GDT: 2026 FIFA World Cup

[Doctor Congo]

The Rowdies are a legacy NASL brand that belongs in MLS. There are certain brands like the Rowdies and the Cosmos that need to be brought forward into history.

Dude the Cosmos. Absolutely

 

[LightningStrikes]

Germany needs more from the wings. Musiala and Wirtz think they’re McDavid and try to dribble and dance through 4+ defenders into the box and even Sané always cuts to the center.

Also right side defense is an issue (just like the Lightning‘s now). CIV‘s counter attacks are pretty good so far.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Undav! Finally.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Undav again!

 

[JoVel]

Undav has had quite the career already, considering he was playing in the third tier of German football as a 23 year old.

 

[Felonious Python]

Well, good try Ireland.

 

[Doctor Congo]

Germany is anything but boring man

 

[Hoek]

Idk dude. Every time a Tampa MLS team gets brought up I hear "BUT OMG ORLANDO!!!" like they're this juggernaut whose existence deserves to determine if we get to live at all. Coming from a guy whose mother was a Rowdies cheerleader, the history is there enough to warrant a bite at the apple. I genuinely believe USF football and the Rowdies would figure out schedules that make sense to not destroy that pitch too much

I'd go on about how people sleep too much on Spanish Tampa as a consumer sports audience for baseball and football but if you know, you know.

Orlando City fans are stupid and annoying. Their team is so plastic compared to the Rowdies and only exists because their owner bought a USL team from Austin and forcefully relocated it. They're extremely insecure and butthurt about the Rowdies far more storied existence. MLS would definitely welcome the Rowdies in if the right owner stepped up and they had a real stadium lined up.

 

[Hoek]

The Rowdies are a legacy NASL brand that belongs in MLS. There are certain brands like the Rowdies and the Cosmos that need to be brought forward into history.

I think the ship has sailed on the Cosmos. Too many grifters have tarnished the brand. Unless RedBull or City Footballing Group finally gets bored of their franchise or something, then a rebrand to Cosmos would probably happen.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Undav has had quite the career already, considering he was playing in the third tier of German football as a 23 year old.

His career is literally incredible. I posted this on the soccer sub a couple of minutes ago:

Undav - what a story! For those not knowing: The guy was playing 4th tier German league until 2018 and 3rd tier until 2020. Now he’s here and turning games with clinical precision lol.

3 goals and 2 assists in 2 career WC games as a substitute.

 

[OGPete]

I think the ship has sailed on the Cosmos. Too many grifters have tarnished the brand. Unless RedBull or City Footballing Group finally gets bored of their franchise or something, then a rebrand to Cosmos would probably happen.

Just takes the right owner to get control of the brand. It's not insane to think NY/NJ could eventually get a third team either. They have it in basketball and hockey.

 

[Doctor Congo]

His career is literally incredible. I posted this a couple of minutes ago on the soccer sub:

Undav - what a story! For those not knowing: The guy was playing 4th tier German league until 2018 and 3rd tier until 2020. Now he’s here and turning games with clinical precision lol.

3 goals and 2 assists in 2 career WC games as a substitute.

I don't follow Bundesliga but he's about this close to convincing me to follow Stuttgart and see how I like them. My paternal grandmother has Irish immigration into the Baden Württemberg region to escape the potato famine Ireland had. And as far as I know they fully integrated before coming to the USA. My paternal grandfather's lineage comes from Schwandorf --- but I don't necessarily want to give in and just add to the Bayern Munich bandwagon that easily.


My buddy at work says Bundesliga 2 is the most fun and competitive league in the world and it is not particularly close

 

[LightningStrikes]

I don't follow Bundesliga but he's about this close to convincing me to follow Stuttgart and see how I like them. My paternal grandmother has Irish immigration into the Baden Württemberg region to escape the potato famine Ireland had. And as far as I know they fully integrated before coming to the USA. My paternal grandfather's lineage comes from Schwandorf --- but I don't necessarily want to give in and just add to the Bayern Munich bandwagon that easily.


My buddy at work says Bundesliga 2 is the most fun and competitive league in the world and it is not particularly close

The 2nd Bundesliga is fun and exciting in the sense that at least half the teams have a real chance to finish at the top and maybe even go up to the 1st Bundesliga. Every year is different and parity is still existing to an extend. In the 1st Bayern is dominating everything and the same 3-5 clubs come after.

In the 2nd you have fallen legends and storied clubs (like Nürnberg, Hertha, Schalke or HSV recently etc. that can’t really hang with the sheikhs, oligarchs and big corporations pumping up clubs to absurdity in the 1st tier anymore) competing against surprise teams from small towns like Elversberg (they have a population of 15k if you also count their twin town and just finished 2nd last season).

Stuttgart is one of the bigger clubs and a founding member of the Bundesliga, they rank 4th in the all-time Bundesliga table and have the 9th most club members in Germany. Mercedes, Porsche and Bosch are the big companies there so economically they’re far from the worst. In the 2010s they got demoted to the 2nd Bundesliga twice though but always came back the next year. They have won the German Bundesliga 5 times (last in 2007) and the German Cup 4 times (last in 2025!). They also have talented players that makes following them an exciting and fun affair: Undav, Stiller, Leweling, Demirovic, Nübel etc. Not the worst club to follow but obviously not in the same realm as Bayern (and BVB).

 

[Felonious Python]

Orlando City fans are stupid and annoying. Their team is so plastic compared to the Rowdies and only exists because their owner bought a USL team from Austin and forcefully relocated it. They're extremely insecure and butthurt about the Rowdies far more storied existence. MLS would definitely welcome the Rowdies in if the right owner stepped up and they had a real stadium lined up.

I've only been casually following OCSC for a few weeks, but I'll take my licks.

 

[Doctor Congo]

The 2nd Bundesliga is fun and exciting in the sense that at least half the teams have a real chance to finish at the top and maybe even go up to the 1st Bundesliga. Every year is different and parity is still existing to an extend. In the 1st Bayern is dominating everything and the same 3-5 clubs come after.

In the 2nd you have fallen legends and storied clubs (like Nürnberg, Hertha, Schalke or HSV recently etc. that can’t really hang with the sheikhs, oligarchs and big corporations pumping up clubs to absurdity in the 1st tier anymore) competing against surprise teams from small towns like Elversberg (they have a population of 15k if you also count their twin town and just finished 2nd last season).

Stuttgart is one of the bigger clubs and a founding member of the Bundesliga, they rank 4th in the all-time Bundesliga table and have the 9th most club members in Germany. Mercedes, Porsche and Bosch are the big companies there so economically they’re far from the worst. In the 2010s they got demoted to the 2nd Bundesliga twice though but always came back the next year. They have won the German Bundesliga 5 times (last in 2007) and the German Cup 4 times (last in 2025!). They also have talented players that makes following them an exciting and fun affair: Undav, Stiller, Leweling, Demirovic, Nübel etc. Not the worst club to follow but obviously not in the same realm as Bayern (and BVB).

My buddy at work who was telling me all about the German leagues lauded BVB. He didn't come out and say "You should cheer for them" but it left me with that impression. Which club do you support by chance? Because I think I'm just going to watch whatever games are available and see if I can just sort of "fall in love with a team"

 

[LightningStrikes]

My buddy at work who was telling me all about the German leagues lauded BVB. He didn't come out and say "You should cheer for them" but it left me with that impression. Which club do you support by chance? Because I think I'm just going to watch whatever games are available and see if I can just sort of "fall in love with a team"

A game in Dortmund is an experience. I think it was @JoVel who visited them recently for a match. They have the biggest stadium (82k capacity) in Germany and the main stands are just one unending level. The atmosphere there is epic.

As for affiliation there is no right or wrong I guess. BVB is an elite team but between them and Bayern they’re the underdog that many people cheer for to spite Bayern and their eternal domination of national football. Also, Bayern has a history of stealing their (and other teams‘) best young players once they had their breakout with them.


I support both Bayern Munich and Nuremberg - a combination deemed unthinkable and disgusting by most but one is my dad’s team I grew up with and the other is my hometown’s team I came in contact with thanks to my friends.

Why is this controversial you ask? Up until 1987 and for 67 years (!) Nuremberg was the most successful team in Germany until Bayern emerged and then ran with it. Also, Munich is the capital of Bavaria while Nuremberg is the second biggest city in Bavaria and the main team of the subregion Franconia that (sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously) doesn’t want to be Bavarian but independent for historical reasons that go back to Napoleon. Ya know, it’s complicated.

 

[JoVel]

I think @J Roc Baby is a Liverpool fan if I'm not mistaken, so you wouldn't have to learn a new club anthem if you supported Dortmund, so there's that.

I think Köln is a pretty fun club as well. They have the best anthem in football that I can think of. And their mascot too of course. Also, if you're interested in travelling, their cathedral is one of the most incredible things I've seen with my own eyes.

 

[Doctor Congo]

A game in Dortmund is an experience. I think it was @JoVel who visited them recently for a match. They have the biggest stadium (82k capacity) in Germany and the main stands are just one unending level. The atmosphere there is epic.

As for affiliation there is no right or wrong I guess. BVB is an elite team but between them and Bayern they’re the underdog that many people cheer for to spite Bayern and their eternal domination of national football. Also, Bayern has a history of stealing their (and other teams‘) best young players once they had their breakout with them.


I support both Bayern Munich and Nuremberg - a combination deemed unthinkable and disgusting by most but one is my dad’s team I grew up with and the other is my hometown’s team I came in contact with thanks to my friends.

Why is this controversial you ask? Up until 1987 and for 67 years (!) Nuremberg were the most successful team in Germany until Bayern emerged and then ran with it. Also, Munich is the capital of Bavaria while Nuremberg is the second biggest city in Bavaria and the main team of the subregion Franconia that (sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously) doesn’t want to be Bavarian but independent for historical reasons that go back to Napoleon. Ya know, it’s complicated.

I think @J Roc Baby is a Liverpool fan if I'm not mistaken, so you wouldn't have to learn a new club anthem if you supported Dortmund, so there's that.

I think Köln is a pretty fun club as well. They have the best anthem in football that I can think of. And their mascot too of course. Also, if you're interested in travelling, their cathedral is one of the most incredible things I've seen with my own eyes.

My journey with Liverpool began as an adventure of "Who is Manchester United's biggest rival?" because by about 2011 I despised the Glazer family for letting their other team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get so bad while Manchester United received priority. Malcolm Glazer bought Buccaneers back in like 1994 and I was furious at "the other child" getting more attention. I wasn't going to support Liverpool originally but fell in love with them anyway. As for any reluctance to support Bayern, it's because I don't necessarily want to jump on the biggest name simply because it's the easiest. Had I done that in 2011 I'd have been stuck cheering for Manchester United.

I'm already a Lightning bandwagoner to begin with (2004) and don't really want to do that again unless it feels right

 

[JoVel]

I would find it pretty boring to be a fan of the juggernaut in what are unfortunately one team leagues nowadays, like Bayern and PSG. On any given season there's like a 90% chance you'll end up with the league title, and the only interesting part is the UCL.

 

[LightningStrikes]

I would find it pretty boring to be a fan of the juggernaut in what are unfortunately one team leagues nowadays, like Bayern and PSG. On any given season there's like a 90% chance you'll end up with the league title, and the only interesting part is the UCL.

I know tons of people who support Bayern. Most of them focus on UCL. Catch a national Bayern match now and then and watch them destroy some poor mid or bottom team 5:1 or 6:0 might be boring to you but beats watching their team fight to stay in mid tier relevancy and/or finish in no man‘s land at like 9th or worse every year without any prospect of ever going higher (again) in their eyes.

I mean it’s definitely better for casual fans who maybe buy kits for their kids (heh) and go to 1-3 games at most per season and that’s it. Bayern has lots of those because it’s just easy and convenient and it’s obviously cool to be part of the „winner“ label.

Now if you’re (planning to be) a hardcore fan it’s definitely more redeeming to follow your team through ups and downs, tears and blood, rain, snow and heatwaves, find friends and second family in the stands and to finally watch them reach their goal or a once in a lifetime achievement like winning the national Cup for example.

 

[gn2007]

Team Japan all the way <3 Nippon

 

[FinnLightning26]

Yes! Lukaku in the starting lineup.

Lukaku's father is from Doctor Congo! If he wasn't before, he's now my absolute favourite player.

 

[OGPete]

 

[OGPete]

LOL, Cape Verde up 1-0 on Uruguay 1/4 of the way in.

 

[Hoek]

And then they piss it away before half. Damn it