2025 CWC

?????

Oooooooo aaaaaaaa ooooooo

An actual lafc chant. And the scoreboard tells them what to say!

 

The crowd at the Rose bowl deserved a better match than that unfortunately...

 

And here comes FIFA overdoing it again! 32 is MORE than enough!
Anyway, Spain should get the chance to host. When the tournament last died in 2001 they were set to host. Brazil also did a good job the first time, I am sure they'd do well again. I am also not against doing 2 in a row in the US to make maximum money to stabilize the tournament before moving on.

 

Technically, the CWC took the calendar spot of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The Gold Cup used to be played in July after the Confederations Cup.

CAF wanted to avoid a clash with the CWC and moved this year's AFCON to December 25/January 26. Will Concacaf do the same (i.e. move the Gold Cup date) going forward?

It doesn't make (sporting) sense to play it without the top players, but then again Concacaf never had much of a problem putting on a subpar product as long as it makes money.

 

While Ulsan may have fought valiantly against Fluminense, they have been a complete embarrassment for the Asian club game to date at the CWC:

2012 CWC | Ulsan HD - CF Monterrey 1:3 (Round 2)
2012 CWC | Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Ulsan HD 3:2 (5th Place)
2020 CWC | Tigres UANL - Ulsan HD 2:1 (Round 2)
2020 CWC | Al Duhail - Ulsan HD 3:1 (5th Place)
2025 CWC | Ulsan HD - Mamelodi Sundowns 0:1 (Group Stage)
2025 CWC | Fluminense FC - Ulsan HD 4:2 (Group Stage)
2025 CWC | Borussia Dortmund - Ulsan HD ???

Six matches. Six losses.

(Two of them are to fellow AFC clubs, but still...)

 

Which MLS games do you go to?

 

2019 and 2023 started in June. 2021 probably would have but COVID screwed up league schedules so it moved back to July. It wasn't hard for FIFA to look at that and go "huh, we're going to play a tournament in the same country that's hosting the Gold Cup, maybe we shouldn't pick the same timeframe as that tournament has recently been played in?"

 

Right now I am watching the game Juventus vs Wydad Casablanca on DAZN in Spanish and the announcers are mentioning that this tournament is here to stay based on the average attendance and most importantly the TV audience numbers around the world.

 

The app has been sending my iPad goal updates, even though I told it no updates when I loaded it.

 

Here meaning it will always be played in the USA?

Depending on where it is played, I don't think attendance numbers will that great if the tournament were held in other countries or regions around the world.

 

FIFA (for once) simply didn't care about the interests of Concacaf and CAF in this case. It's is an opportunity for FIFA to establish a third major tournament after the Men's and Women's World Cup.

Concacaf and CAF are the only confederations that insist on biennial nations cups, and FIFA has shielded them for years from club pressure - even approving "special" Copa America editions on an already bursting calendar. Everyone else makes do with a quadrennial frequency.

Here are the "protected" (i.e. mandatory player release) Concacaf-relevant tournaments, from 2013 until 2027, outside the usual FIFA international windows:

2013 - Gold Cup
2014 - World Cup
2015 - Gold Cup
2016 - Copa America (special edition)
2017 - Gold Cup / Confederations Cup (Mexico)
2018 - World Cup
2019 - Gold Cup
2020 - Free
2021 - Gold Cup
2022 - World Cup
2023 - Gold Cup
2024 - Copa America (special edition)
2025 - Gold Cup
2026 - World Cup
2027 - Gold Cup
2028 - ???

In 15 years there is exactly 1 free calendar year. One.

There is a reason players like Pulisic want to skip the Gold Cup...

I don't think Concacaf are in a position to complain. They got everything and more from FIFA.

 

I would give Garber at least four commissioner’s picks.

 

Here as an event.

As long as they don't play it in Europe they'll get decent attendances.

 

Yeah I think you are right.

Maybe in neighboring countries around Europe like Morocco or even the Middle East but I don’t think they would draw that many fans in England, France , Germany , Spain , Portugal , Belgium or Italy.

Same goes for Eastern European nations.

 

I happen to think Morocco-Iberia would be reasonably successful in 2029. While overall numbers might be down a bit compared to the US, match atmosphere could be improved - assuming there is some buy-in from European fans. That's the big question mark I guess.

The support of Arab clubs would be more pronounced (combined with ease of travel to Morocco?) while Latin American fans will travel/be present in similar numbers. For example, if the 2018 Copa Libertadores final in Madrid is anything to go by, there is a huge number of Argentinians in Spain.

 

They will draw some Mexican fans overseas but not as many as there are in the USA.

 

True (although Mexicans travel very well for the World Cup) but that would be compensated with Arab fans. And not just from North Africa. Saudi nationals could soon have visa-free access to the Schengen zone. And I expect 2-3 Saudi (PIF) clubs at the 2029 CWC.

Al Ahli of Jeddah have already qualified, in a "final eight" AFC Champions League tournament that was held in, wait for it, Jeddah.

 

Morocco is easier for Arab fans in Morocco and Tunisia but it's 2000 miles from the Middle-East.

It is only 8 miles from Spain, so travel from Europe would be easy.

 

I meant ease of travel in terms of visa. Also for Cairo based Al Ahly fans.

 

It wasn't CONCACAF complaining, it was @falvo questioning the wisdom of them both being played at the same time. Its happened because, as you stated, FIFA didn't care about the Gold Cup.

 

They'll still need a visa and it's 2,300 miles from Cairo to Casablanca. But its close to Europe and it's cool in the evenings on the Moroccan coast.

 

It's an online application for Egyptians, with a standard processing time of 72 hours.

Hardly comparable to the Schengen zone or the US for that matter.

 

I’d take that with a grain of salt.

1. DAZN is so in bed with FIFA now that I doubt they’d criticize anything FIFA does.
2. If they were saying this thing is a flop, they would be undermining ratings for the rest of it.

But I kind of agree with the larger point. It’s gone better than I expected. It certainly hasn’t failed to the point where FIFA would seriously consider making this one and done. So long as they’re careful about whom they select as the host nation, it’s probably going to remain a part of soccer.