I think Scotland will likely need 4pts given our lack of firepower, don’t fancy our chances of progression on GD or GS on 3pts, but we will see? It is of course possible to finish last on 4pts, if every team has one of each ( W, D, L)......that’s probably the typically Scottish outcome tbh!
In the 3 WCs that advanced best third-place finishers, all teams that finished on 3 points advanced in two of those tournaments (plus a couple of teams that only got 2 points). Although in the other WC (1994), none of the teams on 3 points advanced. Small sample size, but that suggests there is some hope for 3-point teams, even with a poor GD. I'm not sure if having a bigger disparity between the top teams and bottom ones in a tournament makes it more or less likely that third-place teams will wind up with at least 4 points(?).
1986 and 1990 had the 2-1-0 system, so 3 points meant a win and a draw, equivalent to 4 points in 1994 and beyond. Nobody advanced with one win and two losses under either point system for those three World Cups. Hungary 1986 would have if the new system was in place.
In the 24-team Euros, six teams have finished in third place with 3 points on 1 win. Two of them advanced, Northern Ireland 2016 and Ukraine 2021. Ukraine was the only one to advance with 3 points and negative GD. Additionally, Portugal 2016 and Slovenia 2024 advanced with 3 points on 3 draws.
Boston fan fest in City Hall Plaza. Free, going to be open for around 16 days with more news in March. Also planning to have neighborhood events.
Azetca renovations are still behind schedule Could Estadio Azteca be stripped of its World Cup inauguration?
‘As for charging admission to the site, he said, ”At this point our goal is to make this a free experience.”‘ So, not yet nailed on it will be free? Still got to find that $8m for security at Foxboro down the back of a sofa somewhere too...I’m sure they will..........but not down ThIFA’s sofa!
Nothing official from England FA yet, but it seems they will make Kansas City as their base camp. The Three Lions’ quest to bring 𝐢𝐭 home begins in 𝐨𝐮𝐫 home 🤍England will make Kansas City their home base during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ 🏴#FIFAWorldCup #WeAre26 #WeAreKansasCity pic.twitter.com/f5elg2qwGP— FIFA World Cup 26 Kansas City (@FWC26KansasCity) February 11, 2026
Netherlands confirmed Kansas City as their base camp. Our home for the #FIFAWorldCup group stage! 🏡🇺🇸#NothingLikeOranje pic.twitter.com/NRgq18HA1j— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) February 12, 2026
Australia will have their base camp in Oakland, California. We’ll be calling Oakland, California – in the San Francisco Bay Area – home during the FIFA World Cup 2026™. 🌳🇺🇸🌉🏠The Oakland Roots/Soul Training Facility, located in Bay Farm Island in Alameda has been selected as the CommBank #Socceroos’ official Base Camp training site… pic.twitter.com/DVhQRmx6q3— CommBank Socceroos (@Socceroos) February 12, 2026
Considering how professional sports are fleeing that city, there should be some decent facilities available at discounted prices.
Makes sense, travel wise. Ideally your base camp will be nearby your third group match, in case there is short rest and cross- continental travel required before the R32 match.
World Cup Base Camps update:(sorted from oldest to newest found)🇲🇽Mexico: Centro de Alto Rendimiento 🇺🇸USA: Great Park Irvine🇨🇦Canada: National Soccer Dev. Center🇩🇪Germany: Wake Forest🇰🇷South Korea: Guadalajara (Chivas)🇨🇴Colombia: Guadalajara (Atlas)🇺🇾Uruguay: Fairmont…— AP Soccer (@AP_Soccer_) February 13, 2026
Not something I had in my bingo card. The closest bigger town is Alliston. An hour highway drive west of Toronto. BMO Field and the airport in Toronto is west of the city. It could be okay.
Amazing story of Sidny Lopes Cabral: Four years ago in the fifth tier of Germany, now with Benfica against Real Madrid: 'I have always believed in myself' Clubless in 2020 and player in the Oberliga Nordost Süd with Rot-Weiß Erfurt in 2022, to Benfica - Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight. It is the miraculous story of Sidny Lopes Cabral, a 23-year-old Cape Verdean from Schiedam who always believed in himself. "I have always believed in myself and have always continued to work hard," Lopes Cabral told Ziggo Sport in an interview. These are well-known texts from many footballers when their perspective on a great career is small, but at Lopes Cabral things are going very fast. In the corona period, his professional dream seemed to be over after his contract with FC Twente was not extended, but via clubs in Sweden and Germany he worked his way up to a starting player at Benfica. "Sometimes I want to put my life on hold, realize what is happening," said Lopes Cabral in an interview on this site at the beginning of January, shortly after his debut for Benfica, which took him over on January 1 for 6 million euros from the Portuguese mid-table Estrela da Amadora. At the Portuguese record champion, he has already played eight games, where he was Man of the Match on January 25 against his old club Estrela (4-0) after a goal and two assists. Lopes Cabral is not only lightning fast, but also two-legged. He already takes a lot of corners and free kicks at Benfica. What also makes him very interesting for his coach José Mourinho: Lopes Cabral can play as a back and as a winger. With that, his Portuguese coach can use him in four positions. It remains to be seen whether he will be in the starting line-up against Real Madrid, but given his playing time in recent weeks, that chance seems high. Youth player of SC Feyenoord and FC Twente Lopes Cabral is still an unknown name in the Netherlands and that is not surprising, because he never played a match in professional football here. The former youth player of Spartaan'20 (one of my neighbourhood clubs about 0.5 km away), SC Feyenoord and FC Twente went to the Swedish Helsingborg in March 2021, after a year without a club in the corona period, at the age of eighteen. A year later, he left for Rot-Weiss Erfurt, a club in Germany's fifth level. He then played for a year and a half at Viktoria Köln at the third level in Germany. But even in that relative anonymity, away from his friends and family in Rotterdam, he continued to believe in himself. "The level was terrible," he looks back. "I was homesick, sat on the couch a lot and actually wanted to leave. Yet I continued to work hard, just for myself. I had a clear goal in mind and kept believing in it." In the summer of 2025, he left for Estrela da Amadora, a small club in Lisbon where Sydney van Hooijdonk now plays. With five goals and three assists in 16 matches, Lopes Cabral played himself into the spotlight at many clubs, but the choice for Benfica was quickly made. "When I heard of Benfica's interest, there was only one choice for me. My family, also here in Portugal, has always been for Benfica. So I grew up with this club," he says proudly at Ziggo Sport. He had already predicted that he would leave Estrela after six months. "From the moment I signed with Estrela, I said: after six months I'll be out of here," manifested the Cape Verdean, who wanted to make the next step as soon as possible. "In my search for an apartment, I even indicated that I only needed something for six months. But I didn't expect to go to Benfica either. It's a boyhood dream come true." Lopes Cabral's dream is not over yet, because next summer the six-time international of Cape Verde will play at the World Cup. The World Cup debutant will face Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in the group stage.
Scotland will have their camp in Charlotte, North Carolina 📍 Charlotte, N.C.We'll be based at @CharlotteFC's state-of-the-art training facility in North Carolina for this summer's @FIFAWorldCup. pic.twitter.com/uaRlAvEY22— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) February 17, 2026
Dear Scotland, if you want to try some good Charlotte BBQ cuisine head out to Midwood Smokehouse. You're welcome.
Ivory Coast (Cote D'ivoire) base camp will be in Philadelphia. Ivory Coast has selected Subaru Park, home of @PhilaUnion as its official Team Base Camp training site for the FIFA World Cup 2026#FIFAWC2026 #Philadelphia #IvoryCoast— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) February 17, 2026
Wikipedia lists 32 training camps picked out of a possible 42 national teams prior to March's matches. The most popular areas are definitely California and Kansas/Missouri. 1 – Washington 6 – California 1 – Arizona 1 – Texas 4 – Kansas/Missouri (grouped together since 3 of 4 are Kansas City locations) 1 – Ohio 2 – Tennessee 1 – Florida 3 – North Carolina 1 – Virginia 1 – Pennsylvania 1 – New Jersey 1 – Massachusetts 1 – British Columbia 1 – Ontario 1 – Nuevo Leon 1 – Hidalgo 2 – Jalisco 1 – Mexico City 1 – Quintana Roo