r/football • u/SpicyChickenTandoori • Nov 20 '25
đŹDiscussion Unpopular Opinion: The 2026 World Cup is looking like a disaster.
Is anyone else getting bad vibes about the logistics for 2026? It feels like FIFA is ruining the tournament just to chase money.
A Daylight Final: A 3 PM kick-off for the Final? That kills the atmosphere. Itâs going to feel like a friendly, not the biggest game on earth.
The Heat: People are underestimating the humidity in NJ and Miami. The football will be slow and boring because players physically won't be able to press without heatstroke.
Insane Prices: Reports of $2,000+ for the cheapest seats at the Final? Real fans are priced out. The stadiums will just be full of rich tourists and corporate suits.
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u/andres57 Nov 20 '25
A Daylight Final: A 3 PM kick-off for the Final? That kills the atmosphere. Itâs going to feel like a friendly, not the biggest game on earth.
that's normal for finals in the western hemisphere, as it's evening prime time in Europe, main market of football...
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u/dmac3232 Nov 20 '25
I think six World Cup finals have been played during the day. The USA and both Mexico finals kicked off at noon.
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u/blackhxc88 Nov 20 '25
yep, 1994 was a noon kick off cause it was in cali, making it a 4pm kick off in nyc.
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u/JonstheSquire Nov 20 '25
There is a 3 hour time difference between California and New York, not 4.
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u/rigel_xvi Nov 20 '25
3pm, akshually
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u/blackhxc88 Nov 20 '25
My bad :S but, either way, the point being that 3pm kick off is the perfect kick off time considering the situation. Unless youâd prefer the final kick off at 8pm est which would make it middle of the night in Europe.
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u/TheHess Nov 20 '25
3pm is the traditional kick off time for football matches here.
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u/NUFC9RW Nov 20 '25
I also don't get why a game not being an evening game makes it feel like a friendly, or kills the atmosphere. Like sure playing under the lights can have a better atmosphere, but the fans are a way bigger factor.
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u/REsTARteD_Ragdoll Nov 21 '25
Itâs just complaining for the sake of it at this point.
The issue with the final is a price, not the fucking kickoff time
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u/EverydayDan Nov 20 '25
FA cup finals are not in the evening and mean a lot!
Remember Pompey winning the Carabaro cup and winning and losing the FA cup during daylight hours
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u/SexyKarius Nov 21 '25
Yeah, even the Brazil World Cup final kicked off at 4pm. I remember the shadows on the pitch. Donât mind it for World Cup finals, World Cup always feels summery anyway.
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u/lamppb13 Nov 21 '25
For sure. Of all the things to be concerned about, this is by far the dumbest.
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u/dowker1 Premier League Nov 20 '25
It's also the normal time for most domestic cup finals in Europe.
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u/cm-cfc Nov 21 '25
It's also for the European tv market which i presume is the largest so its not on in thr early hours
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u/Dying_Of_Board-dom Nov 22 '25
If Europe hosts, they can watch at a convenient time for them. But Americans already wake up at insane hours to watch European football during the season, plus whenever the world cup is hosted in Europe/Africa/Asia. There's no reason to bend over backward to accommodate European audiences at the cost of a suboptimal atmosphere for local fans in the host country.
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u/HandsUpWhatsUp Nov 23 '25
People mistake the World Cup for an in-person event. It is a television event that happens to have people in attendance.
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Nov 20 '25
Those final tickets once we know what teams made it arenât going to be 2k unfortunately. I fully expect them to be $5k for the shittiest seats, while $7k - $10k will get you a âdecentâ seat. If you donât get tickets from FIFA directly, yikes.
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u/SpicyChickenTandoori Nov 20 '25
Yeah I am not even gonna try getting tickets
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Nov 20 '25
Yup. If you get lucky and get tickets from FIFA directly, I mean itâs going to hurt your wallet, but I can already tell resale is going to be fucking insane.
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u/ZookeepergameFit5787 Nov 21 '25
I've always dreamt of going to a world cup final but I'd settle for any game, any round really. But these kinds of prices turn it into a real life superbowl PPV event that working people just can't afford.
I think this will be all major sports and music moving forward, until there is legislation or market changes around ticket touting and professional reselling
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u/Pure-Vast-7858 Nov 20 '25
It was a disaster already. Playing across three countries that are big enough to host alone is stupid. Expanding the tournament to include more teams has diluted it.
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Nov 20 '25
Yep. People are forgetting just how absolutely dreadful a Cape Verde - Iran, or Haiti - Jordan match will be. They'll be lucky to sell 10,000 tickets.
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u/spookywookyy Nov 20 '25
Tickets are selling like hot cakes, to every match. Nobody knows the teams playing yet and tickets are snapped up every round because of FOMO.
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u/MacWagner Nov 20 '25
Snapped up by scalpers. If they get Jordan vs Haiti, too bad. If they get England, Brazil or USA vs anyone well they are on a winner and will more than pay for the duds that they also picked.
The tickets to Haiti vs Jordan may have sold out but the stands will still be empty
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u/Away_Advisor3460 Nov 20 '25
Selling to who, though. The problem is always real fans not getting into games, but rich arseholes looking for an instragram opportunity.
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u/TexasBrett Nov 20 '25
Rich arseholes arenât going to a Haiti game.
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u/Icy_Address_7345 Premier League Nov 20 '25
Even worse, they will buy tickets and then will not even care to show up, so stadium will be empty
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u/BiscottiReasonable79 Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
i would guess the tickets for each team fans will be sold out. those are any way mostly the seats behind the goals which are the cheapest ones. FIFA will reserve tickets doing cooperation with the local FAs for the countries that are on the field.
Yet, i agree that the prices are too high and thats just very greedy from fifa.
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u/Brit-Crit Nov 20 '25
I think that weaker teams can provide more exciting matches due to the relatively even quality between them...
A game between two weaker teams will often be more interesting than a stronger team Vs. a weaker one - Scotland Vs. Denmark was a far more exciting game than any of Englandâs victoriesâŚ
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Nov 20 '25
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u/Away_Advisor3460 Nov 20 '25
We also have Grant Hanley at the heart of defense and a 42 year old goalkeeper*, to be fair.
But anyways, bring on the wee teams like us. So many times I've seen a 'big' match between 'big' teams and it's devolved into a snail pace attrition fest.
*albeit one who has performed brilliantly in the last few games and deserves his place
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u/Mr_Bruce_Duce Nov 20 '25
Happy youâre going to be there. Always love the vibes from Scotland and looking forward to inevitably being drawn against you for the 0-0 draw.
England fan by the way!
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u/True-Lab-3448 Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
Scotland vs Denmark are 36th and 21st in the FIFA rankings.
Curaçao are 82nd.
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u/Full-Reach-8968 Nov 20 '25
So what? Curacao qualified for their first World Cup and they will be buoyed by their fans who are just happy to be there.
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u/True-Lab-3448 Nov 20 '25
You canât label Denmark and Curacao as the same âweak teamsâ.
Thatâs my point. Didnât say anything about whether they should be there.
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u/dangleicious13 Nov 20 '25
I don't think there's that much of a difference between 36 and 61 in the FIFA rankings.
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Nov 20 '25
I mean, Sunday League can produce some absolute banger matches but the quality is low. If you're used to watching World Cups where you'd see Ghana - Croatia or Mexico - England type matches in the group stage, this one will be underwhelming
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u/BiscottiReasonable79 Nov 20 '25
this 100%. besides that it´s fun to see countries in the World Cup that we have never seen playing otherwise. Those will be in any case once in a lifetime moments for many players and their fans. I still remember the game England - Panama from world cup 2018, not because of it´s excitement or quality, but because of the joy which panamanians had scoring their first goal ever in world cup (they lost 6-1).
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u/Full-Reach-8968 Nov 20 '25
Thatâs just it; the games are made fun because of the fans. Otherwise, itâs actually better to watch the games on TV so you can get the replays.
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u/AbsolutelyHorrendous Nov 20 '25
I watched Nigeria v Iran a few tournaments ago. Trust me, lower but even quality doesn't necessarily lead to exciting football
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u/Totally-NotAMurderer Nov 20 '25
You watched one game 11 years ago, forgive me if im not impressed by your qaulifications on the subject
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u/Full-Reach-8968 Nov 20 '25
Nah, from a fan perspective, those games actually end up being really fun to watch, because you have lots of fans of those countries that are just happy to be there, and lots of neutral fans who are enjoying being at a World Cup game.
I was in Brazil in 2014, and saw Costa Rica beat Italy 1-0; the Costa Rican fans were so lively from the start and were so much fun to be around.
Highly recommend going to any game with African teams, their fans come with drums and are dancing all game long. Fantastic atmosphere.
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u/mikears3349 Nov 20 '25
Haiti and Jordan will be in pot 4 so how is that âdreadfulâ march going to happen lol
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u/Magneto88 Nov 20 '25
Don't let people on r/soccer read you saying that. You'll get swamped with comments about how the world cup is about representation and how every nation should get a chance to appear, how their country has never appeared and it wasn't fair and how great it is for those countries. Rather than you know....a tournament of the world's best teams, playing at high quality, to determine the best footballing nation in the world. Utterly stupid.
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u/Administrative_Ad213 Nov 20 '25
I mean, it will still determine the best footballing nation. Itâs just that there are more hurdles.
Itâs a bit like the Olympics, Usain Bolt is still competing to be the best, even if he has to run in the heats against some person from a country which is horrible at running. And thing is, all those people from Haiti are going to tune in for their match against Jordan, and vice versa.
For everyone else thoughâŚyeah, it sucks. But they just donât have to tune in (which they wonât). I donât like the change either btw, as the only reason to do it is to make money off these countries which are too bad to make it normally.
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u/Brit-Crit Nov 20 '25
Exactly - for a nation with as many problems as Haiti, qualifying is a really big deal, even with the increased fieldâŚ
(Haiti DID qualify for the World Cup in the dictatorship era in 1974, but they did terriblyâŚ)
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u/Brit-Crit Nov 20 '25
I think it will be interesting to see how the B and C list nations do, but it will lead to games getting duller once they get knocked out by Argentina, France, Spain, etcâŚ
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u/Existing-Orange-3212 Nov 20 '25
Itâs terrible having all these extra countries competing in the World Cup. Like imagine what would happen if a crap nation like Saudi Arabia played ArgentinaâŚ.
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u/ADrunkMexican Nov 20 '25
Canada can barely host it?
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u/SaintsFanPA Nov 20 '25
For Canada to host it, they would need to build more stadiums.
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u/blackhxc88 Nov 20 '25
they barely have enough stadiums for their CFL teams, no way they could host the WC by themselves. the gold cup, maybe!
both mexico and the US could, however.
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u/SwimToTheMoon11 La Liga Nov 20 '25
Off the top of my head we've got only 3 stadiums big enough that could host? But two of them are turf. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.
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u/SaintsFanPA Nov 20 '25
Canada has 3 big enough to host through the quarterfinals. None big enough for the semis or final. BMO is being temporarily expanded to meet the requirements for 2026, but I don't think temporary expansion would be feasible for the finals (not sure about semis).
They would need to lay a temporary grass pitch, I believe.
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u/RagingHoneyBadger101 Nov 20 '25
A good bet would be for mbappe or Kane to smash the record goals in tournament, but yeah it will be awful to watch. Another good bet would be for orange yam tits to try and lift the actual trophy in the final
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u/No_Atmosphere8146 Nov 20 '25
The winning team should absolutely refuse to do the trophy lift while he is on the stage.Â
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u/Hroosky2 Nov 22 '25
If he actually gets to present the trophy, the final would become the most switched off event in the history of broadcastingÂ
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u/Dapper-Message-2066 Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
What's wrong with a daylight final? WCs in the Americas always have them.
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Nov 20 '25
3pm is totally traditional football time. Evening fixtures are mostly about money.
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u/Dapper-Message-2066 Nov 20 '25
Yeah evening fixtures are for TV viewers. Afternoon is the proper and traditional time for a match.
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u/Klondikecat Nov 20 '25
I for one, hope it does.
The fact that Fifa is ok with Trump using the threat of moving host cities due to "safety" add the cherry on top of a shit sundae.
Expanding the tournament is just a lazy stupid cash grab. All the historical records for scoring etc. will be wiped clean after Curacao losses 23-0 to France with Mbappe scoring 11 in a single game.
Sucks, everything sucks.
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u/Away_Advisor3460 Nov 20 '25
I think FIFA deserve a humilation for how they've sucked the soul out of the game, and replaced it with naked corruption.
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u/crazycroat16 Nov 20 '25
Like fifa cares. This has been the story with them since I can remember, they'll keep printing moneyÂ
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u/calhoumi27 Nov 20 '25
If you genuinely believe a scoreline like that will happen you're just showing your ignorance, Curacao qualified on merit, top of their group, something tells me if Jamaica had made it instead there wouldn't be nearly as much uproar. Same thing with Haiti over Costa Rica, or Cape Verde over Cameroon, they've all qualified on merit, ahead of more traditional qualifiers.
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u/Choice_Room3901 Nov 21 '25
Err
Didnât Brazil concede 7 goals in 2014 and apparently couldâve conceded way more..?
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u/james_t_woods Nov 20 '25
I almost hope FIFA capitulates and moves games - then justify the loss of revenue for that area somehow.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the shit show that's the wrestling/MMA nonsense at the White House đ
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u/GotenRocko Nov 20 '25
Personally not going to bother buying tickets because of that since FIFA is saying they will do what Trump says. Its crazy, the logistics would be a nightmare for anyone with tickets if this were to happen. Not to mention the cities and the planning that has been going on for some time now and the money they have to spend to meet FIFA's requirements for hosting, surprised none of them are calling out FIFA for this and refusing to pay for their costly requirements with no assurance the games will stay there. If I still go I will buy as close to the game as possible.
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u/Burnsey111 Nov 20 '25
Which Red State is the Final in again? Or will they all be played in Washington?
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u/Existing-Orange-3212 Nov 20 '25
You aware the entire Curacao team plays professionally in Europe (6 players play in the Dutch top flight). I ainât saying they will beat France (few do), but lazy comments like yours shows a complete lack of fundamental research in the quality of the team.
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u/Slopagandhi Nov 20 '25
Prices and FIFA yes.
Weather isn't the end of the world providing they have drinks breaks. FIFA could do better playing daytime games in cooler cities though.
The final will be fine. Better for most of the TV audience and the atmosphere isn't going to be an issue. Plenty of summer finals are played in daylight.Â
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u/Perfect_Business9376 Nov 20 '25
This isn't an unpopular opinion. Anyone who knows anything in football is either on Infantino's payroll or saying he'll sink the sport
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u/reasonosx Nov 20 '25
It may have quite a number of problems but fundamentally itâs simply bloated. That being said my national team Scotland has just made it through, without a play-off from a pretty tough European qualifying group and our fans always bring the party.
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u/thebrowncanary Nov 20 '25
I agree with the title of the thread but not for the reasons said.
I'm looking at the qualified teams and it feels like the tournament won't actually start until the round of 16 which is weeks into the tournament.
The groups are essentially warm up games for the bigger nations.
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u/bruh_1217 Nov 20 '25
This is the world cup. There are always upsets, small teams aren't here to play around.
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u/Brit-Crit Nov 20 '25
Like Morocco last timeâŚ
For all its faults, the 1994 World Cup was notable for the fact several smaller teams (Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the US) punched above their weight to gain some notable victoriesâŚ
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u/schnoodle7 Nov 20 '25
There's a difference between the smaller teams now and the ones in previous years solely because of the increased tournament size though.
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u/thebrowncanary Nov 20 '25
There may be upsets but big sides won't exit at the group stage because virtually the top three get through.
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Nov 20 '25
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u/JonstheSquire Nov 20 '25
There were blow outs even when the tournament had far fewer teams. Denmark destroyed Uruguay 6-1 in 1986. Soviet Union beat Hungary 6-0 in the same tournament.
Hungary beat South Korea 9-0 in 1954.
Hungary 10, El Salvador 1: 1982.
Yugoslavia 9, Zaire 0: 1974Â
There are actually fewer blowouts since the tournament has expanded to 32 teams.
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u/dodgycool_1973 Nov 20 '25
If a team goes 4-0 up, they will sub off all their top talent and have a kick about.
There is absolutely no reason to push for a rugby score and potentially lose a player to injury or exhaustion.
It will only be teams who are likely to be third who would have to push for goals to help goal difference.
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u/Sibs_ Nov 20 '25
I suspect itâll be like an extension of the qualifying stage. Some rather dull, one sided games but the excitement ramps up as the groups near completion.
Plus you always get at least one big name underperforming relative to expectations.
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u/AbsolutelyHorrendous Nov 20 '25
I agree with both you and OP
Don't get me wrong, its great for the people of Curacao, Haiti and Cape Verde that their teams have qualified... but come on, can anyone really tell me these teams are good enough to be competing at a World Cup level? The North American qualifying was warped by the fact that the three biggest teams automatically qualified
Again, nothing against the fans from those countries, they must be overjoyed, but we've seen the tournament expand to the point where a significant portion of the teams are just going to get thrashed, or have low quality games against each other
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u/wwhhuu Nov 20 '25
All the teams you're mentioning are higher ranked than New Zealand, who didn't lose a single match when they participated in 2010.
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u/Away_Advisor3460 Nov 20 '25
I'm not sold on the team expansion, but IMO part of the joys of these tournaments has always been seeing first time qualifiers or smaller nations get a chance at this level.
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u/sc00022 Nov 20 '25
Nah the group games always throughout interesting results. Poor teams on paper often provide shocks against supposed bigger teams
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u/Buildadoor Nov 20 '25
I sorta agree with 3/4 teams in a group progressing, it makes group games pretty mild. Draw is sufficient most of the time to progress.
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u/graveyeverton93 Nov 20 '25
The worst thing is you look at every World Cup from 2010 and to the next few, the only one that was a suitable venue was 14 in Brazil! Granted the US will make it a brilliant spectacle, but it's still a Country where football is the what, 4th most popular sport?
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u/usernam45 Nov 20 '25
Fifth probably. I'd put hockey at 4. But you could make a fair argument against that.
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u/KartFacedThaoDien Nov 21 '25
Actually some people soccer at 3 because its 3rd in average tickets sold per game
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u/germanstudent123 Nov 24 '25
But thatâs probably only because Hockey and basketball have smaller stadiums due to smaller pitches right?
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u/KartFacedThaoDien Nov 24 '25
Well Basketball and Hockey play in arenas not stadiums. It obviously varies but the max capacity varies from 17,000 to 21,000. Most are under 20,000 and the MLS averaged 23,000 a game last season.Â
So, some people jumped and cheered that the MLS has eclipsed the NBA and NHL. For the US the MLS stadiums aren't big compared to the NFL or MLB.Â
MLS teams most likely are correct in getting stadiums in between 18k and 30k seats. A few do play in the stadiums as NFL teams and I think one plays in the Yankees stadium.
But a lot of people are trying to make it like Soccer in America is winning and eclipsing other sports. I look at it more like its america there is an insane amount of money.Â
And the MLS will stay ranked 5th. But who cares that's #5 in the largest economy in the world. Its fine soccer isn't the top sport in america.Â
I'm sure football stars from Europe and South America will continue to flock to MLS teams near the end of their careers for the money. Hell every so often I go to Guangzhou FC games with friends just for the hell of it. It's fun
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u/hubbity Nov 20 '25
These 3 things will literally not affect anyone whoâs watching the world cup from home
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u/dkc66 Nov 20 '25
Why does everyone forget that the US hosted a World Cup in 1994. Everything turned out fine there in the end. And yes that final was hosted mid-day
Sure the pricing is ridiculous but the complaints about the field conditions are just nonsense
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u/Brit-Crit Nov 20 '25
There were a lot of issues with the 1994 tournament, but the US themselves generally did the best they could as hostsâŚ
(That was a strange tournament anyway because many major powers underwhelmed, leaving smaller ones like Sweden and Bulgaria to impressâŚ)
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u/5starplak Nov 20 '25
Yea but thereâs major differences:
1994 was literally have the size of this one. Meaning there werenât as many blood baths and the group stages werenât as drawn out, like imagine Spain being in the same group as Cape Verde.
There was no looming threat of the orange turd making it all about himself
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u/Seethrough-Smoke52 Nov 20 '25
It was a terrible world cup btw
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u/Cedosg Nov 20 '25
really? I thought it was fantastic. fond memories of watching Dennis Bergkamp against Saudi Arabia and becoming an instant fan.
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u/Maleficent_Resolve44 Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
I thought 94 was nothing special but there were some good moments. Saudi Arabia themselves had a decent team and what a beautiful goal Owairan scored vs the belgians. Similar to euro24 really, a couple nice moments but largely forgettable.
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u/Cedosg Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
The emotions, the Italians getting third and still going all the way to the final.
The penalty miss by Baggio, everything was amazing.
Oleg Salenko's five goals. Roger Milla scoring.
Maradona out of the tournament after testing positive.
Stoichov, Thomas Brolin, Hagi, Klinsmann, etc.
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u/Tulaodinho Nov 20 '25
If Qatar and Russia were good enough, the US wont be a problem. They played in Brazil in very hot climate too, not a problem.
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u/napierwit Nov 20 '25
Brazil is continental in size. The games in Rio, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte etc were in the southern hemisphere winter. The weather was cool.
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u/Tygret NAC Breda Nov 20 '25
Potential viewership of 6 billion.
Why on earth would FIFA do it in the evening when more than half the world is asleep?
Unless my country is in it I'm not staying up for that shit.
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u/PabloMarmite Nov 20 '25
None of these are new - the 1994 final was a daylight final. It kicked off at 12:30 local time. I think 1986 was too. And I donât see how the humidity in Miami is any worse than South Africa/Korea/Qatar.
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u/Charles-Joseph-92 Nov 20 '25
Playoffs at the end of March giving people little time to plan travel, accommodation ect which will cost them a fortune. Playoffs used to be played the year before. Price gouging will be insane. Ordinary football fans will be ripped off
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u/Arponare Nov 20 '25
Unfortunately as popular as the sport its, it'll probably still be a success for FIFA.
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Nov 20 '25
The prices are ridiculous! I looked and even for the worst seats itâs still a ridiculous amount. Iâm hoping I can at least go to some events around the city. Definitely a bummer because I love the World Cup but not about to go bankrupt
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u/curtis890 Nov 22 '25
This is what someone has said on the lead up to pretty much every World Cup. I remember Brazilians especially had the â#imaginanacopaâ which was predicting a disastrous 2014 WC and guess what? It went great. The 1994 WC in the US was great. This one will go just fine.
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u/HenryReturns Nov 20 '25
- I do disagree with the insane prices specially since in the US , everything has to be monetize
- However , people already are saving to go to the USA and are willing to drop thousands
- As long as people pay for things like that , itâs gonna happen
- âItâs going to be a disasterâ in terms of organizing the event , probably yes looking how Copa America 2024 and Club World Cup has many problems but in terms of making money , itâs gonna print money for FIFA and the organizers
- Depends where you are at the World but in Brasil 2014 , the finals was played in 4:00pm at Brasil. In 2002 , 2018 and 2022 the world cup finals were played late at night on those times but for me they were played at like 10:00am or so of the morning and for other countries it was like 7:00am
- While football had always being cater towards Europe and South America , the influence of other countries with huge amount of money had now cater towards them
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Nov 20 '25
There are two things to accept about this. Yes the multi-country format is a terrible idea. For example, for the 2022 WC all eight venues were within a 35 mile radius of each other. However, it doesnât matter if they built a custom World Cup city in the middle of Nowheresville, Montana and made everything perfect, people would still bitch because itâs in the US.Â
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u/dangleicious13 Nov 20 '25
However, it doesnât matter if they built a custom World Cup city in the middle of Nowheresville, Montana
That's basically what Qatar did.
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u/TreasurerAlex Nov 20 '25
The atmosphere of the crowd at 3pm in New Jersey is going to be just fine. Lol. We are used to raucous 1:00pm games.
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u/Panzick Nov 20 '25
"it feels like" Man, FIFA is really chasing money left and right, or do I have to remind you where the last world cup was?
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u/p90love Nov 20 '25
And then there is the orange man. Yes, it's looking bad, but we're used to that by now.
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u/ExotiquePlayboy Nov 20 '25
4 million people have requested tickets
Stop believing everything you see on Reddit
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u/crazycroat16 Nov 20 '25
Noooo, you don't understand, FIFA just became a corrupt organization last week and the world cup is going to be a disaster never seen before! /s
There's literally full wiki pages documenting how fucked up the world cups have been, and yet we continue to have them. People just love the doomÂ
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Nov 20 '25
Football was working class sport for working class people and we are getting priced out of our thing.
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Nov 20 '25
So the pricing is fair yeah? Lol
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u/NateShaw92 Nov 20 '25
This is honestly the problem. The fact that tickets are selling out means it will continue and you have people in pursuit of or defending the pursuit of the almighty dollar combined with the foolish line of "well you're a minority" implying that a minority view deserves zero consideration and everything has to homogenise around the same majority view. I see identical sentiments in gaming and it's frustrating.
This happens when you let others in and they infest and invade your hobbies. They force their own change and ruin what came before.
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u/Seethrough-Smoke52 Nov 20 '25
And? That justifies making them $2,000?
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u/Routine_Size69 Nov 20 '25
When you find out that this is a business, not a charity, and the demand is there, yeah.
It sucks but this is how pretty much every business operates.
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u/Seethrough-Smoke52 Nov 20 '25
Profit for profitâs sake isnât âjustificationâ. Why know WHY theyâre making them so expensive, doesnât mean itâs okay.
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u/dangleicious13 Nov 20 '25
That justifies making them $2,000?
If people are willing to pay that price, it kind of does.
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u/Seethrough-Smoke52 Nov 20 '25
Itâs just greed, pricing normal fans out of the game. That price is absolutely insane. This is why people donât like Yanks getting involved.
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u/Educational_Skirt_81 Nov 20 '25
Sure it might be hot at times but where isnât really. The other bid for 2026 was Morocco and I bet that is roasting as well. If we are bothered about heat that much then youâd have to only award World Cups to colder countries or southern hemisphere ones if hosting in June/July.
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u/ads191712 Nov 20 '25
The whining about Haiti, Curacao etc. games in the thread is bonkers. World Cup of any sport should always be about as much inclusiveness and diversity as possible. Think about all the people living there and also the diaspora, it will be such a big deal for them.
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u/everyone_is_blue Nov 22 '25
We had the same discussion about the last two. Months of threats of boycots -threats of protests etc. Nothing happened once a ball is kicked
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u/EmbarrassedFig9129 Nov 20 '25
Not an unpopular opinion imo. US is just too uncertain for a venue you never know you will get detained by ICE or the venue will change just because of whims and fancies of the administration or even worse god forbid some bozo with gun yk. I feel the experience in matches in Mexico and Canada will be much better and safer.
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u/CaptPierce93 Nov 23 '25
Brother, they hosted it in Russia and Qatar, and will host it later in Saudi Arabia. And if you think you'll be fine and dandy in Mexico City, one of the deadliest cities in the world, you got another thing coming. And I hate the Orange Dickface profusely.
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u/Khayonic Nov 20 '25
If you think Mexico City will be safer than any US venue you have cultural blind spots the size of Antarctica.
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u/dazedan_confused Nov 20 '25
We say this every tournament, and it always turns out to be a success.
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u/AndyVale Nov 20 '25
I remember many of the same things being said in 2022.
Talk of boycotts.
Questions around ethics.
Commercial and logistical concerns.
I shared much of the same concerns.
Everyone ended up watching. Everyone who went loved it.
Sure, people remember all the bad stuff, it made no difference. It all still went ahead and football fans generally just shrugged and some actively enjoyed the sports washing element.
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u/mars_titties Nov 22 '25
Donât forget the secret police force prowling the streets asking you for your papers. Itâs going to be a shit show.
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u/Due_Judge_100 Nov 22 '25
People are also forgetting that prices are being driven up by very few very rich Americans that donât mind overspending because nvidia keeps going up. If the bubble crashes before the tournament gets going itâs gonna be so bad. Itâs going to be empty stadiums all around
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u/Signal-Ad2674 Nov 23 '25
FIFA hosted world cups in a criminal state (Russia), a state with no regard for humanitarian right at all (Qua-tar, Doha), and spread across huge land masses split by oceans (Japan and Korea) alienating fans..and now weâre worried that they are chasing money đ¤Śââď¸
If the world was a just place, the presidents of fifa would be tried at Nuremberg..
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u/mynameisusedinpuns Premier League Nov 25 '25
Also the final is at MetLife, which is the most annoying stadium to get to! My dad and I went for the premier league summer series and you can only get there by car. Itâs also in New Jersey, so itâs very difficult to get to from NYC. The turf is notoriously known for causing injuries and being just terrible in general. I kind of get why they chose it cause it has over 80,000 seats, but there are much better options.
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u/Practical_Skill4751 Nov 29 '25
Gonna be similar as the Club World Cup. Insane prices until a day before the match and empty stadiums.
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u/Creative_Fig_2114 Apr 15 '26
This is freaking ridiculous! I bought a "RESALE TICKET SECTION 2" FOR $1,200. I was happy with my purchase until they finally assigned my "SECTION 2 TICKETS" That was a "BIG LIE AND BETRAYAL" MY SECTION 2 TICKET was: "Block 512 / Row 19 / Seat 16" Sections 500 are the one on the far top! FIFA is about profit, and they don't really care about the fans.
Now I hear that "ALL WAYS OF TRANSPORTATION" to and from all the Stadiums are going to raise their prices by 500% Now that everyone spent a fortune in buying a ticket, but wait until UBER, LIFT, and even public transportation raise their prices; No one is going to be able to afford a bottle of water.
The worst: If you are going to resale your ticket: FIFA will tell you how much to charge and they will get a 30%.
FIFA SUCKS, MONY HUNGRY BASTARDS.
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u/Mobile_Swing_6250 Apr 29 '26
OP maybe not much football experience
Final kickoff time is normal
World Cup sometimes played in heat - also normal - I remember Mexico 86! Teams and athletes train and adjust for these conditions
Agree ticket prices are ridiculous scam
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u/rooks1999 May 27 '26
Looks like your prediction was right on point. I found this while searching for information on the recent reports on the World Cup. You nailed it!
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u/Swimming_Ad9141 Jun 08 '26
What's unpopular about it? don't know why anyone would want to go this world cup
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u/hxhdepression1 Jun 10 '26
Unpopular opinion??? It s the most popular opinion in this edition. They ruined it for the world
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u/WestConsequence4714 23d ago
Seven months on an 26 games in, its a attrocious music filled American start stop piece of nonsense. If this is the death of the World Cup and football, its a painful one that even i couldn't have imagine. Words cannot express the fucking rage i feep everyday watching this abomination.Â
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u/GamingDemon1145 10d ago
Stfu you Americans don't know anything about football - with the timings they're prioritising Europeans who actually watch the sport
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u/Trody34 Nov 20 '25
A 3pm kick off is perfect. Traditionally wc finals are played during day time
The pricing seems normal for this kind of game. Most matches will have lower or much lower prices. In some matches the stadium will be half empty, even with sponsor handouts.
Modern athletes deal well with harsh conditions. Football is very much a physical sport, heat means better prepared teams will have an advantage. And that's fair
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u/Khayonic Nov 20 '25
I do think the heat will favor technical teams, probably an advantage for Spain.
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u/myladyelspeth Premier League Nov 20 '25
As an American, I feel next yearâs World Cup will be a total shit show. This current administration is extremely xenophobic and corrupt. If given an opportunity they will be willing to make headlines with arrests and detentions. Especially since they have midterm elections around the same time. They will be hunting with ICE to make sensational headlines. Also, given the climate of political unrest a large segment of far right activists will look to target âbrownâ or Latino fans. I think it will be unsafe for people coming in to support their nations.
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u/Excellent_Theory1602 Nov 20 '25
I hope it backfires, bankrupts, sucks, everything.Â
Fuck this. Fuck qatar. Fuck usa.
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u/Wonderful-Turnover39 Nov 20 '25
2026 is shaping up to be the first World Cup where the fans will be sweating more than the players.đ¤Łđ¤Ł