2026 World Cup - News, Updates and discussions

[GasPed]

2 hours ago, Kent said:

it would be a real shame if somehow Canada ends up in the round of 16, but not in the game hosted by Canada.

Given take it or leave it, I would be willing to take that shame.  😉

[Kent]

15 hours ago, GasPed said:

Given take it or leave it, I would be willing to take that shame.  😉

Yeah, as I re-read it I was thinking "missed opportunity" would be more fitting than "shame".

[Free kick]

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2021/10/19/canadas-quiet-football-revolution-getting-noisier-just-ask-edmonton/

another article on this topic.    whats new here is that Montagliani confirms that they can split the ten games into 5 games in Toronto and 5 in Edmonton. 

……“We don’t necessarily have to have three cities,” said Montagliani. “It is 10 games so we can do five and five. But I can tell you what we do have and that is two cities in Canada that are all-in.”……

I would also derived from this quote that the site inspections in November are more of a formality and that unless something drastic comes up, these two cities are pretty much officially confirmed for hosting in 2026.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Free kick

[johnyb]

If rumours are true that Infantino will be in Edmonton for the WCQers, then Edmonton has done us proud the way Ticket sales are going.

[Watchmen]

2 hours ago, Free kick said:

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2021/10/19/canadas-quiet-football-revolution-getting-noisier-just-ask-edmonton/

another article on this topic.    whats new here is that Montagliani confirms that they can split the ten games into 5 games in Toronto and 5 in Edmonton. 

……“We don’t necessarily have to have three cities,” said Montagliani. “It is 10 games so we can do five and five. But I can tell you what we do have and that is two cities in Canada that are all-in.”……

I would also derived from this quote that the site inspections in November are more of a formality and that unless something drastic comes up, these two cities are pretty much officially confirmed for hosting in 2026.

Are we actually guaranteed of 10 games? That was the proposal to FIFA, but they don't have to accept it. I'm thinking of if they would want 5 games in a city, as opposed to if a city is capable of doing it.

[Free kick]

50 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Are we actually guaranteed of 10 games? That was the proposal to FIFA, but they don't have to accept it. I'm thinking of if they would want 5 games in a city, as opposed to if a city is capable of doing it.

Its in the contract (this was mentioned before in this thread) that canada is guaranteed 10 games. Plus if Montagliani says its 10 games, then i would take it to the bank.

the bigger question is:  how do you play 5 games in both cities given that there are three team groups and hence 3 group stage matches.  The initial assumption, as i recall, was that with three cities getting one group each it would mean three matches for each city with one city getting one game in knockout stage. I doubt the americans will want to give up more than one game in the knockout stage. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Free kick

[Kent]

6 hours ago, Free kick said:

Its in the contract (this was mentioned before in this thread) that canada is guaranteed 10 games. Plus if Montagliani says its 10 games, then i would take it to the bank.

the bigger question is:  how do you play 5 games in both cities given that there are three team groups and hence 3 group stage matches.  The initial assumption, as i recall, was that with three cities getting one group each it would mean three matches for each city with one city getting one game in knockout stage. I doubt the americans will want to give up more than one game in the knockout stage. 

The original plan (I assume it's still the same) was that Canada and Mexico won't host games from the quarter-final and onwards. That implies they would host games in the round of 32 (remember, it's a 48 team tournament, and after the group stage will have 32 teams remaining) and the round of 16. So absolute bare minimum I would expect 2 knockout round games. If it's 2 games in each of those rounds that would mean 4 out of 24 matches would be hosted in Canada, presumably 4 in Mexico as well, and 16 in USA. That's still a sweetheart deal for the USA.

[EJsens1]

6 hours ago, Free kick said:

Its in the contract (this was mentioned before in this thread) that canada is guaranteed 10 games. Plus if Montagliani says its 10 games, then i would take it to the bank.

the bigger question is:  how do you play 5 games in both cities given that there are three team groups and hence 3 group stage matches.  The initial assumption, as i recall, was that with three cities getting one group each it would mean three matches for each city with one city getting one game in knockout stage. I doubt the americans will want to give up more than one game in the knockout stage. 

I went to the World Cup in Brazil in ‘14.  We went to a city in the Northeast called Recife for each game.  It was 5 games.  4 first round games and then one in the round of 16.  Maybe it was spread out more?  We were there almost 2 weeks.  Different set up for ‘26 obviously 

[ardsa]

Do any Canadian cities really need inspections? Maybe Toronto since it wasn't a venue for the 2015 WWC. Vancouver and Edmonton are well known to FIFA at this stage. My opinion is that between the IOC and FIFA city inspections are a straight up grift. No need to inspect Canada and Mexico as there are no competitors to out bribe.

Not much new in this article out of Vancouver today:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/2026-fifa-world-cup-vancouver-consideration

Some speculation about Vancouver fitting well for reasons that make sense and a small nugget at the end.

"In a statement to Daily Hive Offside earlier this month, the BC Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said, “The Province continues to discuss the opportunity to host the FIFA 2026 World Cup at BC Place with event organizers; however, no decisions have been made.”

 

[Free kick]

13 hours ago, Kent said:

That's still a sweetheart deal for the USA.

That depends how you look at it.  If you see it as three equal parties coming to together and agreeing on a joint venture to bid and host an event, then you could say that its a sweetheart deal for the party that gets 75% of the games plus all of the games from the quarter finals onwards.

But if you look it from the perspective one party being capable to bid and having all the required infrastucture to be go at it alone and then that party deciding to bring in two additional partners (to make it a joint bid) in order to improve its chances of winning the bid,  then the picture looks totally different.  Canada is just getting in on “A piece of the action” and that piece of the action is with 10 games.  Therefore you could argue that its a sweetheart deal for Canada because on technical merit, we are not an equal partner.

When this topic of hosting the WC in Canada first game up in the early days of this forum, i thought… “yes, we can”.   But as you learn more and read and hear what some of the insiders have/had said publicly;  and when you sift through all the bid book documents and technical reports (i posted the links here or in other threads) you quickly realise… “no we can’t”.   Or more specifically… “no we shouldnt”.   Not only are our stadiums not up to snuff, but there are also many many other infrastructure and logistical and geographical hurdles.   So it comes down to either we take 10 games and get our name on the official logo as a host or we get nothing.  

Edited October 23, 2021 by Free kick

[dyslexic nam]

Just watching the “Road to 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar” show before the TFC game.  I am not sure what we plan to do in terms or stadium refreshes and upgrades but damn they will be a tough act to follow in terms of built infrastructure.   What a beautiful series of stadiums they are constructing (agnostic of how they are being built).   When money is no object, you can really do some amazing things.  

[Sal333]

48 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Just watching the “Road to 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar” show before the TFC game.  I am not sure what we plan to do in terms or stadium refreshes and upgrades but damn they will be a tough act to follow in terms of built infrastructure.   What a beautiful series of stadiums they are constructing (agnostic of how they are being built).   When money is no object, you can really do some amazing things.  

You can also do some horrific things when money is no object. Case in point: the Big Owe here in Montreal.

[baulderdash77]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

Just watching the “Road to 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar” show before the TFC game.  I am not sure what we plan to do in terms or stadium refreshes and upgrades but damn they will be a tough act to follow in terms of built infrastructure.   What a beautiful series of stadiums they are constructing (agnostic of how they are being built).   When money is no object, you can really do some amazing things.  

You mean using virtual slave labour and literally killing 6,500 people during the infrastructure and stadium builds.  The building of the Qatar World Cup is actually shameful and nobody has cared.

[dyslexic nam]

17 minutes ago, baulderdash77 said:

You mean using virtual slave labour and literally killing 6,500 people during the infrastructure and stadium builds.  The building of the Qatar World Cup is actually shameful and nobody has cared.

Like I said, “agnostic of how they are being built”.  

[Floortom]

2 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Like I said, “agnostic of how they are being built”.  

Agnostic isn’t the word I would use

[dyslexic nam]

1 minute ago, Floortom said:

Agnostic isn’t the word I would use

Ok.  

[Joe MacCarthy]

49 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

You can also do some horrific things when money is no object. Case in point: the Big Owe here in Montreal.

There's a lot to be said about that project, I don't think it was like here's a zillion dollars go out and spend it.  There were a ton of issues (some foreseeable some not) that contributed to the cost overruns.

Also people often attribute the cost of the stadium as the same as the cost of many of the facilities including the stadium.  I did a fair amount of research on it long ago but probably can't find much of the material but I'll post what I can when I find it. Here's one for starters

1976 Montreal Olympics: Case Study of Project Management

 

[SthMelbRed]

34 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Like I said, “agnostic of how they are being built”.  

Agnostic suggests that you don't have an opinion, one way or the other, or you're essentially undecided. 

So, my question for you is, how can you not have a strong opinion against the use of virtual slave labour which has resulted in thousands of deaths, just so we can watch a World Cup in the most inappropriate host nation in the history of the tournament?

[dyslexic nam]

21 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

Agnostic suggests that you don't have an opinion, one way or the other, or you're essentially undecided. 

So, my question for you is, how can you not have a strong opinion against the use of virtual slave labour which has resulted in thousands of deaths, just so we can watch a World Cup in the most inappropriate host nation in the history of the tournament?

I am not saying I don’t personally have an opinion about how they were built.  I am saying that if you set that aside, you have to acknowledge that they really are nice stadiums   That’s all.  Geez.  

I guess I had it coming for having fairly strong opinions on other topics   

 

[Free kick]

What we have been hearing about the condition of commonwealth stadium since the game last night.  And what we have been reading in this forum on  other threads, i cant help but think of this thread pertaining to 2026  canadian host cities.   

Recall a few pages back,  the articles from inside world soccer (with quotes from Montagliani) stated the these WCQ games would serve as the evaluation of the stadium and Edmonton for hosting in 2026.  

Just what was the LOC thinking?  Why did they think the current state of the facility would impress FIFA in any way?  To top it off, there was the pitch invasion which they might easily chaulk up to stadium security issues.  You gotta put your best step forward for these kind of things.  Be ready and cover all your bases, do some research, plan….etc.  just like the stories we have been reading from american cities.  Instead, It was like they showed up at the job interview wearing sandals, ripped jeans, a black ACDC t-shirt and with alcohol in their breath.  

Would it not have been better not to host the WCQ games and just state outright: Here’s the facility, its not ready now,  but it will be for 2026. 
 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Free kick

[trueviking]

Any way you slice it, 50 year old Commonwealth Stadium, with a temporary grass pitch is not a World Cup caliber venue. But you are right. That game could not have helped the cause. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by trueviking

[dyslexic nam]

8 hours ago, Free kick said:

What we have been hearing about the condition of commonwealth stadium since the game last night.  And what we have been reading in this forum on  other threads, i cant help but think of this thread pertaining to 2026  canadian host cities.   

Recall a few pages back,  the articles from inside world soccer (with quotes from Montagliani) stated the these WCQ games would serve as the evaluation of the stadium and Edmonton for hosting in 2026.  

Just what was the LOC thinking?  Why did they think the current state of the facility would impress FIFA in any way?  To top it off, there was the pitch invasion which they might easily chaulk up to stadium security issues.  You gotta put your best step forward for these kind of things.  Be ready and cover all your bases, do some research, plan….etc.  just like the stories we have been reading from american cities.  Instead, It was like they showed up at the job interview wearing sandals, ripped jeans, a black ACDC t-shirt and with alcohol in their breath.  

Would it not have been better not to host the WCQ games and just state outright: Here’s the facility, its not ready now,  but it will be for 2026. 
 

I don’t mean this in any sort of rude way, but I am not sure if this post is serious or ironic.   I say that because IMO, of course the powers-that-be would be presenting it that way (“Here’s the facility, its not ready now,  but it will be for 2026.”).  I don’t see any other way it could be presented since the surface would be replaced, infrastructure would likely be tweaked, staffing would be different, etc.   I highly doubt the folks at Commonwealth told FIFA that this was the absolute finished product, or that the FIFA officials were taking this as a final test drive.  I mean, one of the biggest complaints is about the quality of the pitch itself, and that would obviously be changed in advance of the WC.    

If anything, I think any FIFA review at this time was probably just to get a flavour for the venue and to see how the game was embraced within the city.  And if that is true, I think the CR game (pitch invaders aside) did quite well.  

[TGAA_Star]

But then again if we qualify for 2022, it not only gives us the added experience we would need for 2026 when we do co host with USA and Mexico but who knows maybe by then our squad will have even more offensive or defensive depth

However, back to the venues in general, Edmonton is pretty much solidified as a host city. Then again so is Toronto but since Montreal they withdrew themselves as a host city, I wonder if Vancouver will throw themselves into the mix as far as host city?

Or will the Americans get yet another venue 

Or do the Mexicans get another venue instead 

[Watchmen]

43 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

However, back to the venues in general, Edmonton is pretty much solidified as a host city. Then again so is Toronto but since Montreal they withdrew themselves as a host city, I wonder if Vancouver will throw themselves into the mix as far as host city?

BC Premier Horgan talked about getting Vancouver back in to the mix, but so far that does not seem to have happened.

[RS]

1 hour ago, trueviking said:

Any way you slice it, 50 year old Commonwealth Stadium, with a temporary grass pitch is not a World Cup caliber venue. But you are right. That game could not have helped the cause. 

It'll be a "temporary grass pitch" by absolute technicality, as the reported plans are to properly install grass (including the requisite drainage, etc.) for the entirety of 2026 and then go back to artificial turf in 2027.