FIFA World Cup '26: News & Analysis

All I know is that Conmebol voted in 2018 for the whole thing to away as fast as possible. I doubt they were planning for 2030 WC vote swaps, while Conmebol's TV rights revenue was frozen due to their leadership being on trial in the US.

I love how Conmebol kept telling to the South American press that it had the power to negotiate in 2018, while it was financially broke.

 

The fear within the United Bid was never that Morocco would beat the United States on stadiums, revenues or infrastructure. It was that FIFA voting is political.

A US only bid would have entered a vote where most African federations were expected to favor Morocco. (FIFA biggest voting block). Several UEFA members had openly endorsed Morocco. (France, Belgium to name those). Arab and many Muslim-majority nations were leaning toward Morocco. Some CONCACAF nations were not guaranteed to back a US only bid. There was concern about anti-American sentiment in parts of FIFA.

That's where shifting from US only to United bid secured the world cup. That's why many observers at the time described the United proposal as politically brilliant. It transformed the bid from "give the World Cup to the United States again" into "give it to North America." Mexico and Canada did a lot of campaigning to secure the votes in places hostile to the US.

So for some people just taking for granted that they'll host for concacaf forever is ignoring how we got here - Mexico and Canada being added was essential.

 

Fifa is filthy and corrupt. It lines the pockets of too many shady characters. They only thrive because there are billions out there that love and 'consume' the game. They take advantage of this as this world cup has proven. But if they're not careful the World Cup will go the way of the Olympic Games where countries are now avoiding the bidding 'process'. Too expensive, too complicated, too much bullshit. Brisbane won the hosting rights for 2032 Olympics, they were the only bidder. 48 team World Cup is overkill I feel. The greed is getting out of hand from fifa.

 

This is what I've said since a long time. Even the last Womens FIFA World Cup were decided with only bidders.
International competitions, especially FIFA World Cups, are being so expensive there'll be fewer countries able to host as only host. I expect co-host hosts will be an important norm. Countries could save money with co-host organizations.
Mexico has passion for football. But I don't see them host a big FIFA World Cup as only host in the future.

 

World Cup 2026 Hotels vs. Airbnb: AirROI Data Shows Where Demand Is Actually Going

https://www.airroi.com/blog/world-cup-2026-hotels-vs-airbnb-accommodation

 

Never let the US host another one again

Iran's football federation says its ticket allocation for the FIFA World Cup has been withdrawn just days before football's global showpiece begins, leaving fans unable to attend their team's matches.

🔴 More on https://t.co/5H0QqpfIYw pic.twitter.com/WhJ635Ue1L

— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) June 9, 2026

At least Mexico are being good hosts

A diferença do recebimento da Seleção de Senegal nos Estados Unidos em relação ao recebimento da Seleção da Espanha no México.

pic.twitter.com/PUs7820HgX

— DataFut (@DataFutebol) June 8, 2026

 

So hotel bookings down, short term rentals through the roof.

Hotel companies misunderstood their own market.

 

https://web.facebook.com/reel/3464226273728778

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZNqcagDZBd/

 

Arrival of Côte d'Ivoire few days ago.

 

I could have told them this. 5 world cup for me and having a living room to watch games is a must for me. I don't want to go out to a fan fest to watch every game.

 

Maybe in 60 years, our kids might see it again in the US but the next time it's in concacaf, others will be hosts.

US needs to skip a turn - trust takes time to rebuild. Hopefully, lessons learned for the next Women's World Cup where it will be their chance to earn it back

 

Qatar proved moral code had anything to do with it. Blatant discrimination and humiliation isn't as easy to forget though nor can empty words make all of that just vanish. Like I keep saying, US or not, they get paid so they don't "have" to gift the US the tournament. There's plenty of articles around documenting how a United bid made it easier to accept than a solo bid.

 

Damn, Ian Wright with some real talk.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/frustrated-ian-wright-criticises-world-114942472.html

"You know who I feel for? I feel for the American fans who are desperate for this, American soccer fans who are desperate for this, how embarrassed they must be. How embarrassing for them this must be.

"This is the World Cup, this is a World Cup of chaos."

Full video is on his Instagram.

 

Shameful what teams, staff and referees are going through to enter the US being treated like criminals. Shameful!

Uzbekistan NT were searched despite already being IN the country.

Here is the Uzbeki's after their Friendly in Toronto last week.

Uzbekistan appreciated Canada’s hospitality and wrote a thank you note while leaving also the dressing room real clean.

Thank you Uzbekistan❤️#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/ET6cc4h6iq

— Juni🇨🇦🇸🇦 (@WizinhoJr) June 9, 2026