That guy is gutsy.
He may get taken away in a mysterious vehicle and never seen again.
Or even turn up in another video praising Qatar.
https://twitter.com/user/status/1594384715766702080
Gutsy if he decides to pull that stunt whilst by himself. But essentially endangering a young child in the process moves the needle over to dumb for me.
Really nice of Qatar to set this milestone so Canada doesn’t have to worry about being the first host to lose in 2026.
With the further diluted field of 48 in 2026, Canada will get a minnow in the group that wasn’t that close to qualifying this year, and that will undoubtedly be the opening game.
Anything can happen in a game and who knows outside of David and Davies who will be on that team, as 3.5 years is a long way away, but Canada should be easily favoured to get through that match.
With the further diluted field of 48 in 2026, Canada will get a minnow in the group that wasn’t that close to qualifying this year, and that will undoubtedly be the opening game.
Anything can happen in a game and who knows outside of David and Davies who will be on that team, as 3.5 years is a long way away, but Canada should be easily favoured to get through that match.
Canada ARE the minnow that every other country wishes they could be drawn against. Will they ever score a goal in this tournament? Definitely not in the first two matches.
There's been several fact checking articles (BBC, DW, le Monde) out this week correcting the "thousands of deaths" numbers that have been talked about.
In short, the 6500 number that was thrown out last year (Guardian) was essentially a "foreign nationals that have died in the last decade" number - essentially form any cause. Obviously not an accurate number for how many are world cup construction related.
Ultimately, we don't know how many workers died, and the number is still likely too high, and that's still not saying anything about the other issues (functional slavery, etc), but the number is likely a lot less than "thousands".
Speaking of corruption, the Sports Bizarre guys from Australia are running an ongoing series on the history of FIFA corruption to get you in the world cup mood.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
Next up for close scrutiny. The Iranians who with their revolution at home are in a tricky spot.
Reports are the majority of Iranians want them to lose as they feel the team represents the Islamophobia regime.
All eyes on the national anthem tomorrow.
Quote:
As a byproduct Carlos Queiroz’s team have been placed in the unenviable position of being required to represent the Islamic republic while being under intense pressure to support millions of protesting compatriots. “The situation in Iran is very difficult,” said Hajsafi, who is aware human rights groups have called for Iran’s expulsion from the World Cup.
Tellingly, before taking questions he opened by offering support for those who had lost loved ones during the recent turmoil. “I would like to express my condolences to all the bereaved families,” he said. “They should know we are with them, we support them and we sympathise with them.”
A key moment will arrive shortly before kick-off when members of a squad thought to be still slightly divided as to how to respond must take individual decisions as to whether to sing a national anthem, all about glorifying the 1979 revolution.
Good job FIFA. They clearly don't give a crap. Zero credibility left.
Quote:
England, Wales and other European nations will not wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup in Qatar because of the threat of players being booked.
The captains, including England's Harry Kane and Gareth Bale of Wales, had planned to wear the armband during matches to promote diversity and inclusion.
A joint statement from seven football associations said they could not put their players "in a position where they could face sporting sanctions".
"We are very frustrated by the Fifa decision, which we believe is unprecedented," the statement read.
The governing bodies - England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland - said they had written to Fifa in September informing them about the OneLove armband but not received a response.
"Fifa has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play," the statement added.
"We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband.
"However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked, or even forced to leave the field of play."
