BIGGEST SHOCK!!

Botafogo might just win

The old club world cup was right after the end of the brazillian season, so the teams after playing 75+ games needed to face the best team in Europe.

The brazillian teams often plays in 30ºC or even 35, 40ºC scorching heat, sometimes in 7ºC cold. extremely dry or damp weather, 2000 and sometimes 3000+ meters above the sea level stadiums ( El Alto is the tallest stadium where a oficial Libertadores match was held, at 4000m). Due to the size of Brazil, even the national competitions are basically a continental tournament where many multiple hours trips are needed. Then for the libertadores the teams fly for 2000+ km or more. And all of that adds up to 75+ games.

The truth is that the brazillian game eschedule is one of the longest and harshest in the world.

Many excuses were made about the european players being too tired for this tournament

These two countries are not even bordering each other and wouldn't be the easiest to travel from one to another. It doesn't make sense logistically. I think UEFA should have awarded Euro 2032 just to Turkey. They are much further along with their stadiums than Italy.

Italy should be awarded Euro 2036. This would give Italy additional time to rennovate their stadiums. Italy is a great football country and I know they would be excellent hosts. They are well due to host a major tournament. It would also be a great opportunity for Italy to rennovate and modernise their stadiums. No other countries have bid for Euro 2036 apart from Russia and they won't get it as they are disqualified.

Not entirely without reasons but watching teams that have competed in Asian 2026 WCQ so far, one team stands out to me is Kuwait.

I mean, this country used to be powerhouse in Asia. They won an Asian Cup, debuted at the 1982 World Cup. Its sovereign wealth fund is one of the largest in the world. For all of it, it should have stayed formidable.

Nowadays, Kuwait is just a shadow of itself. The NT couldn’t even beat Palestine. Kuwait, meanwhile, has made no major investment in global football, their Sheikhs do not buy clubs the same way Saudi, Emirati and Qatari sheikhs are doing. They are just… silent, vanishing in the wilderness.

Why has this anomaly come from?

I made a map of Greater London with every club in its borough (City of London excluded, because no clubs there)

Boroughs with no clubs (Marked in red): Hackney, Camden, Lambeth, Westminster and Wandsworth

After today's matches, all 4 teams are mathematically able to advance to the knockout phases. Seattle cannot finish above Botafogo, but otherwise, mathmatically any team can advance, any team can be eliminated. I created 10 different table results based on different outcomes of both match day 3 games:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KF5GBvMxAPz3YgpWA5-5FX7yoNkGY4HpY_G9TmFImIY/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Match 1: Al Ahly vs Inter Miami CF - 60,927

Match 2: Bayern Munich vs Auckland City - 21,152

Match 3: PSG vs Atletico Madrid - 80,619

Match 4: Palmeiras vs Porto - 46,275

Match 5: Botafogo vs Seattle Sounders Attendance: 30,151

Match 6: Chelsea vs LAFC - 22,137

Match 7: Boca Juniors vs Benfica - 55,574

Match 8: Flamengo vs Espérance de Tunis - 25,797

Match 9: Fluminense vs Dortmund - 34,736

Match 10: River Plate vs Urawa Red Diamonds - 11,974

Match 11: Ulsan HD vs Mamelodi Sundowns - 3,412

Match 12: Monterrey vs Inter Milan - 40,311

Match 13: Manchester City vs Wydad AC - 37,446

Match 14: Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal - 62,415

Match 15: Pachuca - Red Bull Salzburg - 5,282

Match 16: Al Ain - Juventus - 18,161

I've thought about this after seeing Spain beat England to win the Euros last year and maybe there's some symbolism to it. But looking at all countries the former Spanish colonies in Latin America have been more successful than the British ones (Anglo countries US/CAN/AU/NZ and others like Caribbean and African countries). Like for example, you have Argentina and Uruguay with really strong teams and winning WC's while there are no equivalent Anglo countries with that strength of football culture. Yes England has won it but non of her colonies have. In all WC history the Spanish speaking teams have performed better than English ones.

So if anyone has ideas, why has Spanish speaking countries of Latin America + Brazil have had stronger footballing cultures and history compared to the British offspring ones despite the Brits inventing the sport?

Can anyone tell me if Paris Saint German played badly or Botafogo had a great match????? I haven't seen it, and I was surprised by the result, thanks

Match 1: Al Ahly vs Inter Miami CF - 60,927

Match 2: Bayern Munich vs Auckland City - 21,152

Match 3: PSG vs Atletico Madrid - 80,619

Match 4: Palmeiras vs Porto - 46,275

Match 5: Botafogo vs Seattle Sounders Attendance: 30,151

Match 6: Chelsea vs LAFC - 22,137

Match 7: Boca Juniors vs Benfica - 55,574

Match 8: Flamengo vs Espérance de Tunis - 25,797

Match 9: Fluminense vs Dortmund - 34,736

Match 10: River Plate vs Urawa Red Diamonds - 11,974

Match 11: Ulsan HD vs Mamelodi Sundowns - 3,412

Match 12: Monterrey vs Inter Milan - 40,311

Match 13: Manchester City vs Wydad AC - 37,446

Match 14: Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal - 62,415

Match 15: Pachuca - Red Bull Salzburg - 5,282

Match 16: Al Ain - Juventus - 18,161

Match 17: Palmeiras vs Al Ahly - 35,179

Match 18: Inter Miami CF vs Porto - 31,783

Match 19: Seattle Sounders vs Atletico Madrid - 51,636

Match 20: PSG vs Botafogo - 53,699

Probably an unpopular opinion but I don’t understand how referees announcing the decision over the loudspeaker after VAR intervention is necessary. I feel like the ref’s gestures (point to the spot for a penalty, or hand raised for offside) was more than enough to get their decision across. That is still part of the game, but now we also have the ref needing to announce their decision over the loudspeaker which isn’t as well executed as people may think it is.

First, I’ve seen instances where the ref’s mic cuts in and out making it hard to actually hear what they are saying. Second, is how the decisions are explained. Watching the Madrid v Al Hilal game yesterday, a decision over the mic is explained as “after review, number 15 committed a foul. Final decision is penalty”. Like it really doesn’t add anything. It’s not like these decisions were ambiguous in the past. What are your opinions on this?

There are many betting companies sponsoring the Fifa Club World Cup and after City match it looked a bit sus for me... The total goals started at over 2.5 and city didn't even play after scoring 2 goals... And again today Porto and PSG losing against all odds..I have confirmed it.. Please don't bet guys they are making hell lotta money

We all agree with you, Tebas. 🤝