World Cup 2026

[brad465]

Thought this would be better in a new thread than the generic football one given the scale and event-specific nature, but please move if not.

The World Cup starts in two days and could well be a very chaotic and controversial one (on top of the long list of controversies so far). The latest incident is a Somali referee, considered no.1 in Africa, being barred entry for no apparent genuine reason (and FIFA have not appealed this decision affecting one of their own officials).

World Cup 2026: Does referee case show Fifa has lost control of its tournament?

With referee Omar Artan denied entry to the United States and worries over staff and supporters being turned back, what does this tell us about the World Cup?

www.bbc.co.uk

There had always been real concerns that supporters would have difficulties getting into the United States for the 2026 World Cup.

But not a referee.

The tournament is supposed to bring together the best of the best in football - players, coaches and officials.

Omar Artan is the number one referee from Africa. He will not be allowed to officiate at the World Cup.

Artan, from Somalia, flew into Miami to join up with the other 51 referees. After what he says was an 11-hour grilling by immigration officials, he was put back on a plane.

"It is pretty clear that the fears of an ideological and discriminatory visa policy from the US government is being realised," said Piara Powar, executive director of discrimination campaign group Fare.

"Never have we seen the farce of an official Fifa referee being refused entry as he arrives for final preparations."

Concerns remain about the potential presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at stadiums, and how fans could be affected.

With 48 hours still to go until the World Cup kicks off, does Fifa have little control about what will happen outside the stadiums?

Then of course we have Trump and Infantino making a swamp look like a tropical paradise...

 

[JD2168]

The build up so far has been largely dominated by the chaos of:
Iran - having to change location of their base & restrictions on when being in the USA for matches & weather their officials are allowed at matches along with spectators.
The Somalian official being denied entry along with various fans having trouble getting into the country along with other immigration problems, almost makes the Russia & Qatar tournaments easy to get to.
Temperatures & weather - could it be too hot at the matches for the spectators & possibility of matches being delayed by America’s restrictions on events occurring during a thunderstorm or with lightning in the area.

This is threatening to be overshadowed by Donald Trump if it wasn’t already & definitely hasn’t had the greatest build up

 

[AlterEgo]

It'll be a stinker of a tournament just like the last one they ruined.

 

[brad465]

What's the betting that the World Cup trophy presentation will be in reverse, where the winning team captain presents the trophy to Trump?

 

[johntea]

Feels like nobody is that bothered at the moment, I guess it all depends on how England does otherwise I can't see the pubs having much custom at 2am or whenever the matches are!

 

[Tetchytyke]

The fact that FIFA just accepted the decision to ban their chosen referee from the country speaks volumes about FIFA.

The 1994 World Cup was a terrible tournament and this one's going to be even worse. I will probably end up grudgingly watching the England matches but I can't see myself watching much more than that.

At least two things are certain though: England will bravely lose in the quarter final against the first decent team they play, and Scotland will somehow fail to get out of the group stage.

 

[Rab Smith]

Fair play to the fans who will go there and put up with the US's free market gouge pricing. You just know that people's budgets will be blown when they get there with everyone and their dog cashing in. I spoke to one colleague who is in for £14k already by taking the family and he knows that his extra £2k he's taking for spending will not last that long.
Not for me thanks, I wouldn't go.if you paid me.

 

[pr1]

I sometimes hear that excitement for events such as the World Cup is dimmed by age: those of us who are older remember the thrill of 80s Finals, or Euro 96, or further back!, and therefore this year just feels duller or less vital through age and experience.

In this case there's so many reasons to be disinterested, from the dubious "FIFA Peace Prize" to the Somali referee and everything in between, I'm not surprised that the enthusiasm is dimmed, nor that it's not just a mere "in my day" attitude.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I love football and as my partner does as well a lot of our social lives are built around football. Anyone who knows me will attest to this

I loved the World Cup and when I was a kid it was the centerpiece of the summer. Everyone I was friends with was engrossed. Italia 90, when I was 19, was the peak

But this tawdry mess leaves me cold. I never ever thought I’d feel like this about a World Cup, but that’s how I am now. I just don’t care about it. And it’s down to money, basically, and the deplorable behaviour of FIFA and the avaricious Infantino, plus the orange manbaby.

Up until last week I didn’t even know when it began. I still don’t know when England’s games are.

 

[JamesT]

I love football and as my partner does as well a lot of our social lives are built around football. Anyone who knows me will attest to this

I loved the World Cup and when I was a kid it was the centerpiece of the summer. Everyone I was friends with was engrossed. Italia 90, when I was 19, was the peak

But this tawdry mess leaves me cold. I never ever thought I’d feel like this about a World Cup, but that’s how I am now. I just don’t care about it. And it’s down to money, basically, and the deplorable behaviour of FIFA and the avaricious Infantino, plus the orange manbaby.

Up until last week I didn’t even know when it began. I still don’t know when England’s games are.

Wed 17th 9pm Croatia
Tues 23rd 9pm Ghana
Sat 27th 10pm Panama
(all UK times for kickoff)

 

[D1511]

I love football and as my partner does as well a lot of our social lives are built around football. Anyone who knows me will attest to this

I loved the World Cup and when I was a kid it was the centerpiece of the summer. Everyone I was friends with was engrossed. Italia 90, when I was 19, was the peak

But this tawdry mess leaves me cold. I never ever thought I’d feel like this about a World Cup, but that’s how I am now. I just don’t care about it. And it’s down to money, basically, and the deplorable behaviour of FIFA and the avaricious Infantino, plus the orange manbaby.

Up until last week I didn’t even know when it began. I still don’t know when England’s games are.

I couldn't have summarised my feelings any better than those expressed in this post. (Except it was Spain 82 for me)

Wed 17th 9pm Croatia
Tues 23rd 9pm Ghana
Sat 27th 10pm Panama
(all UK times for kickoff)

Reading the post, it was very clearly NOT a request for the dates of England games.

 

[brad465]

In 2018 Frankie Boyle coined this joke about England's group: "England will play Tunisia, Panama and Belgium. So you have a country that denies basic human rights, a country haunted by paedophile scandals and a morally bankrupt tax haven, playing against Tunisia, Panama and Belgium."

Now the same joke could apply just as much, if not more, to the US.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I sometimes hear that excitement for events such as the World Cup is dimmed by age: those of us who are older remember the thrill of 80s Finals, or Euro 96, or further back!, and therefore this year just feels duller or less vital through age and experience.

In this case there's so many reasons to be disinterested, from the dubious "FIFA Peace Prize" to the Somali referee and everything in between, I'm not surprised that the enthusiasm is dimmed, nor that it's not just a mere "in my day" attitude.

I would suggest that the amount of football on tv is a huge factor here. Back in the '70s the only live football on tv was the Cup Final and (some of) the Home Internationals, with UEFA club finals sometimes appearing if an English team was involved. So World Cups did seem like genuine festivals of football with so many games on tv and many otherwise unknown but very talented players on view. Little wonder that those tournaments had such an impact.

Fast forward to today when we have mutiple live games on tv nearly every week of the season so that the World Cup seems just like more of the same but with inconvenient kick-off times and plenty of competitive mis-matches. The football season is sufficiently long that by now many people are happy to have a break from it during the summer but then comes along a World Cup: why should we be bothered?

 

[Purple Train]

Don't particularly care, won't particularly be watching (unless England get to the final). I have no wish to associate myself with any nonsense from which Trump and Infantino (possibly two of the most aptly-named individuals to ever spoil this earth) stand to profit. And based on what others have said, at my age this should be the World Cup that I find most exciting. But no. I can hardly even bring myself to type out how apathetic I am about the whole thing.

 

[najaB]

FIFA have not appealed this decision affecting one of their own officials

Publicly, at least. And, as little love as I have for FIFA, in this case making public statements to the effect of "Immigration decisions are entirely up to the host country" is the correct thing to do.

I'm quite sure that they have had a quiet word with the administration pointing out how bad this situation makes them look. Unfortunately, if ICE shooting citizens in the street didn't shame them...

 

[Trackman]

I'm a bit miffed with Scotland having a bank holiday on the 15th June.
I wonder if England's first game was a 2am kick-off they would a grant a bank holiday.

 

[olddriver]

We’ll be out after the first 3 games. Just let us have this.

 

[Trackman]

We’ll be out after the first 3 games. Just let us have this.

I wasn't having a dig.

I remember an interview with a Scottish player who had his first cap playing in a world cup and had to collect his itinerary and plane tickets, he questioned why he was flying back on 'such a date' the SFA official said 'That's the day after the group stage has ended'

 

[AlterEgo]

I wasn't having a dig.

I remember an interview with a Scottish player who had his first cap playing in a world cup and had to collect his itinerary and plane tickets, he questioned why he was flying back on 'such a date' the SFA official said 'That's the day after the group stage has ended'

Scotland should qualify for the next stage. They're the third best team in their group and the top three will advance.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Scotland should qualify for the next stage. They're the third best team in their group and the top three will advance.

8 of the 12 third place teams advance, not all of them. I think Scotland will be OK, but it isn't guaranteed. It'll come down to which groups have the worst fourth place teams, who don't take any points off the top three

 

[Trackman]

Scotland should qualify for the next stage. They're the third best team in their group and the top three will advance.

Just like to point out, my previous post was about an old World Cup campaign.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Infantino's press conference live on the BBC website at the moment

Awful, just awful. Rambling incoherently, and not taken a single question yet

Gianni Infantino: FIFA President news conference on eve of World Cup

Fifa president Gianni Infantino speaks at a pre-World Cup news conference - the first time in three years he has faced the media.

www.bbc.co.uk

Summary

• Fifa president Gianni Infantino has spoken to media on eve of World Cup in first news conference since 2023
• Infantino says three common topics surrounding tournament - Iran, tickets and visas
• He said: "I don't know who else would have been able to ensure Iran could come and play"
• He said denied entry of Somali referee Omar Artan is "unfortunate" but added "sometimes it's good to chill and relax"
• If ticket prices were any cheaper, Infantino said there was risk of being sold "on black market"

 

[dosxuk]

Publicly, at least. And, as little love as I have for FIFA, in this case making public statements to the effect of "Immigration decisions are entirely up to the host country" is the correct thing to do.

I'm quite sure that they have had a quiet word with the administration pointing out how bad this situation makes them look. Unfortunately, if ICE shooting citizens in the street didn't shame them...

In the past visa's and immigration was very much tied up with the organisers. Olympic Games and World Cups were always very similar in that your accreditation to the event was effectively your visa and your entry to the host country was guaranteed. The idea that an accredited match official could be stopped at the border and deported would never have even been considered at previous world cups.

The US will have had plenty of time with the list of officials, if they had a problem with this referee they could have withdrawn or declined his accreditation weeks ago. Either the immigration officials involved were free styling the situation, or there's been a whole chain of ineptness from the DHS leading up to his arrival, but he never should have been put in that position.

The IOC will be looking at the current situation with great interest (and probably checking the exact wording of their agreements with the US Government). Is everyone with a chance of beating a US athlete also going to find themselves stuck in immigration interviews for 11 hours?

 

[najaB]

In the past visa's and immigration was very much tied up with the organisers. Olympic Games and World Cups were always very similar in that your accreditation to the event was effectively your visa and your entry to the host country was guaranteed. The idea that an accredited match official could be stopped at the border and deported would never have even been considered at previous world cups.

As you say "tied up with" and "effectively". But at the end of the day it's called a host country for a reason.

The US will have had plenty of time with the list of officials, if they had a problem with this referee they could have withdrawn or declined his accreditation weeks ago. Either the immigration officials involved were free styling the situation, or there's been a whole chain of ineptness from the DHS leading up to his arrival, but he never should have been put in that position.

While I'm a firm believer in the maxim that one shouldn't ascribe to malice that which is sufficiently explained by incompetence, I suspend that for this Administration. I am certain that this wasn't a mistake, and was instead done deliberately. Had it been an overzealous border official then the decision would have been overturned in minutes. One merely needs to look at the footage of the Senegal football team being searched on the tarmac on arrival in the USA:

(Video of said search).

A video circulating on social media showed members of Senegal’s national football team undergoing stringent security procedures upon their arrival in the United States ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The footage captured a player extending his arms while a security officer conducted a handheld screening.

Further reports stated that the players wearing Senegal jerseys stood on the airport tarmac beside their luggage shortly after disembarking, before being escorted into the terminal under close supervision.

This treatment of African people is being done to make a point.

 

[brad465]

As you say "tied up with" and "effectively". But at the end of the day it's called a host country for a reason.

While I'm a firm believer in the maxim that one shouldn't ascribe to malice that which is sufficiently explained by incompetence, I suspend that for this Administration. I am certain that this wasn't a mistake, and was instead done deliberately. Had it been an overzealous border official then the decision would have been overturned in minutes. One merely needs to look at the footage of the Senegal football team being searched on the tarmac on arrival in the USA:

(Video of said search).

This treatment of African people is being done to make a point.

There have been at least two prominent sporting events in the past used by dictatorships, the top two being Berlin 1936 Olympics and the Russia 2018 World Cup. In both of these events the regime went out of its way to appear tolerant and try and promote a positive image to quell concerns about their human rights, etc. Therefore, it's quite astonishing that Trump's regime isn't even bothering to do a "Potemkin tournament", they are just showing the brutal truth; if anything they are being even more brutal than if the World Cup wasn't on.

 

[najaB]

There have been at least two prominent sporting events in the past used by dictatorships, the top two being Berlin 1936 Olympics and the Russia 2018 World Cup. In both of these events the regime went out of its way to appear tolerant and try and promote a positive image to quell concerns about their human rights...

Remember though that many in this US administration are Christian Nationalists. The danger of mixing government with religion is that you end up with people in charge who literally believe that they are agents of God and so don't need to worry about the opinions of mere humans.

 

[43096]

Infantino's press conference live on the BBC website at the moment

Awful, just awful. Rambling incoherently, and not taken a single question yet

Well at least we know where he learned that from.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Anthony Gordon shamelessly diving in a friendly. So depressing

 

[Tetchytyke]

The US will have had plenty of time with the list of officials, if they had a problem with this referee they could have withdrawn or declined his accreditation weeks ago. Either the immigration officials involved were free styling the situation, or there's been a whole chain of ineptness from the DHS leading up to his arrival, but he never should have been put in that position.

They’re doing it deliberately. They’re not inept.

And now they’ve wheeled out the terrorism card. No evidence, obviously.

 

[52290]

What's the betting that the World Cup trophy presentation will be in reverse, where the winning team captain presents the trophy to Trump?

For a picture of this see the cover of this week's Private Eye.