World Cup 2026

[vikingTON]

18 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

Indonesia would still be 1000x a better choice than Qatar. 

 

On what grounds?

Qatar is obviously a very poor choice in its own right but the fact that we're discussing bids from Indonesia, Egypt or Cameroon/Nigeria as somehow much better is baffling. The key arguments against Qatar (completely unsuitable climate for June/July sport; political authoritarianism/human rights violations; infrastructure problems) all exist to varying degrees in each of those cases.

The final point against (substantial bribery to push a winning bid over the line) would be a racing certainty to accompany them as well. 

[velo army]

1 minute ago, virginton said:

On what grounds?

Qatar is obviously a very poor choice in its own right but the fact that we're discussing bids from Indonesia, Egypt or Cameroon/Nigeria as somehow much better is baffling. The key arguments against Qatar (completely unsuitable climate for June/July sport; political authoritarianism/human rights violations; infrastructure problems) all exist to varying degrees in each of those cases.

The final point against (substantial bribery to push a winning bid over the line) would be a racing certainty to accompany them as well. 

This is increasingly the case against America too. 

I know it's not very P and B, but England are surely due hosting duties in 2034. It would be horribly nauseating, obviously, and it would be chuckleworthy if they were denied again, but they'd surely be at the front of the queue.

[Donathan]

11 minutes ago, velo army said:

This is increasingly the case against America too. 

I know it's not very P and B, but England are surely due hosting duties in 2034. It would be horribly nauseating, obviously, and it would be chuckleworthy if they were denied again, but they'd surely be at the front of the queue.

I thought England pulled their bid for 2030 in order to focus on Euro 2028, which they are strong favourites for (the only other bids are from Russia, who are of course suspended, and Turkey, who are routinely rejected from these things). Hosting euro 2028 probably rules them out until the next European tournament in 2046 or 2050. 

[Bully Wee Villa]

Hope Uruguay is involved in hosting 2030. Be much better than some boring country like France or Germany that is always hosting things.

[Lurkst]

36 minutes ago, virginton said:

On what grounds?

Well for starters Indonesia is the world's 4th largest country (population) is in the top 20 economies and as mentioned already has the infrastructure in place to host the tournament.

 

[BFTD]

Starting to get into the Indonesia idea TBH. Something a bit different and we're handing out tournaments to teams who've never qualified now, so f**k it.

Plus, it would really fucking annoy Australia, which is a major plus IMO.

[Bully Wee Villa]

I think we will see more and more future World Cups being spread across multiple countries. I also think the World Cup every two years plan will eventually come in.

[welshbairn]

30 minutes ago, Donathan said:

I thought England pulled their bid for 2030 in order to focus on Euro 2028, which they are strong favourites for (the only other bids are from Russia, who are of course suspended, and Turkey, who are routinely rejected from these things). Hosting euro 2028 probably rules them out until the next European tournament in 2046 or 2050. 

I'm amazed England have the cheek to bid for anything after the total arse they made of the Euros final last year.

[Satoshi]

1 hour ago, velo army said:

This is increasingly the case against America too. 

I know it's not very P and B, but England are surely due hosting duties in 2034. It would be horribly nauseating, obviously, and it would be chuckleworthy if they were denied again, but they'd surely be at the front of the queue.

Virtually no benefit to host it in England though, it's not as if football will get more popular there.

I'm more a fan of spreading it around the globe to countries where football can improve, I think Japanese and south Korean football have developed since 2002.

The problem is the competition, Scottish football grew for 150 years before encountering televised games, any new (or developing) league has to contend with the locals watching la Liga or serie A rather than their hometown team. It happens in Scotland too of course, but to a much lesser extent that doesn't really trouble the domestic game.

[Donathan]

32 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I'm amazed England have the cheek to bid for anything after the total arse they made of the Euros final last year.

They’ve served their punishment for that. I can’t see that incident alone propelling UEFA to hold a tournament in Turkey, and of course the Russian bid is a complete non-starter 

[Donathan]

6 minutes ago, Satoshi said:

Virtually no benefit to host it in England though, it's not as if football will get more popular there.

I'm more a fan of spreading it around the globe to countries where football can improve, I think Japanese and south Korean football have developed since 2002.

The problem is the competition, Scottish football grew for 150 years before encountering televised games, any new (or developing) league has to contend with the locals watching la Liga or serie A rather than their hometown team. It happens in Scotland too of course, but to a much lesser extent that doesn't really trouble the domestic game.

It’s funny, ask any young football fan in Scotland who they support and most will name a Scottish team (99% of the time it’s either the local team or one of the old firm. You get the odd hipster Dundee Utd fan in Ayrshire or Aberdeen fan in Fife) and an English premier league team too. They coexist. Thousands of Scots have a season ticket for a Scottish team and watch the English football on TV. Yet in Ireland and Wales, the majority just follow a team in the English league, and the local leagues are a complete afterthought. 

[velo army]

14 minutes ago, Satoshi said:

Virtually no benefit to host it in England though, it's not as if football will get more popular there.

I'm more a fan of spreading it around the globe to countries where football can improve, I think Japanese and south Korean football have developed since 2002.

The problem is the competition, Scottish football grew for 150 years before encountering televised games, any new (or developing) league has to contend with the locals watching la Liga or serie A rather than their hometown team. It happens in Scotland too of course, but to a much lesser extent that doesn't really trouble the domestic game.

Aye I hear that. I was just thinking that if it comes back to Europe in 2034 England should be ahead of Spain, but it was pointed out to me that they'll probably get the Euros in 2028, so shouldn't get the WC 6 years later.

Who would you have for a European host that needs football spread and promoted? 

The Scandi/Nordic nations could be a shout but only have 4, perhaps 5 stadia if Norway at some seats to the Ullevaal. We could maybe join but that would be an extra two stadia at most. 

E.T.A I just checked and you need 6 stadia with a capacity of at least 20,000, which would probably work in Scandinavian favour. A Scandi world cup would be great.

Edited July 2, 2022 by velo army

[eez-eh]

1 hour ago, Bully Wee Villa said:

Hope Uruguay is involved in hosting 2030. Be much better than some boring country like France or Germany that is always hosting things.

I can’t see any other bid winning, Shirley. They better have the final in Montevideo.

 

35 minutes ago, velo army said:

E.T.A I just checked and you need 6 stadia with a capacity of at least 20,000, which would probably work in Scandinavian favour. A Scandi world cup would be great.

You need more than that for the World Cup or even the Euros.

I can’t see any way there’d be a Nordic one. Plenty of stadia in the 10-20k region but that isn’t enough and there’s only a few above 30k. They’re scarcely any better equipped to hold one than Scotland are and we all know there’s no chance of that happening.

[Donathan]

Assuming joint bids become the norm going forward I think they’ll go down the route of the 1999/2007 rugby world cups where you have one main host who gets the opening game, final and automatic qualification, and just have a few games held in neighbouring countries. To be honest, the 2026 bid is pretty much this with the vast majority of games being held in the states.

 

England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia are probably the only European countries who could host a 48 team tournament outright. Even at that, Spain (Portugal) and England (other UK nations) have very obvious joint bidding partners. A few of the Balkan countries (namely Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece) countries are considering a joint bid for 2030 but surely they’d be more likely to get the euros in 2032. 
 

To be honest I really don’t see any European country out of the six mentioned being primary World Cup hosts. You could definitely see a tournament where one of those six is the main host and a Scotland or a Netherlands or an Austria tacks on as a minor joint bid partner, but that does basically rule out the Nordic countries and the Balkan countries from ever having the World Cup. I think those areas would be better suited to the euros. 

[craigkillie]

On 02/07/2022 at 07:35, Donathan said:

Some reports in the US that FIFA have realised the proposed sixteen groups of 3 format is a crock of shite and are now considering twelve 4s (In the same format as the Euros) 

Wouldn't surprise me if this was the plan all along. The only reason they came up with the daft groups of three format was to appease the clubs who didn't want an extra game added to the tournament, so it might just be a classic "bait and switch", hang around a while and then sneak through the change at a later date. A bit like the winter World Cup in Qatar - originally it was "no way are we moving it".

It also makes it much easier to eventually go to 64, which has to be their long-term plan.

[vikingTON]

On 02/07/2022 at 11:45, Lurkst said:

Well for starters Indonesia is the world's 4th largest country (population) is in the top 20 economies

So what? Football is a global sport and so the population of the host nation of a tournament is completely irrelevant. Which is why India has hosted zero World Cups. 

There's also no sensible metric by which Indonesia is among the top 20 economies either. 

Quote

as mentioned already has the infrastructure in place to host the tournament.

World class stadiums, highly efficient transport networks, hotels, security? I highly doubt that it does. 

The valid objections to Qatar hosting a tournament do not magically disappear because you think that Indonesia is a 'big' country and so has a valid claim to hosting the World Cup. It is not South Korea in 2002 and will need another couple of decades to make a good fist of that. 

Edited July 3, 2022 by vikingTON

[Busta Nut]

On 21/06/2022 at 20:22, Highland Capital said:

Confirmed that Argentina-Uruguay-Paraguay-Chile will bid to co-host the 2030 World Cup.

This Joint bid patter is getting wild.

[BFTD]

26 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

This Joint bid patter is getting wild.

Yeah. That's three former solo hosts. I wonder how Paraguay got involved.

Be interesting to see how they divvy up the matches past the group stage.

[Busta Nut]

Even the US/Canada/Mexico WC is nuts. 3 countries who should be hosting it solo.

I want Germany, France & Italy to co host just for the sake of it.

[Highland Capital]

Just thinking there how many countries are left that could conceivably hold it solo who haven't had it yet?

China could definitely do it.  Australia and Indonesia could probably do it.  Any others?  UAE went through my mind but they seem to have a handful of big ones and then there's a big drop off.