What I don't know about soccer - and in the particular the World Cup - is lots and lots and lots . . .

[hatrack]

Having said that, I don't think the following rhetorical questions really demand an in-depth knowledge of the workings of FIFA.

Would anyone be at all surprised if any number of calls by referees during the remaining World Cup matches went in favor of the US team, and against its opponents, no matter how flagrantly wrong or ridiculous those calls were?

Would anyone be at all surprised if a startlingly large number of mind-numbingly bad calls across all remaining games just happened to help the US win the World Cup?

It wouldn't surprise me one fucking little bit.

[rampartd]

1. it is not about football, it is about expanding into a market

normally i'd say soccer is a great sport, fewer kids get hurt and less expensive equipment than football.

but capitalist territorialism. no so much.;

[sarisataka]

2. Or equally the opposite might be true

more borderline calls go against the US.

[thomski64]

3. Don't doubt the corruption, but..

Spain and France are just too good..

[Emrys]

4. As a counter, football (i.e. soccer) referees are professionals, and are unlikely to deliberately foul their reputations

The best are promoted to prestigious status where they are entrusted with refereeing crucial matches by virtue of their performance over their careers, and any hint of crookedness would risk ruining, in some cases, a lifetime's work.

Linesmen are also involved in marginal decisions or when the ref has been unsighted.

It's an everlasting standing joke in football that refs make errors ("Get some glasses! Or a white stick!" ), and VAR was brought in to try to improve that, though its results have been mixed. It does add a potential for further official opinions and longer than split-second decisions when it's invoked.

[Wiz Imp]

5. Right. There is no indication that the referees would officiate the games dishonestly on purpose.