World Cup 2026

[SpongeG]

I just watched a clip of people at a game somewhere in the states being asked how much have they spent for the World Cup, most of them were from overseas, the least amount spent was $50,000 and one guy admitted to spending $250,000 but he also added he only stayed at nice hotels like W or Hyatt level, not cheap air bnb's.

Then they asked what do they do for a living. Many of them run their own AI companies; one said his family runs some kind of tequila farm in Mexico, and one said he lives off his parents, but they all came from money and it sounded like the cost wasn't a problem.

[harls]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I just watched a clip of people at a game somewhere in the states being asked how much have they spent for the World Cup, most of them were from overseas, the least amount spent was $50,000 and one guy admitted to spending $250,000 but he also added he only stayed at nice hotels like W or Hyatt level, not cheap air bnb's.

Then they asked what do they do for a living. Many of them run their own AI companies; one said his family runs some kind of tequila farm in Mexico, and one said he lives off his parents, but they all came from money and it sounded like the cost wasn't a problem.

FIFA is just going after the whales, just like Vegas. Wonder how long that will last.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Hopefully that doesn't happen. There were already a lot of one-sided matches in the group stage this year, due to 48 teams participating.

Canada-Qatar 6-0
Germany-Curacao 7-1
Portugal-Uzbekistan 5-0
Mexico-Czechia 3-0
Senegal-Iraq 5-0
Sweden-Tunisia 5-1
Brazil-Haiti 3-0
Japan-Tunisia 4-0
Spain-Saudi Arabia 4-0
etc

Expanding to 64 teams will show the gap in talent even futher. Not a good idea. But revenue and $$$ dictate the way forward, and as long as idiots are willing to pay thousands of dollars to attend some of these meaningless matches, then FIFA will expand to 64 teams.

There’s quite a lot of good sides that didn’t qualify for this World Cup… and not just European sides. Nigeria, Cameroon, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Costa Rica are all far superior squads to the worst of the 6 countries above that got thrashed.

There should be far less examples of decent countries not qualifying for the tournament if it’s expanded to 64 countries.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Hopefully that doesn't happen. There were already a lot of one-sided matches in the group stage this year, due to 48 teams participating.

Canada-Qatar 6-0
Germany-Curacao 7-1
Portugal-Uzbekistan 5-0
Mexico-Czechia 3-0
Senegal-Iraq 5-0
Sweden-Tunisia 5-1
Brazil-Haiti 3-0
Japan-Tunisia 4-0
Spain-Saudi Arabia 4-0
etc

Expanding to 64 teams will show the gap in talent even futher. Not a good idea. But revenue and $$$ dictate the way forward, and as long as idiots are willing to pay thousands of dollars to attend some of these meaningless matches, then FIFA will expand to 64 teams.

What the hell was Curaco doing in this tournament?

[Surrealplaces]

France, Spain, Argentina and England were the top 4 teams ranked going into the tournament and who's left remaining.
I'm predict France and England in the final with France winning 3-1.

[Coldrsx]

Amazing that the top 4 remain.

I'm going France-Spain as the final, with France winning 2-1.

[MolsonExport]

^One of them (Spain or France) will be eliminated this afternoon.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I'm going France-Spain as the final, with France winning 2-1.

Impossible finals matchup... unless you're talking about 2030.

[Calgarian]

I think we are in for France - Argentina again, with a lot of horrible things being said about the French players from the Argentine side again.

[Coldrsx]

Haha, right.

France it is!

[Gresto]

Ugh, guess I'll have to cheer for France.

[Calgarian]

Spain off to the final...

[MolsonExport]

Go England!! You beat Argentina in the Falklands War. Time for a repeat.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Haha, right.
France it is!

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

What the hell was Curaco doing in this tournament?

It's just Netherlands 2.0 with 25 of 26 players were born in mainland Holland.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Go England!! You beat Argentina in the Falklands War. Time for a repeat.

Forza VARgentina! Beat those limeys!

[Nite]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Hopefully that doesn't happen. There were already a lot of one-sided matches in the group stage this year, due to 48 teams participating.

Canada-Qatar 6-0
Germany-Curacao 7-1
Portugal-Uzbekistan 5-0
Mexico-Czechia 3-0
Senegal-Iraq 5-0
Sweden-Tunisia 5-1
Brazil-Haiti 3-0
Japan-Tunisia 4-0
Spain-Saudi Arabia 4-0
etc

Expanding to 64 teams will show the gap in talent even futher. Not a good idea. But revenue and $$$ dictate the way forward, and as long as idiots are willing to pay thousands of dollars to attend some of these meaningless matches, then FIFA will expand to 64 teams.

Both Canada and the US also lost by 3 goals, should they not been at the World Cup?

The World Cup is definitely expanding to 64 teams which i think is for the best as it will make the tournament more fair not having to deal with the best 3rd play team and opening up the world cup to teams currently on the bubble.

Every expansion of the world cup has been a success as the talent gap continues to narrow around the world.
The world cup crowns a global champion, but FIFA reason for being is to grow the game and expanding the world cup definitely increase interest around the world and help grow the game.

Here are the 10 largest countries on the planet and only 2 made it to the world cup, These are huge markets that FIFA would like to grow the game in

India: ~1.48 billion
China: ~1.41 billion
United States: ~349 million
Indonesia: ~288 million
Pakistan: ~259 million
Nigeria: ~242 million
Brazil: ~214 million
Bangladesh: ~178 million
Russia: ~143 million
Ethiopia: ~139 million

My prediction for the expansion are:

CONCACAF +2
CONMEBOL +2
UEFA +2
CAF +5
AFC +5
OFC +0

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by Nite

Both Canada and the US also lost by 3 goals, should they not been at the World Cup?

The World Cup is definitely expanding to 64 teams which i think is for the best as it will make the tournament more fair not having to deal with the best 3rd play team and opening up the world cup to teams currently on the bubble.

Every expansion of the world cup has been a success as the talent gap continues to narrow around the world.
The world cup crowns a global champion, but FIFA reason for being is to grow the game and expanding the world cup definitely increase interest around the world and help grow the game.

Here are the 10 largest countries on the planet and only 2 made it to the world cup, These are huge markets that FIFA would like to grow the game in

India: ~1.48 billion
China: ~1.41 billion
United States: ~349 million
Indonesia: ~288 million
Pakistan: ~259 million
Nigeria: ~242 million
Brazil: ~214 million
Bangladesh: ~178 million
Russia: ~143 million
Ethiopia: ~139 million

My prediction for the expansion are:

CONCACAF +2
CONMEBOL +2
UEFA +2
CAF +5
AFC +5
OFC +0

Pleaseeee don't increase CONCACAF spots anymore. Curaco is in the world cup because of CONCACAF

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I just watched a clip of people at a game somewhere in the states being asked how much have they spent for the World Cup, most of them were from overseas, the least amount spent was $50,000 and one guy admitted to spending $250,000 but he also added he only stayed at nice hotels like W or Hyatt level, not cheap air bnb's.

Then they asked what do they do for a living. Many of them run their own AI companies; one said his family runs some kind of tequila farm in Mexico, and one said he lives off his parents, but they all came from money and it sounded like the cost wasn't a problem.

Hmm, I’ve been talking to people in the tourism industry in Vancouver and the benefits were definitely oversold. Unless you were right on the Granville Strip the bump was slim to nonexistent. And the suburbs apparently didn’t benefit much either.

FIFA fandom fails to translate in Richmond hotels
Soccer-rabid fans aren't necessarily making their way from Vancouver to Richmond.
John Kurucz
Jul 8, 2026

… Tourism Richmond CEO Nancy Small says that at least in the local context, the sheer volume of fandom seen in Vancouver hasn’t materialized in big numbers on the other side of the Fraser River.

“The projections and the goals that we had anticipated a year ago, in terms of budgets and forecasts, have not been met in the hotels,” Small said.…

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/fifa-fandom-fails-to-translate-in-richmond-hotels-12521339

[Nite]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Pleaseeee don't increase CONCACAF spots anymore. Curaco is in the world cup because of CONCACAF

Before this world cup Canada never got a point in our previous world cups. It took us 7 games to get that point.
Curacao was able to achieve this in only it 2nd game. Curacao achieve more than Canada in it's first world cup than Canada did its first two.

there are plenty of CONCACAF teams who can hold there own in the World Cup.
Costa Rica reach the Quarter-Finals in 2014 and failed qualify for this world cup.

Jamaica, Trinidad & Honduras failed to qualify for this world cup but have qualified since the last expansion to 32 teams.
Also the 3 host CONCACAF Nations, CANADA, US and Mexico have all failed to qualify out of CONCACAF in at least one of the last 4 World Cup so CONCACAF opponents are no push overs.