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You are here: Home / Sports / World Cup Open Thread: United States vs Wales

World Cup Open Thread: United States vs Wales

by Anne Laurie|  November 21, 20221:45 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: Sports, World Cup

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Please hold, the President is on the line… 📞 pic.twitter.com/N6CxwOhqgN

— U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (@USMNT) November 20, 2022

Now it gets personal…

Washington, DC: Join us in Dupont Circle tomorrow! ⚽️ @WalesinNA 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 will be featuring the live broadcast of USA vs Wales in their first game of the @FIFAWorldCup at 2PM ET!

👉 RSVP here: https://t.co/rFMf5q00Ce #WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/bn4IbTEdjP

— British Embassy Washington (@UKinUSA) November 21, 2022

Watch out for the Welsh football team if they have @michaelsheen giving the motivational speech. @Cymru pic.twitter.com/TF96lpDzXx

— A League of Their Own (@ALOTO) September 9, 2022

SportsMole:

The US are back at the World Cup finals after missing the 2018 edition in dismal fashion following a defeat in Trinidad & Tobago in their final qualifier.

This time around, it was still a close run affair in a very difficult qualifying section where the top four nations were separated by just three points, but the USA managed to claim one of the three automatic spots, just ahead of Costa Rica…

The United States have reached the knockout round in four of their last seven tournament appearances, but they have failed to beat European opposition in their previous nine attempts, so if they want to progress this time, they will surely need to end that run with two UEFA nations in their group.

Wales’ form coming into the finals does not offer much optimism either, as they have not won since sealing their place in Qatar with that 1-0 success over Ukraine in the playoffs…

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55Comments

  1. 1.

    PaulWartenberg

    November 21, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    I cannot imagine donald trump calling the US Mens team before the game and prep talk them by focusing on their talent and opportunities without one word about himself.

    GODS. Biden does what a President SHOULD do in a moment of national unity and sportsmanship.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    November 21, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲⚽⚽⚽

  3. 3.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    Ooh, hey, I never thought of it before but can we blame them missing the 2018 Cup on trump? You know how he loves to be all “when I was in office, we had [x good thing] and now we don’t” – so we can say, “When trump was president, the USMNT didn’t even qualify, but under Biden, they did.”

    I mean, there’s no correlation, but I don’t care.

    Also hi I am nervous.

  4. 4.

    LeftCoastYankee

    November 21, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    C’mon US!

    Gareth Bale in his (probably) only World Cup makes me nervous….

  5. 5.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    Gaahhhhhh opportunity there

  6. 6.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    Fuck Wales.

  7. 7.

    zhena gogolia

    November 21, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Why?

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    They eliminated Ukraine.

  9. 9.

    phdesmond

    November 21, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    an original and appealing idea — Tr*mp cost the US the 2018 World Cup!

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    November 21, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Oh, I missed that. I thought it was for a geopolitical reason.

  11. 11.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    @phdesmond: Exactly.

  12. 12.

    Cacti

    November 21, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    Makes me think of a meme I saw that went something like this:

    Man:  “Are you two girls from England?”

    Woman:  “Wales.”

    Man:  “Are you two whales from England?”

    I’ll see myself out.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    @zhena gogolia: What’s more geopolitical than the World Cup?

  14. 14.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    My son was disappointed to realize that the US team was playing a country called Wales and not a large group of whales in what I guess he imagined to be a large soccer-seaworld extravaganza.— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) November 21, 2022

    He continued:

    “They don’t even have a whale on their jersey, it’s a dragon. That doesn’t make any sense!”

    My child feels genuinely aggrieved.

  15. 15.

    Scout211

    November 21, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    Oh my! Score!

  16. 16.

    Paul in KY

    November 21, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    Should have been a yellow for that dude that slammed Pulisic! Ha, take that Wales cheap shotters!

  17. 17.

    LeftCoastYankee

    November 21, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    Weah!

  18. 18.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    YESSSSSSSSSSS. Damn, that was a nice run of play leading up to it, too. Fuck yeah, boys.

  19. 19.

    Paul in KY

    November 21, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @Immanentize: He may have watched too much Aquaman…

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @Paul in KY: Or, The Boys.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    November 21, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    @Immanentize: hahaha

  22. 22.

    Mimi haha

    November 21, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    • Fuck you.
    • There’s probably a way to say that in Welsh, but it’s probably 27 syllables with very few words we recognize as vowels.
  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    I will admit I am quite surprised at how effective the US has been, they have [pinned Wales back, kept up the possession and control and have played an excellent match so far.

    @Immanentize:

    “They don’t even have a whale on their jersey, it’s a dragon. That doesn’t make any sense!”

    My child feels genuinely aggrieved.

    That’s hilarious.

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    November 21, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    Jess Fishlock (Wales’ best woman footballer) doing live commentary for BBC.

    America have so much energy, they are so fast and in that moment they had the quality and we could not stop anything.

  25. 25.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Mimi haha: Try showing a bit of compassion.

  26. 26.

    Paul in KY

    November 21, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: An actual war.

  27. 27.

    Paul in KY

    November 21, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Mimi haha: I think it is wygwyglothsvlnich.

    I could be wrong on that….

  28. 28.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    The last person to score against Wales in a World Cup was Pele, what a stat.

  29. 29.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: That just tells us how long ago Wales was in the World Cup.

  30. 30.

    phdesmond

    November 21, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Wales has also been the victim of imperial and colonial neighbors:

    Dafydd Iwan, a folk singer who became one of the most prominent figures in this battle. Before a crucial qualifier match against Austria, Iwan was brought out to sing “Yma o Hyd,” whose rousing chorus in Welsh translates to “In spite of everyone and everything, we are still here!” A “red wall” of Welsh fans sang with him, and joined him again when Wales defeated Ukraine to clinch its spot in Qatar.

    “When they joined in,” Iwan told The Washington Post, “it was like a powerful force. There was so much passion in the singing, I couldn’t resist crying. … I’ve been singing that song for 40 years, and it’s almost as if I’d been rehearsing for this moment.”

    WaPo

    Notice how similar the theme is to the Ukrainian (and Polish) national anthems.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 3:09 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Indeed.

    @phdesmond:

    A Wales soccer crowd, or even better, a Wales rugby crowd, singing at full throat is unmatched in the world except by the Irish.

    Also, Men of Harlech, may be in the top three of anthems in the world as well, beautiful, spine-tingling song.

  32. 32.

    JML

    November 21, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Pulisic linking up with Weah on the goal was fantastic. beautifully done. Hope they have another to put this game to bed.

  33. 33.

    phdesmond

    November 21, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    i’ve written a rap poem in French for the star of the 2018 winning French team, Kylian Mbappé.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylian_Mbapp%C3%A9

    trying to figure out how to publish it as France wins again.

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    OT local news — some dude crashed his SUV into an Apple store in Hingham, Mass. this morning. One dead, 17 seriously injured.

  35. 35.

    frosty

    November 21, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Cacti: Stolen!!

  36. 36.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    Fortunate not to concede there.

  37. 37.

    JML

    November 21, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    I think I could hear Michael Sheen chewing out his team at half from the US. Wales looking far far better in the second, Moore has added a lot.

    Excuse me, i’m going to go back to chewing off my nails now.

  38. 38.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    Whoooooo that save, good Lordy.

  39. 39.

    Lapassionara

    November 21, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I love that anthem. Thanks for the link.

  40. 40.

    J.

    November 21, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    Needs more Ted Lasso.

  41. 41.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    @Immanentize: ​ Sent that to some Beantowners I know on Twitter. Man that’s horrible.

  42. 42.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    Stupid foul, no need to go for the ball there.

    @Lapassionara:

    Yes, it’s so good.

  43. 43.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 21, 2022 at 3:41 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Nah, you want the team that beat you to go all the way, to be world champs. That way, you can always say that, if it weren’t for the ONE time that the world champs beat you, YOU would have gone all the way.

  44. 44.

    Mike in NC

    November 21, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    Oh God, remember when Fat Bastard was in the UK and he had to Tweet “Having lunch with the Prince of Whales today”. Every day that he stank up the Oval Office was a national embarrassment.

  45. 45.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: man bun on man bun foul. Maybe a little scrunchy jealousy?

  46. 46.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 21, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @J.: Welcome to Rexham.

  47. 47.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    Waaahhhhhhh :(

  48. 48.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 21, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Stupid hairstyle makes stupid play.

  49. 49.

    JML

    November 21, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    Guardian is currently giving Bale a tongue bath. apparently he made the entire thing happen through sheer force of will and is the greatest thing to ever arrive on the pitch.

  50. 50.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    nine fucking minutes jfc

  51. 51.

    Immanentize

    November 21, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    We need the three points. Not goals, points, so get one more goal, K?

  52. 52.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    Damn it. I really wanted that win. This makes moving on a lot more difficult now.

  53. 53.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 21, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    Wait, they have TIES in soccer?

     

     

    /s

    Ted Lasso reference…

  54. 54.

    Alison Rose

    November 21, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    LD looks exactly the same except with even less hair.

  55. 55.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    November 21, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Yes how could we manage only a tie against Whales? They don’t have any feet! Reminds me of a time when my wife took me to an exhibit on Whales at the National Geographic. I was picturing mountains and sheep and dramatic coastline and instead got swimming mammals.

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