I don't understand where the speculation of "two 48-team tournaments" came from. The following which I have ripped straight from a FIFA.com article seems to make it clear: The phrase "eight best third-placed teams" does not include any caveats, which would rule out any form of tournament partitioning.
Yeah, maybe its been decided. I haven't been keeping up. But will just note that FIFA tends to flip flop on these types of things. Just like they flipped from 16x3 groups to 12x4 once they thought about it for a second. The single 48-team tournament results in 495 combinations for the round of 32 bracket compared to the two, 24-team tournament that would only have 30 (in terms of where the 8 third-place teams could be placed). Maybe that's not a big deal in the age of A.I. (am not sure), but the exponential increase probably led to some people speculating that FIFA would opt for a simpler approach.
Also it is unlikely they use the two x 24-team tournament format because you would run the risk of an eliminated third-placed team on one side having a superior record to a qualified third-placed team on the other side.
this implies stadiums and therefore batch of matches will be assigned to groups prior to the draw, but it does not tell how the bracket will be created directly from infantino's mouth
Report says Estadio Azteca not ready for World Cup 2026 https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/fifa-says-estadio-azteca-not-ready-for-world-cup-2026/ There's other reports talking about how Toronto had a secret deal to withdraw from hosting if they did not receive financial help from the government. (And people around here wonder why the USA has to host most of the matches)
no. people around here will never understand why canada was selected, there were zero reasons for such decission. totally ridiculous and pure nonsense! people also wonder why mexico was selected since usa could easily host alone, but of course everyone is happy with that and every world cup traveler now either includes mexico in their travel plans or plans with mexico only!
not so sure that was the real reason. unfortunately he might be the president during the world cup. if so, it will be very interesting to find out what implications for the world cup his mandate might create
Funny how click-bait articles work: based its entire premise on a click-bait tweet from another site. A disclaimer is now appended to the bottom of that article, indicating that no FIFA sources exist regarding Azteca renovation delays: Correction: We previously reported that FIFA issued a statement saying that the stadium didn’t pass the test and that it was delayed by six months due to remodeling. It was 365Scores that mentioned that on X. We apologize for the error. FIFA delegates were just fine with Azteca's renovation plans, during their March 22 visit. https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/depo...firme-para-recibir-la-copa-del-mundo-de-2026/ If anything, there is a contractual dispute over Azteca's VIP areas: current VIP area tenants claim to have a 99-year lease, dating back to 1962. It all boils down to bribing those tenants so that Infantino and Co. can have somewhere to sit. https://www.tvazteca.com/aztecadeportes/situacion-palcos-estadio-azteca-complicada-mundial-2026
Doesn't matter now, unless a returning Pres. Trump were to go out of his way to antagonize FIFA by trying to chip away at their tax breaks. And that's just not how he operates: say what you will about him, but he's always going to err on the side of the better business deal (say, cajoling FIFA execs to stay at one of his properties).
FIFA signs up major new sponsor, reportedly by far its most valuable sponsorship deal. https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/...s/aramco-and-fifa-announce-global-partnership
I thought this was done last year, at least it was done thing. everything else is clear, reasons behind etc.
"Aramco is the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter. It is estimated to be responsible for over 4% of the entire world's GHG emissions since 1965." - clientearth.org And it's 98.5% owned by the Saudi government. Go human rights!
Athletic article warns the window may have already closed for certain visitors to get a USA visa. It's estimated 45% of World Cup visitors are coming from countries not part of visa waiver program. The wait times for U.S. visa interviews in 2 Mexican cities are over 800 days, 685 days in Bogota, Panama is 477, Quito is 420, Istanbul is at 553 days and Morocco is 225 days. U.S. is expected to expedite processing to ensure players and support staff are able to arrive in time for the World Cup. Congress set aside US$50m for the State Department to reduce passport/visa backlogs in March. The visa delays were raised in a meeting at the White House on April 17 by U.S. Travel & FIFA. https://theathletic.com/5443321/202...it-times-your-window-might-already-be-closed/
I don't think it's much of a problem for regular Mexican NT fans. Border Crossing Cards are valid for ten years so anyone who's watched a friendly since 2016 should be OK. As for other countries, the US will probably prioritize those using over-priced World Cup travel agency packages. Things could change for the worse for Morocco and Turkey of course depending on who becomes President.
Good thing South American fans have the Copa America coming up. Oh, wait… Ah, but they can go to the Mundial de Clubes. Never mind…
It’s not a question of money (attending the World Cup anywhere requires a chunk of disposable income) - it’s a question of whether the traveling fan has a valid visa right now. If not, they seem to be out of luck depending on their nationality. The US doesn’t seem to have or plan for a different category visa process. Apparently Australia had a special visa category for travel to the Women’s World Cup (perhaps @almango can elaborate) and Russia and Qatar were obviously quite accommodating to visiting fans. If the US doesn’t come up with a different way to handle World Cup travel by next year, would it make sense to make this a bidding requirement going forward? That is, a specific commitment by the federal government to ease or prioritise World Cup related travel? Oh well, hopefully all the players get permission to enter. (Not a given in the Concacaf Champions Cup!)
We have had this conversation many, many times before in many other threads. As long as FIFA makes money they do not care where the fans come from. The tickets are going to sellout anyway. Sure, it might be nice to debate whether or not going forward visas can be easier to access but try telling that to Saudi Arabia who does not even see a certain country in their neighborhood as sovereign nation. FIFA does not want to go down too many political roads.
As inconvenient as this discussion is to you, it won’t go away as thousands of applicants get frustrated out of their mind. If you host “the sports event” in the world you have to put up with global scrutiny. I know, I know. You want to discuss this attendance record and that melting pot. But tourism access to the host country is a key subject that warrants discussion. This isn’t about politics and sovereign recognition. It’s about accelerating an existing process for ticket holders with little overstay risk. That’s it. I wonder how Spain and Portugal will approach this issue. Hopefully we (Schengen area) can come up with a solution similar to Australia.
Ok, this conversation again... The articles about this really just spin everything so negatively. I remember the headache of getting my visa for Brazil... did so months in advance. In reality if you need a B1/B2 tourist Visa you are doing it 6 months in advance, so I am only noting countries that have a GREATER than 6 month wait time for the interview. Visa waiver countries are not included since the vast majority of fans qualify for that. African countries (9): Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia Asian countries (6): Bangladesh, India*, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, UAE South America (3): Colombia, Ecuador, Peru Central America (4): Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama Europe (1): Turkey India has a * because they can interview travel. Various consulates in India have shorter wait times and if they really want one faster, they can travel within their country to those locations. Mexico is obviously on the list but I stand that if you're a Mexican who plans on going to the World Cup the odds of you not already having some sort of Visa to the US is basically zero. The Central American countries on this list are probably in that boat as well. So our Visa wait times do suck for some fans. The big glaring ones will be Turkey, UAE, and the South American trio countries. They need to stop these articles that paint a light that the bulk of fans are going to be affected.
As a UAE resident, the UAE’s appointment waiting time is an interesting one. UAE citizens can enter the Schengen area under a visa waiver programme and UAE residents nowadays get to enter a number of countries without visa application regardless of nationality. It seems to me US policy doesn’t consider residency enough. For example, permanent residents in Canada are also looking at some lengthy appointment waiting times due to their nationality. 748 days in Toronto.