FIFA World Cup '26: News & Analysis

I wonder what the catch is. Commercials during stoppages?

 

First 10 mins free, rest is paid.

 

What you are referring to was announced weeks ago. Are we sure it will be applied to this FOX OnE situation? I am mot able to read the tweet.

 

They're all free on FoxOne for just $19.99 a month.

 

^ Is that for Iraq v France? Lol

Edit. Its Curacao v CIV.

That's some serious cherry picking.

 

Awww yeah. Ty sid!

 

Who are your 'mighty minnows' for this WC??

I wouldn't have thought much of HAITI for that title, but after watching their energy, hustle & spirit against NZ -- I can see them reaching the Brazil match with at least a POINT in their pocket. I never expected much from NZ, but Tuesday night's "friendly" could have easily gone 5-1 or 6-1.

Now, it helped -- somewhat -- that the small stadium in Fort Lauderdale was packed with most of Miami's Haitian population, and those fans were extremely vocal and brought a LOT of energy.

Let's hear who you've got for 'mighty minnows' to watch...

 

Haiti scoring 4 goals against another minnow doesn't surprise me, but keeping a clean shit is. I expect Haiti to score goals this World Cup, but also let in a ton. New Zealand not being to break down Haiti makes me feel that they are the worst team here. I think they will compete with Qatar as the bottom of the barrel. I mean Qatar finished dead last in the previous WC if you account for points and GD in a WC they hosted and were absolutely a better team than they are now.

 

Qatar are 2x asian cup winners tho . 3 pks in that last final... Maybe they get some luck in the world cup too

 

Qatar's results against Iran show how widely inconsistent they can be. A few weeks before the Asian Cup, they were trounced 4:0 by Iran. In the Asian Cup, they beat Iran 3:2. In the WCQs, they lost 4:1 to Iran but then beat Iran 1:0.

No matter which version of Qatar show up at the World Cup, they will have their work cut out for them. But in their best form, which depends heavily on Akam Afif's form (not mere presence in their lineup, as he has featured against Iran in all 4 matches I mentioned), Qatar can cause some problems for some teams. In their best form, they could even get 3 points against Bosnia in its present permutation. But in their more typical form, they will probably go pointless. And probably get thrashed a couple of times as well.

 

I feel the same way with Qatar. They may been grouped in 22, but they could easily qualify in 26. Qatar win all +32500 is a fun bet that is possible.

Weirdly Qatar vs Switzerland is the only game missing from Caesars sportsbook through the first two games on June 18.

I remember the 98 and 22 matches Iran vs USA.

I bet Iran wins all 3 (+2200) and loses all 3 (+1200).

 

It is not even clear that Iran will be able to participate given that the team still hasn't received their visas. For now, the team is in Turkey but its training camp has been moved from Arizona to Mexico. Not clear if the team will be allowed even an overnight stay for it matches in the US. And there is a lot more that makes betting on Iran either way not very wise.

Under normal circumstances, I would say Iran would defeat New Zealand and draw Egypt while losing to Belgium. Whether that would make Iran finish 2nd or 3d in the group would depend on how Egypt does against Belgium, where the Egyptians might have a better chance of a result than Iran. Overall, though, these aren't normal circumstances and everything about Iran's participation and performance will come with a lot of question marks.

 

How come nobody is talking about whether DR Congo team will be able to enter the US?
Seems crazy that they wouldn't be allowed in, but the DHS does crazy well.

 

Swiss striker Embolo was unable to travel to the US with his teammates due to his visa being placed under review. It's not mentioned in the article but I heard on the radio it was due to some legal trouble he got into when he was 18. Hopefully the matter gets resolved quickly. Switzerland's first match is in San Francisco on June 13th.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/variou...-to-travel-to-the-us-over-esta-issue/91518647

 

I kinda figured Telemundo would hook us up with that sorta thing.
People here were worried about ads. They will use it to build up drama like Boxing matches when trainers talk to their prize fighters.

 

Not sure its been 21 days though, which is the requirement.

 

Nate Silver's World Cup model is up (partially behind paywall): https://www.natesilver.net/p/world-cup-2026-odds-predictions

Something I've been talking about: be ready for the possibility of an epic Round of 32 match up. According to his model, the odds of the following in the r32:

• Spain-Argentina 29%
• England-Portugal 17%
• Germany-France 9%
• Brazil-Netherlands 31%

Doing the math, the odds that at least one of those matches happens is 63%. Don't say I didn't warn you

 

How many of them have even been to Congo in recent months? Their federation canceled the the short in-country camp they had scheduled for late May.

 

In Mexico it was news that President Sheinbaum had accepted Iran to train in Tijuana (given her unique heritage).

I hope Iran's team the best. One of my best friends on the soccer team growing up was Iranian. His dad recorded every game of the World Cup on VHS. I remember how important the game was to them.

I just realized now while writing that if they won all their games and USA did too they would meet in Seattle.

 

"They" might be reading the forums, because in the last 10 hours they placed Qatar vs Switzerland in the Caesar's app.

Qatar +1100
Draw +500
Switzerland -440