** World Cup 2026 - USA, Canada, Mexico Thread **
Saw no thread was active yet while it starts tomorrow so I'd gave it a go
No real time for an extensive write-up but lets
oops, forgot to say...
today:
norway vs england (in miami)
argentina vs switzerland (in kansas city)
hot and humid in miami, but doesn't look as bad as some ppl were fearing yesterday (100f+)
meanwhile in the 2nd game, address your hate mail to joão pinheiro (portugal)
Slight lean England, but happy with Norway.
For pool reasons need Argentina, for all other reasons prefer Swiss.
Feels like the climate should theoretically be worse for the Norwegians than the Brits? Though pretty sure very few of them still actually play in Norway.
yeah i'm with this 1 norwegian dude who hates the cringe rowing thing
"I think that rowing was a stupid idea from the start. I have never been happy about it," Emil told Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang. "I have to stand up for [my opinion] and there will be no rowing in the future either." Upon giving the most Nordic quote ever, Emil went on to explain his two reasons for disliking the Viking Row.
First, he feels it's derivative of the Icelandic "thunderclap" celebration that gained popularity a decade ago. I will admit to having the thought, upon seeing the Viking Row, that I'd been doing that at Amon Amarth shows for years. So I get you, Emil. But Iceland was first settled in the ninth century by—who else—Norsemen. Can you blame them if they inherited Norway's love of rhythmic seafaring?
Emil's second reason is one of historical accuracy. The national team, he notes, was to "row across the Atlantic" to this World Cup. Emil notes how foolish that would be! The clinker-built, square-rigged viking longships were built with rows of oars, sure, but it'd be a foolish navigator who relied on manpower to cross an entire ocean.
Rowing is "more Swedish than Norwegian," one Swedish pundit noted. Swedish vikings relied more on oars as they navigated the shallower inland waters and rivers of Europe, reaching as far as al-Andalus and Kievan Rus' and Constantinople (read your Bengtsson!) and serving the Byzantine Emperor as an elite mercenary unit. But Norwegian vikings preferred the open ocean. When Erik the Red settled Greenland, he mostly sailed there. When his son Leif Erikson settled Vinland, in what is today Labrador, Canada, he sailed there. You might call this irrelevant to a fun little soccer chant. You might call any objection clear evidence of being on the spectrum. You might say, "Hey Emil, it's pretty funny that there are oars on the wall behind you in your interview." Keep talking; a true viking cares not for the bleating of sheep.
[...] if I have learned anything useful, it's that all the jokes and references about the vikings raiding England ahead of England-Norway are mostly wrong! The Norwegian vikings largely avoided England during the Anglo-Saxon period; their largest and longest-lasting settlement was Dublin. Instead, the Scandinavian raiders of England were largely Swedes and Danes. [...]
i guess i support norway but i find them unusually annoying. and it's not just the rowing thing though that's the worst part
Norway highest variance team in the tournament. Stop the service to Haaland and you can likely win. If however you let Haaland get the ball then you will likely get smashed.
I think England comfortably win here, but the volatility in playing Haaland is off the charts.
Also what Haaland has done for his own brand this tournament has to be admired. He's picked up a lot of new fans, solid work. Norway gonna get a lot of neutral support tonight from that.
I dont like man city and am indiferrent to norway... but i just cant dislike haaland. The guy doesnt take himself too serious and seems like a good bloke
yeah i'm with this 1 norwegian dude who hates the cringe rowing thing
That dude is jokes. Norway doesn't row, but for some has oars attached to his wall.
You might say, "Hey Emil, it's pretty funny that there are oars on the wall behind you in your interview." Keep talking; a true viking cares not for the bleating of sheep.
lol sheeple
Also what Haaland has done for his own brand this tournament has to be admired. He's picked up a lot of new fans, solid work. Norway gonna get a lot of neutral support tonight from that.
Yep, small N obviously but I've played poker 2x this week both times in England shirts at MGM National Harbor, across the 2 sessions 5 separate people with zero connection told me they were now rooting for Norway because of Haaland (there were others who were Man City fans so whatever, but 5 completely unconnected folks).
I do find it absolutely mental how lots of Americans just seem to randomly pick a national team though. Met a Belgium fan with zero connection to Belgium and a Portugal fan with zero connection to Portugal this week. One of my good friends in Chicago is American of Vietnamese descent but is a Sweden fan, another roots for South Korea purely because of Son (she's been a Spurs fan since 2020).
This sort of thing isn't that uncommon too. So bizarre to me having not grown up here.
keep us closely updated on this please
lol at US fans ever cheering for England. It's either them or Mexico for DFL and then probably lol Canada.
He played golf with Trump last year, so a part of the us must hate that. Then again, the other part will love that.
Humble and funny Viking vs Englishman who played golf with the pedophile in chief. Not a hard decision.
He played golf with Trump last year, so a part of the us must hate that. Then again, the other part will love that.
I have a feeling the part that loves Trump tend not to be soccer fans.
They're either eggball fans who don't watch that sissy soccer ball, or racist anti-sports people in general.
That is my feeling as well. They probably think our football is too "foreign" with a few exceptions
