If I could bet on it, Dallas would far and away be my choice for the final. Jerry World has so many VIP seats that FIFA loves... My guess is LA and NY get Semis and Miami gets the 3rd.
To be honest I seem to be too dim to work it out without seeing what the rest of the schedule is like. But there was no gap after the groups in the bid schedule, when there were going to be 48 group games, so I doubt they'll want wasted days now that there are an extra 24 to fit in.
what temporary seating? that is just a fairytale IMHO. SoFi in a World Cup final configuration would mean pitch lifted witth several rows lost plus huge media section, I do not think it could offer more than 60.000 seats even if you squeeze the seats closer to each other.
With the 16*3 format the first knockout round day can involve the 8 teams that advanced from groups A to D, none of whom would have played in any of the previous 3 days. With 12*4 you can't be sure that the 8 teams that play on the first knockout round day will be from groups A to C because of the uncertainty of where the third-place teams come from. I think the only way you can avoid an off day after the group stage is to divide the tournament into 4 mini 12-team tournaments (instead of two), but that would be mad!
I don't have the blueprints to tell you how they do it, but the temporary expansion is part of the design. They planned to do it for the Super Bowl in Feb '22, but due to COVID decided not to increase capacity.
Sounds like a plan. Not just because it eliminates the gap day, but because it means that the 3rd-place teams (2 from groups A-C) are finalised on the matchday. Nice and decisive. It cuts out the on-field uncertainty ("Ecuador are losing 1-0 but they may still qualify in 3rd depending on what happens in other groups later in the week") and it means the teams and fans know where they are going next.
I should have had a diagram in front of me before I posted. No it doesn't, it just means that only games on the same day are relevant.
Good point. If they do that, however, I hope they would break away from the 4-mini tournaments after the R32 (i.e. teams from groups A-C would start meeting teams from groups D-F). Otherwise teams from the same group would meet again as early as the R16. .
Agreed - A-C v D-F in the R16, then A-F v G-L in the QFs, then teams might meet again in the semis - which is normal in a wonky tournament.
My problem with the expansion is not, that the level of the games will fall. As others have mentioned, only the extra asian teams, CONCACAF teams and New Zealand will be worse than the teams already qualified (maybe a African team or two also, depending on which teams qualify). My problem is only the format. 32 teams is perfect. 8 groups, 2 Best teams qualifying for the next stage is perfect. I hate the 3rd place Rule. It is such an unfair Rule. It is such a Huge disadvantage to be in group A and B, while the groups who plays last, know which results they need. We have seen it at the Euros. My personal opinion is, that these things ruins the project. And one Can argue that some of the exclusivity goes out the Window. I am from a country that Will never win the World cup. For me its the journey. Fighting through qualifying, celebrating qualification. I love following qualifiers all over the World. I watch games from early stages in Concacaf, African qualifiers and even some matches from Oceania. I was thrilled when Panama made it in 2018, After the devastating lose against USA in the qualifiers for Brazil 2014. On the other hand, I also understand the point that more countries wants that happiness. The celebrations on the street. To see their country at the biggest stage, and hoping to be the surprise of the World. Its just the format, I simply cant enjoy it the same Way as the old format. It was perfect.
I'm hoping that by 2030 the 24 team CL knockout will be well known enough that it translates to the World Cup. Get rid of third place teams.
Again, FIFA doesn't want teams getting byes in a Monthly tournament so it's not going to happen. I don't like teams getting byes either either here or in CL but it is what it is.
And again, FIFA's stance on byes seems to change with the wind. Because for years they seemed happy and settled on that 16*3 format which would have resulted in every team resting for one matchday (not just 8 teams).
I mean I feel like the inevitable move will be moving to 64 teams. CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, AFC all get 1 more. Africa gets another 4-5 and Europe gets the rest making them happy.
Been saying that for years now. Basically two 32 team tournaments (we have all come accustom to) that run concurrently. Winners face each other. It will be clean cut and smooth. All done in a month. Only down side is you would have to pick and choose which matches you want to see on tv live but hey, that already happens during the Champions League television coverage so it is not that drastic of a change for futbol fans. Also, it would inspire networks to do wrap-around shows that just show live/semi-live highlights of the games scoring situations and best action. Sorta like what the NFL Redzone does which is not a bad thing.
The WC will probably evolve in that direction. It just would have been too drastic to go from 32 to 64 teams immediately. The downside you highlight is already happening anyway due to the condensed calendar of Qatar 2022 and the six matches per day we will almost certainly see in 2026, so its not really a downside. They'll be no need to have more that 6 matches per day for the 64-team format you suggest, except for the round of final group matches when there would need to be 8 (played across 4 timeslots). The bigger concern I would guess is being able to, in essence, host 2 World Cups at the same time. That seems like a lot even for 3 countries like ESP, POR and MRC to do together.
Oh that's easy. There will be only a handful of hosts. Various Europe-centric hosts that will be anchored by a country that knows what its doing, a Middle East (prob includes some Europe like we are seeing) bid that will throw money at the problem, the rare Asia bid that will have to include China probably to pay for it, and the North America bid that will take advantage of USA's infrastructure and tons of NFL stadiums available at the drop of a bucket. My guess at some points you will get Brazil/Argentina hosting 1-2 groups as part of the North America bid but not a knock out. The tournament is changing for better and worse. We will get matchups and moments that we could only dream of that will lead to events that will have us thinking.... this is worth it. But we will also be nostalgic for the past and how it was.
I mean, they are practically on opposite sides of the Earth! Safe to say this particular example will never happen, but I get your overall point.
Guys, some people expect the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the most controversial ever and not so many people will go to the stadia. What're your expectations about the attendance ?
Because of some social and political issues within Mexico and the USA. -border security -guns -foreign policy There was reactions from criticism about Qatar 2022 and social issues.
Any controversy that exists will be drummed up by the outside. There will be no protests or anything of that sort. Attendance will be massive. Every game will be a sellout. Want to talk about immigration and foreign attendance? I can provide some insight. I work with US immigration for the US Government. Europe and most countries in the "western" world are part of the visa waiver program. No issues getting into the country. 3 South American countries are potential future visa waiver program countries and may have some special process (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil). Most countries that are potential World Cup Qualifiers have a visa refusal rate of under 20%. And individuals who can afford to go the World Cup are very likely to be a part of that 80+%. The United States is such a melting pot that even if zero fans came to the World Cup I think that they would sell out every game. Every team from the Americas has a significant population in this country and will easily sell out. Europe, most of Asia and select African countries will have that advantage as well. You're going to need a game like Qatar/UAE vs Burkina Faso/Congo to get a game that will not have significant immigrant fans coming to see it. The novelty of going to a World Cup game will push even those games to sell out.