker or the saver, which of the 5 are you guessing??
And now, as the kicker, can you execute that without going out of frame?

Yes, I'm asking YOU, SYCASEY!!!

✈️ Norway fans turning a flight to Dallas into a full-on Viking longship! 🛡️🔥 Teaching the whole plane the legendary ‘Viking Row’—rowing in sync, chanting, and getting hyped for the World Cup. Captain just surrendered on the announcements 😂
Welcome to DFW, Norge! Let’s row our… pic.twitter.com/8vFxQrbbfI

— NancyH (@NancyH_60) June 30, 2026

Norway has to lose soon

sluggo said:

---

I just realized the US game is one hour later than I thought and I need to be in a taxi 75 minutes after the game starts. Please kill me now.

---

Ohhhhhh,….
Brother…..
I'm so sorry.

Solutions: sign up for YouTube TV, watch on your phone with headphones as you are in transit?
I watch games on my phone all the time.

Better yet, Go to Costco and buy the iPad with cellular. This way you'll get a bigger screen. Then you cancel YouTubeTV and return the iPad. Free.

I'm guessing money is not the issue for you, though.


Why a taxi? How long is the cab ride and what happens when you arrive at your destination?

sluggo said:

---

I just realized the US game is one hour later than I thought and I need to be in a taxi 75 minutes after the game starts. Please kill me now.

---

The U.S game is at 3am where I am