oh no said:

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does anyone know how important defender #3, who got sent off late for MEX, is for them? is he their #3 LB or #5 LCB?

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68 national team caps and makes $2m/year so I imagine a solid player

YokelRidesAgain said:

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Worried we're going to see a lot of dog games like this one in the first 72. The bottom 10-12 teams have no business being at this tournament.

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My only consolation is that R16 and beyond ought to be amazing since the teams will have an extra game together to work on tactics, cohesion, etc.

Starting lineups for South Korea v Czechia

South Korea: Kim Seung-gyu; Lee Han-beom, Kim Min-jae, Lee Gi-hyuk, Seol Young-woo, Hwang In-beom, Paik Seung-ho, Lee Tae-seok, Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung, Son Heung-min (c).

𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗫𝗜! 🇰🇷🆚🇨🇿

Jména naší základní sestavy pro první utkání na světovém šampionátu rozzářila i jihokorejské ulice. 🌃⚽🏆🇨🇿 #FIFAWorldCup #ProTenhleMoment pic.twitter.com/JCvgFSp8wt

— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 12, 2026

oh no said:

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does anyone know how important defender #3, who got sent off late for MEX, is for them? is he their #3 LB or #5 LCB?

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Pretty damn important. He was the captain for Mexico today. I think he's a vice captain but the main captain didn't start.

deadbq03 said:

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My only consolation is that R16 and beyond ought to be amazing since the teams will have an extra game together to work on tactics, cohesion, etc.

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Hope so. My favorite part of the World Cup is always the group stage, and I feel like this set-up cheapens it somewhat.

I would not be surprised to see a two loss team make the knockout rounds on goal differential just for beating the likes of Curacao or Cape Verde like a red-headed stepchild.

South Korea has a pretty good anthem. I rank them first in the group.

Yokel's national anthem group stage ranking (Group A):
1. South Korea
2. Mexico (always thought Mexico could do better)
3. Czech Republic (meh)
4. South Africa (incoherent blending to two different songs in five different languages-I get it, but still)

Curious to see how these teams look relative to the first group match. (Also love that Korea pre-match top.)

You can already tell this game will be on a completely different level from the other in terms of skill and organization.

Stadium looks half empty.

Gonna be a long group stage for FIFA with how much they charged for those lower bowl ticket

ThunderCougarFalconBird said:

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Stadium looks half empty.

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I was wondering if that was people in red that just look like empty seats

Rule Number 32 said:

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This drives me nuts giving pro soccer players a water break like they are 7 year old girls playing in the heat of summer.

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I love football, however footballers are the biggest wankers in sports.

Rule Number 32 said:

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This drives me nuts giving pro soccer players a water break like they are 7 year old girls playing in the heat of summer.

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Id rather they just had water available all around the pitch than stoppage but FIFA can't commercialize that

Rule Number 32 said:

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ThunderCougarFalconBird said:

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Stadium looks half empty.

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I was wondering if that was people in red that just look like empty seats

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Lower bowl on the sidelines, especially closer to midfield, looks like lots of empty red seats but the end zones look pretty full of Koreans in red jerseys

This woman announcer needs to stfu. Good Lord she hasn't stopped talking since the hydration break. We don't need a story every 12 seconds

Rule Number 32 said:

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This woman announcer needs to stfu. Good Lord she hasn't stopped talking since the hydration break. We don't need a story every 12 seconds

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Don't be sexist now. She's just another Karen who wont shut up

Son knows what's up. Love that attempt

Wow that would have been class

Vintage Son sequence. What an entertainer

Son is fun to watch.

And I take it back about the woman announcer. They are both equally bad. Just stfu and let the game tell the story. We don't need stories about players not in this game, or about their girlfriend or parents.

Son is putting at least one in the back of the net before this is over.

Rule Number 32 said:

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Son is fun to watch.

And I take it back about the woman announcer. They are both equally bad. Just stfu and let the game tell the story. We don't need stories about players not in this game, or about their girlfriend or parents.

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It's going to be a lot of that throughout the WC. It's what College Gameday is, any draft, and all of these big spectacle events. Far too many human interest stories.

Both of these squads appear to be so much better than South Africa.

Rule Number 32 said:

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And I take it back about the woman announcer. They are both equally bad.

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This Britisher girl is going on about a "badly needed water break" because it's 72 degrees in Guadalajara.

They would probably regard Texas weather as a war crime.

oh no said:

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Both of these squads appear to be so much better than South Africa.

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I would bet $100 there are intramural squads at A&M that could have looked better than South Africa today. That was ugly.

Czechia is at a base camp in DFW (Mansfield) so they're well aware of the heat. My bet is their thankful for the water break.

IMO the water break is mostly for commercialization BUT it's also to speed up the game. We saw how slow the games were last summer during the Club World Cup afternoon games. The players just refused to run and it was B-O-R-I-N-G. We don't want that this summer.

So apart from the water break, there were 2 seconds of stoppage time in the first half. Got it.

It's always interesting watching teams from up north come to Texas to play in youth tournaments like Dallas Cup or ECNL or MLS Next. These kids are dying and their parents are hurting worse. I regularly see parents from Boston sunburnt and/or passed out on the sidelines.

Plaers from Wisconsin or Washington or Maryland or wherever wilt in the heat. It's a real thing. Pro players that play all season in climates where air conditioning is not needed does play a factor. The Club World Cup taught us that last year.

jessexy said:

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It's always interesting watching teams from up north come to Texas to play in youth tournaments like Dallas Cup or ECNL or MLS Next. These kids are dying and their parents are hurting worse. I regularly see parents from Boston sunburnt and/or passed out on the sidelines.

Plaers from Wisconsin or Washington or Maryland or wherever wilt in the heat. It's a real thing. Pro players that play all season in climates where air conditioning is not needed does play a factor. The Club World Cup taught us that last year.

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The difference is you are comparing teenagers to professionals. These are pros. They should be able to take care of themselves without having to take a break every 22 minutes. It's ridiculous, especially with cool weather at night.

What makes pro soccer players immune to environmental effects. Pro athletes in every sport get hydration during their events. These matches in Mexico are even tougher because of the altitude as well. You're also dealing with athletes who have just finished very long seasons and most of them are worn down by their domestic seasons rather than peaking for the world cup

Beckham's agent has been putting in some work.