If, *FINGERS CROSSED* we can junk Farage on the same day, perhaps Europe is turning a corner?

Prediction: This is just an attention-grab and he's going to say eff-all.

What the hell is this? They should have lost by 30.

The bonus verse about Balogun "leaving the queen behind him" would work in a US v England match, but busting it out against Belgium makes about as much sense as if England had taunted Mexico with a rendition of Ten German Bombers.

BYW - did anyone ever check in again on those Qatari stadiums that were supposed to be sent to Africa? As of 2023 they hadn’t done it. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

This stuff is out of the Tommy Robinson playbook. But yeah, he looks vulnerable now.

#BELUSA #USABEL (with apologies to F.H. Townsend)

I hope British leftists are looking at how bad things can get when you keep making excuses for a patholgical liar and lifelong fuck-up just because he's currently saying what you want to hear

So, supporting Spain for this? As much as it matters? Spain are best placed to beat France but are also a team England can beat.

Hosting the World Cup in 2 & 1/3 autocracies is not enough for people to take FIFA’s naked corruption seriously, but Trump telling Infantino to waive that Red Card is the straw that broke the camel’s back? Okay. Now what are the soccer federations of the world going to do about it?

I know plenty of Man City/Chelsea/Newcastle fans who say "Yeah, the petrostate dictatorship that funds us sucks, but it's still my club and I still support it", which is fair. I see very few who say "It's actually great that our team owes its success to a corrupt evil dictator" This is a subtweet

very very funny to see American progressives not only praising the suspension of the Balogan red card but also attacking “Europeans” who aren’t happy about it, Americans just can’t help Americaning when it comes down to it

"If it was actually the case that Trump and Infantino agreed with each other, then that's crazy, that calls everything into question. That's our game, not their game. These two people, who both have no idea about football, should have nothing to do with it." ~ Jürgen Klopp

He's clearly talking about Infantino, just can't remember his name.

It is once again worth stressing that FIFA is no more than the sum of the teams that consent to be governed by it.

Where can I get some of these in on short notice?

Until now, the USMNT has benefited from a feeling of "well, they're just footballers, it's unfair to hold their President against them" from other fans. That's all gone. They're now as despised as their government. Poch has made it certain with that statement.

What an absolute disgrace to the integrity of football Pochettino is. How to completely destroy your reputation in 24 hours... www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Look if you think it’s fine for Trump to corruptly get a red card revoked (or “suspended”) bc FIFA is already corrupt, maybe you understand the MAGA mindset better than you think. “All politicians are corrupt so it’s ok for Trump to be corrupt” is a very common maga rationalization

Europeans know FIFA is corrupt, but that corruption usually stays off the pitch. Dodgy sponsorship deals, ticket allocations, world cup hosting etc is one thing; corrupting the game itself is something else.

On this occasion I do in fact have to support this kind of silliness

Just think, wouldn't World Cups be better if they were held in countries that actually liked football.

To the American right we're under Sharia law whereas to the American left we're an imperialist white ethnostate. Both think we subsist on potatoes

Infantino has to go. No more of this.

Unbounded corruption. “CBS News has confirmed that Balogun's reinstatement came after US president Donald Trump called Fifa president Gianni Infantino on Thursday and spoke about the suspension.”

If the England FA were cunning they would write to FIFA today asking whether Quansah can play in the next game or does the exception only apply to American players. And publish the letter.

UEFA, ooofff, oooofff, UEFA. www.uefa.com/news-media/n...

FIFA. Managing to make UEFA look good, since Stanley Rous retired in 1974.

Barring an absolutely unprecedented failure to qualify, Thomas Tuchel now has his ticket booked for Euro 2028. And frankly, if they play like they did last night (far from a given, obvs.), that should be another final at least for England.

"the noise was still constant, ramped up a level for the pre-match playing of Wonderwall, greeted by huge and relentless boos. Hmm. A lot of Blur fans in the house, then." LOL, classic.

To the USA fans saying "If the situation were reversed, Belgium wouldn't..." Stop. The situation wouldn't be reversed. Belgian politicians wouldn't intervene, and if they did FIFA wouldn't listen. This is the kind of thing - political interference in the game - FIFA actually bans teams for.

It's pretty amazing to think that that - a scrappy 3-2 victory over Mexico at their home stadium - was objectively the best match of knock-out world cup football England have played in my life, and I'm already in my mid-40's. If not, what result was better?

literally incapable of conceiving of global relationships (this is Meloni, an ideological ally he has managed to completely alienate in recent weeks) in any terms other than those of a rapist.

Footie eh?

“Corruption is good when it works for us” is why we have corruption

'There can be no question that the treatment of the Iranian squad by the US authorities (and Fifa’s abandonment of the Iranians) has been a modern sporting scandal.' Mark Brown, via The National archive.is/MmsfZ

It’ll never happen, but it’d be a powerful statement if Belgium simply refused to play the match, or fielded an ineligible player of their own. Something like that has to happen at some point. This corruption can’t continue unchecked.

Statement from Belgian FA.

did any sports journalists even raise article 27 as a possibility before now? every source i read after the game seemed to be like “there is no way balogun will be able to play against belgium bc FIFA rules don’t provide a way to challenge/appeal the red card”

This is outrageous. Belgium should refuse to play.

This is some blatant BS. Give the red or don’t give the red, just don’t make up some nonsense afterwards that you’re clearly not going to extend to other teams. www.espn.co.uk/football/sto...

Can I just shock you? I love Manchester

Interesting - The dead district posted on x an Interview with a Russian Su-34 pilot who has been taking part in the war against Ukraine since the very first days. 🔴 He claims to have 1,400 combat sorties. The interview is more than 3 hours long. Some interesting points: thread🧵

The difference between "everyone knows Farage is a corrupt wrong'un" and "Here's proof Farage is a corrupt wrong'un" is what journalism is, and it's not actually very easy, even when "everyone knows".

Doesn’t matter whether his supporters walk away, though it wouldn’t take many doing so to kill off Reform’s chances of winning. What matters is that this behaviour is 1) wrong and 2) could ultimately form the basis of a recall election.

Jenrick leading Reform kills off any kind of deal with the Tories, so I'm all for it.

Nigel Farage has made a career out of ‘taking back control’ - but he is not being straight with the British people about who controls him. Today, I have written to the Standards Commissioner to urge that the latest Sunday Times revelations are investigated.

An absolute banger of an exclusive from the Sunday Times. It's devastating. For the first time, I'm uncertain if Farage can actually survive this www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...