And we haven’t even finalized the SEC stadiums that will replace those in crime-ridden cities.
Maybe those will be announced by Trump on December 5 as he will be in attendance. The FIFA peace prize will also be awarded at the ceremony….
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So, 16 Euro teams other than the 12 that already qualified still have a chance. Again, ITA lucky to get that chance.
In CONCACAF, no team has secured the three straight-to-WC spots yet.
The three WC spots and two playoff spots (best second-place finishes) are still up for grabs among 7 teams in matches held tomorrow all at 1AM (UTC 0). So… 5PM my time. Might be good for a watch.
You should watch the Denmark-Scotland highlights, especially if the commentators are Scottish. Would love Scotland to be in a Group playing in Vancouver.
Haiti, Panama, and Curacao (smallest population qualifier ever) join the party, and the intercontinental playoffs are set.
Jamaica, Bolivia, Suriname, and New Caledonia drawn into two semifinal pairings, with the winners drawn against Iraq and DR Congo for the last two spots in March.
Europe has 16 teams going down to four — Pot 1 is Italy, Denmark, Ukraine, and Turkiye, Pot 2 Poland, Wales, Czechia, Slovakia; Pot 3 Ireland, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Pot 4 Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland.
They get drawn into 4 brackets, one from each pot, and do 1v4 2v3 with the winners playing in a final to go to the World Cup.
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Nit to pick:
Co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico will be joined in the pot of No. 1 seeds by top-ranked Spain, defending champion Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Well, their Group Placements have already been determined, so, not really “in the pot.” They’ve already been drawn from the pot.
NOR Group will already be “The Group of Death,” though best 3rd-place teams (a.k.a., 3rd place teams in the Groups with the worst 4th place teams) will stay alive.
Aren’t they usually in the pot, but they do something like the US ball being blue, Canada red, and Mexico green so they know to draw them out when the group comes up?
Canada got a Group of Death last time with Belgium, Morocco and Croatia all in their Group. Can not be worse this time than that for Canada!
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I don’t see the point in making it more complicated. The first set of balls chosen are from Pot 1, to put them into Groups. USA/MEX/CAN are already in groups. Probably the first time that the hosts were chosen, cuz hosts, and they wanted them to play in certain stadiums.
Usually the singular host is automatically in Group 1.
Gets more complicated when keeping confederation teams (except UEFA) out of common Groups.
4 of the 12 groups are going to get Pot 4 European playoff winners, so there are going to be multiple groups of death. Canada, Uruguay, Norway, Italy would be close to as bad.
They do it so there is the photo op of ‘Canada’ getting pulled out of the pot.
Trump will bribe someone to fix the draw so that the US has the weakest opponents in its Group.
Sounds stupid.
But, might be the reason.
Q about order of pot-picking:
- Do they pick all from Pot 1 first to put into their Groups, then Pot 2’s teams, etc.
Or - Do they pick a team from each Pot to determine Group A, then down the line?
Never bothered to watch, cuz I have a sidewalk crack to watch instead.
Gonna guess it’s the first one, that way any violations of “same confederations” can be placed in the first non-violation Group.
Is that an earthquake indicator?
Well, you have to watch it for a few months, take measurements, etc…
But no, it’s just more interesting to watch.
All of Pot 1, then all of pot 2, etc. If they get an illegal matchup, then they just skip the pot and fill the next one, and go back to the skipped pot once the first eligible team is drawn.
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Oh, MLB’s schedule had to be configured around this:
https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-announces-2026-regular-season-schedule
The Seattle Mariners will host the Boston Red Sox for a doubleheader on Saturday, June 20th due to a scheduled FIFA World Cup match at Lumen Field on Friday, June 19th. Additional scheduling accommodations related to the FIFA World Cup include built-in off days in Arlington (Wednesday, June 17th and Friday, July 3rd); Philadelphia (Friday, June 19th); Kansas City (Saturday, June 20th and Friday, July 3rd); and Seattle (Wednesday, July 1st).
Thanks. I figured as much.
What do you think is the concern? Since they play in different stadiums, wouldn’t it be less disruptive for MLB to still schedule the Mariners’ on June 19 but at a different time of day from the soccer match if the fear is of competition and/or congestion? A fan could go to both events if they were at different times on the 19th. DHs are revenue losers and tough on players.