World Cup 2026

[Scutterbucketz]

Would be more than happy to boycott this bullshit. Even more so than the last one.

Not as happy as boycotting the even bigger load of bs in 2030.

Will we ever see a proper World Cup again?

I suppose spreading it over 3 countries is a great way to raise corruption revenues, but it’s not quite the same.

[South Coast Royal]

Watching Arsenal yesterday got me thinking about the World Cup and how our best team are shaping up.

The keeper Pickford is fine , albeit unlikeable but good enough.

Right-back-Livramento or James?
I'm not that impressed by Livramento but James has been very good when he plays and when he plays is the issue.
Trent would be in my side if he getts some games but I don't expect him to be in Tuchel's

Left-back-Too early for O'Reilly or Lewis- Skelley?
Too late for Luke Shaw?

Centre-backs-Regular pick Jon Stones is always injured and doesn't play much.
Konsa has done ok and the same with Guehi with neither being outstanding
Surely Maguire is now past it and Southgate is no longer the manager.

Midfield is probably our strongest area at least in terms of numbers even if it lacks a bit of creativity and the full-on running everywhere by Rice and Bellingham may not be fully suited to the conditions.
If Wharton goes to another club in this window we might have a better idea of whether he is as good as he sometimes looks.
Eze unfortunately isn't getting much game time

Central striker-obvious but everything crossed that he doesn't get injured.

Wide strikers-favourites at the moment appear to be Saka and Gordon.
Saka is almost bound to start (and hopefully stays on his feet more than he usually does) and as I put up under another topic he hasn't provided an assist for a year in the Premier League which is slightly concerning.
Gordon certainly has a bit of pace but, like Saka, goes to ground a bit quickly and he hasn't scored a goal in open play for a year in the Premier League.
He also can be a bit reckless.

I will probably have bets on Spain and France who both appear strong and capable in their styles when it comes to playing in high temperatures.
Brazil seem like a bit of a mess but Argentina will probably be competitive.
Germany surely doesn't currently have the squad to do their usual at coming good in tournaments.
Portugal and Holland have a number of good players but do they operate well enough as a team?

Not long now with 5 months or so to go and although not that excited yet I expect it once again to be a good tournament as it usually is.

[Orion1871]

Is Pickford unlikeable? Didn't know that.

[South Coast Royal]

Is Pickford unlikeable? Didn't know that.

Unlikeable to me for putting VVD out for the season with a karate kick after play had stopped that Michael Oliver didn't even penalise when he should have been sent off for reckless play.
Check it out somewhere if you haven't seen it.

More generally he was probably the first, followed by Martinez to do that annoying falling to the ground clutching the ball to waste time.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Ticket prices are insane.



Even the shit games like Ecuador v Curacao start at $180. Stadium will be empty.

Having said that... have applied for the Croatia game in Dallas, Ghana in Boston, and quarter final in Miami. If i get all three i am never going to financially recover from this.

I could only apply for one game through FIFA's Random Selection Draw. So England V Croatia for the Bankbreaker.

There are cat 1 tickets but FIFA will not release these until later and will be subject to dynamic pricing so will probably end up more expensive than the others for popular games.

The PeopLOLe's Game.

Any luck? I got nothing.

[Vision]

Ticket prices are insane.



Even the shit games like Ecuador v Curacao start at $180. Stadium will be empty.

Having said that... have applied for the Croatia game in Dallas, Ghana in Boston, and quarter final in Miami. If i get all three i am never going to financially recover from this.

I could only apply for one game through FIFA's Random Selection Draw. So England V Croatia for the Bankbreaker.

There are cat 1 tickets but FIFA will not release these until later and will be subject to dynamic pricing so will probably end up more expensive than the others for popular games.

The PeopLOLe's Game.

Any luck? I got nothing.

Nope. Kind’ve relieved really as it was going to be stupid money.

[Clyde1998]

Just thinking about where we are with this now.

The Mexican involvement as hosts has been questioned, due to the actions of the cartels, whilst the current actions of the US government will lead to questions. There's talk about Iran not participating now.

Meanwhile, financial issues among host cities could see Boston lose their matches. The stadium requires an additional $7.8m in funding for security, with a deadline of 17 March, and that seems to be too much for the local government - in Foxborough (population ~18,000). England play Ghana there; Scotland play Haiti and Morocco. Various 'fan festival' sites (including in New York; Miami; and Seattle) have had to be cancelled or massively reduced in scale due to funding issues.

This is all on top of the previous travel bans for citizens of various competing nations. Recent evens just mean it's going to be even more of a farce that it already was going to be.

Feel sorry for Canada, who wouldn't have the infrastructure to be able to host the event without the Americans and don't have any serious alternative co-hosting options.

Really don't know what the potential backup plan for hosts would be, as very few FIFA members would have the infrastructure to host a World Cup (especially a 48-team one) at very short notice.

Of those who qualified, probably only England; France; and Germany could attempt it by themselves within the standard FIFA requirements and each have/will host Euros recently. Even then, you'd have questions about how quickly a serious plan could be put into practice to actually host it. Wonder if some sort of Euro 2020-style scenario, with matches held across various cities in Europe would be best as a backup.

Of course, FIFA will do whatever they can to ensure Donald Trump is placated.

[parky]

There is no way the US are not hosting this world cup. Even if Nations start pulling out the US will win it themselves by default.