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Replying To GreenandRed:  "Nothing. Same if they don't."
I think they'll beat Argentina and France will beat Spain.
I don't think their defence would cope against France's attack. They definitely can be got at, as limited enough teams like Croatia and Mexico proved. Mbappe has a serious Ballon D'Or itch to scratch, and I reckon he's gonna get it by winning the World Cup with France, and ensuring that he's out on his own as the top World Cup goalscorer of all time.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10422 - 14/07/2026 12:12:58    2685721

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I really hope Spain don't win it, honestly would rather see England do it.
The style of football they play is mind numbing, painful to sit through, just passing for the sake of it.

dolfos (Longford) - Posts: 153 - 14/07/2026 15:11:38    2685738

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Agree with others hoping Spain doesn't do it, very boring team with such a lack of flair. Don't really mind this England team, I really like the French and don't really mind the Argentinians but they always seem to get the rub of the green. Will be rooting for France tonight and Argentina tomorrow. As for predictions:

France vs Spain: 2-1 to France
England vs Argentina: 3-2 to England

RoyalStalwart24 (Meath) - Posts: 41 - 14/07/2026 15:48:34    2685742

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"Mbappe has a serious Ballon D'Or itch to scratch, and I reckon he's gonna get it by winning the World Cup with France, and ensuring that he's out on his own as the top World Cup goalscorer of all time."

Ah that old chestnut 'of all time'. Mbappe is on 20 World Cup goals in 20 matchces. Messi ihas 21 goals in 32. So, Mbappe has a chance of being the highest goalscorer in WC history.

But if you're going to talk about 'the top World Cup goalscorer of all time', then surely you have to consider Just Fontaine (France), 13 goals in 6 mathes. Or Sándor Kocsis (Hungary), 11 goals in 5 matches. Or Gerd Muller, 14 goals in 13 matches . Imagine how many goals they would have scored if they had played 20 games?

Cockney_Cat (UK) - Posts: 2943 - 14/07/2026 17:40:15    2685762

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Replying To dolfos:  "I really hope Spain don't win it, honestly would rather see England do it.
The style of football they play is mind numbing, painful to sit through, just passing for the sake of it."
Don't understand how anyone could possibly rather see England win it.

Think people are writing off Spain a bit. They're well capable of playing great attacking football as seen when they beat France 5 - 4 in the Nations League semi. Haven't gotten to near that level yet but wouldn't be surprised if they still pull it off. As for predictions I'm going with:
France to win 3-2
Argentina to win in extra time 2-1

Lúla571210 (Louth) - Posts: 199 - 14/07/2026 18:15:54    2685765

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "Serious question lads....what in god's name are we going to do if England pull this off?"
I honestly couldn't care less if they won it or not.
Fair play if they do.

Sure their fans have a nasty element but the fans of one or two of the under dog nations have behaved terribly throughout this world cup and the previous one and weve been cheering those countries on.

Seniorleague (Galway) - Posts: 162 - 14/07/2026 20:49:40    2685777

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Spain into final. Likely to play England. Repeat of Euro 2024 final.

hlynch12 (Limerick) - Posts: 209 - 14/07/2026 21:35:24    2685782

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Replying To dolfos:  "I really hope Spain don't win it, honestly would rather see England do it.
The style of football they play is mind numbing, painful to sit through, just passing for the sake of it."
Wash your mouth out with soap.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2875 - 14/07/2026 21:46:28    2685784

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My predictions of France winning the World Cup in the gutter after such a controlled display by Spain.

Not sure why I underestimated Spain who won the European championship two years ago and such championship are won generally with solid defences, Spain by a distance have been the best defence unit in the World Cup.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 4044 - 14/07/2026 22:06:10    2685787

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Replying To hlynch12:  "Spain into final. Likely to play England. Repeat of Euro 2024 final."
Similar result too probably.
Spain looked awesome.

Seniorleague (Galway) - Posts: 162 - 14/07/2026 22:13:14    2685789

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Replying To Seniorleague:  "I honestly couldn't care less if they won it or not.
Fair play if they do.

Sure their fans have a nasty element but the fans of one or two of the under dog nations have behaved terribly throughout this world cup and the previous one and weve been cheering those countries on."
You'll probably be too busy celebrating Galway's 6th hurling All-Ireland title, to be bothered about England.

Cockney_Cat (UK) - Posts: 2943 - 14/07/2026 22:14:07    2685791

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Replying To dolfos:  "I really hope Spain don't win it, honestly would rather see England do it.
The style of football they play is mind numbing, painful to sit through, just passing for the sake of it."
Can't agree with that at all. I said earlier in this thread I'd be interested to see how France look against a team like Spain which is technically excellent and will deprive them of possession and space. They pressure teams high up the pitch, and it suffocated France. To be honest, they weren't good enough to deal with it.
When they have space and teams back off due a fear of being hit on the break, France look incredible.
Spain took that away from them this evening, nullified their threats and to be honest could have won by more. Their full backs got forward regularly which put France's attackers on the back foot.
Why people are surprised by this I don't know.
Spain beat them in the Euro semi-final two years ago, with France hardly laying a glove on them in the second half. They also beat them fairly comfortably in the Nations League semi-final last year.
Spain were joint favourites at the start of this tournament along with France, and were a lot more road tested coming into this game than France.
In Rodri they had the best midfielder on the pitch by a distance and had plenty threat from Olmo and Yamal. Oryazabal works incredibly hard up front and is very clever with his movement. He's generally a very good finisher when he gets a chance too.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2951 - 15/07/2026 00:30:36    2685811

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Replying To hlynch12:  "Spain into final. Likely to play England. Repeat of Euro 2024 final."
We would never have known that, only for ye.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2875 - 15/07/2026 06:30:30    2685814

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Replying To dolfos:  "I really hope Spain don't win it, honestly would rather see England do it.
The style of football they play is mind numbing, painful to sit through, just passing for the sake of it."
'Passing for the sake of it'....... a lot harder than it looks, at the highest level of soccer. Look at Ireland. They can't string 3 passes together, when a quality side puts the squeeze on them.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4860 - 15/07/2026 09:32:20    2685820

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "'Passing for the sake of it'....... a lot harder than it looks, at the highest level of soccer. Look at Ireland. They can't string 3 passes together, when a quality side puts the squeeze on them."
Exactly. The sake of it is to play to their own strengths and deprive the other team of possession. Like you said, easy to say, but requires incredible technical skill, control, movement and understanding of space to carry it out at that level.
The other big thing is how they play when they don't have the ball. They didn't sit back and park the bus, as many would against a French team with such attacking talent. They pressed them high up and won the ball back regularly. It takes a brave team to do that, but more importantly a top quality football team.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2951 - 15/07/2026 10:42:02    2685831

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Spain were worthy winners. Not for the first time Deschamps was tactically out-witted.
Rodri was superb, just an elite midfield general. Yamal is getting better game by game as he returns to full fitness. He could have a big say in the final.

I don't understand people who find Spain boring. Hard to please some people. They constructed a move last night that would have been up there with goals of the tournament. Ruiz was very unlucky that Upamecano got back desperately to foil an outstanding passage of play which deserved a goal.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 10422 - 15/07/2026 11:25:15    2685837

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "Exactly. The sake of it is to play to their own strengths and deprive the other team of possession. Like you said, easy to say, but requires incredible technical skill, control, movement and understanding of space to carry it out at that level.
The other big thing is how they play when they don't have the ball. They didn't sit back and park the bus, as many would against a French team with such attacking talent. They pressed them high up and won the ball back regularly. It takes a brave team to do that, but more importantly a top quality football team."
I'm not doubting it's technically difficult, and yes most of the Irish lads struggle to kick a tyre down a hill.
But it doesn't take away from the fact I find it incredibly dull to watch.

dolfos (Longford) - Posts: 153 - 15/07/2026 11:41:01    2685838

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Replying To dolfos:  "I'm not doubting it's technically difficult, and yes most of the Irish lads struggle to kick a tyre down a hill.
But it doesn't take away from the fact I find it incredibly dull to watch."
It can be dull to watch when they're playing a team they should beat more comfortably. It probably results in those games being tighter than they should.
However, I find it brilliant to watch when they're playing better teams and it's a formula for winning those types of games. They made France look average last night, which is an exceptionally difficult thing to do.
They were up against some of the best players in the world and didn't give them a sniff. Portugal actually gave Spain a much better game, as they have midfielders with brilliant technical ability too and matched up quite well against them. Games between them have generally been very tight, even when Spain have been at their best. Spain have had it much easier against France.
They'd be mad to change style and move away from what they're brilliant at and most importantly what has been very successful for them. It should also be mentioned that they have some very creative and classy players up front, as well as attacking full backs. It's Cucurella and Porro getting forward now. In the past we saw Alba, Arbeloa, Ramos in his younger days and Carvajal in these roles. They take risks, but they back themselves. A lot of the passes last night were a guaranteed chance for France if there was an interception. It can be a high wire act, but they're brave in committing to it and more than good enough to pull it off. There's a big difference between that and a team playing safety first. Spain play on the front foot as often as they can.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2951 - 15/07/2026 12:33:45    2685848

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