Well. My team is out.
Belgium sent us home 4 to 1, and I have made my peace by eating a waffle out of pure spite.
So now I watch the rest for the love of the game. And I have picked a horse. Well. Actually, I picked a longboat.
I am riding with Norway. Five and a half million Vikings against the entire world, led by that six foot four Norse god Erling Håland, who already threw Brazil off a cliff on Sunday. Do not act like you are not watching too.
Now, some perspective, because people forget how hard this thing is to win.
In 96 years, only eight nations have ever lifted the World Cup.
Brazil, 5. Germany, 4. Italy, 4. Argentina, 3. Uruguay, 2. France, 2. England, 1. Spain, 1.
That is the entire list. And here is the joke nobody says out loud.
Every single one is from Europe or South America. Every winner, every finalist, 96 years running, two continents. The Dutch, the Hungarians, the Swedes, the Czechs, all European bridesmaids. Nobody else has ever even reached the final.
So let us be honest about what this actually is. The World Cup is a European and South American Cup, and the rest of the planet gets a lovely invitation to come lose in the group stage.
And before anyone cries, we would do the exact same thing. Give us a World Championship of American Football and it plays out identically, just with the flag flipped. Sure, Belgium shows up. Curaçao shows up. Everybody gets a jersey and a nice hotel. And they all go home in a barrel. Even Canada, right next door, cannot hang, because they are off playing their mutant cousin version with three downs and a field the size of an airport. Bless them. It is almost football.
That is what a home sport looks like. The World Cup is just soccer’s version of it.
And two of the names on that trophy belong to countries that do not even exist anymore. West Germany won three titles before the wall came down. Czechoslovakia reached two finals before it split in half and vanished off the map. Whole nations came, competed, and disappeared, and the trophy outlived them.
So here is where we are, and the bracket does not care about your feelings.
Argentina still has to get past Egypt today. Switzerland draws Colombia today. Then France gets Morocco, Spain gets Belgium, and my Norway gets England.
You have to pick one. Everybody does. And it says everything about you.
Some of you will pick the favorite. The safe money. The chalk.
And some of you will ride the long shot, the little country nobody believes in.
So which are you.
The one who confidently picked the Soviet Union to win gold in 1980, right up until a bunch of American college kids walked onto the ice and ruined your whole afternoon?
Or the one who always, always bets on the miracle?
I know my answer. Five million Vikings and a thunder god.
Skål. Let’s ride.
🏆 Who Will Win the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Final 8 Quarterfinal Warriors ready for battle!⚔️
🇫🇷 France - Mbappé
🇲🇦 Morocco - Hakimi
🇦🇷 Argentina - Messi
🇪🇸 Spain - Yamal
🏴 England - Bellingham
🇳🇴 Norway - Haaland
🇧🇪 Belgium - De Bruyne
🇨🇭 Switzerland - Xhaka
Only ONE nation will lift the trophy. 🏆
Who are you backing to become World Champions? 👀👇
#Football #HarryKane #Soccer