FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[Leviathan.007]

Players and fans have plenty of time to create visas. But not every fan and player should get multiple visas, because cup format is made so, that qualification part will be in one country, but play-off and finals will be in US. Canada and Mexico will be presented by two stadium each, but US with 11 stadium all across country. So if you are a fan of a weak country (sorry for that) you probably dont have to get multiple visas

For players it will be much simpler. Like cruises. You get visa to US to board the cruise ship and go ashore to Mexico without Mexican visa. I suppose same system will be for fans also.

U see only one problem with USA - a lot of people gonna get visas "because of football cup", but some of them gonna stay in US as immigrants for ever, taking into consideration fact that they cant get visa there normally. Such things always happen with poor countries. There was even a case (dont remember if it was Olympic games or football cup), when plane with athletes landed, and during the event part of them disappeared, because they ran away from poverty and dictatorship in their homeland.

Compared to many other countries, I know visiting the USA is harder for some people because they have more special rules for the people who come to visit this country but I think during the 2026 world cup they have to change some rules and make some new rules for the people who come to this country to watch the world cup games otherwise we will see even worst world cup than what we saw in Qatar.

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[Sithara007]

Compared to many other countries, I know visiting the USA is harder for some people because they have more special rules for the people who come to visit this country but I think during the 2026 world cup they have to change some rules and make some new rules for the people who come to this country to watch the world cup games otherwise we will see even worst world cup than what we saw in Qatar.

The situation in United States is very different compared to other countries. In the US, it is very easy to enter that country as an illegal immigrant. But if you follow the rules and try to get a legal visa, then you may wait for many years (and even then your visa may get rejected). More than 6 million illegal immigrants have entered the US in the last 3 years, which amount for 2 million per year. But with each passing year, it gets more and more difficult to migrate to the US through legal means. The American reasoning is that they don't need skilled and educated migrants, but illiterate ones are welcome since there is a shortage of manpower for blue collar jobs.

[Bobrox]

One thing that is unique about the 2026 FIFA World Cup: Canada/Mexico/United States for my country Indonesia because the time to watch the match is different. Usually we watch football matches in European leagues in the afternoon and evening, but football in the Americas is broadcast in the morning. All League in American continent play in the morning in my country time and I can't predicting what happen later if FIFA World Cup 2026 will play in the early morning and we are still sleeping  .

What about your country when watching FIFA World Cup 2026 will watch in the evening, night or in the morning time like in my country.

[Strongkored]

One thing that is unique about the 2026 FIFA World Cup: Canada/Mexico/United States for my country Indonesia because the time to watch the match is different. Usually we watch football matches in European leagues in the afternoon and evening, but football in the Americas is broadcast in the morning. All League in American continent play in the morning in my country time and I can't predicting what happen later if FIFA World Cup 2026 will play in the early morning and we are still sleeping  .

What about your country when watching FIFA World Cup 2026 will watch in the evening, night or in the morning time like in my country.

Usually, in one day, there will be several matches at different times, so it is very possible for those of us who live in Asia or more precisely in Indonesia to miss the match very early morning, and watch the next match at the office because as far as I remember every time there is a Copa American matches can be watched in the morning at office hours, and it will be different from those in eastern Indonesia because they will be able to watch the entire match because their time is 2 hours ahead of western Indonesia, and hopefully, this will not reduce the productivity of workers because they focus on watching the matching football, because matches in the world cup are very interesting to watch even though sometimes we will see matches that don't go ahead at a fast tempo.

But unfortunately, it will be difficult for us to see the Indonesian national team playing in the World Cup later, even though Asia has got more seats for participants, Indonesia cannot yet compete with other strong Asian teams and the addition of participants will only open up opportunities for other strong teams who fail to compete in the previous world to be able play at the 2026 World Cup.

[Sithara007]

One thing that is unique about the 2026 FIFA World Cup: Canada/Mexico/United States for my country Indonesia because the time to watch the match is different. Usually we watch football matches in European leagues in the afternoon and evening, but football in the Americas is broadcast in the morning. All League in American continent play in the morning in my country time and I can't predicting what happen later if FIFA World Cup 2026 will play in the early morning and we are still sleeping  .

What about your country when watching FIFA World Cup 2026 will watch in the evening, night or in the morning time like in my country.

During group stage, usually there will be three matches occurring per day. During Qatar 2022, most of the matches were held during the evening, because of weather conditions. However in the next edition, FIFA may spread out the matches, and at least some of the matches may be held during morning. And this will enable fans in Asia-Pacific to watch them live once they are back from their study/work. BTW, US-Canada comprise of several time zones and there is a 3 hour difference between Eastern time and Pacific time within the US (fortunately they haven't scheduled any matches in Alaska and Hawaii).

[TopTort777]

Compared to many other countries, I know visiting the USA is harder for some people because they have more special rules for the people who come to visit this country but I think during the 2026 world cup they have to change some rules and make some new rules for the people who come to this country to watch the world cup games otherwise we will see even worst world cup than what we saw in Qatar.

The situation in United States is very different compared to other countries. In the US, it is very easy to enter that country as an illegal immigrant. But if you follow the rules and try to get a legal visa, then you may wait for many years (and even then your visa may get rejected). More than 6 million illegal immigrants have entered the US in the last 3 years, which amount for 2 million per year. But with each passing year, it gets more and more difficult to migrate to the US through legal means. The American reasoning is that they don't need skilled and educated migrants, but illiterate ones are welcome since there is a shortage of manpower for blue collar jobs.

That is strange, because I thought that US welcomes everyone who wants to work, get paid and pay taxes. It does not matter if you are skilled or not, educated or not - if you want to work and be useful, you are welcomed. Take New York for example. A cocktail of multi national people, crazy, talented and smart. Btw their MetLife Stadium will held World Cup matches This stadium has biggest capacity among US stadiums that gonna be used during cup.

I think we are slowly going to off-topic abyss. One of the things I like about this World Cup, is that is going to be super safe for tourists.

[nullama]

~snip~
During group stage, usually there will be three matches occurring per day. During Qatar 2022, most of the matches were held during the evening, because of weather conditions. However in the next edition, FIFA may spread out the matches, and at least some of the matches may be held during morning. And this will enable fans in Asia-Pacific to watch them live once they are back from their study/work. BTW, US-Canada comprise of several time zones and there is a 3 hour difference between Eastern time and Pacific time within the US (fortunately they haven't scheduled any matches in Alaska and Hawaii).

Given that the world cup is extremely popular all around the world, there will always be issues with time zones.

European Times vs Asian Times, or American Times vs Australian Times, etc.

There's always going to be a match at 4am for someone in the world 

[EarnOnVictor]

Yes, in fact FIFA always makes reviews throughout the 4 years of construction of the World Cup and makes inspections with experts and they always keep their reports, in fact when things don't add up they are capable of taking away the venues, as happened in some sub 17 tournaments, now for the World Cup the demanding standards are higher, so the World Cup has to guarantee the highest quality in the stadiums and in the main soccer regulations, these things will always exist, I imagine that in every World Cup new things come up, and hosts have to meet those demands.

The quality of the stadiums and any other facilities should be obviously higher than the last world cup we saw because four years passed and we can have better technologies for stadiums and this can definitely help the hosts, while in some countries they don't have a good financial system like Qatar does, they can't provide good quality facilities if they don't already have enough facilities.

I still wonder what gives FIFA the unwarranted reason to change the football's narrative, letting many countries host the World Cup will not be cost-effective to viewers who make themselves physically available. But this might be more money for FIFA which might be their plan. I will be folding my hands as things unfold, but they will not be able to deliver extras more than what they've been doing in the past.

It's a litmus test though, I hope it's worth it more than before. And as for the quality of stadiums, I bet the US is qualified, no wonder more matches would be played there. So qualified are Canada and Mexico, but playing lower hosts perhaps due to their capabilities.

nailed it - obviously America and Canada are the great countries. But Qatar was no less than them. They have progressed in all phases of life and they have not kept anything for themselves. They even donated the temporary residential spaces to turkey after the earth quack

Well, I would like to see what will happen to countries like the USA and Canada that require visas for South American countries, if there are so many teams that are going to be on this side of the world, it is something that can lead to many problems, unless that these countries give temporary visas due to the number of tickets they have, but fans who are from these countries will give them tickets? I know that even Mexico requires a visa, at least for Venezuelans, something that seems absurd to me, but hey with emigration problems and all that (which is off topic, but I'll touch on it anyway) so what will happen to that=?

Players and fans have plenty of time to create visas. But not every fan and player should get multiple visas, because cup format is made so, that qualification part will be in one country, but play-off and finals will be in US. Canada and Mexico will be presented by two stadium each, but US with 11 stadium all across country. So if you are a fan of a weak country (sorry for that) you probably dont have to get multiple visas

For players it will be much simpler. Like cruises. You get visa to US to board the cruise ship and go ashore to Mexico without Mexican visa. I suppose same system will be for fans also.

U see only one problem with USA - a lot of people gonna get visas "because of football cup", but some of them gonna stay in US as immigrants for ever, taking into consideration fact that they cant get visa there normally. Such things always happen with poor countries. There was even a case (dont remember if it was Olympic games or football cup), when plane with athletes landed, and during the event part of them disappeared, because they ran away from poverty and dictatorship in their homeland.

@EarnOnVictor I don’t believe that in just 4 year’s you can have any new extraordinary stadiums hence I’m not expecting anything new in that aspect from FIFA but what I’ll be keen to see is how will they help fan’s travel across the World Cup in case the fan's face any issue. Also about the visa it’s my understanding that once you get US visa you’re allowed to travel easily and I believe that all these tourists will be issued a very small duration visa hence they’ll not be able to stay back for long.

When there is money, befitting stadiums could be fixed in 4 years, they will only need to employ more labour and expertise for the job. And it's not that they do not have some good stadiums already, they would only renovate one or two or three, building from the beginning might not be necessary. The burden is more on the shoulder of the US, and I know they would deliver.

Also, the host countries (US, Canada and Mexico) are not extremists like Qatar, so I don't expect many limiting rules. And as for travelling, there is no way it would be convenient for every interested people. Some countries would issues visas, while some would deny them, and some viewers would naturally be discouraged financially to be touring all three countries.

[Leviathan.007]

When there is money, befitting stadiums could be fixed in 4 years, they will only need to employ more labour and expertise for the job. And it's not that they do not have some good stadiums already, they would only renovate one or two or three, building from the beginning might not be necessary. The burden is more on the shoulder of the US, and I know they would deliver.

Also, the host countries (US, Canada and Mexico) are not extremists like Qatar, so I don't expect many limiting rules. And as for travelling, there is no way it would be convenient for every interested people. Some countries would issues visas, while some would deny them, and some viewers would naturally be discouraged financially to be touring all three countries.

We know money can socle many problems the in the past world cup in Qatar they could easily provide the sports facilities, stadiums, and hotels without problems because they had the money because Qatar didn't have enough potential and they have to spend too much money while in the next world cup in 2026, I think other world cup hosts and especially America got enough potential for hosting the world cup and they can host the world cup better than Qatar.

[FanEagle]

Well, I would like to see what will happen to countries like the USA and Canada that require visas for South American countries, if there are so many teams that are going to be on this side of the world, it is something that can lead to many problems, unless that these countries give temporary visas due to the number of tickets they have, but fans who are from these countries will give them tickets? I know that even Mexico requires a visa, at least for Venezuelans, something that seems absurd to me, but hey with emigration problems and all that (which is off topic, but I'll touch on it anyway) so what will happen to that=?

When talked about world cup, the visa situation is easier. You give them a visa just for the duration of world cup, usually something that is like 40 days long or 45 days long, and you accept them if they have a ticket. That's very easy to get Visa during that period, normally that would be at least an obvious reason to go to USA during that period.

However, you do need to provide a proof, hotel ticket, game ticket, something like that, and it would make sense. This obviously changes if you have nothing to show for and absolutely no reason to be there or if you are a criminal lol. I obviously couldn't go, I can't even afford the ticket to go to USA, literally just the ticket itself, nothing else, I wouldn't be able to buy a plane ticket that goes to New York.

[Leviathan.007]

Well, I would like to see what will happen to countries like the USA and Canada that require visas for South American countries, if there are so many teams that are going to be on this side of the world, it is something that can lead to many problems, unless that these countries give temporary visas due to the number of tickets they have, but fans who are from these countries will give them tickets? I know that even Mexico requires a visa, at least for Venezuelans, something that seems absurd to me, but hey with emigration problems and all that (which is off topic, but I'll touch on it anyway) so what will happen to that=?

When talked about world cup, the visa situation is easier. You give them a visa just for the duration of world cup, usually something that is like 40 days long or 45 days long, and you accept them if they have a ticket. That's very easy to get Visa during that period, normally that would be at least an obvious reason to go to USA during that period.

However, you do need to provide a proof, hotel ticket, game ticket, something like that, and it would make sense. This obviously changes if you have nothing to show for and absolutely no reason to be there or if you are a criminal lol. I obviously couldn't go, I can't even afford the ticket to go to USA, literally just the ticket itself, nothing else, I wouldn't be able to buy a plane ticket that goes to New York.

I'm not sure about the Visa situation in the USA but I know taking Visa and traveling to America is a bit harder than other countries, but I'm sure they will change some rules for the world cup. In fact, during the world cup there should be some other rules for the people who come to that country to watch the games for example in Qatar they could make some special rules for visitors.

[alegotardo]

I'm not sure about the Visa situation in the USA but I know taking Visa and traveling to America is a bit harder than other countries, but I'm sure they will change some rules for the world cup. In fact, during the world cup there should be some other rules for the people who come to that country to watch the games for example in Qatar they could make some special rules for visitors.

I also believe that the visa rules will be made more flexible, but the fans cannot count on that.
So, imagining that everything continues as it is and considering that the 2026 World Cup starts in the first week of June, then the fan will have, from now on, only three years to prepare, and he should mainly consider that he may have to wait longer than a year waiting for the consular interview.

If I'm not mistaken, you first need to fill out the DS-160 form that is found on the US Department of State website, then access the Visa Applicant Service Center website and pay a fee, and only then schedule the face-to-face visits for interview, collection of biometrics and photo.

With the US visa in hand, it is possible to obtain authorizations to also enter Mexico and Canada.

[nullama]

~snip~
I also believe that the visa rules will be made more flexible, but the fans cannot count on that.
So, imagining that everything continues as it is and considering that the 2026 World Cup starts in the first week of June, then the fan will have, from now on, only three years to prepare, and he should mainly consider that he may have to wait longer than a year waiting for the consular interview.

If I'm not mistaken, you first need to fill out the DS-160 form that is found on the US Department of State website, then access the Visa Applicant Service Center website and pay a fee, and only then schedule the face-to-face visits for interview, collection of biometrics and photo.

With the US visa in hand, it is possible to obtain authorizations to also enter Mexico and Canada.

I think there are special types of visas for visits to events.

That means that they will be processed in a different section probably, and given priority since they know the dates of the event.

[Hispo]

Those are indeed very exotic places but being serious, I had other places in mind, like Mongolia, El Salvador, Cuba, Malta, Nigeria, etc. Places where a World Cup has had never been celebrated and give the people of that country the joy of an unique experience and worldwide cover.

Also, the cover would not be only about Football, usually news channels and documentary film makers pay attention to WC hosts to spread awareness of social problems, that is what they have done in Brazil and South Africa in the past.

One of the challenges would be security and keeo things in order for foreigners who would come to visit, but I would be confident that the organizers could achieve it.

Maintaining high levels of security will be a challenge. But then, the world cup was held previously in countries such as South Africa and Brazil without any major issues. Even then, hosting the tournament in Nigeria or some of the other African countries will pose a big challenge. Once in a while, FIFA may allow countries such as Nigeria to host the events. But then, they should not ignore deserving nations such as China and Japan, just because they are not poor. Despite being the most populous country, China has never hosted the FIFA world cup. This is not fair.

I agree that China hosting such a big event nowadays since they have managed to become an economical super power, it would be a very epic display of glamour and lights. However, I am not sure how important football is for the people of China and we would also need to keep in mind the current political tensions taking place between the western nations and China, concerning Taiwan and the apparent support being given to Russia.

If the political weather was more stable and less volatile, China would have more chances to offer a huge event for the rest of the world. Once again politics ruins it 

[Sithara007]

~~~~
I think we are slowly going to off-topic abyss. One of the things I like about this World Cup, is that is going to be super safe for tourists.

That is debatable. In the previous editions, world cup was held in countries such as Brazil and South Africa. These countries are known for high crime rate, but the event was staged without any major issues. Now I am not sure whether that will be the case with the 2026 edition. There are far more number of matches (104 in total), and this time the event is spread across 3 countries. And gang-related violence is once again making news in Mexico. Even in the United States, there were recent incidents of mass shootings and other gun related violence.

[RealMalatesta]

~snip~
During group stage, usually there will be three matches occurring per day. During Qatar 2022, most of the matches were held during the evening, because of weather conditions. However in the next edition, FIFA may spread out the matches, and at least some of the matches may be held during morning. And this will enable fans in Asia-Pacific to watch them live once they are back from their study/work. BTW, US-Canada comprise of several time zones and there is a 3 hour difference between Eastern time and Pacific time within the US (fortunately they haven't scheduled any matches in Alaska and Hawaii).

Given that the world cup is extremely popular all around the world, there will always be issues with time zones.

European Times vs Asian Times, or American Times vs Australian Times, etc.

There's always going to be a match at 4am for someone in the world 

People think about it for one direction and not think about it for the other direction. What happens when Americans or Canadians or Mexicans wanted to watch the games? Not like these three nations combined make a little amount, we are talking about hundreds of millions of people, and when it was at Qatar, you think they all watched at prime time? Of course not, they watched it at horrible times, either very early in the morning or even at night after midnight as well.

This means that when you make it on the east, it is good for east but bad for west, when you make it further west, then it is bad for east. You have to just realize that one way or another, you are going to make some parts of the world not watch it at ideal time zone, that's just the reality. But they may make it at proper hours to get it at least to a decent time.

[Leviathan.007]

Those are indeed very exotic places but being serious, I had other places in mind, like Mongolia, El Salvador, Cuba, Malta, Nigeria, etc. Places where a World Cup has had never been celebrated and give the people of that country the joy of an unique experience and worldwide cover.

Also, the cover would not be only about Football, usually news channels and documentary film makers pay attention to WC hosts to spread awareness of social problems, that is what they have done in Brazil and South Africa in the past.

One of the challenges would be security and keeo things in order for foreigners who would come to visit, but I would be confident that the organizers could achieve it.

Maintaining high levels of security will be a challenge. But then, the world cup was held previously in countries such as South Africa and Brazil without any major issues. Even then, hosting the tournament in Nigeria or some of the other African countries will pose a big challenge. Once in a while, FIFA may allow countries such as Nigeria to host the events. But then, they should not ignore deserving nations such as China and Japan, just because they are not poor. Despite being the most populous country, China has never hosted the FIFA world cup. This is not fair.

I agree that China hosting such a big event nowadays since they have managed to become an economical super power, it would be a very epic display of glamour and lights. However, I am not sure how important football is for the people of China and we would also need to keep in mind the current political tensions taking place between the western nations and China, concerning Taiwan and the apparent support being given to Russia.

If the political weather was more stable and less volatile, China would have more chances to offer a huge event for the rest of the world. Once again politics ruins it 

If you ask me I think, it's not just about China but these days because of the better financial situations the Asian nations have, there is more interest to let them host great events and China is one of them because of the good financial situation they have however even in China people won't have good days visiting the country because of crowded hotels and streets. I think After America the next world up should be in Europe.

[TopTort777]

~~~~
I think we are slowly going to off-topic abyss. One of the things I like about this World Cup, is that is going to be super safe for tourists.

That is debatable. In the previous editions, world cup was held in countries such as Brazil and South Africa. These countries are known for high crime rate, but the event was staged without any major issues. Now I am not sure whether that will be the case with the 2026 edition. There are far more number of matches (104 in total), and this time the event is spread across 3 countries. And gang-related violence is once again making news in Mexico. Even in the United States, there were recent incidents of mass shootings and other gun related violence.

Then it is all about social media. Our TV during World Cup in Brazil quite often showed CCTV footages how people got robbed at the crowded streets, how thefts easily grab their mobile phones, jewellery. How few kids on motorbikes drive to tourists, point gun on them and take all the money. And that all were done during day light on a crowded city street. Cant imagine something like that would happen in New-York. Pull out a gun and in few minutes there will be bunch of police cars, national army, swat, helicopters and B52 with hundreds of bombs. Besides, matches will be held only in 3 Mexico cities, 2 Canadian and 11 US, so the number of crimes imho would be minimum.

[Hispo]

Those are indeed very exotic places but being serious, I had other places in mind, like Mongolia, El Salvador, Cuba, Malta, Nigeria, etc. Places where a World Cup has had never been celebrated and give the people of that country the joy of an unique experience and worldwide cover.

Also, the cover would not be only about Football, usually news channels and documentary film makers pay attention to WC hosts to spread awareness of social problems, that is what they have done in Brazil and South Africa in the past.

One of the challenges would be security and keeo things in order for foreigners who would come to visit, but I would be confident that the organizers could achieve it.

Maintaining high levels of security will be a challenge. But then, the world cup was held previously in countries such as South Africa and Brazil without any major issues. Even then, hosting the tournament in Nigeria or some of the other African countries will pose a big challenge. Once in a while, FIFA may allow countries such as Nigeria to host the events. But then, they should not ignore deserving nations such as China and Japan, just because they are not poor. Despite being the most populous country, China has never hosted the FIFA world cup. This is not fair.

I agree that China hosting such a big event nowadays since they have managed to become an economical super power, it would be a very epic display of glamour and lights. However, I am not sure how important football is for the people of China and we would also need to keep in mind the current political tensions taking place between the western nations and China, concerning Taiwan and the apparent support being given to Russia.

If the political weather was more stable and less volatile, China would have more chances to offer a huge event for the rest of the world. Once again politics ruins it 

If you ask me I think, it's not just about China but these days because of the better financial situations the Asian nations have, there is more interest to let them host great events and China is one of them because of the good financial situation they have however even in China people won't have good days visiting the country because of crowded hotels and streets. I think After America the next world up should be in Europe.

You have got a fair point about the over population and other problems tourists may suffer if they visit China in large enough numbers. Also, I don't know whether you are aware of it or not. but there seems to be some health concerns with Chinese street food, about the way they recycle the oil and things similar to that.

You can search "gutter oil" on the internet if you feel like.
Perhaps instead Chine people would prefer Japan, Taiwan or Vietnam?
It would be refreshing to see some World Cup in an oriental setting this decade. 

[Sithara007]

People think about it for one direction and not think about it for the other direction. What happens when Americans or Canadians or Mexicans wanted to watch the games? Not like these three nations combined make a little amount, we are talking about hundreds of millions of people, and when it was at Qatar, you think they all watched at prime time? Of course not, they watched it at horrible times, either very early in the morning or even at night after midnight as well.

This means that when you make it on the east, it is good for east but bad for west, when you make it further west, then it is bad for east. You have to just realize that one way or another, you are going to make some parts of the world not watch it at ideal time zone, that's just the reality. But they may make it at proper hours to get it at least to a decent time.

How many people live in the western hemisphere by the way? Out of a total global population of almost 8 billion, only around 1 billion people (13%) live in the western hemisphere. So do you believe that it is ideal to give priority for this 13% over the remaining 87%? BTW, I am not forgetting the fact that some of the top teams hail from the western hemisphere (especially Argentina and Brazil). I just hope that the FIFA will schedule the matches in such a way, that people residing in Asia and Europe will be able to watch them without going through the pain of going without sleep.