I’m inferring that the rows of seats covered by tarps there approximate how much seating will be lost, although that’s not clear from the article where I took the picture from. Perhaps the bench area will be there
World Cup in Dallas: Why playing field at AT&T is being raised | wfaa.com.
Oh, I get that those seats will be unavailable for WC.
The benches are just another logistical puzzle. And, getting to the field from the locker rooms.
We discussed in another WC thread about possible changes in format from the originally suggested 16 groups of 3. Moving that discussion here. A recent article:
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-re-think-2026-format-they-face-spoiling-winning-recipe-2022-12-14/
We talked about the 12 groups of 4 option, with the top 2 advancing from each plus some 3rd place teams as well. Apparently another option on the table is splitting the field in half, with 6 groups of 4 in each half. The winners of each half would potentially meet in the final under that scenario.
OK, congrats to ARG and the best ever Lionel Messi!
On to 2026 and the USA which has very few restrictions on human rights, at least on paper. And I don’t think any stadium will be built on slave labor. They’re all younger than that, and they’re already built.
But, on to ESPN ubiquitous insistence on doing things way too early:
The 2026 World Cup needs Haaland, and he is such a potent goal scorer that Norway should be able to claim one of Europe’s 16 qualification spots to ensure he plays on football’s biggest stage.
Um, the “greatest ever” WC was just played, without him. Maybe the media need him, but the WC does not.
Since they asked us to, let’s see just how well they predicted things back in 2018:
In a super-early look-ahead to the next time, we’ll pick our major awards. Germany’s Timo Werner will benefit from another qualification cycle to assert himself up front and he’ll claim the Golden Boot.
The Golden Glove for best goalkeeper will go to a player from a country that didn’t even qualify for Russia 2018: Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy will claim the crown between the posts.
Best young player will be England’s Phil Foden (assuming he can assert himself at a top club, even if it’s not Manchester City) as he stakes his claim in the Three Lions’ midfield.
Biggest surprise? After Croatia’s stunning run to the final in 2018, we reckon Iran will be the shock team to make a deep surge in 2022. The core of their team is still in its late-20s while the likes of Alireza Jahanbakhsh will have another four years to continue his progress. They were unfortunate not to advance from Group B but will pose a genuine threat next time around.
And finally, the nation poised for the biggest collapse, something Germany suffered in 2018? We’ll go with France . Even though they just won it all in Moscow, history shows it’s always difficult to be a defending champion!
I don’t think this is worth a new thread, but parking a general FIFA comment here.
WTF is wrong with Infantino? Who takes an open casket selfie?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/8622d2aa-8ab5-11ed-b06e-ab31665740df?
“I think that the players should play, the coaches should coach, the referees should referee, the sports writers should write only about sports, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
– Infant-ino.
There really isn’t an existing thread to put this in so I put it here.
US, Canada, Mexico officially confirmed as qualified. CONMEBOL and AFC start later this year — be on the lookout for the 2026 World Cup Qualifier Prediction Contest.
So what are the odds of every having a single host country again? I’d think Brazil maybe just because it is so big. Maybe China and India for the same reasons and maybe Russia. But seems like others might just band together to ensure their participation.
Like half of CONMEBOL is bidding to host 2030, so I think joint hosts is here to stay, especially with 48 teams (probably soon to be 64)
Still a few oil producing countries (eg Saudi Arabia) that could blow billions on a bunch of new stadiums.
2026 World Cup format is close to be finalized.
Looks like 12 groups of 4 instead of 16 groups of 3 won the day, with the top 2 in each group plus the 8 best 3rd place teams advancing to the round of 32, which is single knockout from there.
104 total games, and teams now need 8 games to hoist the title.
Oh good. Groups of 3 seemed awful
I wonder if the host countries get first pot seeding rather than use their FIFA rankings?
I believe the plan is to have the USA, Canada, and Mexico will be seeded into the first groups played in their home country.
Probably doesn’t make much difference for US and Mexico but it would be a huge advantage for Canada as they may be a third or fourth pot team otherwise.
Yeah, with the top 3 teams in 8/12 group advancing, I think Canada has a strong chance at qualifying for the round of 32.
I’d like to have them include the top four 3rd-place teams, and have a one-match play-in of the other eight 3rd-place teams for the final four spots.
cuz, there’s no way to determine the better 3rd-place teams from separate Groups. The normal way implicitly assumes that the Groups were equally strong.
3rd-place teams can have from 1 point to 6 points. The weak team in a Group with the weakest top-2 advances, while a better team stuck in a group with two more powerful teams is eliminated.
I like it, but I they are going from 64 to 104 games already, and 7 to 8 games max for players, so probably not looking to add 4 more games and a potential 9th game for players.
Eh, they probably won’t win anyway. So, not nine matches for them. Just the fair way to do it.
Could just as easily do this for the 2nd-Place teams to make a Round of 16.
Eight 1st-Place teams advance; Top four 2nd-Place teams advance; other eight 2nd-Place teams play a one-round play-in. That cuts the max number down by one for 12 teams.