FIFA World Cup 2026

B

bremsstrahlung

Joseph 'BJ' Leilua
Some absolute cinema over this last week of qualifying.

Norway beating Italy to secure their spot. (I bloody love when Italy lose after 2006).

Iraq scoring a 107th minute winner. (17 minutes of additional time - somehow).

Scotland beating Denmark for a spot with 93rd and 97th minute goals.

Last but not least - Ireland. Beating Portugal and getting Ronaldo sent off (and creating a meme) to keep hopes alive. Then against Hungary with an 86th minute equaliser (still not enough) and a 96th minute winner. Irish commentary is a hoot.


Very glad we are already in, and not having to go through the sudden death playoff games for a change.
 
USA getting a rigged draw* worked in our favour as:

Australia drew USA (host), Paraguay (lowest ranked South American qualifier) and the winner of Turkey, Kosovo, Romania and Slovakia (lowest ranked euro qualifier).

New Zealand also got a decent group with Belgium, Egypt and Iran.

And big congratulations to President Trump on being awarded the very first “FIFA Peace Prize”.

* from a USA Perspective they ended up with the lowest ranked team in Pot 2, the worst South American team and the weakest European playoff team. So the draw couldn’t have gone any better for the USA.
 
Potential group of death for England with games against Croatia and Ghana! If they manage to top the group the seedlings thing will see them likely play Brazil in the quarters so that will be the end of our WC! 60 years of hurt and counting….. 😢
 
Bit late, but our 2026 World Cup Squad.

1 – Maty Ryan (GK)
2 – Milos Degenek
3 – Alessandro Circati
4 – Jacob Italiano
5 – Jordan Bos
6 – Jason Geria
7 – Mathew Leckie
8 – Connor Metcalfe
9 – Mohamed Toure
10 – Ajdin Hrustic
11 – Awer Mabil
12 – Paul Izzo (GK)
13 – Aiden O'Neill
14 – Cameron Devlin
15 – Kai Trewin
16 – Aziz Behich
17 – Nestory Irankunda
18 – Patrick Beach (GK)
19 – Harry Souttar
20 – Cristian Volpato
21 – Cameron Burgess
22 – Jackson Irvine
23 – Nishan Velupillay
24 – Paul Okon-Engstler
25 – Lucas Herrington
26 – Tete Yengi


On paper, I think we have a pretty decent starting 11. Fair few are in form and playing lots.

Just a question of how well they link together as there’s been some injuries, new inclusions and their game time as a squad together is limited.
 
I heard that there's a huge backlog in visa processing in the US. Might be a bit of a ghost town World Cup, at least for games in the US not featuring the US team.
 
Seano said:
I heard that there's a huge backlog in visa processing in the US. Might be a bit of a ghost town World Cup, at least for games in the US not featuring the US team.
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Yehhh, my understanding is that regardless of your purpose, their Visa/immigration policy remains.

So people from Iran for instance probably won’t be given visas into the US. There’s a bunch of other countries on their list, that are attending the World Cup also.

Qatar and now this World Cup, has really soured what used to be a great bucket list event for many. It’s not a cash grab and a farce. 48 teams qualifying for this one. 3rd place in 4 team groups can make finals. I’ll withhold judgement until the end, but it’s just a way to get more money for more games.

Im curious what happens - America love their sport. I can’t see Trump showcasing half empty stadiums. Think they’ll be some heavily discounted tickets if stadiums need filling.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
Haha I saw this!

Pretty funny, and shows the reach of “football” and power influencers haha.

If NZ Football don’t market the hell out of this….
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Yeah pretty amazing that one influencer can mention a player and it gets that sort of momemtum. Soccer isn't a sport I watch or enjoy too much (I blame a season I played when I was 10 and the trauma of getting up at 7am every Saturday to play in a t-shirt and shorts in the dead of winter 😭😂), but you certainly can't deny its worldwide reach!
 
jamesgould said:
Yeah pretty amazing that one influencer can mention a player and it gets that sort of momemtum. Soccer isn't a sport I watch or enjoy too much (I blame a season I played when I was 10 and the trauma of getting up at 7am every Saturday to play in a t-shirt and shorts in the dead of winter 😭😂), but you certainly can't deny its worldwide reach!
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Haha yeh, that’s traumatising. Understandable.

I understand the dislike/hate soccer gets in the mainstream. They don’t do themselves any favours in lots of instances.
The diving, simulation, boring tactics, referee disrespect and grown men acting like babies. I genuinely find it a very disrespectful sport in lots of ways. I refereed for a bit and my god, appalling. And it stems from the top.

A lot of the time it comes down to first impressions. If you get dragged along to a 0-0 draw or forced to watch it for your first game. You are absolutely no hope of loving football.

I’d highly recommend watching an exciting game. The women’s game is in a very similar position to NRLW. The women play in a very open way. Very exciting for neutral and families. There’s far less cynical rubbish and with respect, the errors the women are prone to making, makes for an exciting match.

Matilda’s play this weekend in Newcastle - not many tickets left.

Really hopeful the men’s team can make an impression at this World Cup. They have a good group, they should make it out and into the knockouts.
 
Celticman98 said:
Cracked up at that. Has well and truly trumped the All Whites and also has 2 million more followers than the All Blacks now.

NZ football won't have a better opportunity to milk this new following.
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He’d be in the top few NZ accounts now haha. Lorde has 11.1 million, don’t know many others who’d be in that ballpark though!
 
Any predictions (besides Trump making the tournament a disaster)? Spain seems the red-hot tip. I'm thinking Argentina might be the smokey.

Also seems likely that Australia will at least advance to the 2nd round due to the 8 best 3rd-placed finishers going through. But we're going to have to at least win a pool game to have a real chance to advance further.
 
I think the only way that France don’t win it is if they beat themselves in a classic French way.

Their squad depth is frighteningly good which in the heat will be an important factor.

Only knocking out 4 teams in the group stage is a complete cop out designed to please the money men. More games, more advertising, more ticket sales…..
 
Thieves Like Us said:
I think the only way that France don’t win it is if they beat themselves in a classic French way.

Their squad depth is frighteningly good which in the heat will be an important factor.

Only knocking out 4 teams in the group stage is a complete cop out designed to please the money men. More games, more advertising, more ticket sales…..
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16 get eliminated right?
48 in group stage down to 32 for “knockout”.

But yes, this WC seems to be rewarding mediocrity.
BUT, I think the trade off will be that strong squads may get the results - will need to rotate squads a little. (Just realised you commented on squad depth and whole heartedly agree)

I’d love 2 out of the 3 host nations to progress - would be great to see some in the knockouts and other knocked out….

I can’t go past Spain. Think they will do well.

I think/hope Norway will go well - shake up the status quo a bit. Kind of at the height of their power. Have a soft spot for Scandinavia / loved Icelands Euro run a few years back. And I like Sweden’s Kit.

I wouldn’t be surprised if England do alright as well. Barely any pressure on this squad - or at least not much.

I’d also love for Japan to have a good tournament.

Like Queensland just “get origin”, South America nations “get world cups” and can turn it on at any point. Usually one emerges.

Very excited for the next month.
 
Seano said:
Any predictions (besides Trump making the tournament a disaster)? Spain seems the red-hot tip. I'm thinking Argentina might be the smokey.

Also seems likely that Australia will at least advance to the 2nd round due to the 8 best 3rd-placed finishers going through. But we're going to have to at least win a pool game to have a real chance to advance further.
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I’m so unsure how to feel about Australia.

On one hand, I feel like this is one of the least “Aussie battler, fight for everything, lack skill, make up for it with physicality and heart” teams we have put out.

The other side, we have some young superstars coming through that could absolutely turn it on. Irankunda is probably 4 years from his prime - but so excited to see what he can offer. And technically probably one of the better football playing teams in recent years in my opinion.

I don’t know what we are going to get.

I think we either bomb out in the group stage or we make the final 16. I can’t figure out which one ahha.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
16 get eliminated right?
48 in group stage down to 32 for “knockout”.

But yes, this WC seems to be rewarding mediocrity.
BUT, I think the trade off will be that strong squads may get the results - will need to rotate squads a little. (Just realised you commented on squad depth and whole heartedly agree)

I’d love 2 out of the 3 host nations to progress - would be great to see some in the knockouts and other knocked out….

I can’t go past Spain. Think they will do well.

I think/hope Norway will go well - shake up the status quo a bit. Kind of at the height of their power. Have a soft spot for Scandinavia / loved Icelands Euro run a few years back. And I like Sweden’s Kit.

I wouldn’t be surprised if England do alright as well. Barely any pressure on this squad - or at least not much.

I’d also love for Japan to have a good tournament.

Like Queensland just “get origin”, South America nations “get world cups” and can turn it on at any point. Usually one emerges.

Very excited for the next month.
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Yeah, you’re right 48 to 32. Really not sure where I got the 4 teams eliminated thing from. Must have been a comment on a podcast that reinforced my blind hatred of the modern day FIFA organisation!

Good round up of the teams there. I reckon Japan will be dark horses to go far in the tournament.

In terms of “getting World Cups” then surely Germany are Queensland? Even when they turn up with a dodgy team and look terrible in the groups they always find a way to make it through to the latter stages. With Wirtz, Musiala, Havertz and Kimkich they have some quality in their team.
 
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