Fifa World Cup 2026

Our group also now finalised with Czechia making it in
 
L-Dog said:
I see Italy didn't qualify, 3rd time in a row what a shocker!
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Do they have a ridiculously competitive qualifying region, who keeps on knocking them out that early?
 
airborne said:
Do they have a ridiculously competitive qualifying region, who keeps on knocking them out that early?
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Yeah Europa's qualifiers are by far the most difficult, they lost to Norway and then lst on penalties yesterday after getting a red card. Nigeria is also a very good team not going to there is always upsets. SA actually has a decent group so hopefully we can get out of the group stages this year.

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airborne said:
Do they have a ridiculously competitive qualifying region, who keeps on knocking them out that early?
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They keep screwing up. Making bad decisions and losing to teams they shouldn't. They haven't invested in structures and infrastructure like they should so have been left behind.
No one should be surprised about this result.

Growing up I would have never thought SA would be at the wc and my second team would fail to qualify for a third tournament.
 
polymarket.com

2026 FIFA World Cup Winner

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polymarket.com polymarket.com

You get a 13% return betting England don't win the World Cup, seems like a no brainer!
 
I see mama joy is begging gayton and whoever she can tag on twitter to send her to the wc....
 
stefan9 said:
I see mama joy is begging gayton and whoever she can tag on twitter to send her to the wc....
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Yeah peak drama doubt she will get a US VISA. I have also seen a lot less competitions to go to the World Cup (assume it could be a Visa issue) only one I have seen is with Standard Bank you can win a trip to Mexico to watch our first game.
 
L-Dog said:
Yeah Europa's qualifiers are by far the most difficult, they lost to Norway and then lst on penalties yesterday after getting a red card. Nigeria is also a very good team not going to there is always upsets. SA actually has a decent group so hopefully we can get out of the group stages this year.

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I agree that European qualification can be tough, but Norway was the only obstacle, and they got absolutely battered by them (1-7 over two games).

They didn't pitch up for the two games they actually needed to put some effort in.

And then they got the easiest path in the second round (based on seeding) and botched that as well.
 
satanboy said:
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Qatar (slave-built stadiums) and Russia (corruption, Amnesty International criticised them hosting it over the LGBT stuff and general human rights violations) sold out.

I think it is just too expensive. There are other factors as well. It is a much larger tournament than before with a lot of small/low profile countries, so getting locals to fill stadiums to watch a lot of the ''fodder'' games isn't going to be an easy sell, and World Cups rely on getting locals fans to fill stadiums where the lower-tier countries are playing, or where they are likely to bring small crowds. American stadiums are massive on top of it. Just one example is a game between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in a 72,000 seat stadium in Texas. That is hardly a matchup that excites and you've got them in a giant stadium in Texas of all places. The average Texan probably couldn't find Cape Verde on a map, and I think we can guess at how appealing Saudi Arabia will be in that part of Murica. They've got Curacao and Ecuador playing in a 76,000-seat stadium in Missouri. Curacao only has a population of 150,000 people, so how many tickets could you realistically sell to traveling fans from there? Maybe you tap into the Dutch fanbase, but it is still a massive stadium hosting a very small country.
 
satanboy said:
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thestaggy said:
Qatar (slave-built stadiums) and Russia (corruption, Amnesty International criticised them hosting it over the LGBT stuff and general human rights violations) sold out.

I think it is just too expensive. There are other factors as well. It is a much larger tournament than before with a lot of small/low profile countries, so getting locals to fill stadiums to watch a lot of the ''fodder'' games isn't going to be an easy sell, and World Cups rely on getting locals fans to fill stadiums where the lower-tier countries are playing, or where they are likely to bring small crowds. American stadiums are massive on top of it. Just one example is a game between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in a 72,000 seat stadium in Texas. That is hardly a matchup that excites and you've got them in a giant stadium in Texas of all places. The average Texan probably couldn't find Cape Verde on a map, and I think we can guess at how appealing Saudi Arabia will be in that part of Murica. They've got Curacao and Ecuador playing in a 76,000-seat stadium in Missouri. Curacao only has a population of 150,000 people, so how many tickets could you realistically sell to traveling fans from there? Maybe you tap into the Dutch fanbase, but it is still a massive stadium hosting a very small country.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2046292170119016624
 
www.aljazeera.com

What are five key issues 50 days ahead of the World Cup?

From the US-Israel war on Iran to exorbitant ticket prices and violence in host nations, here's what's gone wrong.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com

www.aljazeera.com

FIFA unlocks more World Cup tickets and adds new, more expensive categories

Football's governing body puts more tickets on sale but has introduced new premium-priced tiers that angered some fans.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com

FIFA in December put tickets on sale at prices ranging from $140 for Category 3 in the first round to $8,680 for the final, then raised prices to as much as $10,990 when sales reopened on April 1.

Also on Tuesday, The Athletic reported that ticket sales are lagging for the US opener against Paraguay on June 12 at Inglewood, California. It said a document distributed to local organisers, dated April 10, said that 40,934 tickets had been bought for the US-Paraguay game, and 50,661 were bought for the Iran-New Zealand contest on April 15.

FIFA projects the capacity at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, where the US-Paraguay and Iran-New Zealand games will be held, to be about 69,650, noting that it may change.

FIFA’s December sale priced US-Paraguay tickets at $1,120, $1,940 and $2,735, and Iran-New Zealand seats at $140, $380 and $450.
 
www.sportbible.com

FIFA set to make huge World Cup rule change that impacts every nation

FIFA is implementing a new rule for the 2026 World Cup which will come into play after the Group Stages and will benefit every nation
www.sportbible.com www.sportbible.com

But one rule is reportedly changing to benefit all 48 countries participating, as the yellow card wiping system is set to be changed.

The introduction of a Round of 32 fixture in the larger 2026 World Cup tournament means that teams would play up to five games before the usual Quarter-Final wipe comes into play.

According to The Athletic, FIFA officials are set to introduce another reset following the group stage, which should prevent teams from being without their best players for the early knockout stages.

This means players would be allowed one yellow in the groups, another in the round of 32, last 16, or quarter-final, and a third in the semi-final without facing a suspension.
 
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