48 nations, 3 host countries, plenty of controversy already.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13482283/world-cup-2026-tickets-fifa-urged-to-halt-ticket-sales-over-betrayal-of-fans-pricing-plan
England fans shouldn't worry about reaching the final because they haven't got there since 1966, when they were the hosts and only 16 nations competed.
USA and Canada are not footballing nations because they don't understand the game.
It's purely business for them.
Going to the finals are Curacao and Cape Verde.
Among those not going are proper football playing nations like Nigeria, Chile, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Greece, Hungary and Serbia.
Football fans must be completely out of their minds. I am seeing news that says ticket prices for the finals will be in the eight thousand dollar range. Can that be true?
Given a zealous border control agent, visiting this site could be cited as a cause for hopeful futbol fans to be denied entry to the US. The Trumpist government has announced a plan: All visitors to the US must surrender their electronic devices for scrutiny and disclose their social media activity (https://www.commondreams.org/news/pam-bondi-doj-memo) over the past five years for vetting. Among the disqualifications are such un-American activities as criticizing Christianity or opposing religion in general. I think Happy Atheist could be considered as "social media."
My advice is do not enter the USA with any electronic device with social media and wear a crucifix.
Having paid for a ticket does not mean you have a visa.
Any banner will need John 3:16.
"Take Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. The average wage in the Caribbean nation is around $147 a month.
The cheapest tickets for Haiti's first game at the World Cup in 52 years, against Scotland, cost $180."
And no voodoo or Campbell kilts.
Any Macleod tartan should see you through immigration.
Trump's mother was one.
Latest news: Ticket prices slashed.
But not many will be able to buy one for $60.
A ploy by the organisers to deflect criticism.
Q: Who were the first World Cup winners?
A: It wasn't Uruguay. It was West Auckland from Durham in England.
https://www.westaucklandtownafc.co.uk/history/
So I suppose you could argue that England have won it 3 times.
If Trump invades Greenland then should all countries having qualified boycott the tournament?
There is a precedent here.
"After being hosts for the 2018 edition, Russia were banned from both the 2022 and 2026 World Cup tournaments because of the Ukraine invasion."
everybody should boycott it now.
Not looking forward to VAR ruining the tournament, but then I read:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c1dk4gv7eeqo
In the 2022 World Cup in Qatar some games were extended to 100 minutes to enable the VAR officials to make up their minds.
One match was even extended to 117 minutes.
Just one Var decision 2 days ago took 6 minutes to resolve.
The crowd got restless.
Viewers switched off.
Let's hope there will not too many "subjective offsides".
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15461179/Outrage-VAR-causes-SEVEN-MINUTE-delay-Man-Citys-Carabao-Cup-clash-Newcastle-Antoine-Semenyos-second-goal-finally-ruled-subjective-offside.html
Mexico will be safe for fans.
Hugs not bullets.
Let's hope so.
Iran's participation must now be in doubt.
Probably UAE as they finished 3rd in Iran's group.
Don't forget to buy your ticket for the final.
https://www.local10.com/sports/2026/04/01/fifa-appears-to-have-technical-difficulties-with-world-cup-ticket-sales/
About $120 per minute, unless there is extra time and penalties.
Should Haiti reach the final the average Haitian would have to have worked for 4 years.
Just when you thought getting to the ground would at least be cheap.
https://afroballers.com/article/fifa-slams-135-train-fares-as-world-cup-2026-attendance-threat
It's not too late to buy a ticket.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/apr/23/world-cup-final-tickets-resale-prices-fifa-two-million
No way I'd buy (if I had the money) for $2.3 million.
But $2,299,998.85 will interest some I feel sure.
According to the article, if somebody had jumped a couple of days ago when FIFA released new blocks of tickets for the final, they might have been able to get tickets to the final for a mere $10,990. Then they could go onto FIFA's official resale site and sell them for ten times what they paid. For this World Cup FIFA did away with any limits on gouging the punters on their site. Their rationale is that North American resale sites already allow ridiculous gouging by scalpers so why not compete? They get a cut of the hugely inflated ticket prices on their official resale site.
Qualified for the World Cup, "Cape Verde is a stable, lower-middle-income island nation with a 2025 GDP of approximately $2.8 billion."
So a solitary ticket for the final at a mere $2.3 million should be well within their reach!?
There is nothing like football fans' fury to get things done.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/48757359/price-world-cup-bus-new-york-reduced-fan-outcry
Or failing to get it done.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/48366258/italy-world-cup-woe-branded-third-apocalypse-national-papers
https://thesun.my/sports/football/new-world-cup-rules-hydration-breaks-and-var-changes/
VAR means you can be offside by a toenail or even a hair.
Now, every corner will have to be checked.
I can see games lasting for up to 2 hours when the VAR and water breaks are taken into account.
There will be a record number of yellow cards for time wasting.
Fans won't know whether to celebrate a goal or not.
Even if the referee is satisfied with a score, he can still get a message in the ear to consult the dreaded VAR screen.
Almost certainly then the goal will be disallowed.
So, plenty of opportunities now for commercial breaks will please American broadcasters but not Europeans.
I'm old enough to remember when football was an exciting free-flowing game for players and spectators alike.
We should adopt the example of the Swedish league and kick out the VAR.
This World Cup seems more surreal to me than previous ones because it's taking place mostly within the US, which is currently dysfunctional in a number of ways. This is thanks to the mad king Trump and his goons, but they're just part of it. Multiple organizations issuing a travel warning about going to the goddam USA for the Cup? Just astounding. If you do go though, watch out for the robot dogs. A practiced author of dystopian fiction would be hard put to top all this stuff.
"FIFA to Deploy Robot Dogs to Beef Up World Cup Security" |
Daily Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/fifa-to-deploy-robot-dogs-to-beef-up-world-cup-security-in-dallas-and-new-jersey/)
QuoteFour robot dogs are about to start prowling FIFA World Cup sites in Dallas and New Jersey using cameras for eyes. Hyundai and the robotics firm Boston Dynamics built the four-legged machines to help secure security for the tournament, which kicks off across the U.S., Canada and Mexico on June 11. The manufacturers have named all the anamatronics "Spot," for reasons best known to them. Two will be stationed at the World Cup's International Broadcast Center in Dallas and two at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The bots use onboard cameras to see and will flag potential threats to the officers monitoring them, FIFA says. The rollout has already spooked some online. After a viral clip claimed the dogs scanned fans' faces, Boston Dynamics pushed back. "The robots do not have facial recognition capabilities," a spokesperson said. They are one piece of a vast operation. More than 30 agencies are coordinating on North Texas' security plan, with undercover and uniformed officers and tight FAA drone restrictions on match days.
its very clear where this is all going.
Says video unavailable.
I'm also looking forward to seeing the robodogs.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/39327669/world-cup-robot-security-dog/
Let's hope they don't invade the pitch.
Give them a red card and send them to the naughty corner if they do.
Some fans and officials have been refused entry into the USA.
What's going to happen if USA have to play Iran?
Will Trump revoke their visas and USA win the game by default?
They could potentially meet in the Round of 32.
Just hours away now from the start of the biggest money grab in sporting history.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/09/world-cup-2026-visa-restrictions-referee-omar-artan-iran-officials
Memo to football USA style.
Dating back to 1866, football has been a game of 90 minutes comprising 2 halves, each lasting 45 minutes.
An American commentator yesterday was heard to say "That's the end of the 3rd quarter."
A reference to the hydration breaks so that ads can be shown to break up the flow of the game.
If a player is injured then just how long does it take for players to be handed a drink from the side line?
A few seconds.
Football as a modern game was first played and codified on dark winter fields in the north of England.
Within 30 miles was formed the oldest club in the world Sheffield FC, the oldest surviving league club Notts County, and Mansfield Town who still play at the first ever professional football ground.
It is not a game of 4 quarters, each lasting 22.5 minutes, It's one of 2 halves of 45 minutes.