England defeats Panama, exacerbating the USMNT's humiliation

The US men's national team, as you probably know, is not at the 2018 World Cup. On the worst night of its history, on October 10, 2017, it lost to a Trinidad and Tobago B team and failed to qualify for the first time in 32 years.

But if you thought the humiliation was stopping there – if you thought it was confined to that nightmarish night – uh, you were wrong. On Sunday, Americans were reminded of how embarrassing the USMNT's failure was.

Panama, the team that finished two places in the United States in the last qualifying round of CONCACAF, was, say, humiliated by England on Sunday. The final score was 6-1. He was 5-0 at halftime. It could have been worse.

In frank terms, Panama was painfully overcome. He put in the worst, most ignominious performance of the 2018 World Cup.

And it reminded us how the United States should miss Russia.

Yes, the USMNT should be embarrassed

The hardest part for fans of the USMNT is that, yes, Panama deserved to be here.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "There were two dominant thoughts that Sunday's retreat s & Was unrolled .One was, How difficult did the United States have to finish behind this Panama team? The second was, The United States should be here instead of Panama"data-reactid =" 25 "> There were two dominant thoughts that Sunday's retreat unfolded. How difficult did the United States have to finish behind this Panama team? The second was, The United States should be here instead of Panama.

The first was good thinking, and the answer was "very". The last, however, is ridiculous.

Of course, the United States is a better team than Panama. He could have fought better at the World Cup. But it was not better in 10 games against the North American and Central opposition in 2016 and 2017. The USMNT has fallen on his face. "Better than Panama" was an incredibly low bar in the first place, and the United States could not erase it.

Maybe Panama did not deserve to qualify, but the United States certainly did not do it either. If Panama had not done so, Honduras would have done it. The United States was horrible. So let's cancel the story that the Sunday result shows why the United States should be in Russia instead.

Hey, did you know that the World Cup expands to 48 teams?

Yes, and that means teams like Panama are going to be regulars in the World Cup starting in 2026.

This does not mean that the 16 extra teams will be as bad as those of the Panamanians in 2018. Each additional team from South America will add to the peloton's strength. Most of Europe will do it too.

But one of the many absurd and prejudicial aspects of the 48-team format is how additional slots will be allocated. CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) will receive 2.5 additional guaranteed places. Asia will receive 3.5 more. Africa will add four. At least half of the field will come from these three confederations and from Oceania.

It is natural to overreact to results like England 6, Panama 1 and Russia 5, Saudi Arabia 0. But yes, there will be unbalanced matches at the World Cup 2026 – in North America – and beyond.

Some will say that the expansion will allow more stories like Panama, which was beautiful and comforting, despite two heavy defeats. But it will also make these stories more common, and therefore less special.

Harry Kane takes the lead of Golden Boot

Harry Kane's hat trick Sunday brought him over Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku. He has five goals, and the Golden Boot kicker, thanks to a three-yard rebound, an unmarked header at the door, two penalties, and a shot from Ruben Loftus-Cheek who cut Kane's heel on the way to the net .

But hey, they all count the same!

How good is England?

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Please, do not react to excessive way to the score line.It was less about England, more about Panama: just like Belgium's two-goal triumphs were not a reason to change expectations, the dismantling Los Canaleros data-reactid = "40"> Please, do not overreact to the score: it was less of England than Panama, just like the two wins of three goals from Belgium were not a reason to change expectations. , The dismantling of England from Los Canaleros nor is it.

Has England scored too many goals?

England won 6-0 and, in doing so, it exceeded Belgium's goal differential for first place in Group G. The question was whether it was a good thing.

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