Moth - at least you’ve got the stunning beauty of the Alps though, right…?

Some of these places are best avoided now, sadly - we spent time on a houseboat on Dal Lake, Srinagar in Kashmir, and it’s probably not advisable to go there these days… It’s also a bloody long way by rail from New Delhi…

Agreed but at the time it was likely my only ever opportunity to eyeball them.

Moth - shame really, although from above the Himalayas are just a bumpy white expanse, like some sort of stippled plaster ceiling gone wrong - their scale and height are only truly visible from ground level, unsurprisingly… I think it’s still worth visiting those places today, although they’re obviously much more touristy than they were 45 years ago - local street foods and public transport is the way to go if you can tolerate them…

Disappointing match. looking more and more like it will be a repeat of the last final.

Trigg - this is probably the most boring game I’ve seen of this WC so far despite all the hype around Yamal vs Ronaldo etc… Not sure I’ll even bother watching if it goes to ET!! So boring in fact that I felt obliged to share even more of my tiresome travel tales of yesteryear….

Nearest I got to to the Himalaya was in the 90s on a business trip to Karachi, Bombay & New Dehli. I'd booked a tourist flight on my free week-end to overfly the Everest area.

Nepal is such an amazing place - spent a short while in Kathmandu and Pokhara in early 1982, including a short trek to a lodge that had a long distance view of Mt Everest. It was overcast, so we didn’t see it, but Annapurna was incredible sight (10th highest peak in the world) - not quite as spectacular as Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest in the world at 8,586 metres, which we saw at sunrise from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, absolutely incredible!!

The one criticism I’d say about the five live audio is they suppress the crowd noise to allow the commentary to come through better. I’d like to have the radio commentary but the TV crowd noise.

But Trigg, that means you’re missing out on the latest news about Danny Murphy’s cats….

Whoever it was on here who recommended using iPlayer to watch the matches but have the Radio Five commentary - thank you.

Nepal were touted to be the next Brazil and that was never going to be allowed to happen.

Lol.

Tbf, Fifa are giving Nepal a hard time about political interference in football. I think they suspended football during elections or some other heinous crime

Yes that horse has already been doped and bolted.

I mean, you're expecting credibility and integrity from FIFA? Where was the last World Cup held?

Well, if Belgium do win expect another 'phonecall.

Hopefully the Belgian fans have got themselves organised and will have red cards printed.

Trigg - exactly, and you obviously decent American friends, ones who understand fairness and rules…

OK Spain and Belgium, it is up to you to restore a modicum of credibility to the World Cup.

And that was that [Link]

A fans XI then.

$6m - not yet decided apparently 🤷🏻

Definitely Belgium til full time. Interesting chatting to my American friends they are not happy with the decision at all either.

I really wish this USA vs Belgium game wasn’t on at 1am - the entire football world wants Belgium to win, whilst the “soccer” fans want America to win… Should be a fascinating watch for those with the energy to stay up or get up for it…