World Cup 2026

[stealthpapes]

I don't think I'd trust Morocco to do an African Cup of Nations well, tbh.

[Winston Biscuit]

Yanks, Mexicans and Canadians get it!

[Old Man Andrews]

It has just been awarded to the North Americans. Wise move and it means lots of evening games which is good.

[Winston Biscuit]

It has just been awarded to the North Americans. Wise move and it means lots of evening games which is good.

WC94 was great for match timing here tbf

[Old Man Andrews]

It has just been awarded to the North Americans. Wise move and it means lots of evening games which is good.

WC94 was great for match timing here tbf

Some finished around midnight in the group stages from what I remember? Ideal pub timing.

[Stranded]

It has just been awarded to the North Americans. Wise move and it means lots of evening games which is good.

WC94 was great for match timing here tbf

Some finished around midnight in the group stages from what I remember? Ideal pub timing.

Would expect that the US will want a decent number of games on in prime time there, so think we can expect at least some group games (and poss some knock-out games) in the early hours.

[Ark Royal]

Great news for the US/Canada/Mexico. Chicago - surprisingly - and Detroit not on the list of hosting cities, so Cincinnati will be the closest to Milwaukee for me if I want to catch a game.

[Skyline]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

[Sutekh]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

Not really an issue with 3 team groups where 2 of them progress through. Only real issue I can see with it is the number of lesser teams setting themselves up to draw meaning there could be a lot of tedious bus parking...

[Maneki Neko]

it works well now. There is a good mix of teams in each group with the possibility of some upsets and some jeopardy and risk of decent teams not getting through, and this change will ruin all of that.
its utterly daft imo

[Stranded]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

It assumes they go with 3 team groups. Aren't they considering a number of options including have a straight knock-out first round, or have they canned that idea already?

Think the plan was top 16 ranked sides go into the group stage directly the remaining 32 play a qualifying game first. Means that some teams will of course be flying to the US for 1 game and then going home.

[Sutekh]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

It assumes they go with 3 team groups. Aren't they considering a number of options including have a straight knock-out first round, or have they canned that idea already?

Think the plan was top 16 ranked sides go into the group stage directly the remaining 32 play a qualifying game first. Means that some teams will of course be flying to the US for 1 game and then going home.

Won't have a straight knockout round to start with otherwise you'd get teams travelling thousands of miles for one game.

[tmesis]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

Not really an issue with 3 team groups where 2 of them progress through. Only real issue I can see with it is the number of lesser teams setting themselves up to draw meaning there could be a lot of tedious bus parking...

Having two progress is the exact situation where something like that can happen, with both teams in the final game knowing a certain score would see them both through.

You couldn't have it if only one team qualified though. The other danger is the higher risk of a tied group, where teams might need to draw lots to decide who goes through.

Oddly the Germany v Austria "fix" happened in a four team group. The second round, the one with only three teams per group, didn't have any controversy - and also featured one of the best world cup games, where Italy beat a great Brazil team 3-2, when a draw would have seen Brazil go through.

[Sanguine]

Might have read it here, but at World Cup 2026, it will have been 30 years since '30 years of hurt'.

[Green]

Might have read it here, but at World Cup 2026, it will have been 30 years since '30 years of hurt'.

Time flies when you're throwing chairs around a piazza.

[stealthpapes]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

Not really an issue with 3 team groups where 2 of them progress through. Only real issue I can see with it is the number of lesser teams setting themselves up to draw meaning there could be a lot of tedious bus parking...

Having two progress is the exact situation where something like that can happen, with both teams in the final game knowing a certain score would see them both through.

You couldn't have it if only one team qualified though. The other danger is the higher risk of a tied group, where teams might need to draw lots to decide who goes through.

Oddly the Germany v Austria "fix" happened in a four team group. The second round, the one with only three teams per group, didn't have any controversy - and also featured one of the best world cup games, where Italy beat a great Brazil team 3-2, when a draw would have seen Brazil go through.

similar fixes have happened since - remember Sweden Denmark conspiring the 2-2 draw to put Italy out in 2004.

In the 1982 case, the Algeria game had been the day before so the precise scores needed were known about long in advance.

In any case, here's my patented "enlarge the world cup but keep it lean" strategy.

60 teams in a world qualifying round.

15 groups of 4, play each other once either home or away (two teams in the group will play at home twice - make it the lowest ranked pair?), 15 group winners go through to join the hosts in a 16 team finals. The smaller final stage means more countries could host it, and its more intense as you've got 16 of the very best international teams in the world there. 4 team groups like it used to be.

The international qualifying gives smaller teams a chance to qualify and play on a bigger stage. They get three games guaranteed. Could easily get it done in an month around the end of Summer, in the year preceding.

In terms of the pots, lets' pick a 2030 world cup, hosted nostalgically in Uruguay.

15 top seeds (currently 9 UEFA, 5 CONMEBOL, 1 CONCACAF) - Pot A
15 next best European countries (on current standings, that's 24 UEFA countries in total, currently Bosnia and Herzegovina at #24) - Pot B
15 from Africa (10 countries), rest of South America (4 countries due to Uruguay), Oceania (1 team)- Pot C
15 from Asia (7 countries), North America (8 countries) - Pot D

... with smaller regional qualifying tournaments to get to this stage.

[Deadlock]

Oddly the Germany v Austria "fix" happened in a four team group. The second round, the one with only three teams per group, didn't have any controversy - and also featured one of the best world cup games, where Italy beat a great Brazil team 3-2, when a draw would have seen Brazil go through.

similar fixes have happened since - remember Sweden Denmark conspiring the 2-2 draw to put Italy out in 2004.

Not quite the same. Jonson equalised for Sweden on 89 minutes; it was only at that point both teams started picking daisies.

[stealthpapes]

Well, they beat it with today's performance.

Christ.

[Winston Biscuit]

Venues announced:

Atlanta - Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Boston - Gillette Stadium
Dallas - AT&T Stadium
Guadalajara - Estadio Akron
Houston - NRG Stadium
Kansas City - Arrowhead Stadium
Los Angeles - SoFi Stadium
Mexico City - Estadio Azteca
Miami - Hard Rock Stadium
Monterrey - Estadio BBVA
New York/New Jersey - MetLife Stadium
Philadelphia - Lincoln Financial Field
San Francisco Bay Area - Levi's Stadium
Seattle - Lumen Field
Toronto - BMO Field
Vancouver - BC Place

(no Rose Bowl )

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles is a new stadium costing $5B making it the worlds most expensive

[Stranded]

So with three-team groups, and two teams out of each group going through, FIFA are going to need to do something to stop a Germany v Austria situation arising. The current four-team groups mean they can just have the final games for all group members kicking off at the same time, but this is obviously impossible with three-team groups.

It assumes they go with 3 team groups. Aren't they considering a number of options including have a straight knock-out first round, or have they canned that idea already?

Think the plan was top 16 ranked sides go into the group stage directly the remaining 32 play a qualifying game first. Means that some teams will of course be flying to the US for 1 game and then going home.

Won't have a straight knockout round to start with otherwise you'd get teams travelling thousands of miles for one game.

As this thead popped back up - this is the first hit on Google when searching for schedule:

https://www.2026worldcupnorthamerica.co ... ccer-2026/

It suggests, that in the 3 team groups - draws will be impossible in order to try and avoid collusion and that if a game is level after 90 mins it will go straight to penalties.

Not sure if this has actually been confirmed but know it was suggested by Marco Van Basten at one point.