2026 FIFA World Cup - Canada, Mexico, USA

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Booming World Cup ticket prices outstrip everything except the Super Bowl

From the Athletic


Welp, the hope that ticket prices for the tournament would mirror those of previous WCs is officially out the window. Guess we probably shoulda known this would happen. They probably figure that diaspora communities in the States will pay any amount to see their team play. Are they really gonna sell out Tunisia vs New Zealand at AT&T or Metlife at $500+ a pop?

Soccer, the “most accessible” sport!

[Locke]

Sweden had best get their poop in a group because losing to Kosovo is...less than ideal.

[GirlySports]

Midday update

South Africa and Qatar are the 21st and 22nd teams to qualify.

Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Qatar
Africa (9) - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) - Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) -

A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th -
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th - Bolivia
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia

[GirlySports]

End of day update

Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire, and Saudi Arabia are the 23rd, 24th and 25th teams to qualify.

In Africa, the following 4 teams will meet in Morocco next month for one spot in the inter-confederation playoffs

Semifinals
(1) Gabon vs (4) Nigeria
(2) DR Congo vs (3) Cameroon

In Asia, Iraq will play UAE over 2 legs home and away for a place in the inter-confederation playoffs

Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Africa (9) - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) - Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) -

A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th -
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th - Bolivia
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia

[MegaErtz]

England have qualified.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

England have qualified.

Thats a shame.

[GirlySports]

How'd i miss that?

Most amazing stat, since missing in 1994, England have won their group and qualified for every World Cup, no playoffs.

[CroFlames]

I seem to remember them missing a big tournament around the 2008 period

[lazypucker]

I can't wait to see the reaction of people shelling out 1k for a ticket to see Uzbekistan vs Cape Verde live in person!!

[SuperMatt18]

It's cool that North America is hosting but TBH once ticket prices came out I wasn't willing to pay the North America premium rate for an atmosphere that wouldn't be as good as if the tournament was in Europe or South America and for what is potentially watered down field.

Decided I'd save my money for Euro 2028 which is probably a better field of teams overall with a better atmosphere as well.

[CroFlames]

Yeah, I got my rejection email from FIFA today and I was almost relieved.

The prices are crazy.

FIFA will walk away with the bag, but the atmosphere at the stadiums will suffer.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I can't wait to see the reaction of people shelling out 1k for a ticket to see Uzbekistan vs Cape Verde live in person!!

Even better will be those people who paid $1,000.00 a ticket reacting when the resale market will have tickets available for $0.01. Surely won't cause any angry and unruly behavior.

[GirlySports]

I look at projected match ups and Pots... could Cape Verde really play Uzbekistan? Yes!

Qualified teams in bold
Current FIFA ranking in brackets

Pot 1
(14) Mexico
(16) USA
(25) Canada
(1) Spain
(2) Argentina
(3) France
(4) England
(5) Portugal
(6) Brazil
(7) Netherlands
(8) Belgium
(10) Germany

Pot 2
(11) Croatia
(12) Morocco
(13) Colombia
(14) Uruguay
(17) Switzerland
(18) Senegal
(19) Japan
(20) Denmark
(21) IR Iran
(22) Korea Republic
(23) Ecuador
(24) Australia

Pot 3
(25) Austria
(29) Norway
(32) Egypt
(35) Algeria
(39) Paraguay
(42) Côte d’Ivoire
(43) Tunisia
(44) Qatar
(55) Uzbekistan
(56) South Africa
(59) Saudi Arabia
(64) Honduras

Pot 4
(9) Italy (UEFA playoff)
(27) Turkiye (UEFA playoff)
(28) Ukraine (UEFA playoff)
(33) Poland (UEFA playoff)
(41) Nigeria (World playoff)
(45) Costa Rica (World playoff)
(66) Jordan
(68) Jamaica
(71) Cape Verde
(73) Ghana
(85) New Zealand
(126) Suriname *

*If Panama wins Group A instead of Surinam, they would be in Pot 3, bumping Honduras to Pot 4

Some places could still shift after the November games, since the teams are very close on points:

Between Pot 1 / Pot 2 → Germany, Croatia, Morocco

Between Pot 2 / Pot 3 → Korea, Ecuador, Australia, Austria

Between Pot 3 / Pot 4 → Honduras, Jordan, Jamaica

[CroFlames]

Is Croatia not 9th in the world and therefore a pot 1 seed?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Is Croatia not 9th in the world and therefore a pot 1 seed?

Live Rankings

https://football-ranking.com/fifa-world-rankings

Italy and Germany past them this cycle.

[CroFlames]

I suppose that means we could get a Canada-Croatia rematch and I would probably pay any amount of money to see that in person!

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah if Italy and Canada end up in the same group then that likely changes things for me too, as I'd pay a lot to see that game.

But I'm at the point now where I'm willing to risk the resale market and see what happens once the pot and draw are official.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Honestly don't see how group stage prices will do anything but go down after the draw is made, it's unlikely there will be any blockbuster matchups in the group stage now that it's been further watered down with 48 teams. Once the draw is made and prospective knockout stage matchups get made is when you'll see those prices rise or fall.

[GirlySports]

The only interesting part to this draw is where the Europeans go.

There can only be 2 Europeans max in a group.
There are 7 Europeans in Pot 1. 5 Europeans in Pot 2/3 and the 4 playoff Europeans in Pot 4.

If one of the 5 Pot 2/3 Europeans goes into a Pot 1 European's group, that group is now closed to Europeans and the chance Canada has to draw a Pot 4 European increases.
Canada could draw Italy, Ukraine, New Zealand or Cape Verde. The difference is huge.

[browna]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Canada could draw Italy, Ukraine, New Zealand or Cape Verde. The difference is huge.

All depends on how much funds the CSA can scrape up between now and the draw.