Can’t wait for 2018!
I'd bet you didn't grow up in the United States. From an American sports fan's perspective, the game of soccer is generally kind of boring but it could be made more offensive by changing some rules that hinder scoring chances. And all that flopping of players only adds to the dead time.
Then, too, the world championship today would have been determined by penalty kicks if Germany had not luckily put in a goal (that counted) right near the end. To break a tie game of ultimate importance by penalty kicks would be absurd. It's the equivalent of breaking a tie in basketball with by a free throw shooting contest.
Of course, the US's relatively early elimination from the tournament detracted from interest here in the later stages of the World Cup.
Even soccer fans and officials agree that settling a game with penalty kicks is not the best, but there is no other satisfactory way. Due to the physical limits of the players being reached at the end of 120 minutes added extra time would be a disaster, thus we settle for penalty kicks. As Winston Churchill said about democracy, it might not be the best system, but it is better than the alternatives.
I hear that a lot. Change the rules to make it more “interesting” and to make it easier to score goals. So that people who don’t care for the sport can continue not caring about the sport. Such a “conservative” concept. Yet soccer is “socialist.” Go figure.
Actually the US played longer then they did four years ago and since they are relatively new to the sport you can not expect them to become champions in a short time
The one rule I’d get rid of is the one that allows referees to tack on an amount of game time at the end of the game.
Stop the clock when they’re flopping. Game over at the end of clock time. Have extra periods for tie games if you like, but have them defined.