r/SoccerNoobs

Okay, so I’m an American who’s never really paid much attention to soccer before. I’ve been watching this World Cup because I heard the US team was good and that the tournament would have some incredible games. I’ve actually been enjoying it a lot, but I have a strategy question. During the second half of the England vs. Mexico match, it seemed like Mexico kept trying the exact same attack over and over. They would work the ball out wide and then lob a cross into the box toward a handful of attackers, but England looked completely ready for it every time. It felt like England had figured out the plan and was just sitting back waiting to clear the cross.

My question is: why didn’t Mexico change things up? Why not pull more players outside the box, make shorter passes, and try to create space instead of repeatedly crossing into a crowded area? Was there a tactical reason for sticking with that approach, or am I just misunderstanding what I’m watching?

Sports or soccer fans please explain to me why you love the sport so much? My husband is a huge soccer fan and I have been watching every World Cup match with him and I see so many people are sooo passionate about soccer but I feel like I still don’t really understand it. What about soccer matches and the World Cup that is so special to you? (Sorry if I offend anyone I really just want to understand)

I’ve played soccer all my life but only just got into watching it with the WC in town. I’d like to keep watching soccer after it’s over and the MLS is what I wanna watch but I feel I need to pick a team first. When it comes to picking a team all I ever hear online is “support your local club” which is great and all, but I don’t think a lot people (especially non-Americans) realize what it’s like rurally. I’m exactly 5 hours between 3 different teams, which to me it might as well be 20 hours at that point, these are 3 cities I visit once a decade and have no tie to. So do I just pick at random? By kit, by player? I’d appreciate any suggestions :)

Watching the pregame for England - Mexico and all anyone was talking about was how corrupt USA was in getting Balogun’s suspension lifted, and how everyone was tuning in to hate watch USA tomorrow.

Reminded me of all the other posts about how FIFA is rigged. How corrupt is it really??

It seems like quite often a player take a hurried shot on goal and it soars waaaay over the net, like the whole height of the goal and then some. I understand they are taking shots at very high speed under a lot of pressure from the defense, but it seems like there are never such wide misses in the horizontal dimension as compared to the vertical.

What is it about the mechanics of kicking that make misses that are wildly high like this more prevalent ? Or is there something else going on?

I’ll be up front and say I don't follow football leagues regularly, but I always enjoy getting together with friends to watch World Cup matches. The atmosphere is incredible, but as an outsider, I genuinely struggle to understand the culture around the game, specifically when it comes to sportsmanship.

To a casual viewer, it really feels like traditional sportsmanship is entirely missing from competitive matches. The gameplay often looks like a contest to see who can bend the rules the most without getting caught. The two things that stand out the most to me are:

•​ Exaggerating Contact: The sheer amount of time players spend falling, rolling, or staying down to ensure the referee notices a foul, only to sprint perfectly fine a minute later.

Strategic Fouls: Things like blatant shirt pulling or aggressive pushing away from the ball just to stop an opponent's momentum.

In a lot of other competitive environments, this kind of behavior is heavily penalized or frowned upon as poor sportsmanship. But in professional football, it feels completely normalized.

For those of you who watch week-in and week-out, does the concept of sportsmanship still exist in how you view the game? Are these theatrics and dirty plays just accepted as a necessary strategy to win at the highest level? Does the lack of a "clean" game bother you, or is that just an outdated way to look at modern football?

​I would love to hear and understand the perspective of dedicated fans!

Personally I think MLS is a pathetic joke of a league and most teams are below League 2 in quality and talent, minus the few retired stars signed from Europe. But some people think it's better, so I can't say they're wrong or completely clueless. So I won't say more, but I'll ask what do you think?

I never watch any matches just the scores so how can I larp without anybody catching me

USMNT’s Florian Balogun has red card suspended by FIFA, available to face Belgium

I do not follow soccer at all. I hardly understand anything about it. Can someone explain this in NBA or NFL terms? 😅

How does one suspend a suspension one year? I thought FIFA was every four years…

In the first penalty this game, he stood in the dead center and was able to save the shot.

In the second penalty with Neymar, he was like scooting all over the place.

Any reason why? Was he just trying to stress Neymar out? Was he just not taking it seriously (since they were up by 2)? What was going on in this man's head?

If the PK takers stutter steps and actually comes to a complete stop (as Neymar just did against Norway), why does GK still jump to one side before the kick is taken? From the stationary position, it’s hard to generate enough power, so wouldn’t GK be better off actually seeing where it’s going, and then diving after the ball?

Watching my team (France) play in the World Cup made me want to start playing football again! What do you think about starting at 25?

Sadly, Canada is now out of the World Cup but I had a blast following them!

As a newer football fan, I am curious what others follow. Do you have a Premier team? MLS team? Others?

I have been following Wrexham because of the show, which got me into the sport. Also follow Celtic FC sort of for no real reason lol. I keep an eye on the Whitecaps as they are my closest MLS team.

Edit: Also, with all the variety in leagues and everything, how do you end up not picking too many teams? lol

For me it’s been Cape Verde’s surprising success, Scottish fans taking over Fenway Park in Boston, etc.

If someone gets tackled or penalized...and they get a penalty but a better striker can take it. Why should that be allowed? That means its better for a midfielder who isn't good at scoring to try and milk a penalty if he can't get an open pass rather than to just "give it a go"?

For context, I am going to the Brazil vs Norway game and the only jerseys I have is Spain Lamine Yamal and Argentina Messi jersey(both are away 2026 variant). Please share any help you have for what I should where and if you have any other tips for going to game please tell me.

It seems like 95% of the game is controlled by defenders/midfield and yet the strikers get all the attention. In the game against Paraguay, Mbappe had 2 successful dribbles, 4 shots on target (two of which were in the final few minutes of added time), and 1 goal that came from a penalty, and yet he is still awarded the player of the match?

Even Messi/ Ronaldo/ Haaland seem to spend most of the game slowly walking around and waiting to get the ball. Is the difficulty of being in the right spot and making the last touch really that extreme that it is more impressive than all the work the rest of the team does to set up a goal?