2026 World Cup

[Leicesterpool]

15 hours ago, StanSP said:

Alot of early am games, stock up on coffee then.

[David Hankey]

The World Cup, another tournament/opportunity to rip off genuine supporters. Boycott?!!

[The Bear]

Another ticketing shambles too by the sounds of it. 

[when_you're_smiling]

9 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Think I'm bored of the group stages just looking at that  No real games to catch your interest until maybe Brazil v Morocco. 

 

Actually glad there's so many night games so I don't have to bother. 

 

 

Even Brazil v Morroco…if everyone in the group beats Haiti and draws against each other then they all qualify anyway. Even Scotland should qualify really. 

[shen]

With Denmark failing to qualify, there will be even less reason for me to watch any games of the WC. I will probably catch highlights of the interesting games and otherwise just read the results.

Life really is too short for 48-team WC tournaments.

[Leicesterpool]

39 minutes ago, shen said:

With Denmark failing to qualify, there will be even less reason for me to watch any games of the WC. I will probably catch highlights of the interesting games and otherwise just read the results.

Life really is too short for 48-team WC tournaments.

Surely could find another team to follow in the wc... England perhaps. Or maybe one of the minows.. maybe new zealand would be good one to look out for. 

[shen]

1 hour ago, Leicesterpool said:

Surely could find another team to follow in the wc... England perhaps. Or maybe one of the minows.. maybe new zealand would be good one to look out for. 

Nah, I honestly am not interested. There'll be token interest in Norway seeing as my in-laws are Norwegian, but I really can't muster any enthusiasm whatsoever. 

[LCFCJohn]

8 hours ago, shen said:

Nah, I honestly am not interested. There'll be token interest in Norway seeing as my in-laws are Norwegian, but I really can't muster any enthusiasm whatsoever. 

I mean I feel the same and England are there!

 

Like you say, joke tournament really with 48 teams in it. Held primarily in a backwards Country against the backdrop of what is happening in the world and the corruption within FIFA.

 

I also can’t be arsed with most of the kick off times. Rather be in bed by 10 when I am up early for work. 

[The Bear]

I certainly won't be watching many games other than England and the QFs onwards. 

Edited 3 April by The Bear

[Super_horns]

3 hours ago, The Bear said:

I certainly won't be watching many games other than England and the QFs onwards. 

Ratings will probably be pretty low for most of the group games I suspect. 

 

Due to the time and quality of the teams in them.

 

Most will just catch up with highlights I suspect. 

[grobyfox1990]

8 hours ago, Super_horns said:

Ratings will probably be pretty low for most of the group games I suspect. 

 

Due to the time and quality of the teams in them.

 

Most will just catch up with highlights I suspect. 

People said all this crap before Qatar and they’ll say the same before 2030 and 2034. They won’t practice what they preach, ofc there’ll be huge ratings  

[Super_horns]

9 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

People said all this crap before Qatar and they’ll say the same before 2030 and 2034. They won’t practice what they preach, ofc there’ll be huge ratings  

For the big games and teams yes certainly but there are a few 1am/4am kick-offs in the group stages that won't rate that highly. 

 

I mean all relative I guess - still be bigger  than what  the BBC or ITV usually get at that time.

[Super_horns]

Telegraph draw simulator.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/fifa-world-cup-2026-predictor-simulator/

 

Some pretty easy groups to predict in terms of top 2 and of course there will be 8 third place teams going through - Scots being one of them.

 

Not sure about England playing Mexico in the last 16  probably with extreme heat - got Germany v France too.

 

Had us going out to Brazil in the last 8 with Spain beating Argentina in the final

[StanSP]

18 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Telegraph draw simulator.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/fifa-world-cup-2026-predictor-simulator/

 

Some pretty easy groups to predict in terms of top 2 and of course there will be 8 third place teams going through - Scots being one of them.

 

Not sure about England playing Mexico in the last 16  probably with extreme heat - got Germany v France too.

 

Had us going out to Brazil in the last 8 with Spain beating Argentina in the final

Had us with Senegal, Mexico, Brazil in the knockouts, and losing to Brazil. 

 

Spain vs Argentina final, Spain win. 

 

I'd love for USA to be knocked out in the groups, but had them qualifying. 

[spacemunky]

Mine had the US v Iran in the first round of knockouts. 

 

England v France final, with a late winner from Daniel Welbeck.

[fox_favourite]

Just boycott the world cup. A joke of pricing for tickets, travel and staying for fans and they have Trump. 

 

The whole thing is a shambles. 

[leicsmac]

56 minutes ago, fox_favourite said:

Just boycott the world cup. A joke of pricing for tickets, travel and staying for fans and they have Trump. 

 

The whole thing is a shambles. 

As much as I'd like to see it happen, it would need widespread support from within the UEFA and CONMEBOL nations, at the very least. 

 

Not really sure how likely that is. 

[Jaspa]

On 05/04/2026 at 22:19, Super_horns said:

Telegraph draw simulator.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/fifa-world-cup-2026-predictor-simulator/

 

Some pretty easy groups to predict in terms of top 2 and of course there will be 8 third place teams going through - Scots being one of them.

 

Not sure about England playing Mexico in the last 16  probably with extreme heat - got Germany v France too.

 

Had us going out to Brazil in the last 8 with Spain beating Argentina in the final

Got England v France round of 32, Senegal v Morocco round of 16. England eventually going out in the quarters v Brasil. Spain v Senegal & Brasil v Portugal semis, with Brasil beating Spain in the Final.

 

Think heat will play a major factor in this WC. Always suprising drop-outs too.

[The Blur]

I think I would only bother with 8pm kick offs.   Would probably mean I won't get to see some bigger teams such as Brazil until knockout stages.  

[FoxesWalk]

Another Fifa miracle: train tickets to the MetLife stadium which normally are $12.90 will cost $100 on World Cup match days. What Jesus did with loaves of bread and fishes, Gianni does with dollars.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7193375/2026/04/14/metlife-stadium-world-cup-train-tickets/?unlocked_article_code=1.a1A.j_Uz.ZkBA6GedxFCo&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_bluesky&smid=bsky-share-ta

Edited 14 April by FoxesWalk

[MC Prussian]

Italy could make it to the WC, after all:

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/world-cup-2026-scenario-could-110000604.html

[NJFox]

On 14/04/2026 at 13:36, FoxesWalk said:

Another Fifa miracle: train tickets to the MetLife stadium which normally are $12.90 will cost $100 on World Cup match days. What Jesus did with loaves of bread and fishes, Gianni does with dollars.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7193375/2026/04/14/metlife-stadium-world-cup-train-tickets/?unlocked_article_code=1.a1A.j_Uz.ZkBA6GedxFCo&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_bluesky&smid=bsky-share-ta

As an NJ resident and fan who feels priced out from attending the World Cup, I'm totally on board with this. IMO, Most of the hotel and tourist windfall will go to New York, while the stadium is in New Jersey and transportation is managed by a New Jersey rail service. Even though New Jersey Transit is not exactly loved (go and read about 2019 Wrestlemania at the same venue), the "World Cup will stimulate the economy" argument is not of concern to me, and is easily diminished when compared with the public dollars already being invested in it. More from the governor, here.

 

 

[FoxesWalk]

4 hours ago, NJFox said:

As an NJ resident and fan who feels priced out from attending the World Cup, I'm totally on board with this. IMO, Most of the hotel and tourist windfall will go to New York, while the stadium is in New Jersey and transportation is managed by a New Jersey rail service. Even though New Jersey Transit is not exactly loved (go and read about 2019 Wrestlemania at the same venue), the "World Cup will stimulate the economy" argument is not of concern to me, and is easily diminished when compared with the public dollars already being invested in it. More from the governor, here.

 

 

Yeah, locals should not be paying, FIFA make billions from the event, they should be able to support temporarily increasing transport to stadiums so that fans can safely travel in host nations. 

[Super_horns]

Xavi Simons the latest big name to be ruled out of the World cup through injury.

 

Hard luck for him and he'll probably struggle a bit with the news too as seems to be a very emotional  guy.

[The Blur]

On 26/04/2026 at 23:39, Super_horns said:

Xavi Simons the latest big name to be ruled out of the World cup through injury.

 

Hard luck for him and he'll probably struggle a bit with the news too as seems to be a very emotional  guy.

 

Which other big names have been ruled out?

Edited 28 April by The Blur