Cape Verde centre back Roberto 'Pico' Lopes has spent his entire career in Ireland, ignored a LinkedIn message from Cape Verde FA asking him to play for them because it was in Portuguese. A year later, they sent it in English. He accepted. An all-time great World Cup story.
A remarkable display of friendship, warmth, and community spirit.
Hundreds of residents came together to celebrate Algeria and welcome the Algerian National Team⚽️ as they begin their FIFA World Cup 2026 journey.
The magnificent earthwork of the Algerian flag created by renowned artist Stan Herd stands as a powerful symbol of the unique bond that has developed between Kansas and Algeria. More than a work of art, it reflects the enthusiasm, generosity, and heartfelt support extended to Algeria🇩🇿 by the local community🇺🇸.
As the world gathers for the FIFA World Cup 2026🏆, a special story is being written in Kansas, a story of friendship, cultural exchange, and human connection that will leave a lasting mark on this historic tournament.
Thank you, Kansas, for your extraordinary welcome
🇩🇿🤝🇺🇸
📸 Photo by Shannon Beat (@beat.aerial)
🌍 Earthwork by Stan Herd and Team Herd (@stan_herd_arts)
🚁 Drone photo taken on June 13, 2026
#LawrenceKS #Kansas #Algeria #WorldCup2026 #TeamAlgeria #Friendship #CulturalDiplomacy #StanHerd #RockChalkAlger
I know this might sound harsh, but that was genuinely one of the biggest managerial disasterclasses I've ever seen.
This man called up 4 wingers and 3 strikers, only to bench all of them and start the opening World Cup game with a 5-3-2 that he hadn't used even once during the friendlies. He benched all of his forwards and lined up with 5 defenders and 5 midfielders against Sweden.
It gets worse. He played a defensive full-back who is basically a hybrid CB profile like Kounde for example and he played him as a wing-back, used our backup left-back, who arguably didn't even deserve a call-up, as a left centre-back, and after going 2-0 down by halftime, he didn't make a single substitution until the 72nd minute.
And when the changes finally came, they somehow made even less sense.
He brought on a central midfielder to play wing-back, and a left winger to play on the right, and then took off both of his defensive midfielders for an attacking midfielder and a striker. We literally finished the game with a double pivot made up of two number 10s.
I'm serious when I say this is the kind of squad management you wouldn't even see in FIFA Career Mode.
We've faced teams like England, Belgium, France, and Spain at World Cups before. We've always been underdogs. Yet somehow, our biggest defeat in World Cup history came against Sweden.
That alone should tell you everything you need to know about how badly this game was handled.
I know most of you probably don't care about Tunisia's tactical disasters, but I just needed to get this off my chest.
cracking up that the replies are almost exclusively Americans saying that every shower in the whole dang country inexplicably has different controls and all of us do the same humiliation ritual at hotels
The Mayor of Lawrence, Kansas addresses the media this morning wearing an #Algeria team scarf. Says Algeria fans have brought warmth and excitement to Lawrence and they have embraced each other. @kmbc
🚨 EXCLUSIVO: Endrick cresce isolado na Seleção após os demais atletas descobrirem que ele é o Jinchūriki do Pelé.
Será que ele vai dar a volta por cima ?