What's gone wrong with international football?

International football has been on the decline for a few years now, with Euro 2024 being a particularly low point.
Does that mean we are due to see an improvement, or will it continue to fade away?
Here are my thoughts.
Let me know yours in the comments!
#football #euro2024 #qualifying #semifinal #tournament #england #realmadrid #manchestercity #subscribe #trending #ronaldo

[@antun88]

Euros have been ruined by switching to 24 teams. It makes big teams play conservatively. In the group there is no serious threat of being last and going out, they don't have to take any risks. It is usually only in the QF that they get really tested, but that is the knockout stage already, you can save yourself on penalties, so why take risks now? If you look at any Euro with 16 teams, it was non-stop action because if you did not win 2 games in the group you could go out. It was the best competition in football in my opinion. And the WC with 48 will be the last nail the coffin for international football.

[@GamingBlomp]

@antun88 exactly this. I think the 32 team club world cup will be exciting, but that will further devalue the actual world cup, along with the expansion like you say. England will win these Euros, playing dire football all the way.

[@antun88]

@@GamingBlomp yes, the problem with national football is that pressure is so high in these tournaments, that teams do not want to take risks, so they play very conservatively. So you need to make attacking football be worth it. In the group stage it would be much better if only 1 team from each group went through to QF, with some play-in for 2nd placed teams. That way, only the teams actually getting wins in 90min games will be successful.

[@GamingBlomp]

@antun88 I'm not sure the pressure is as high as it used to be to be honest, and that's the problem really. Who do you think wins the Euros?

[@antun88]

@@GamingBlomp I think Spain will win it. Playing conservatively can get you far, but eventually you run into an exceptional team and they crush you. Being a Croatian fan we know this very well. We went far but at some point you run into a beast like Argentina 2022. and France 2018 and your luck runs out. It's kind of acceptable for a small country like Croatia to play like this, but it feels beneath England, with the players they got. But anything is possible.

[@GamingBlomp]

@antun88 I hope you're right. Spain deserve to win it. I thought France would beat them last night. You must be so proud of what the Croatian team have achieved over the last few years!

[@njongomato]

Players are exhausted.

[@GamingBlomp]

@@njongomato my thoughts exactly. Nations League needs to go in my opinion.

[@jagger7541]

i think that instead of the talent dropping off, it is a lot more spread out throughout the world. it is a lot more competitive between countries ranked in the top ten vs countries ranked 40-50 than it was back in the day. in that aspect i think that today's football is more unpredictable and entertaining than it was back then. yes the style of play is boring from a lot of the big teams, but in the 90's a vast majority of teams played a rigid, pragmatic 442 that people would complain about nowadays. the big teams just had all the star players so they made it seem more exciting off their individual talent alone. france played the same way in 1998 as they do now but the opposition theyre facing now on average is a lot better than it was back then, and france dont have as good of a team either. same can be said for a lot of big national teams right now.

[@GamingBlomp]

@jagger7541 I definitely agree that the talent is more spread out. How many players on the international scene can match their club form, though? If Spain win the Euros it'll restore my faith just a little bit. They're the only team deserving of the trophy in my opinion!

[@JonLakeOfficial]

It’s so easy to say “they don’t care” but the reality is they do. It’s hard to win games at the top levels and managers want to play in ways to win not to entertain.

[@jackmellor5536]

I like the Nations League as it has filled the gap once held by the Confederations Cup for European teams.

[@GamingBlomp]

@@jackmellor5536 I'm not a fan, overkill for me. The internationals were fine as they were!

[@ry5hr9cg5m]

with the developing of modern sports technology and medical system , there are a trend can't be ignore that we may see more "industrial" football stars than "genius" players. Not all the teams are so strong that they can both focus on "playing well" and "winning the game"

[@GamingBlomp]

@ry5hr9cg5m yeah this is true but although I still think Man United of the 90s would win titles now, the Premier league & champions league is still played at an intense standard. Real Madrid for example are incredible!

[@JC-uo6lt]

Half of all goals being disallowed due to the new tech doesn't help

[@GamingBlomp]

@@JC-uo6lt also having to wait for VAR checks rather than being able to celebrate etc etc

[@grigoryzinoviev244]

Nations league killed it

[@GamingBlomp]

@@grigoryzinoviev244 my thoughts exactly.

[@adebolabloke6962]

A better idea surely is to have a world straight knock out tournament like the FA Cup. Then when you finally get a winner, THAT country goes through to the next stage. The rest of the world does knock out again. Each tournament you eliminate one country I think the process should take a few hundred years until we find the outright winner

[@GamingBlomp]

@@adebolabloke6962 I'd watch that 🤣 but I'm already 37, I think I'll miss the final!

[@WisdomSeller]

You were wrong

[@GamingBlomp]

@@WisdomSeller I was. You have no idea how happy I was to see Spain beat Germany!

[@WisdomSeller]

​@@GamingBlomp That goal from yamal was a gamechanger🥳🥳🥳

[@GamingBlomp]

@@WisdomSeller he is an unreal talent

[@paulmcdonald6051]

International football is garbage, I'm always disappointed when an International break comes around.

[@GamingBlomp]

@@paulmcdonald6051 me too. This tournament has dragged on and on.

[@thabo3866]

Afcon was much better but to be honest, even the Champions League has been on the decline, it's not the tournament it was once was, I dare say, football in general has declined..where are the hotshot strikers even in club football?

[@GamingBlomp]

@thabo3866 I agree to an extent. The Champions League was still exciting this year while this Euros has been incredibly dull. I thought the Man City/Arsenal title race in the Premier league was wild too!

[@NarutoOnlineGermany]

everyone plays fucking tiki taka i cant stand this shit tactic anymore. should be banned

[@GamingBlomp]

@@NarutoOnlineGermany I think some of the competitions need to be dropped eg nations league and the standard would go up again.

[@angelina-n3h]

I used to love international football but it’s just so dull now 🥱

[@GamingBlomp]

@@angelina-n3h it really is 😕

[@gbbarn]

Euros were always this boring guys, even before var, rather it was cr7 who changed the paradigm. I've always watched the copa america instead. Even if I have to stay awake till 4 AM, boy it hasn't failed to entertain, even if this copa america has been somewhat dull, it is still 10 times more watchable than the Euro, specially this one.

[@GamingBlomp]

@gbbarn I think 96 to 2012 were fantastic euros. Euro 96 was what got me hooked on football but euro 2024 is making me want to stop watching altogether 😢

[@jamesdennier378]

LOUSY CLOUD! GET OUT OF HERE CLOUD!!! In mmmyyyyyyy day, players were much better, everything was better…. I’m cold and tired. Put on The Last of the Summer Wine!

[@GamingBlomp]

@@jamesdennier378 don't forget to vote in my poll!

[@jackmellor5536]

Germany played well as well

[@GamingBlomp]

@@jackmellor5536 yeah they're improving. Looking good under Nagelsmann

[@jackmellor5536]

@GamingBlomp They only got knocked out by Spain, who deservedly won the tournament. That quarter final could have gone either way. They were the two best teams in the tournament in my opinion.

[@GamingBlomp]

@jackmellor5536 absolutely 100%, nobody else came close. I think Austria, Turkey & Georgia played well but none of them had the same quality as Spain or Germany.