2026 World Cup and Qualifiers

The mexico cartel might make trouble during the world cup.

They own a lot of the business and hotels so quite the opposite. It will be a windfall for them.

Only way it goes wrong is if the Orange buffoon does something to provoke them like a few months ago. He could at least wait till after the world cup.

(27-05-2026 19:55 )coolguy4u Wrote:  They own a lot of the business and hotels so quite the opposite. It will be a windfall for them.

Only way it goes wrong is if the Orange buffoon does something to provoke them like a few months ago. He could at least wait till after the world cup.

Got a feeling something big going to happen all eyes will be on it the mexico cartel rivals will want to strike to make cartel look weak then the cartel will have to strike back to not show weakness

One thing is sure
Tango Man will find a way to f**k it up for everybody probably the day before it starts - probably by bombing Iran again, or by getting the ICE goons detaining innocent soccer fans for no reason, then FIFA will probably will have no choice but to cancel the whole thing - wait a year - then hold it in a country where the leader isn't involved in a actual war - like Canada or Australia and put a ban on the US entering it for four years

(27-05-2026 17:57 )Goodfella3041 Wrote:  In 1980, the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics because of the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan and half the Western world followed its lead. Four years later, Iron Curtain countries boycotted the Los Angeles Games — ostensibly for security reasons, but really for spite.

But now we have a country that’s being bombed willing to play a football tournament in the country that’s bombing it?

It's an interesting point to raise, but I don’t think your comparison to the Olympics in 1980 and 1984 is a fair one.

First of all, the Cold War context really matters. Those Olympic boycotts happened within an ideological bloc system. The Carter administration leaned heavily on allies to join the boycott, and 4 years later the USSR did the same. Iran doesn’t have that kind of power.

When Iran’s sports minister said in March that Iran wouldn’t take part in the World Cup, other countries either said nothing or quickly said they were still going. France said they were still going the very next day. Nobody supported Iran at all. If they had supported Iran, an effective boycott could have happened, but nobody did. They were more interested in who would take Iran’s place, with it likely to be the United Arab Emirates.

In short, if Iran could have organised a 1980/1984 style boycott I think they would have done, but they simply have no power to do it. Iran pulling out by themselves doesn’t exactly achieve anything. The tournament would go on with the UAE as their replacement. So what kind of message would it send? A boycott that everyone else ignored? You need a wider boycott to achieve anything and Iran can’t pressure anyone the way that Jimmy Carter did, so it’s essentially a false analogy.

Secondly, the power that FIFA wield really matters. In 1980 and 1984 there wasn’t really anything the IOC could do to punish any country that didn’t take part in the Olympics. But FIFA statutes allow sweeping punishments against any country that withdraws from the World Cup without approval, including loss of development funding, loss of technical assistance, future tournament bans, even suspension from FIFA itself.

Even if a country did get banned from the Olympics, they could still go the Athletics World Championships and many other international tournaments, but if you got suspended by FIFA you’d have nothing outside your own country whatsoever, not even club competitions. In short, the IOC can’t do much about withdrawals, but FIFA can. They have the power, for sure, they have suspended countries before. They have also banned countries from World Cups before. Myanmar withdrew from a World Cop qualifier in 2002 and were banned from the 2006 World Cup.

Thirdly, the World Cup is far more important to a country like Iran than the Olympics. Missing the Olympics would matter to individual athletes, but wouldn’t be that terrible on the whole. Their main Olympic sports are wrestling and weightlifting, but they are minor sports in Iran compared to football.

Missing the World Cup would be an enormous sacrifice for a football crazy country like Iran. Being at the World Cup is a matter of national importance. Yes they said in March they definitely wouldn’t go, but nobody supported them, so they quickly changed their mind. Then they said they would only go if their matches were played in Mexico, but FIFA said no, so they changed their mind on that as well. FIFA have at least agreed to let them move their training camp to Mexico.

In conclusion, I think Iran have done as much as they realistically can do. FIFA won't support their withdrawal, and neither will anyone else. FIFA won't move their matches to Mexico either. So unless Trump makes things completely impossible, they just have to play their matches in the US (assuming the US give them the necessary visas).

I wasn’t suggesting a major international boycott. I was just pointing out the through-the-looking-glass nuttiness of a country being bombed participating in a tournament hosted by the country that’s bombing it.

I could argue it from the American perspective too. They are “evil” enough to bomb, but not so evil that we won’t let them play in our reindeer games?

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I’m just saying that a few of the very true things you’ve said are still indicative of what a cockeyed world we live in.

To be more afraid of FIFA sanctions than falling bombs? It’s nuts.

So If Trump WAS to advise the airports to refuse them entry upon arrival at airport in US for their first game, what can FIFA realistically do in that scenario? surely that would have to be recorded as a 3 - 0 auto loss and how long would an appeal by Iran to FIFA take to be heard?

(28-05-2026 19:03 )Goodfella3041 Wrote:  I could argue it from the American perspective too. They are “evil” enough to bomb, but not so evil that we won’t let them play in our reindeer games?

Your point is well made about the nuttiness of how it looks. I can't disagree with you on that, but I don't think the American perspective is quite how you present it.

The American feeling seems to be that they simply don't want Iran there. Trump has said it several times. Some of the Iran players have even been accused of being terrorists. But the US has contracts with FIFA which say they have to allow all competing teams in. A condition of hosting the World Cup in the first place is that all qualified teams have to be accepted.

If the US refuses to allow Iran in, FIFA can simply move the matches, and perhaps not only Iran's matches. They can even threaten to move the whole World Cup (whether that's feasible at this late stage is another matter entirely, but they have the power to do it).

I see that there are new / clarified rules coming in for this world cup

The primary new regulations include:

10-Second Substitutions: Players being subbed off have 10 seconds to leave the pitch. If they take longer, their replacement must wait an additional one full minute before entering, temporarily leaving their team a man down.

5-Second Restarts: Referees can initiate a visible 5-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks. Taking longer results in a turnover or an awarded corner kick for the opposition, respectively.

Medical Treatment Rules: Any player who stops play to receive on-field medical treatment must leave the field and wait for one full minute before re-entering (unless the injury was caused by a foul resulting in a card).

Captain-Only Referee Protests: Only team captains are permitted to approach or question the referee. Any other player crowding or protesting an official risks an immediate yellow card.

Expanded VAR Authority: VAR officials can now review clearly incorrect second yellow cards and wrongly awarded corner kicks.

Yellow Card Amnesty: To prevent players from missing critical matches due to accumulated bookings, single yellow cards are cleared after the group stage and again after the quarter-finals.

No Cards on Goal-Scoring Advantage: Players will no longer automatically receive a yellow card for a tactical foul if the referee plays advantage and a goal is scored

But if yhe thurder there be big delays