World Cup 2026

Should have been Uncle Sam holding a cheeseburger in his left hand and an ar-15 in his right.

Though in all seriousness, if they were going for animal/plant like mascots, why didn't they make the US mascot a bald eagle?
Maybe because last time we hosted, we did that.
 
England is just gonna be a big teapot
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Are we getting a pickem league going for this? I did one on MLS site but we can use another platform.
 

That would be a far better solution, but they could also do:

48 teams in 12 groups, top 24 go through.

The 8 teams with the best Group Stage records get byes into the Round of 16, the last 16 teams play the Round of 24. Having 32 of 48 teams going through takes so much jeopardy out of the group stage, so this makes it a little more like what we have now.
 
The other thing my plan would do is keep teams on 6 points from rotating heavily in MD3, as we've seen with Brazil and France this week -- make them go for the win to be on 9 points and be through to the Round of 16.
 
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Whatever happens, the number of World Cup games will rise. The tournament has consisted of 64 matches since the switch to 32 teams in 1998. Increasing it to 48 teams for 2026 will lead to a minimum of 80 games, the figure under a three-group format.....going with 12 groups of four teams could lead to a 104-game World Cup.

Took that from the article. Have to think they eventually figure that out. Adding 16 teams but only 16 more games doesn't make nearly as much sense for F$FA as adding 16 teams and 40 more games.
 
Not sure I'm liking this all that much. I mean, the tournament's already a month long. Do we want to have to have a two-month break in the middle of the MLS season? Or will the rest of the world want to just completely eliminate their off-season? Not sure how it could work.
 
Not sure I'm liking this all that much. I mean, the tournament's already a month long. Do we want to have to have a two-month break in the middle of the MLS season? Or will the rest of the world want to just completely eliminate their off-season? Not sure how it could work.
I think it works well for every league/federation. Big soccer countries (like Italy) are less likely to miss a tournament due to a bad run, and more club players will be able to be showcased at a World Cup. Depending on the format, it's also possible that the favorites won't have their odds of winning slashed by much, despite of a 50% increase in the field.

That being said, despite 2018 still being fresh, I don't like the expansion. I like concacaf qualifying having some actual credibility of qualifying failure, and as exciting as the World Cup is, I spend more time and emotions during the qualifying cycle than the tournament itself.
 
Show me a compelling case that he's better than, say, pepi or sargent with this form this season:
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If one of our NYCFC strikers had this sort of form, we'd be calling for them to be benched asap.
USMNT selection was on 10/13. So this is more accurate. 3 goals, 3 assists in 8 games when GGG said screw him he ain’t coming. GGG’s decision had nothing to do with his form from the Dortmund match on. (BTW he had an assist in that Dortmund match). It’s also easy to understand if his play dropped off after feeling like his career just got screwed for no good reason. I wish the kid the best and hope he rebounds knowing there should be a new man in charge the next 4 years who values his skillset.

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With this World Cup over, I am beginning to think forward to 2026 and how difficult and expensive it is likely to be to get tickets.

One thing I am considering is spending some money now to become a member of US Soccer and build up some priority by the next Cup.

Does anyone have any experience with how US Soccer works and whether that's a good idea? Any thoughts on which tier I should join and whether there really is an advantage to joining now versus joining in 2025 or 2026?
 
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