2026 FIFA World Cup Draw Thread

Discussion in 'England' started by BarryfromEastenders, Dec 4, 2025.

  1. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    Knockout times BST

    If we win our group
    R32- 17.00
    R16 - 01.00 (On a Sunday night)
    QF - 22.00
    SF - 20.00

    Runner up in our group
    R32 - 0.00 - On a Thursday night
    R16- 19.00
    QF - 20.00
    SF - 20.00

    3rd place - 22.00
    Final - 20.00

    Argentina v Portugal possibly QF 1am UK and Portugal Time.
     
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  2. Wendigo7

    Wendigo7 Member+

    Bournemouth
    England
    Mar 31, 2015
    Poole
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Isn't that 10pm, 9pm, 10pm kick offs for us?
     
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  3. Wendigo7

    Wendigo7 Member+

    Bournemouth
    England
    Mar 31, 2015
    Poole
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Wait is that right... 5pm for R32?
     
  4. Yeah - indoor/roofed stadium in Atlanta though , so weather shouldn't be a problem
     
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  5. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    It hosted Midday kickoffs in the Club World Cup which i do not think were too challenging.
     
  6. roverman

    roverman Member+

    Dec 22, 2001
    At least the times are acceptable
     
  7. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
     
  8. lanman

    lanman BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 30, 2002
    Surely they mean "Every 2026 World Cup game will pause for three minutes in the middle of each half for an advertising break to satisfy American broadcasters".
     
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  9. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    ITV want adverts as well mid match. They trialing them during the Rugby Six Nations.
     
  10. Marcho Gamgee

    Marcho Gamgee Member+

    England
    Apr 25, 2015
    Somewhere in English Arrogance land
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Not sure if this has been discussed but seems a bit odd that we have to play in Dallas when the other two games are on the East coast. I think it makes us one of the most traveled top teams during the group stage where as Argentina and France don’t have a lot of travel time in comparison. Presume that’s a bit of a nightmare for traveling fans plus the cost as I bet the flight prices will be hiked during the World Cup across the US.
     
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  11. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    For some reason a few of the groups have very lengthy travel times. Scotland have two in Boston then down to Miami while Brazil are going New York-Philadelphia-Miami.
    Germany have an even madder pattern of going Houston-Toronto-New York.
    Belgium are up and down the west coast going Seattle-LA-Vancouver.
    Spain have two in Atlanta then all the way to Zapopan.

    Argentina and France are lucky with limited travel time.
     
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  12. Marcho Gamgee

    Marcho Gamgee Member+

    England
    Apr 25, 2015
    Somewhere in English Arrogance land
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Around 10k it will cost the average England fan.

     
  13. lanman

    lanman BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 30, 2002
    Yeah, I posted earlier - groups should all be held within nearby locations. Traveling across half a continent is absurd, for the teams. the fans, and the environment.
     
  14. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    1994 had some long journeys as well. Brazil and the USA has matches in California and Michigan for example and Ireland went from New York to Orlando back to New York.

    The Semi’s were quite unfair with one in the Rose Bowl in LA and the other in New York, With the final in the Rose Bowl. And the semi’s were held on the same day! Italy did well to take it to penalties with that disadvantage.
     
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  15. Fireburn47

    Fireburn47 Member+

    West Ham United
    England
    Nov 5, 2021
    Also adverts during sporting events do help USA TV keep a lot more high profile sport on FTA TV.
     
  16. Chizzy

    Chizzy Member+

    United States
    Aug 7, 2003
    Upper Left, USA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As expected, they placed England’s group stage matches in NYC and Boston to satisfy UK prime time. I’m just surprised the England–Croatia match will be in Texas instead of Miami or Atlanta.
     
  17. Chizzy

    Chizzy Member+

    United States
    Aug 7, 2003
    Upper Left, USA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    .Oh my… I still vividly remember those long travels between matches with my parents when I was a kid. The opening game in Detroit, inside the baking-hot oven that was Silverdome, was probably the closest I’ve ever come to experiencing hell on Earth. :eek: :ROFLMAO:
     
  18. W.A.S.P.

    W.A.S.P. Member+

    Leeds United
    England
    Sep 20, 2012
    St. Louis
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I'm well late but here's my thoughts:

    Overall content with the draw... Croatia are not as good as they've been, which also denied the likes of Denmark, Italy, and Norway in our group. Ghana and Panama aren't pushovers but very beatable on any given day especially for the quality England has. I think the narrative is overblown given the lack of tough groups, but traditionally this isn't a group of death.

    This is potentially the best team England's ever brought to a World Cup so any opposition is beatable. I don't mind that Brazil is the first big nation England would possibly face in the quarterfinals since on paper it's the worst Brazilian team going to a World Cup maybe ever given the current shape they're in and I think they'd actually be a good matchup for England.

    These are world class athletes we're talking about. I'm not that concerned about the heat and crowds they'll come up against. Ultimately so be it. You're at a World Cup and will get challenged. If the weather and/or crowds are the biggest worry then that's probably better than what the opponent has to offer right?

    For the people who think the crowds won't be good, never underestimate the curiosity and enthusiasm Americans can get with sports. This will be the most attended World Cup in history. The ticket prices suck, but FIFA knows exactly what they're doing by capitalizing on the situation.

    Very excited and looking forward to seeing England for the first time in person hopefully for the Croatia game in Dallas.
     
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  19. Wendigo7

    Wendigo7 Member+

    Bournemouth
    England
    Mar 31, 2015
    Poole
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    You finally get to watch the three lions.

    Jealous you’ll get to see them at AT&T too. Wonderful stadium.
     
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  20. Wendigo7

    Wendigo7 Member+

    Bournemouth
    England
    Mar 31, 2015
    Poole
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Btw does Colin Cowherd have a beef with England. Felt like him and Landon Donovan talked us down so quickly in their World Cup preview… expecting extremely little from us.
     
  21. horrisengleton

    horrisengleton Member+

    Arsenal
    England
    Jul 18, 2023
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I haven't heard what they've said but I do think we're going under the radar a bit with overseas supporters. It's understandable to a degree because our Nations League relegation means we haven't played a game of global significance since the Euro 2024 final. Spain, Portugal etc were all on show in the Nations League finals earlier in the year (which will have been watched by a global audience), while I doubt many non-English were watching our qualifiers against Serbia or Albania. People aren't likely to take much meaning from our qualifying results.

    We also have to admit that we haven't been properly tested yet so there are things about this team that we still don't know ourselves, but we can only go off what we've seen so far and what we've seen (in my opinion) are many reasons to be extremely positive.
     
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  22. W.A.S.P.

    W.A.S.P. Member+

    Leeds United
    England
    Sep 20, 2012
    St. Louis
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    England is a brand name throughout the world when it comes to football. Americans care more about the players they hear about in the EPL or UCL and see on FIFA, which England have loads of and Cowherd says most of the things he says just to get clicks and nobody takes anything he says as gospel unless they're sports casuals. If the likes of Cowherd and Donovan expect little from England then so be it. Ever since the Serbia 5-0 game, we've looked like a team capable of winning the World Cup.

    Lots of Americans view England as a bunch of white, arrogant know-it-alls with a great football history world class players but fail to perform on the big stage. Being on here for nearly 14 years now, I've found the common England fan to be pessimistic, humorous and constantly nit-picking even when things are going well to a fault. Most of my friends don't care about soccer, yet get annoyed I'm an England supporter then all of a sudden I'm not patriotic lol. I don't see myself ever changing sides, but it is sad to see what's become of England/Britain over the years culturally and politically, but we still have football.

    Needless to say since 2018, it's been a great joy supporting England as an American through and through. Few things are more exciting than watching England in a major tournament and for the second time in my lifetime (I was 1 in 1994), a World Cup is in America and I can only imagine what my city, let alone the nation looks like when we get wrapped up into it in June!
     
  23. W.A.S.P.

    W.A.S.P. Member+

    Leeds United
    England
    Sep 20, 2012
    St. Louis
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    #173 W.A.S.P., Dec 22, 2025
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2025
    I'm not sure where I'll be during the group stages. Croatia game (Dallas) would be easier for a one-day car trip, but my brother and I have frequented New York City the last few years and maybe we turn the Panama game into an excuse for another visit.

    Never been to a World Cup game let alone a major international tournament game!
     
  24. W.A.S.P.

    W.A.S.P. Member+

    Leeds United
    England
    Sep 20, 2012
    St. Louis
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    England will never be under the radar because anybody who plays England it's a huge deal and if they say it's not then they're kidding themselves. I don' t thinking many people outside of Europe pay much attention to the Nations League rather who did what in the last Euros and World Cup, which England have done very well with in recent years. IMO when you say England have Harry Kane, Bellingham, Palmer, Foden, Rice, Saka, Guehi, Stones, Rashford, TAA (brand names), and not to mention all of the other key players along with the no goals allowed in qualifying, everybody will stand up and take notice.
     
  25. horrisengleton

    horrisengleton Member+

    Arsenal
    England
    Jul 18, 2023
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I don't mean going under the radar in that nobody is talking about us, more that few (in my experience) seem to consider us serious contenders.
     

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