I must have missed the ‘undeniable’ angle. All the angles I saw went from ‘no contact’ to ‘not clear’. The good thing about VAR is that it gives us the best of both worlds: 1) Enough opinions on it to generate debate 2) The right outcome - on the evidence so far It has also been managed much better and more quickly than recent trials. So much better than the debate that we used to have around obviously incorrect decisions. That Pogba goal could well have gone the way of Lampard’s a few years ago now and France could have only got a draw and potential early elimination.

Having seen it again, I’m not even convinced the defender got the ball. Clumsy and late. Definite pen mate.

This is where I think the game has changed. It’s no longer enough to say ‘he got the ball [as well]’ like it was even 10 years ago. Footballers and the authorities have gone soft. By current standards that’s a penalty. What we need though is consistency.

Give my regards to [insert poster here] next time you are there. He’s still better than Murphy. My beef with the Preston hairdresser is that his football opinions are stuck in 1981.

Agreed. It was the second foot which brought down a player with a clear run on goal. In the recent past that would have been a red card too. Glad it just results in a goal nowadays and the game isn’t ruined.

I think some people may be watching online and are about a minute behind TV...

The handball?? Or the French one?

Where is the card for Umtiti for that deliberate handball? Surely it should have been the same as the French penalty. VAR is distracting referees from doing their jobs I’m afraid.

“Can he run the channels tho?”

In your opinion of course, there’s no proof of that. Also, I assume you’ve taken Antonsson, Chapman, Payne and Armstrong out of the equation when making your comparison? On that basis our current squad is already worse than last season. The only strengthening we’ve done so far is not signing Jason Lowe.

That didn’t take long. People have been lulled into a false sense of ability. This is a very good league one squad. We need better.

That’s how I’m reading it. Thing is, now that Mowbray has said it, you’ll get many fans now agreeing with him and trying to convince you that our L1 side (minus loanees remember) will be good enough. We need a far better option than Downing. A better option than Evans. A better option than Samuel. And two wingers. Minimum.

Who are the top two?

It’s a good point. Messi is a lesser player simply because he hasn’t done it for more than one club.

I don’t know why but I took an instant dislike to Costa and I’ve never taken to him. Maybe it’s the Chelsea connection but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Couldn’t agree more James. And he is the epitome of professionalism. The condition he is in for his age is a testament to that.

He keeps himself in good shape tbf.

This might be the best World Cup match I’ve ever watched. Brilliant. 3-3 would be a deserved result. But not over yet. (Oh, and Danny Marmite was wrong again).

Actually I’m hoping Spain are knocked off their perch. They are the Stephen Hendrie of world football.

Bloody hell thats a goal!!

Away to Carlisle. ? Full draw: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44468336

Fantastic first half for the neutral. Break-neck pace. Just imagine if Joe Hart had done what De Gea just did though! Only thing missing is a Danny Murphy mute button. How does he keep getting these gigs? Insipid insights, abysmal analysis and piss-poor prose. Topped off with a grating voice.

Can’t believe you’re championing Conway OVER Chapman. Even by your contrarian standards that’s a shocker!

Haha. Brilliant that. Well done Iran. Got the luck but I think Quiroz had a game plan looking at the changes he made towards the end. A slow burner of a game with a bang at the end.

Slavan Bilic has just broken the golden rule of invited pundits and made a great point about the negative effect our broadcast media has on England. I paraphrase but: ”Why do you always show clips of England players missing penalties or John Terry crying on the pitch or Joe Hart, with music like from The Omen? The players always watch this before games” He went on to make a bigger deal about it but that was nail on the head. We always highlight failure. It’s like we have to wallow in pity and mourning all the time. Why can’t they promote our good results or moments?