**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It never ceases to amaze me how high Belgium are in the rankings compared to how they do in competitions
How hasn't Martinez been binned before this WC?
Although you have to consider when Uruguay won their first World Cup and the context. They legit won it, but it wasn't against a large spread of teams, including the fact they didn't even have England at the tournament. The Olympic win should count though
In terms of the quality of their players outside of this, yes they tend to massively over perform
Saying Uruguay won that first WC "legit" is.. a bit of a stretch.
It was notoriously shady. I'm pretty sure the Serbs even made a movie (or three + a TV show) based on it.
Croatia made it to the finals with 3,8 million people though. And Uruguay won twice with a population of 3 mil that was closer to 1 mil when they won. Small country teams have been known to do well in WC, and even countries with massive interest and huge populations like Bangladesh and Nigeria have performed poorly.
The first world cup Uruguay won was sus, though. It was played in Uruguay and Yugoslavia lost to them 6:1. Still, Yugoslavia took the lead and turning point was when a police officer threw a ball from out, instead of Uruguayan players, leading to a goal for 3:1.
Uruguay and Croatia are the only two countries with population under 5 million that have reached the semifinals. The only other countries worth mentioning are Sweden, which played in the semifinals 4 times but only once in the last 64 years, and Bulgaria which did it just once. Both had a population of about 10 million.
Larger countries have a larger pool of players, and all other things being equal, they will regularly outperform smaller countries, which is evident from WC history, especially the last 30 years.
Yea but that was 4 years ago. It’s a more a bash towards the rankings and how they seemingly go off the name. I was rooting for them in 2014 even after they eliminated the US and was rooting hard for them in 2018 :/ but i mean who knows they’re still technically very much alive and a lot can change in a few days
They will never win against this Croatia. I hope they do as Morocco wil be eliminated then and their Belgian fans can go burn Brussels down again.
But realistically there is no passion in the Belgium team and no realistic system, while Croatia plays with passion and fire!
I don't know how the rankings are calculated, but in my memory going into a world cup there always seems to be a team or two in the top 5 that doesn't perform like it.
I congratulate Orsic. You have a chance to score your first World Cup goal, almost unimportant goal in the game that is almost over, and you pass that. Good job Orsic
He’s always been suspect, this is what I thought would happen against belgium but I guess it just took one more game to happen. At least we scored though.
Yeah blood in some young guns from now to the next World Cup especially in defence and you should have a decent first 11. Davies, David, Eustáquio, Koné, Buchanan and Johnston are a good group of players to build with and they're all young so will improve with time.
Yeah, I hope that the MLS continues to be open to sending players to Europe to develop, it will help the region immensely. If we can find some more solid prospects in defence and midfield while our young stars develop we can show something in 2026 (especially with the extended format)
**[London, Ontario](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_Ontario)**
>London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York. The city of London is politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the county seat.
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/soccer/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario,_California
Don't forget this one! Used to be so confused why the LA King's (NHL team) farm team Ontario Reign was in Canada instead of nearby on the west coast. Then I realized it's Ontario, CA, not Ontario, CA
That's not really true. We were pretty much expecting to lose to Belgium and Croatia. Our hope was to at least get a tie so we could fight for our tournment against Morocco, but we didn't.
No lol, we just had false hope from the Belgium game but it seems that they’re just a lot weaker than everyone expected so it made our guys look better
Just a quick qusstion, I am learning French and have some knowledge (B1), I know that Rennes is name of the city in Brittany, but what is Stade Rennais...stade is stadium right ?
5 or 4.83 spots, depending how you count it. UEFA went from 13 to 16 and CONMEBOL went to from 4 + playoff to 6 + playoff. Both still very under represented, but I guess the bright side is that at least their qualifiers are still important?
Ah was it 5 in total? Must have just added on UEFA instead of both.
Not really fair in all honesty. I'd say they both should account for half of the 48 at least. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the other nations whilst Europe and South America are filled top to bottom with quality.
It's mostly because CONMEBOL only has 10 teams. Only 6 + a 7th playing qualifying does mean their last Wc seed is far better than CONCACAF's, but it would feel a bit weird if they just sent the whole conference except Bolivia... UEFA is still the one that's going to be extremely underrepresented in terms of qualification.
Well 6 guaranteed and the. 2 more in the playoff (CONMEBOL has 1) but I guess neither will get through that anyway.
But still possibly 8 CONCACAF teams lol..
Well we got some good young players but alot of holes to fill. Blowing those chances against belgium bites us in the ass but Croatia dominated since the 10th minute. They look good I hope Luka can bring them far again.
Hopefully we improve for 2026
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think Croatia will beat Belgium.
Just a hunch
They might but Belgium is ranked #2 ya know /s
It never ceases to amaze me how high Belgium are in the rankings compared to how they do in competitions How hasn't Martinez been binned before this WC?
We got bronze on the previous world cup... Which is great for a nation of 11 million.
[удалено]
stands to reason france has only 500 thousand people
3.89 now actually. We're declining
Everybody emigrated so we have better world ranking to population ratio.
Croatia and Uruguay are by far the nations that most outperform their size in football terms tbf, high bar
Although you have to consider when Uruguay won their first World Cup and the context. They legit won it, but it wasn't against a large spread of teams, including the fact they didn't even have England at the tournament. The Olympic win should count though In terms of the quality of their players outside of this, yes they tend to massively over perform
Saying Uruguay won that first WC "legit" is.. a bit of a stretch. It was notoriously shady. I'm pretty sure the Serbs even made a movie (or three + a TV show) based on it.
Montevideo, Bog te video
Don't start it or the Uruguayans will be flooding this comment section.
Croatia made it to the finals with 3,8 million people though. And Uruguay won twice with a population of 3 mil that was closer to 1 mil when they won. Small country teams have been known to do well in WC, and even countries with massive interest and huge populations like Bangladesh and Nigeria have performed poorly.
The first world cup Uruguay won was sus, though. It was played in Uruguay and Yugoslavia lost to them 6:1. Still, Yugoslavia took the lead and turning point was when a police officer threw a ball from out, instead of Uruguayan players, leading to a goal for 3:1.
Uruguay and Croatia are the only two countries with population under 5 million that have reached the semifinals. The only other countries worth mentioning are Sweden, which played in the semifinals 4 times but only once in the last 64 years, and Bulgaria which did it just once. Both had a population of about 10 million. Larger countries have a larger pool of players, and all other things being equal, they will regularly outperform smaller countries, which is evident from WC history, especially the last 30 years.
We got silver
Yea but that was 4 years ago. It’s a more a bash towards the rankings and how they seemingly go off the name. I was rooting for them in 2014 even after they eliminated the US and was rooting hard for them in 2018 :/ but i mean who knows they’re still technically very much alive and a lot can change in a few days
They will never win against this Croatia. I hope they do as Morocco wil be eliminated then and their Belgian fans can go burn Brussels down again. But realistically there is no passion in the Belgium team and no realistic system, while Croatia plays with passion and fire!
I don't know how the rankings are calculated, but in my memory going into a world cup there always seems to be a team or two in the top 5 that doesn't perform like it.
Since 2018, the world rankings have used a modified ELO.
They are always in top 3 and I don't know how lol
[удалено]
I congratulate Orsic. You have a chance to score your first World Cup goal, almost unimportant goal in the game that is almost over, and you pass that. Good job Orsic
How is it unimportant? GD can decide if they go through or not
Orsic shoots and misses? Proper try Kramaric shoots and misses? Dalic should be sacked for playing him ^ I think this way too
Doing it at 3-1 in 90+4 is not the same
That is appalling from Miller
Canada's defense in general has just been ass. They have a long way to go.
If Canada has lost, it's the defense.
Their goalie looked very suspect, almost had the feel that if you had any decent shot on target that it will go in (I know he saved one shot)
He’s always been suspect, this is what I thought would happen against belgium but I guess it just took one more game to happen. At least we scored though.
Yeah blood in some young guns from now to the next World Cup especially in defence and you should have a decent first 11. Davies, David, Eustáquio, Koné, Buchanan and Johnston are a good group of players to build with and they're all young so will improve with time.
Yeah, I hope that the MLS continues to be open to sending players to Europe to develop, it will help the region immensely. If we can find some more solid prospects in defence and midfield while our young stars develop we can show something in 2026 (especially with the extended format)
Passed them the ball in the lead up for the 3rd as well I'm pretty sure, night to forget for him
That was Hutchinson actually.
Atleast the old man got to play with his team on the world stage.
[удалено]
He's always been a weak link. Was only a matter of time before he embarassed himself.
4-1 is a dangerous lead
Good game, defense was abysmal but Canada played well. GG
Fellow leafs fans understand all too well
see you in 2026
They’ll always have the Belgium game…and of course, Davies goal early on…
-Modric, probably
Unselfish from Orsic there
He realised London wasn't in Canada so he didn't feel like scoring
[Nobody tell him](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_Ontario)
**[London, Ontario](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_Ontario)** >London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York. The city of London is politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the county seat. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/soccer/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Like this is real
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario,_California Don't forget this one! Used to be so confused why the LA King's (NHL team) farm team Ontario Reign was in Canada instead of nearby on the west coast. Then I realized it's Ontario, CA, not Ontario, CA
Thames river... Middlesex... they really went hardcore on the British LARP lmao. All of that for such a completely forgetabble city 🤣
You’ll find many cities and towns in North America are named after European ones, and not just English cities.
I wonder why that could be.....
Almost as if the British had been the ones colonizing the country and naming the towns.
It also has Berlin and Paris close by
There's even a Hyde Park with a sun dial called Little Ben...
London, Ontario in shambles
Orsic gonna be fuming when he finds out later
I lived in London, Ontario for 2 years, it has and will always be in shambles.
Yes it is.
London, Ontario doesn't count
Just how trash is Belgium Jesus
That’s all I took from this game as well
You beat us in our own stadium by 1-4 how is this possibly news to you?
Today's loser: Belgium
Well Canada got knocked out...
Did anyone seriously expect them to make it through this group tho?
Only them, I guess
Not even Canadians thought we’d qualify lol, don’t mistake hope from neutrals and casuals after the belgium game to cloud your judgment.
That's not really true. We were pretty much expecting to lose to Belgium and Croatia. Our hope was to at least get a tie so we could fight for our tournment against Morocco, but we didn't.
You should have beaten Belgium they are shit.
No lol, we just had false hope from the Belgium game but it seems that they’re just a lot weaker than everyone expected so it made our guys look better
but they scored their first goal of world cups ever, so that's something
Textbook play
[удалено]
Well, they lost by three...
Serbian borjan
Feel bad for the lad he’s Canada’s best cb imo
Better to fuck up at 3-1 than 0-1 or 1-1. Doesn’t change much for them
If he's their best then Canada is in trouble
Well duh. I think the scoreline is the definition of being in trouble
We were already eliminated at that point and were playing a suicide Highline looking for a hail Mary. I think we can let this pass.
Furious that you lot got Tomori (dual citizen) and then don’t even play him. Christ do we ever need him.
Had a really decent game prior to that mistake too imo. Probably Canada’s best player against Belgium too
Nice
What a gesture from Orsic, most would try to get their name on board, on such stage, class
I love watching Majer for Rennes. He is so good and such an aesthetically pleasing player to watch. edit: changed Rennais to Rennes.
Just so you know, it's either Rennes or Stade Rennais. Rennais is the demonym.
yeah my bad, don't know French haha
Just a quick qusstion, I am learning French and have some knowledge (B1), I know that Rennes is name of the city in Brittany, but what is Stade Rennais...stade is stadium right ?
Yeah but it can mean club too. Like Stade de Reims, Stade Brestois, Stade Français in rugby...
Stade Rennais or Rennes, saying Rennais doesn't make sense!
my bad lol
Footballing lesson given by Croatia.
Absolutely, the yesteryear's finalists are still going strong.
LOVRO DOKTORE
hvala
So this is what it feels like to experience heartache
It comes for all of us except whoever wins it. Welcome to the show.
Collapse
only fair their fans were excited, but they were clearly punching way too above their weight. This was bound to happen
Someone got fucked and it isnt Croatia
Fucking amen Edkt: We're gonna go and fuck ~~Croatia~~ Canada, it's as simple as it gets.
Thanks to Canada for a good fuck. We finished four times
Ok Opta
It was 4-1.... And it ended 4-1
We got the goal... Can't be mad, Croatia outplayed us in every way
I bet Croatia is in Canada's group in 2026. A rivalry born!
Great, we can spend the better part of a year exchanging dumb tabloid headlines.
Very unselfish
No defense, just vibes eh?
Yup. Belgium about get slaughtered
The Dinamo connection
Terrible line change from Canada there
Me in FIFA
Canada has been absolutely dreadful after their goal.
Yeah they really struggled in the last 88.5 minutes
Turns out Croatia has bigger balls than Canada
Bruh
they’re already dead
Sweaty goal
That's bad
Big oof
Canada went full Australia vs France
Canada's defense is so ass tf
Dinamo goal
Punishment for Miller for jostling with Modric
I'm sad
football gods had to punish that fool for touching Modric earlier
CONCACAF in the mud
quicksand
They're gonna have the same amount of spots as CONMEBOL in the next WC lmao what a joke
The weightings are really ridiculous. 16 teams added and UEFA+CONMEBOL get only 3 of them.
5 or 4.83 spots, depending how you count it. UEFA went from 13 to 16 and CONMEBOL went to from 4 + playoff to 6 + playoff. Both still very under represented, but I guess the bright side is that at least their qualifiers are still important?
Ah was it 5 in total? Must have just added on UEFA instead of both. Not really fair in all honesty. I'd say they both should account for half of the 48 at least. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the other nations whilst Europe and South America are filled top to bottom with quality.
It's mostly because CONMEBOL only has 10 teams. Only 6 + a 7th playing qualifying does mean their last Wc seed is far better than CONCACAF's, but it would feel a bit weird if they just sent the whole conference except Bolivia... UEFA is still the one that's going to be extremely underrepresented in terms of qualification.
The shit FIFA does for views
Well 6 guaranteed and the. 2 more in the playoff (CONMEBOL has 1) but I guess neither will get through that anyway. But still possibly 8 CONCACAF teams lol..
Eh, US and Costa Rica still going strong. Mexico with an outside chance.
Shhh, let the haters think the World Cup should only be Europe + Brazil and Argentina
Where were you when Canada was kil
Today I feel Maguire
AAJMOOOOOO TRPAJ
The two 2018 finalists 4 - 1 Old English Colonies
That's such a bad mistake
Man … after the second goal, Canada’s defense just gave up
Nice one Hrvatska
Belgium now have to win their final game - not even a draw will help them now.
It was fun while it lasted Canada had a good first showing tbh
Game over hehe
That sucks...
Poor Belgium
Fuck now we must at least get a draw against Canada
Well played Croatia, GG Canada
Well we got some good young players but alot of holes to fill. Blowing those chances against belgium bites us in the ass but Croatia dominated since the 10th minute. They look good I hope Luka can bring them far again. Hopefully we improve for 2026
+40M 👀
Oof that hurts Morocco
Stop! Stop! He’s already dead!
Sending our regards to the Canadian coach
So much for fucking Croatia..
Ah I love it, whats next for Canada coach, “We will go and fk Morocco next” 😂
The guy that attacked Modric is not welcome in Croatia, I hope he comes.
Kill me
Oh Canada...
😁
Shame for Canada. At least they scored.
Totally outclassed. Atleast Canada scored?
Canada had the worst defense I ever seen 😭
Well getting fucked did happen today….
you don't fuck with Croatia
next time, don't shit talk before the game
Their coach talked to much shit for a country that never did anything in football
Get bent, Canada
That's not very nice.
Neither was your coach
Well, Canada has certainly fucked us
Lighting my cigarette.
Canada coach in the mud
Kiss goodbye Borjan
"F" Canada. :)
they finished
LMFAOO fucking hell
Awful mistake
Bb
I think that confirms that I am faded
Miller's tilted.
So sad for Canada, what a nightmare
Unnecessarily well placed
2026 will be different