2026 World Cup - News, Updates and discussions

[SpursFlu]

This is amazing lol. This guy must have been in WEF young leaders program

LigaMX prez basically saying if we didn't react in such an amazing way we would have lost the World Cup. Oh thank God for you white knight. Case closed, problem solved. Too funny. This type of BS reminds of a certain somebody near and dear to our hearts 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4612705/mexico-violence-almost-cost-world-cup-2026-hosting-duties-liga-mx-president

I guess we can get this thread back on track and restore arguing over where the WC can or should be played in Canada

Edited March 9, 2022 by SpursFlu

[Bison44]

Yeah, you can back to your usual BS trolling, now that you've had your say on something you deem important.

[SpursFlu]

I'm sorry for trolling the Li

3 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Yeah, you can back to your usual BS trolling, now that you've had your say on something you deem important.

I'm sorry for trolling the LigaMX president. I didn't know he was so beloved 

[Free kick]

Liga MX: Violence in Queretaro almost cost Mexico 2026 World Cup hosting rights (msn.com)

 

I am very surprised and disappointed that these soft measures (a minor slap on the wrist) would have satisfied FIFA.   The club should have been disaffiliated.   And, using the standard that was applied to English clubs following Hysel,   Liga Mx clubs should have been forbidden from playing in CCL for five years.  

[narduch]

28 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Liga MX: Violence in Queretaro almost cost Mexico 2026 World Cup hosting rights (msn.com)

 

I am very surprised and disappointed that these soft measures (a minor slap on the wrist) would have satisfied FIFA.   The club should have been disaffiliated.   And, using the standard that was applied to English clubs following Hysel,   Liga Mx clubs should have been forbidden from playing in CCL for five years.  

I agree the punishment was light but the difference was Heysel was European Cup game. This was a domestic league game.

[Free kick]

10 hours ago, narduch said:

I agree the punishment was light but the difference was Heysel was European Cup game. This was a domestic league game.

But why should that matter?   

 

The prestige of the game doesnt have any impact on the seriousness of the crimes.  The crimes happed at soccer game between two Affiliated clubs    A judge is not going to say,   well you get 10 years in prison for assault if its Championship game and 5 years for a league game and one year for friendly match.   It doesnt work that way nor shouldnt it.  

Same with FIFA and Concacaf

Edited March 10, 2022 by Free kick

[narduch]

10 minutes ago, Free kick said:

But why should that matter?   

 

The prestige of the game doesnt have any impact on the seriousness of the crimes.  The crimes happed at soccer game between two Affiliated clubs    I judge is not going to say,   well you get 10 years in prison for assault if its Championship game and 5 years for a league game and one year for friendly match.   It doesnt work that way nor shouldnt it.  

Same with FIFA and Concacaf

It's not about the prestige.

It's about who us the governing body for the match

[ted]

39 minutes ago, Free kick said:

I am very surprised and disappointed that these soft measures (a minor slap on the wrist) would have satisfied FIFA.   The club should have been disaffiliated.   And, using the standard that was applied to English clubs following Hysel,   Liga Mx clubs should have been forbidden from playing in CCL for five years.  

1. 39 people were killed and 600 injured at the Heysel Stadium and it was a game between fans of clubs from two different countries playing in a third country. Comparing the two would, by any, "standard", result in a much lower punishment.

2. The sanctions imposed may not go far enough, but they are by no means, "a minor slap on the wrist". They impose a significant cost to the club, punish the fans directly, and force a change in ownership.
 

[Free kick]

13 minutes ago, narduch said:

It's not about the prestige.

It's about who us the governing body for the match

If i recall correctly, most of the sanctions against English clubs were not imposed by UEFA.   it was mostly the British government (Margaret Thatcher i believe) who took it upon themselves to solve the problem.   There was an inquiry and full investigation.    You are partly right that maybe it was unfair to expect a sanctioning body to essentially punish itself.   But Concacaf and FIFA is not directly tied to these clubs

Edited March 10, 2022 by Free kick

[Free kick]

6 minutes ago, ted said:

1. 39 people were killed and 600 injured at the Heysel Stadium and it was a game between fans of clubs from two different countries playing in a third country. Comparing the two would, by any, "standard", result in a much lower punishment.

2. The sanctions imposed may not go far enough, but they are by no means, "a minor slap on the wrist". They impose a significant cost to the club, punish the fans directly, and force a change in ownership.
 

I give you this,  when its two different countries involved,  there are national interests and national images at stake.    So yes,  you have make sure that the other party is satisfied.  

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Free kick said:

If i recall correctly, most of the sanctions against English clubs were not imposed by UEFA.   it was mostly the British government (Margaret Thatcher i believe) who took it upon themselves to solve the problem.    you are partly right that maybe it was unfair to expect a sanctioning body to essentially punish itself.   But Concacaf and FIFA is not directly tied to these clubs

Thatcher was just piling on.

English clubs were banned from European competitions for 5 years. That was a big deal. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by narduch

[narduch]

7 minutes ago, Free kick said:

If i recall correctly, most of the sanctions against English clubs were not imposed by UEFA.   it was mostly the British government (Margaret Thatcher i believe) who took it upon themselves to solve the problem.   There was an inquiry and full investigation.    You are partly right that maybe it was unfair to expect a sanctioning body to essentially punish itself.   But Concacaf and FIFA is not directly tied to these clubs

Think you may be confusing Heysel with Hillsborough 

[Free kick]

29 minutes ago, narduch said:

Think you may be confusing Heysel with Hillsborough 

Nope.  

 

from wikipedia quote:" Pressure mounted to ban English clubs from European competition. On 31 May 1985, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher asked The Football Association (the FA) to withdraw English clubs from European competition before they were banned"

[Cheeta]

^  LOL.  True, but as laughable now as it was then.

"You can't fire me.  I QUITE!"

[Free kick]

On 2/14/2022 at 11:36 PM, Free kick said:

We cant compete.  And that's because of the popularity of the NFL.    @CanadianSoccerFan mentioned Sofi but i didn't because there is no mention of it in the bid book.  Probably because it wasn't built yet when they were bidding.  They will have to juggle the need to go with natural surfaces while at the same time build clusters for groups.   So that's going to be tough.  Here are 6 of my picks so far that i suspect they will chose: 

1) Houston - Natural surface and will cluster with the three Mexican cities (Mexico city, Monterrey, Guadalajara)

2) New York/New Jersey -  NOT NATURAL SURFACE.  But you have to have New York.  And you have to have 4 cities to makeup a North east cluster

3) Baltimore -  Natural surface.  Washington (after the negative reviews they got from FIFA) already announced that they will partner with Baltimore.  So they must know something. Plus you can put them in either a South East or North east cluster.

4) Nashville -  Natural surface.  They hosted a WCQ match so that's a good sign, so is the surfaces and the fact that you need at least 4 cities to make up a South East cluster

5) Los Angeles -  Natural surface.  Same as New York,  you need LA and you need 4 Pacific coast cities to make up a cluster

6) San Francisco - Natural surface.  Plus you can build the Pacific cluster with LA and possibly Seattle  and Vancouver (As Horgan mentioned).  Seattle and Vancouver are NOT NATURAL SURFACE

Based on what i was able to read from the Forbes article below, i will add a 7th one to the list.

7) Atlanta -  NOT NATURAL SURFACE.  But two of FIFA’s six first-tier corporate partners are American companies headquarters in American bid cities. The Coca’Cola' global headquarters are based in Atlanta, while central operations for Visa are situated in San Fran.  Also, it has good MLS attendance and it can cluster with Nashville and a Florida city to form a southern cluster.

5 Under-The-Radar Factors That Could Decide 2026 FIFA World Cup U.S. Host Cities (forbes.com)

 

Here is who I believe is out of the running:

1) Washington D.C. - They got a bad review from the inspection committee and they already said that they will support the Baltimore bid.

2) Boston - NOT NATURAL SURFACE.  Gillette stadium and its location is terrible for visitors. Inaccessible by public transit.  Stadium in no longer new and is not anywhere close to downtown.  From the presentations i saw, they didn't show the same enthusiasm and desire as many other cities during their FIFA visit.  Mediocre MLS attendance.

That leave the following for the remaining three spots:

Cincinnati 
Dallas 
Denver 
Kansas City
Miami
Orlando
Philadelphia  
Seattle

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Free kick

[Free kick]

More details on the incidents in Querettaro.   This is Lucas Cavallini's take.

'It was just madness': Vancouver Whitecaps striker Lucas Cavallini watched Mexican fan violence from afar with a heavy heart (msn.com)

 

[Shway]

Maybe US will get more games as a result of this 🙄

[Free kick]

20 hours ago, Shway said:

Maybe US will get more games as a result of this 🙄

Contract says 10 games for Mexico, and 10 games for Canada.   That's the deal.  That's what FIFA voted on and what they approved when the WC was awarded to the joined bid.  You can only break a contract if you have cause.          

Edited March 14, 2022 by Free kick

[Shway]

1 minute ago, Free kick said:

Contract says 10 games for Mexico, and 10 games for Canada.   That's the deal.  That's what FIFA voted on and what they approved when the WC was awarded to the joined bid.

And contracts can change due to circumstances ….even more so if it’s for the “bEtTeR”. 

[TGAA_Star]

On 3/11/2022 at 3:30 PM, Free kick said:

Based on what i was able to read from the Forbes article below, i will add a 7th one to the list.

7) Atlanta -  NOT NATURAL SURFACE.  But two of FIFA’s six first-tier corporate partners are American companies headquarters in American bid cities. The Coca’Cola' global headquarters are based in Atlanta, while central operations for Visa are situated in San Fran.  Also, it has good MLS attendance and it can cluster with Nashville and a Florida city to form a southern cluster.

5 Under-The-Radar Factors That Could Decide 2026 FIFA World Cup U.S. Host Cities (forbes.com)

 

Here is who I believe is out of the running:

1) Washington D.C. - They got a bad review from the inspection committee and they already said that they will support the Baltimore bid.

2) Boston - NOT NATURAL SURFACE.  Gillette stadium and its location is terrible for visitors. Inaccessible by public transit.  Stadium in no longer new and is not anywhere close to downtown.  From the presentations i saw, they didn't show the same enthusiasm and desire as many other cities during their FIFA visit.  Mediocre MLS attendance.

That leave the following for the remaining three spots:

Cincinnati 
Dallas 
Denver 
Kansas City
Miami
Orlando
Philadelphia  
Seattle

 

My 10 US cities that I think get games in 2026

Los Angeles 

New York 

Miami

Washington DC

Bay Area (San Francisco)

Boston

Denver

Orlando 

Dallas

Kansas City

[Free kick]

35 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

My 10 US cities that I think get games in 2026

Los Angeles 

New York 

Miami

Washington DC

Bay Area (San Francisco)

Boston

Denver

Orlando 

Dallas

Kansas City

I almost put Kansas City and Miami on my list.   Kansas City for the fact that its a legacy selection.   By that i mean the Hunt family and their connections to the game plus the fact that it has supported very well the pro club in MLS.   The reluctance with KC is that it does not cluster as a location.  Its right in middle of the US and hence neither a North east city, nor a southern city, nor a Pacific coast city.  The first criticism of every FIFA event in North America is the travel distances.   From what i saw on-line and youtube of their presentation, they seemed to really want it.   Denver also did a good presentation.   I think KC is a good bet to be a host city after you weigh the plus and minus's

Miami.  i should have put but it will be be a choice between them and Orlando.  In cant see two Florida cities getting it.   The stadium in Miami has a natural surface whereas Orlando does not.  Problem is Orlando is a better MLS city. I still think it will be Miami though.

Seattle is the third one that I left out reluctantly but that i am fairly certain it will be there.   The downside is that the surface is not natural. Plus its too close to Vancouver and with each passing day, I am starting to believe that It will be Vancouver instead of Edmonton as the other Canadian city.  

Edited March 13, 2022 by Free kick

[devioustrevor]

3 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

My 10 US cities that I think get games in 2026

.

.

.

Bay Area (San Francisco)

Boston

 

Levi's Stadium is in Santa Clara, so closer to San Jose than San Francisco.

 

Also, no way Gillette Stadium hosts.  Vegas almost certainly hosts, with it's multitude of hotel rooms, state-of-the-art stadium and that stadium actually has natural grass.

Edited March 14, 2022 by devioustrevor

[Free kick]

16 minutes ago, devioustrevor said:

Levi's Stadium is in Santa Clara, so closer to San Jose than San Francisco.

 

Also, no way Gillette Stadium hosts.  Vegas almost certainly hosts, with it's multitude of hotel rooms, state-of-the-art stadium and that stadium actually has natural grass.

Las Vegas would be awesome but Vegas isn't bidding.  They aren't on the list of 17 US city candidates.  I dont know why they didn't try to get them n the list.  

PS.:  the final decisions and announcements should be in the next two or three weeks.  This is why i think Edmonton is no longer in the running,  and that it will be Vancouver.     There has been no announcement whatsoever about provincial funding.   No media reports from Alberta about anything related to this topic.  Silence is not a good sign.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Free kick

[TGAA_Star]

For Canadian cities it should be Toronto and Vancouver only but then again if Edmonton is still there, then it makes sense especially since original bid book had 3 Canadian cities but then Montreal withdrew from hosting. So if Vancouver replaces Montreal, then we're back to 3 Canadian cities again as it should be.

[narduch]

I seriously think they will take games away from us if we can't provide 3 cities