FIFA World Cup 2026 pre-tournament draw, qualifying and banter thread
itt you shoot yer shot, talk yer ****, call yer shot, sweat the remaining qualifiers, lol @ whoever and whatever etc bla
So if I have this right because of the way the extra places were dished out we have a World Cup with Curacao and Haiti at it but not Italy and Denmark. Lol FIFA.
Iraq v Bolivia playoff at 4am has some proper degen betting potential
So if I have this right because of the way the extra places were dished out we have a World Cup with Curacao and Haiti at it but not Italy and Denmark. Lol FIFA.
To be fair, both Curacao and Haiti finished top of their qualifying groups so would've meant they'd qualify if it was a normal 32 team WC (I think so anyway, surely though?)
Same with Cape Verde in CAF and Uzbekistan in Asia (although they might've finished 2nd I cba checking)
So if I have this right because of the way the extra places were dished out we have a World Cup with Curacao and Haiti at it but not Italy and Denmark. Lol FIFA.
have they considered being one of the top-16 teams in europe? this aint the ****in euros, brotha
bumley legend axel tuanzebe is the top dr congo on the force now
in unrelated news, toronto sports network in mourning over lol italy. hook it to my veins
In past years I'd make an effort to watch every single match, but no way I'm sticking to that with some of the garbage we'll be getting in the group stages. 8 of 12 3rd place teams advancing f'ing sucks and drastically lowers the stakes too. Even a lot of the R32 KO matches will prob suck, with a few gems.
yeah, i remember that first euros where they went to 24 teams, and 16 advanced to the knockouts (iirc), and it was horrible. so many games with nothing happening because everyone knew you'd probably go through with 2 draws. so everything kinda sucked until the quarterfinals, if that.
this tournament should be like that, but with more bad teams, so hopefully more chaotic = exciting. probably more goals and blowouts due to the talent disparity among the teams. hopefully little off-field maga nonsense. if you can't relax and take it for what it is, then yeah you might as well just check out. but yeah i'm definitely buying stock in "this sucks" takes. it is what it is, guys. hopefully the business end of it is good anyway, and the early part is full of fun concacaf madness.
Italy joins Hungary as the only team to ever make a World Cup final and then not qualify for this super-sized, 48-team 2026 tournament
Spoiler
Worst showing by Italy in the Balkans since 1940
The last kick taken by an Italian in a World Cup knockout match was Fabio Grosso's tournament-winning penalty shootout kick in the 2006 final against France. Since then, Italy has:
- finished fourth in a group with Paraguay, Slovakia, and New Zealand in 2010;
- finished third below Costa Rica in group play in 2014;
- lost 1-0 in a one-leg UEFA qualifier playoff against North Macedonia in 2022;
- and lost a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in UEFA qualifier playoffs in 2026.
It's bad when the only positive Italy can point to since before the iPhone existed is that it finished above England in a group where neither team advanced back in 2014.
Spoiler
It’s really funny that Italy’s only World Cup victory since winning it all in 2006 is over England, and it’s also really funny that Italy’s only real shining moment since winning the 2006 World Cup is winning the 2020 Euros in England against England.
you hate to see it
Going to 48 teams was ridiculous, and FIFA have suggested hosting the World Cup every two years.
The group stage won’t interest me.
In past years I'd make an effort to watch every single match, but no way I'm sticking to that with some of the garbage we'll be getting in the group stages.
The unemployed games at the World Cup used to be incredible but I think its extremely hard to watch them all this year, especially if you are trying to do it from Europe. The times they start at and the weird staggering of the matches in some cases makes it a tough ask. Also as you say many more garbage teams sadly might make for many more garbage matches.
In Qatar it was much easier to do and despite all the hosts faults the football was great right from the start.
Here's a full schedule of the group stage with timings (on a UK clock)
I was more talking about trying to land a 200/1 type epic long shot. No arguments that the most likely thing is someone like Haaland going off or that the players with the best chance of being top goalscorer are the penalty taking beasts playing for the big teams.
That is of course the way it is. I'm just enjoying betting on some long shots for the hopes.
yeah i was mostly just joking around because i saw that post right after i was looking at the qualifying stuff, and how haaland lapped the field (and especially uefa)
16 goals
Erling Haaland (Norway)
12 goals
Almoez Ali (Qatar)
10 goals
Mohamed Amoura (Algeria)
Mehdi Taremi (Iran)
Son Heung-min (South Korea)
9 goals
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Aymen Hussein (Iraq)
Ali Olwan (Jordan)
Chris Wood (New Zealand)
golden boot winner probably will be some rando who rips up their weak group
yeah i was mostly just joking around because i saw that post right after i was looking at the qualifying stuff, and how haaland lapped the field (and especially uefa) 16 goalsErling Haaland (Norway)12 goalsAlmoez Ali (Qatar) 10 goalsMohamed Amoura (Algeria) Mehdi Taremi (Iran) Son Heung-min (South Korea) 9 goalsMohamed Salah (Egypt) Aymen Hussein (Iraq) Ali Olwan (Jordan) Chris
All the groups are weak though, so it will still likely be someone who runs deep...... doubt it's some rando.
All the groups are weak though, so it will still likely be someone who runs deep...... doubt it's some rando.
Extra KO match too which will weight it even more heavily towards someone on one of the tournament favourites.
Not sure if I care about this World Cup. Just feels weird man...didn't catch too much of the qatar one either
Are there many visitors expected?
I keep reading about the lack of hotel bump
I think USA#1 will show up in the end but there is absolutely zero buzz atm
Based on the lovely announcement that the usually $12.90 return train ticket from NYC to Metlife Stadium is being 7x'd to over $100 during the World Cup (not a typo), and the fact that they are not allowing parking in the massive car park (even charging for it), my quick back of the *** packet maths....
Family of four already staying in Manhattan, to go to England Panama using the cheapest tickets available today would cost ~$4100 to go to the game, probably closer to $4250 if you want a few beers.
Even though i am traveling to NYC for the weekend of that game, that can absolutely **** off.
America is continually the worst
