{"id":5581,"date":"2026-06-26T18:37:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T18:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2026-06-26T18:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T18:37:29","slug":"what-have-we-learned-so-far-at-this-world-cup-not-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5581","title":{"rendered":"What have we learned so far at this World Cup? Not much"},"content":{"rendered":"
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INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 On the first Sunday afternoon of this World Cup, a few hours after Scotland had won its first match in the tournament in 36 years, the Tartan Army decided to take a victory lap around Boston.<\/p>\n

Read more Shop these 10 Prime Day top-sellers before they\u2019re gone<\/a><\/p>\n

They gathered near the statue of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, the author of \u201cAuld Lang Syne,\u201d in Evans Way Park and began to march en masse, bagpipes a blowing, Samuel Adams a flowing, toward Fenway Park.<\/p>\n

They were a few bars into \u201cScotland Forever,\u201d when one of Boston\u2019s finest informed the Scots they were, um, going the wrong way.<\/p>\n

The Tartan Army finally made it to Fenway, a sort of Loch Ness Monster meeting the Green Monstah, in time to watch the Texas Rangers beat the Red Sox 6-4, apparently drinking the Hub dry.<\/p>\n

Eight days and nearly 1,500 miles \u2014 3 x \u201c500 Miles\u201d if you will \u2014 later, the Tartan Army was also present when the Rangers beat Miami. For the record, Texas is 2-0 against the Scots, which would place it second in Group C. Scotland, its 1-0 victory against Haiti good for 3 points, is currently third in the group and on the bubble for a spot in the tournament\u2019s Round of 32.<\/p>\n

The World Cup\u2019s first round, especially this expanded (watered-down) World Cup, is much like the first weekend of the NCAA men\u2019s basketball tournament, full of feel-good moments but not really telling us anything of real importance.<\/p>\n

What have we really learned from the first round that wraps up this weekend besides that in Alexi Lalas, that human Foghorn Leghorn, America has finally found something we can all agree on?<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi, Argentina\u2019s ageless wonder, scores all three goals in a victory against Algeria. But the hat-trick loses some of its luster when you consider that Algeria was 1-1-6 in its previous nine World Cup matches.<\/p>\n

Read more Florida stars Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon share an enduring friendship and championship bond<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The second round, the first round in the tournament\u2019s knockout phase, is where the World Cup really gets serious. In most World Cups, that would be the next round, the Round of 32, which starts Sunday. But the first World Cup expanded to 48 teams isn\u2019t likely to provide any real clarity until the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

And so Team USA\u2019s 3-2 loss in its Group D finale at SoFi Stadium Thursday night to a Turkey side that still finished last in the group didn\u2019t really provide any real insight into the first U.S. team to win its group since 2010.<\/p>\n

We did learn that U.S. national team coach Mauricio Pochettino, unlike his countryman Lionel Scaloni, the Argentina coach, realizes this is the longest World Cup in history, a whole round longer because of FIFA\u2019s greed. So while Scaloni has played the 38-year-old Messi in 170 minutes in Argentina\u2019s first two matches, Pochettino rested all but two of the U.S. starters from last week\u2019s 2-0 romp against Australia.<\/p>\n

And we learned that U.S. winger Christian Pulisic is healthy. The AC Milan star missed the Australia match after suffering a calf injury in the first half of Team USA\u2019s opening match victory against Paraguay. Pulisic drew the night\u2019s biggest applause Thursday when he entered the match in the second half and then proceeded to prompt the night\u2019s loudest groan when he hit the post a few minutes later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The knock-out phase is where we learn if the U.S. two group stage victories are a real indication of how far this team, and by extension American soccer, have come under Pochettino. Is Team USA really ready to join the world\u2019s elite, or was the group stage just more tease before the usual one-and-done in the knock-out phase?<\/p>\n

The knock-out phase is where we determine what a successful World Cup for the U.S. looks like. Next up for the Pulisic & Company is a Round of 32 match with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. Would advancing to the Round of 16 be success? Or does the U.S. have to get past a Round of 16 game with Mo Salah and Egypt or maybe South Korea?<\/p>\n

The defining moment for this U.S. side, for American soccer, most likely would be a quarterfinal showdown at SoFi July 10 with Spain, the reigning European champion and one of the pre-tournament favorites. That is where we\u2019ll really find out if the U.S. has taken a step forward, or like the Tartan Army, it\u2019s not really sure where it\u2019s going.<\/p>\n

Read more Miss Manners: I spent the entire concert being jostled by Mr. Penguin<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USMNT’s 3-2 loss to Turkey didn’t tell us much about the Americans’ staying power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat have we learned so far at this World Cup? Not much - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5581\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What have we learned so far at this World Cup? 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