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

[Sarah Azhari]

This is the same old story: FIFA (and UEFA too) is strong with the small federations and countries and weak with the strong teams. Even those that have achieved very little but their politicians have strong connections and power because, just to make an example, it doesn't make any sense to ban Russia while you allow Israel to play. As always the law is not the same for everyone, and well, FIFA is so corrupted that unfortunately is no surprise.

In fact, i don't understand why in Israel everything is allowed while for Russia no, both at the Olympics and at the World Cup it seems to me something absurd and unfair, Loi Sport does not know flags and wars and must unite all the peoples of the whole world

When politics dominates the world of football, we see FIFA's unfairness in banning a country on the grounds of conflict. FIFA banned Russia because of the conflict in their country, but Israel was left unpunished, even though, compared to what happened in Russia, Israel's actions were even more brutal. As long as Gianni Infantino is FIFA president, don't expect Israel to be banned, as he has interests with Israel and the United States.

[AmoreJaz]

This is the same old story: FIFA (and UEFA too) is strong with the small federations and countries and weak with the strong teams. Even those that have achieved very little but their politicians have strong connections and power because, just to make an example, it doesn't make any sense to ban Russia while you allow Israel to play. As always the law is not the same for everyone, and well, FIFA is so corrupted that unfortunately is no surprise.

In fact, i don't understand why in Israel everything is allowed while for Russia no, both at the Olympics and at the World Cup it seems to me something absurd and unfair, Loi Sport does not know flags and wars and must unite all the peoples of the whole world

When politics dominates the world of football, we see FIFA's unfairness in banning a country on the grounds of conflict. FIFA banned Russia because of the conflict in their country, but Israel was left unpunished, even though, compared to what happened in Russia, Israel's actions were even more brutal. As long as Gianni Infantino is FIFA president, don't expect Israel to be banned, as he has interests with Israel and the United States.

In short, we can see that there's still discrimination happening in sports. And we can't totally eradicate such situation. Whether we like it or not, there's still politics happening even in sports. Just hoping that results won't be tainted by unfair decisions from the referees and other stakeholders. But with today's technology and with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, I would say, these would be of great help to determine if the actual referee is giving fair decisions. You can also watch replays to see what actually happened.
This is the advantage of what we have today - digital tech along with so many social media platforms. With one small unfair decision, can easily spread like fire and can ruin the reputation of the league if ever the allegation has proven true. So I believe, they are also protecting the integrity of the sports by not giving unfair decisions when it comes to actual games.

[Volgastallion]

https://x.com/i/status/2001721367771910606

After watching this for some reason I feel like he is actually not that interested in winning the world cup. If he really wanted to do well or maybe actually win the world cup he was supposed to be locked in. Like nothing else matters in the world. But now he is doing movies? I mean even if it is just a cameo, it will still take a lot of preparation and obviously it is going to divert his mind to other things. Even in the latest Piers Morgan interview it feels like he is not 100% concentrated on winning the world cup. For me it just doesn't make sense.

First of all is AI generated and second man are you serious saying something about compromise to the most ever compromised athlete in the world? Plus making a cameo ina  film can take only a few days.

Cristiano is gonna be in the world cup and is gonna be at top level you can be sure about it.

[Lida93]

This is the same old story: FIFA (and UEFA too) is strong with the small federations and countries and weak with the strong teams. Even those that have achieved very little but their politicians have strong connections and power because, just to make an example, it doesn't make any sense to ban Russia while you allow Israel to play. As always the law is not the same for everyone, and well, FIFA is so corrupted that unfortunately is no surprise.

In fact, i don't understand why in Israel everything is allowed while for Russia no, both at the Olympics and at the World Cup it seems to me something absurd and unfair, Loi Sport does not know flags and wars and must unite all the peoples of the whole world

When politics dominates the world of football, we see FIFA's unfairness in banning a country on the grounds of conflict. FIFA banned Russia because of the conflict in their country, but Israel was left unpunished, even though, compared to what happened in Russia, Israel's actions were even more brutal. As long as Gianni Infantino is FIFA president, don't expect Israel to be banned, as he has interests with Israel and the United States.

In short, we can see that there's still discrimination happening in sports. And we can't totally eradicate such situation. Whether we like it or not, there's still politics happening even in sports. Just hoping that results won't be tainted by unfair decisions from the referees and other stakeholders. But with today's technology and with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, I would say, these would be of great help to determine if the actual referee is giving fair decisions. You can also watch replays to see what actually happened.

Ordinarily I wouldn't have joined in this very sensitive yet important issue bothering on football and politics but it's expedient that we set the records straight so as not give a wrong impression about two different situations. The Russian ban was due to their invasion of a nation that ordinarily do not have a direct conflict with Russia, Russia's actions where seen as breach of sovereignity of another nation according to internal laws despite calls for seizure for the international community by Israel's case is a bit different because they were only trying to protect themselves from aggressors though in very aggressive manner.

[dollyamo]

Israel = if it is never attacked by terrorists, they will never attack terrorists, and of course, when they do attack, they make mistakes and harm innocent people, which is condemnable.

Russia = it wasn't attacked, yet it invaded another country, which is condemnable and should be punished with a ban from all competitions. What Russia does is unacceptable. Football has always been about politics, yes, if it wasn't, then why don't they hold the World Cup in Russia, Venezuela, or Iran? Because everyone knows that those countries have dictatorships, and if they organized the World Cup there, many players wouldn't return alive if it were held in those countries.

Look, from this point of view you're preaching to the choir, it's true that sporting competitions are something else.
In the end, Russia is not participating because of the atrocities committed and Israel should not participate either, there should be coherence in things, which is not happening for monetary reasons i presume.

[Die_empty]

The logic is very simple:

Israel = if it is never attacked by terrorists, they will never attack terrorists, and of course, when they do attack, they make mistakes and harm innocent people, which is condemnable.

Russia = it wasn't attacked, yet it invaded another country, which is condemnable and should be punished with a ban from all competitions. What Russia does is unacceptable. Football has always been about politics, yes, if it wasn't, then why don't they hold the World Cup in Russia, Venezuela, or Iran? Because everyone knows that those countries have dictatorships, and if they organized the World Cup there, many players wouldn't return alive if it were held in those countries.

You shouldn't say Israel made mistakes in harming innocent civilians. Most of the attacks on civilians are calculated and intentional. The excuse is always that Hamas attacked first, but it shouldn't be a justification for killing innocent people.

Does Qatar practice democracy? The country is also under authoritarianism, yet it hosted the World Cup.  Saudi Arabia, which has dictators as leaders, has also been given World Cup hosting rights. It's not about democracy or dictatorship, but which country is in the good books of Western-controlled FIFA.

[snipie]

-snip-

-snip-

When you see the unwritten dictionary and look for the word corruption, you will find FIFA as synonym. You can also find double standards as a synonym and it is long to explain that invading the home of another family then kill them when they resist your action and try to kick you out is something very natural and legitimate. There is only one clear and obvious explanation for that but you can put your dark glasses and sound cutting earphones whenever you don't find a validate reason to defend your position.
Back to FIFA, if they are courageous enough they can withhold the wrong doing of the US president and save the shameful and unprecedented empty stadium if the ban will be extended to more participating countries.

[slapper]

~

This discussion reminds me of the Eurovision Song Contest, where some large and influential countries, like the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Spain, go directly to the final regardless of the quality of their songs and performances. 
Do some forum members really think the same should be done for football competitions? 
In that case, it would be best to abolish the qualifiers and let the FIFA office decide which national teams are 'eligible' to participate in the World Cup and which are not. 
It was precisely because of this kind of idea that the 'Super League' concept failed (a competition in which the richest clubs would have a guaranteed place regardless of the team's results), which was supposed to replace the Champions League in Europe, due to huge outrage from fans across Europe.

I think you're on to something but the issue isn't that big nations are protected. It's that they believe they should be and that arrogance is exactly what is killing them.

Meanwhile, study who's thriving. Norway went undefeated. England perfect. These aren't "protected" nations. They earned it. Italy? They conceded four goals to Israel in a sorted out mess of a match, with players almost fighting in the tunnel afterwards. Where's the protection there?

What's of real interest is the money angle. If Italy loses out on 2026, they're looking at losing close to 1 billion Euros over the next cycle. Sponsors, TV deals, whatever. And FIFA just made the 2026 prize pool the biggest one yet.

So no - the system is not saving anyone. It's exposing the fraud. And Italy is exhibit A.

[Ale88]

This discussion reminds me of the Eurovision Song Contest, where some large and influential countries, like the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Spain, go directly to the final regardless of the quality of their songs and performances. 
Do some forum members really think the same should be done for football competitions? 
In that case, it would be best to abolish the qualifiers and let the FIFA office decide which national teams are 'eligible' to participate in the World Cup and which are not. 
It was precisely because of this kind of idea that the 'Super League' concept failed (a competition in which the richest clubs would have a guaranteed place regardless of the team's results), which was supposed to replace the Champions League in Europe, due to huge outrage from fans across Europe.

Football (and any sport) should celebrate whoever is good in that moment. Each one of us will see several generations of footballers during the life, some of them may be good and some of them may be bad. Some countries will go downhill while others will thrive. I'm Italian, I've witnessed some of the best Italian teams in history and some of the worst. Would I ever expect a spot in the WC just because we are 4-time WC winners? No, never, we must earn our spot. If we are not good it's fair to leave our place to another team. Norway deserved to be first in the group and they absolutely deserve to participate to the WC.

[famososMuertos]

:://:::

Cristiano is gonna be in the world cup and is gonna be at top level you can be sure about it.

You should put numbers to that statement; that is, he could reach the final, the semifinals, become the top scorer, or win the MVP.   

Anyway, even if he doesn’t achieve any of that, in my opinion he’s already a winner based on his stats. You don’t have to be a CR7 fan to recognize his achievements and the influence he has on football, especially Portuguese football.

[Alpha Marine]

Does Qatar practice democracy? The country is also under authoritarianism, yet it hosted the World Cup.  Saudi Arabia, which has dictators as leaders, has also been given World Cup hosting rights. It's not about democracy or dictatorship, but which country is in the good books of Western-controlled FIFA.

But you people realised that Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, right? And they were awarded as far back as 2010. So the "Western-controlled FIFA" narrative is not very accurate. China was at the forefront of hosting the 2030 World Cup during the bidding in 2019, but due to COVID, they backed out. Of course, I know that there is a lot of politics and corruption involved, but I feel you guys are overemphasising it.

As far back as 2018 or 2019, the host of the 2026 World Cup was confirmed. Four countries made a bid to host the World Cup: Canada, the US, Mexico and Morocco. The US, Canada and Morocco later came together and submitted as one bid. So it's not like so much politics was made so that Morocco doesn't host. In fact, Morocco will be one of three countries to host the World Cup in 2030.

All 211 FIFA member countries vote for the host of every World Cup, and the winner needs to have at least 50% of the votes. As I said, there is politics involved, and wherever there is politics, there is corruption, but you guys are overemphasising the level of corruption involved.

[Sithara007]

✂✂✂✂
All 211 FIFA member countries vote for the host of every World Cup, and the winner needs to have at least 50% of the votes. As I said, there is politics involved, and wherever there is politics, there is corruption, but you guys are overemphasising the level of corruption involved.

It is no longer that simple. Nowadays, a lot of countries are backing out from hosting major sports events. The population is against spending such huge amounts on sporting extravaganzas, especially in Europe. Only the oil rich GCC nations, and a few others such as the United States have the capability to do so. Saudi Arabia will be hosting the event in 2034 (after Qatar's turn in 2022). And from what I have heard, there was hardly any competition to host the 2034 edition. If things go like this, then FIFA would face difficulty in finding enough hosts for the future editions of the World Cup.

[TastyChillySauce00]

A bit surprised to see Senegal is now being added to the travel ban while it's still 2025. It seems the numbers of countries that will get travel ban before the WC 2026 will increase drastically. It seems to me Trump is single handily killing the hype of WC2026.
It seems FIFA have no balls to tell trump to stop it. If they're not stopping him, Trump will likely to place more bans to the African and Asian countries.

[Die_empty]

A bit surprised to see Senegal is now being added to the travel ban while it's still 2025. It seems the numbers of countries that will get travel ban before the WC 2026 will increase drastically. It seems to me Trump is single handily killing the hype of WC2026.
It seems FIFA have no balls to tell trump to stop it. If they're not stopping him, Trump will likely to place more bans to the African and Asian countries.

Players and the technical crew will be given visas to enter the US, but fans might not get visas. What will be the joy and motivation of these teams without the support of the fans? It seems FIFA President Gianni Infantino is supporting Trump. Why would FIFA give a man whose actions are threatening the successful organisation of the World Cup the FIFA Peace Prize? Every country has the right to control its immigration but there is a global competition around the corner.  I hope these restrictions will be removed before the event starts.

[Sithara007]

Players and the technical crew will be given visas to enter the US, but fans might not get visas. What will be the joy and motivation of these teams without the support of the fans? It seems FIFA President Gianni Infantino is supporting Trump. Why would FIFA give a man whose actions are threatening the successful organisation of the World Cup the FIFA Peace Prize? Every country has the right to control its immigration but there is a global competition around the corner.  I hope these restrictions will be removed before the event starts.

Rules are rules and nothing can be done regarding this. One positive aspect is that Senegal has a sizable diaspora in the United States, numbering more than twenty thousand. I would expect lots of Senegalese Americans to attend their matches. That said, I have a feeling that media is making mountain out of a molehill. Trump maybe targeting applicants for immigrant visas from these countries. I don't think that properly vetted football fans will be denied visas to attend the world cup matches. And it is not just Senegal. Other countries such as Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Tanzania and Zambia.

[Daniel91]

This discussion reminds me of the Eurovision Song Contest, where some large and influential countries, like the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Spain, go directly to the final regardless of the quality of their songs and performances. 
Do some forum members really think the same should be done for football competitions? 
In that case, it would be best to abolish the qualifiers and let the FIFA office decide which national teams are 'eligible' to participate in the World Cup and which are not. 
It was precisely because of this kind of idea that the 'Super League' concept failed (a competition in which the richest clubs would have a guaranteed place regardless of the team's results), which was supposed to replace the Champions League in Europe, due to huge outrage from fans across Europe.

Football (and any sport) should celebrate whoever is good in that moment. Each one of us will see several generations of footballers during the life, some of them may be good and some of them may be bad. Some countries will go downhill while others will thrive. I'm Italian, I've witnessed some of the best Italian teams in history and some of the worst. Would I ever expect a spot in the WC just because we are 4-time WC winners? No, never, we must earn our spot. If we are not good it's fair to leave our place to another team. Norway deserved to be first in the group and they absolutely deserve to participate to the WC.

I completely agree with you, everything should be based on sports results on the field and not on past merits. 
I also remember the great Italian teams that were world champions in 1982 and 2006, but that is long ago. 
The Italian national team did not qualify for the last 2 World Cups, and that was a completely deserved failure. 
I hope they succeed this time, but I want it to be decided by the play on the field and not by some external factors.

[Sithara007]

I completely agree with you, everything should be based on sports results on the field and not on past merits. 
I also remember the great Italian teams that were world champions in 1982 and 2006, but that is long ago. 
The Italian national team did not qualify for the last 2 World Cups, and that was a completely deserved failure. 
I hope they succeed this time, but I want it to be decided by the play on the field and not by some external factors.

For Italy, the equation is very simple. They need to win two more matches, and if they can then they are in the world cup. They failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions, and it will be a great tragedy if the fate repeats in 2026. In around three months time, they will play against Northern Ireland. If they win this game, then they will take on the winners from Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match. For me, it looks straight forward. The other three teams are weaker than Italy, at least on paper. But you never know. One upset is all it takes.

[aipercoin]

Rules are rules and nothing can be done regarding this. One positive aspect is that Senegal has a sizable diaspora in the United States, numbering more than twenty thousand. I would expect lots of Senegalese Americans to attend their matches. That said, I have a feeling that media is making mountain out of a molehill. Trump maybe targeting applicants for immigrant visas from these countries. I don't think that properly vetted football fans will be denied visas to attend the world cup matches. And it is not just Senegal. Other countries such as Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Tanzania and Zambia.

I think that unfortunately there will be just this difficulty and it is normal given the distance and the average amount of money that people earn per month in those places, it seems to me a very expensive trip for some populations who unfortunately will never be able to attend a game of their national football team

[dollyamo]

When politics dominates the world of football, we see FIFA's unfairness in banning a country on the grounds of conflict. FIFA banned Russia because of the conflict in their country, but Israel was left unpunished, even though, compared to what happened in Russia, Israel's actions were even more brutal. As long as Gianni Infantino is FIFA president, don't expect Israel to be banned, as he has interests with Israel and the United States.

It's very true what you say, and I also think that this is due to the fact that when there are political interests everything is ruined, to think that once wars were paused for the Olympics, and now in 2025 it seems absurd to me that this thing continues like this

[Stavri]

A bit surprised to see Senegal is now being added to the travel ban while it's still 2025. It seems the numbers of countries that will get travel ban before the WC 2026 will increase drastically. It seems to me Trump is single handily killing the hype of WC2026.
It seems FIFA have no balls to tell trump to stop it. If they're not stopping him, Trump will likely to place more bans to the African and Asian countries.

Players and the technical crew will be given visas to enter the US, but fans might not get visas. What will be the joy and motivation of these teams without the support of the fans? It seems FIFA President Gianni Infantino is supporting Trump. Why would FIFA give a man whose actions are threatening the successful organisation of the World Cup the FIFA Peace Prize? Every country has the right to control its immigration but there is a global competition around the corner.  I hope these restrictions will be removed before the event starts.

in my opinion number of countries facing travel bans will increase more and more before 2026 World Cup begins. It seems to me that Trump is manupulating and killing the hype for World Cup 2026. I dunno why... And FIFA has no balls to tell Trump to stop. If they don't stand up to him, Trump will likely impose even more bans on African and Asian countries.