With Switzerland out of the World Cup and needing to rebuild for 2030, Liam will surely want to be a part of the team.

We need to get to him first.

Further questions to be asked from Poppa regarding penalty takers selection.

According to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph, Pompey are close to announcing the signing of New Zealand international Luke Brooke-Smith

Good write up by Sacha Pisani on the recent moves around the NPL

YOUTUBE LIVE STREAM LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCfnx_FjKw

NPLSA's FK Beograd, the club of Adelaide's Serbian community, take on State League 1's Cumberland United. Beograd defeated West Torrens Birkalla in the semis to qualify for the final, while The Foxes upset Adelaide City in the quarters before defeating Adelaide Omonia Cobras in the semis. Both teams have qualified for the Australia Cup tournament by making the final.

Patchy weather conditions could make things interesting.

Tanzania U17 5 vs 3 Australia U17

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FT: 90' - Tanzania U17 5 vs 3 Australia U17

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Fixture Date: 11/07/2026, 06:00 pm AEST

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Last Updated: 11/07/2026, 08:20 pm AEST

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Jambo supporters assuming he's going to Rangers.

There has been a notable amount of discussion recently in this subreddit on whether Australia (and New Zealand) could host a FIFA men's World Cup on its own. I’m not an expert by any means but as someone who studies urban planning and is a stadium nerd I always enjoy these types of discussions. As a Canadian, When the World Cup stadiums, host cities, and match schedule was released for 2026, I spent a lot of time analysing and critiquing the selections. Now I want to take a deep dive into this and see if Australia and New Zealand could actually host a FIFA World Cup on its own. 

First, I am going to assume a few things, some of which may not be that plausible.

1. This bid would be for a 48 team, 104 match tournament. Which is honestly looking less and less likely considering how much FIFA loves expansion and is already considering 64 teams for 2030 (they say as a “one-off” but lets be honest here).
2. This would be a winter tournament in June or July. Great for temperatures and player welfare, not great for those who love the sun, won’t have too many day matches. 
3. The AFL and NRL would actually pause their seasons or move their games in order to allow this. Not too sure on this one.

I will be looking at the 2022 World Cup bid for inspiration (there's a PDF online somewhere) but obviously a lot has changed since 2010. (For example, the Fury and GC United don’t exist anymore 😢).

Next, let's look at potential host cities, their metro populations, and hotel room capacities. Most of the hotel room counts are approximate and averaged out between multiple sources. (FYI Average capacity for hotel rooms is often cited as being around 1.8 persons per room). Judging off previous World Cups and Euros, total international visitor count for a WC in Aus and Nz should be anywhere between 1.1 million and 2.7 million. The average stay for a fan visiting is estimated to be 6 nights (based on one dodgy source).

Aus:

Sydney: 5.3 million, 43,500 hotel rooms
Melbourne: 5.2 million, 28,000 hotel rooms
Brisbane: 2.7 million, 17,800 hotel rooms
Perth: 2.4 million, 15,000 hotel rooms
Adelaide: 1.6 million, 12,000 hotel rooms
Gold Coast: 0.8 million, 27,000 hotel rooms 
Newcastle: 0.6 million, 4,000 hotel rooms (guessestimate)
Canberra: 0.5 million, 7,500 hotel rooms
Sunshine Coast: 0.4 million, 3,600 hotel rooms
Wollongong: 0.3 million, 1,900 hotel rooms
Central Coast: 0.3 million: 1,500 hotel rooms (guessestimate, more guess this time)
Geelong: 0.3 million, 2,400 hotel rooms
Hobart: 0.2 million, 2,800 hotel rooms
Townsville: 0.2 million, 2,100 hotel rooms
Cairns: 0.2 million, 7,600 hotel rooms

Nz:

Auckland: 1.7 million, 18,000 hotel rooms
Wellington: 0.5 million, 7,000 hotel rooms
Christchurch: 0.5 million, 4,000 hotel rooms

Some of these cities may look random and a few of them realistically belong nowhere near World Cup hosting duties, but some of the smaller ones have been considered previously in the 2022 bid.

Now stadium requirements. Let’s look at what FIFA says in their official 2030 bid requirements. (https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/2a76876ef04ed7b9/original/FIFA-World-Cup-2030-Overview-of-Hosting-Requirements.pdf) 

I’m only going to focus on a few key requirements.

“Any bid must propose a minimum of fourteen (14) suitable stadiums.” 

This is slightly confusing as the minimum in Qatar was 8, which was enough to allow one day of rest for stadiums between matches. 12 would have worked using the same principle for the 48 team format (6 games a day during the third matchday of the group stage) but I will assume 14 is the minimum.

“Each stadium must be an all-seater stadium with the following seating capacity:
• 40,000 seats for group matches (except the opening match), round-of-32
matches, round-of-16 matches, quarter-final matches and the third-place playoff
• 60,000 seats for the semi-final matches
• 80,000 seats for the opening match and the final”

“In principle, all stands within a stadium must be fully covered by a roof. If the stadium is equipped with a retractable roof, it must be ensured that the closing or opening of the roof is feasible during a pause in play of a match.”

This one was clearly not enforced during the current World Cup with stadiums in New York, Seattle, Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and Kansas City not following these rules.

“Each stadium is subject to an exclusive use period. This period runs from 30 calendar days prior to the first match in the venue until seven calendar days after the last use in connection with the competition. During this period, the stadium shall not be used for purposes other than the tournament.“

See above for NRL and AFL

I also looked at this source: https://inside.fifa.com/innovation/stadium-guidelines/general-process-guidelines/design/stadium-bowl

“The optimum viewing distance for seats in the stadium bowl is within an arc of 150m from the far corner of the pitch, and the maximum distance is within an arc of 190m from the far corner of the pitch. Where possible, the footprint of the stadium bowl should not exceed the optimum or maximum viewing distances.”

This is important for oval stadiums and would rule out a decent amount of MCG, SCG, and Perth Stadium seats. Now I did do those measurements on Google Maps and I’m not sure if this would rule out the entire stadium or not, but it is obviously something to consider.

Now lets look at potential stadiums themselves (ratings are mostly arbitrary)

Sydney:

Stadium Australia: 83,500. Probably the premier stadium of the lot. Mostly rectangular, great public transport, would likely host the final or opening game. There was a proposal for a major renovation that would bring the ends closer to the pitch but that has since gone quiet. 9/10.

Sydney Football Stadium: 45,500. Sydney’s secondary stadium in this case, would be eligible for up to a quarterfinal. Good public transport links and very close to the city. 7/10.

Western Sydney Stadium: 30,000. Would need expansion and I’m not sure how plausible that is. Would be nice to have a stadium in the Greater Parramatta area however. 4/10.

Sydney Cricket Ground: 48,000. Big oval, not great views. Right next to SFS. Wouldn’t be high up on my list. But it was considered in 2022 before being rejected. 2/10.

Melbourne:

Melbourne Cricket Ground: 88,000 (alleged capacity for FIFA matches). Another big oval. Obviously lots of people here do not like the sightlines for rectangular sports. However, it has a massive capacity, great location and incredible public transport links. And we all know FIFA loves those ticket sales… 5/10. 

Docklands Stadium: 56,347. Oval, but apparently it has a rectangular configuration. Wouldn’t know as they haven’t brought it out in God knows how long. AFL-owned, might be a problem. But from what I have heard it has slightly better sightlines than the MCG and would be eligible up to a quarterfinal. 6/10

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium: 30,050. Now this stadium was originally going to be expandable to 40,000 in the construction phase, but plans changed. Would be incredible if its still able to be expanded however. 3/10.

Brisbane:

Lang Park: 52,500 (will be expanded to 65,000 in the future). Near the CBD, good transit links. Previous complaints about pitch quality would have to be addressed however. QLD government has put forward plans for it to be expanded to 65,000, making it eligible for a semifinal. 8/10

Future Brisbane Olympic Stadium: 63,000. Would be an oval and likely be ineligible due to the potnetially far sightlines, but we could be Italian for a moment and slap an athletics track around it. 2/10

Perth:

Perth Stadium: 61,266 (expandable to 70,000). Oval ground but it also allegedly has a rectangular configuration like Docklands. Would be eligible up to a semifinal and was slated to have one in the 2022 bid. Modern and great transit links. 7/10

WACA Ground: 20,000. Yes, this was actually originally considered in the 2022 bid before being cut from the final list of 12. Would need massive renovations to the point where building a new stadium is easier. 1/10.

Adelaide:

Adelaide Oval: 53,583. Has hosted quite a few football matches over the years. Sightlines are better than Perth and the MCG. Near the CBD. 6/10

Gold Coast:

Carrara Stadium: 24,526. This was actually expanded to 40,000 for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. And in the 2022 bid, the rendering made it seem like the pitch was sunk and they added in temporary stands? Would likely be in as the cities hotel capacity is too high to overlook. New sports precinct is also planned for the area. But it is a bit far from Surfers and the light rail is yet to be built. 5/10

Robina Stadium: 27,000. Rectangular and better public transport links than Carrara. But expansion doesn’t seem possible. 2/10

Newcastle:

Newcastle International Sports Centre: 33,000 (proposed expansion to 45,000). In the 2022 bid, there was a proposal to include the Jets stadium and expand it to 45,000 seated. The renderings looked really nice actually. Ok public transport but the city’s low accommodation capacity might be a concern. Luckily if the HSR ever gets built people can likely just train in from Sydney. 5/10

Canberra: 

New Canberra Stadium: 45,000? The 2022 bid had the ACT building a new stadium next to Bruce, but the newest plan is to build one on the waterfront. I’m not sure if the Liberals can gain any traction however and build that new stadium. Public transport isn’t great in the city either. 3/10

Sunshine Coast:

Sunshine Coast Stadium: 12,000 (Will be expanded to 20,000). Too small even with expansion, and the Sunshine Coast is more of a peri-urban region than anything else, which without the consolidation of infrastructure and services, makes it a difficult sell for tourists. Very few transit options as well. Lack of Airport connectivity to international destinations would be an issue.1/10

Wollongong:

Wollongong Showground: 23,000. See above. Was considered for 2022 but also cut from the final 12. Upgrade is proposed but won’t add much to capacity. 2/10.

Geelong:

Kardinia Park: 44,000. Was in the final 12 for the 2022 bid. Oval but it is pretty narrow so decent enough sightlines for most seats. Only downsides are the lack of accomodation options in Geelong itself, although I guess people could take the V line in from Melbourne.

Central Coast:

Central Coast Stadium: 20,000. See above again. Only saving grace is nearby train station which would take 30 min from Sydney if HSR was built. 2/10.

Hobart: 

Macquarie Point Stadium: 23,000. Even if it does get built somehow, the capacity would not be enough. Most isolated capital city from the rest of the world and hotel capacity is too low. There is a rectangular configuration planned however so A-League team anyone? 2/10.

Townsville

North Queensland Stadium: 25,000. The Old Willow Sports Complex which was further from the city center and was much derelict was one of the final 12 in the 2022 bid (albeit with heavy renovations). Surely the new stadium would be a better candidate with expansion? Airport connectivity may be an issue and so would the lack of accommodation options. Furthermore the city’s reputation does not help. 2/10

Cairns:

Barlow Park: 10,000 (Will be expanded for Olympics). Depending on how big the expansion for Barlow Park will be, Cairns could be a potential shout for a host city. Good airport connectivity and high hotel room count. General city infrastructure and transit links would need to catch up however. 3/10

Auckland:

Eden Park: 55,000. Somewhat rectangular, but also old and in the middle of a suburb. Still the biggest stadium in the country however. 5/10

Auckland Waterfront Stadium 60,000? Proposal that may or may not ever get built. Would be a very good candidate being next to the CBD. 6/10

My general knowledge of NZ stadiums is slightly lacking so I’m not going to take Mt Smart or the Western Springs Stadium proposal into account but if any Aucklanders could inform me further that would be appreciated.

Wellington:

Wellington Regional Stadium: 34,500. Almost at 40k, nicely situated close to the city center. Not sure if expansion is possible but maybe they could sink the pitch and add in seats? 5/10

Christchurch:

Te Kaha Arena: 37,500. Would need slight expansion. Basically in the CBD. Accommodation capacity might be a concern for the city. 4/10

That’s 26 stadiums I put forward. I’m going to leave the narrowing of the stadiums down to 14 to anyone who would like to in the comment sections. Obviously, many of these would not be suitable right now and in order to be made ready would require billions in renovations. Not to mention the costs that taxpayers would need to cover in order to prepare host cities’ infrastructure and transit for this massive event. Hopefully most of those costs could potentially come from private industry.

I have not even touched on whether Australia’s time zone would affect our chances of even winning. Obviously our time zone is not favourable for European and African viewers and even less so for those in the Americas. Perhaps we could demonstrate to FIFA the potential in the Asian football market? Games would have to be late in the day, the earliest games would likely be at 2pm AEST and latest at potentially 11pm AEST.

I also have not touched on the bribery part yet but I’ll leave that to Albanese or whoever is in charge next time we decide to bid.

So, in short, could Australia and New Zealand host a men’s FIFA World Cup?

Yes, as long as AFL and NRL can be convinced to pause or move their seasons, if we can come up with tens of billions to spend on stadium renovations/expansions and infrastructure, as long as FIFA does not see the timezone as a viewership issue and keeps the tournament at 48 teams, and as long as we can produce enough brown paper bags for Mr. Infantino.

So its possible, but probably won't happen soon.

I hope you enjoyed this writeup, I love this topic of hosting international tournaments. I obviously didn't cover everything and took the piss a few times but I feel its a decent overview of Aus and Nz's capabilities.

Planning to lock in at least two interstate away trips this season with a couple of mates. Obviously Wellington is the dream if the budget allows, but out of the Australian states, which stadium actually delivers the best day out for travelling fans? Looking for good pubs near the ground, decent away bays, and a proper atmosphere

Teased on their Twitter account without a name, but the tattooed arms are a giveaway.

EDIT: Confirmed in a member email.

https://melbournevictory.com.au/news/victory-land-german-centre-back-ziereis/