FIFA WC 2026

[diga]

8 hours ago, New guy said:

Diversity and inclusion always strengthens and advances a country. In every field. One of the biggest reason for America's rise to super power over Russia. They are now losing it and on a backward path.

Sure... Diversity is good ( and I will support it) but it should not be at the cost of merit. Some basic aptitude has to be there

[Sandz]

1 minute ago, New guy said:

Aur tere jaise racist ko US bhej dena chahiye, tere aise Uncle Toms ki wahan bahut jaroorat hai gore ke joote chatne ke liye

What's wrong with you? I'm not sure why you think am a racist ? What did I say to you?

 

What I mean is Europeans are ok with black people representing them in football (and Aus too), but are against black immigration.

[Singh bling]

5 hours ago, Vickydev said:

It never ended

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love to see Messi Goal against England with hand and VAR don't overturn it

[Gollum]

53 minutes ago, New guy said:

Thats how diversity helps right, you will have all kind of population mixes so you can use the different stregnths and excel in different fields. Which will always remain the greatest weakness of countries like Russia and China.

See this in academics also. Bring in a Chinese, Indian, Iranian, Russian, American, Brit, German, Norwegian etc. in the same room, also spread of gender, same problem, and they all bring their povs with subtle differences, which enriches discussion. All may be equally good but have slightly different ways of going about it due to their background, culture etc.

 

American universities are blessed because of this diveristy. Russia, China could never match that, also patriarchal societies which discourage women from higher education. 

[Gollum]

1 hour ago, New guy said:

Thats how diversity helps right, you will have all kind of population mixes so you can use the different stregnths and excel in different fields. Which will always remain the greatest weakness of countries like Russia and China.

Could this also explain Russia's decline, considering it is the successor state of USSR? When they were Soviet Union, they had a very diverse mix, Central Asians from the stans, Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Ukranians, Latvians, Estonians etc. Matched Americans pound for pound for half a century, even surpassing them in many metrics. 

 

India mein bhi mast diversity hai. But instead of celebrating that, we want to homegenize the population. 

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, diga said:

Sure... Diversity is good ( and I will support it) but it should not be at the cost of merit. Some basic aptitude has to be there

I doubt they have quota in football. Best players get picked.  SA is a classic example. In Soccer there is no race quota. But in cricket they have race quota. If anything they need to have white quota there :)  Out of the 26 .. 23 are black or so

Edited July 13 by vvvslaxman

[vvvslaxman]

2 hours ago, Sandz said:

France is like 70% black, they should forward the cup to Cameroon or Algeria or some africa country if they go on to win.

Blacks are not new immigrants though. My previous company lead was a french black. He was born in USA.  Moved there when he was very young. He didn't even know English when he came to back here to uS. He had to do "english vinglish" :) here. 

[Gollum]

2 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

I doubt they have quota in football. Best players get picked.  SA is a classic example. In Soccer there is no race quota. But in cricket they have race quota. If anything they need to have white quota there :)  Out of the 26 .. 23 are black or so

There was never any restriction on white participation in football. 

 

But historically, non-whites were barred from cricket, rugby, golf, swimming etc. Basil D'Oliveira affair, Sewankar Sewgolum (Indian origin) ban because he used to smoke white boy Gary Player, ban on blacks and Indians from using public swimming pools etc. 

[Gollum]

The day our Dalits, tribals and marginalized castes (heck even many OBCs aren't in mainstream) become part of cricket ecosystem, we will become invincible. Not just cricket, all sports. In wrestling, hockey also, it is mostly dominant castes like Jats repping us. 

[vvvslaxman]

8 minutes ago, Gollum said:

There was never any restriction on white participation in football. 

 

But historically, non-whites were barred from cricket, rugby, golf, swimming etc. Basil D'Oliveira affair, Sewankar Sewgolum (Indian origin) ban because he used to smoke white boy Gary Player, ban on blacks and Indians from using public swimming pools etc. 

ya.. that was Tongue in cheek. The best players are not surprisingly blacks.  It is also wrong to look at blacks  as pure athletes and they lack skill. From my personal experience having played soccer with blacks they are very intelligent. Pele showed this decades back.  We see from Mbappe, Dembelle.  Pele's father was a club level footballer.

[diga]

23 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

I doubt they have quota in football. Best players get picked.  SA is a classic example. In Soccer there is no race quota. But in cricket they have race quota. If anything they need to have white quota there :)  Out of the 26 .. 23 are black or so

Not talking about quotas but promoting diversity for the sake of eyeballs (especially in hiring) will affect the morale as some companies found it out.

[vvvslaxman]

4 minutes ago, diga said:

Not talking about quotas but promoting diversity for the sake of eyeballs (especially in hiring) will affect the morale as some companies found it out.

 

It will organically happen in sports unlike in film industry and few other industries diversity is encouraged. Black population in US is around 14%. But if you look at NBA black representation it is 78%. . 

 

Diversity is about equal opportunities. QUota is about allocating certain  percentage to certain race. Diversity is to ensure there is no implicit bias. If theer are any structural inequalities. Blacks before making it big hail from poor family. So they can't afford expensive gears.  Racial profiling is prevalent in sports.  Would y

 

There is an article on about how black head coaches are treated

 

https://ouci.dntb.gov.ua/en/works/4LYJnAyV/

 

This is an interesting article you probbaly have all the answers you are looking for

 

 

https://theconversation.com/racial-stereotypes-of-african-footballers-persist-a-world-cup-is-a-good-time-to-talk-about-them-286673

 

Racial stereotypes of African footballers persist. A World Cup is a good time to talk about them

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

In the above article you can find this stereotyping

 

 

Cultivating difference

These stereotypes have a profound influence on how football talent is nurtured on the continent.

Our interviews reveal that football academies in Nigeria strategically cultivate footballers that fit global stereotypes of the Black athlete. This is to create value in the global market.

They argue that physical qualities are the most important thing foreign scouts look for in African footballers. So academies strategically select young men who are physically strong, tall, and with high endurance. In the process, they may overlook players with high technical skills and tactical awareness.

In one instance, an academy spent years developing players, but found it difficult to sell the small players, despite their technical prowess. They eventually disbanded the team and selected a new crop of youngsters. This time they had to be at least six foot tall.

 

 

 

[Sgattick10]

2 hours ago, Singh bling said:

Love to see Messi Goal against England with hand and VAR don't overturn it

Damn me too so wana see the Poms losing it on SM

[vvvslaxman]

I just want a good match. If you play well without refereee bias and win , fair play. No issues there. Don't want refereeing becoming a talking point in these 3 encounters.

[Sgattick10]

[sage]

they really want india/china to make it

 

[Gollum]

18 minutes ago, sage said:

they really want india/china to make it

 

Even if they make it 128 teams, Ind won't make it. As @AKane said, first let us focus on beating Afghans, Bangladeshis....heck I wouldn't place my bets on India against Maldives or Lanka. Only team we can confidently beat is Bhutan. 

 

Football is not our sport, about time we stop pretending otherwise. Channel all resources towards Olympic events. Consistent 15-20 medals in Olympics is a million times better than this FIFA WC delusion, with focussed attention on shooting, archery, boxing, wrestling, cricket, hockey, javelin, badminton, squash etc. it is doable in 8-12 years time. 

Edited July 13 by Gollum

[sage]

23 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Even if they make it 128 teams, Ind won't make it. As @AKane said, first let us focus on beating Afghans, Bangladeshis....heck I wouldn't place my bets on India against Maldives or Lanka. Only team we can confidently beat is Bhutan. 

 

Football is not our sport, about time we stop pretending otherwise. Channel all resources towards Olympic events. Consistent 15-20 medals in Olympics is a million times better than this FIFA WC delusion, with focussed attention on shooting, archery, boxing, wrestling, cricket, hockey, javelin, badminton, squash etc. it is doable in 8-12 years time. 

you can’t inorganically generate interest

 

doing well in football will always have higher prestige than random Olympic events 

[MechEng]

On 7/13/2026 at 7:42 AM, AKane said:

The business model changed from having a great league of teams like Santos, Vasco, Flamengo, Portuguese etc to selling young poor kids (players) to European clubs where most sit on the bench behind the stars like  Messi, Ronaldo etc.

 

The kids don't learn Brazilian soccer but rather European style when they do play.

 

You mean those long passes and power game? Also if you say European football, I'm guessing here to be North European/Germanic style football.

 

Latino and Southern Europe is all about finesse and short passes.