# FIFA World Cup 2026 - discussion etc **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-soccer-fifa\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962 "2025-10-14T15:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/421 "2026-06-08T15:23:17Z")
Anulo Mufa! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/422 "2026-06-08T15:24:00Z")
Anular no vale! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/423 "2026-06-08T15:24:17Z")
It worked last time. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/424 "2026-06-08T15:25:44Z")
šŸ¤£ OK, letā€™s see how often you get away with this. I tell you: youā€™ll need VAR on your side this time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/425 "2026-06-08T15:37:03Z")
More jinxing and counter-jinxing than a Harry Potter movie. Meanwhile, Iā€™m glad to see Messi is back in light training, hopefully heā€™s fit soon. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/426 "2026-06-08T15:39:43Z")
How many **keep-ups** could that Potter guy do? did he win a Premier League? did he play any matches for England? _does he know how much the World Cup weighs?_ Some ā€œMagicianā€, pffft. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/427 "2026-06-08T15:41:19Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > does he know how much the World Cup weighs? No, because the last WC England won was the Jules Rimetā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/428 "2026-06-08T15:41:52Z")
A bit before his time. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/429 "2026-06-08T15:43:28Z")
They never even got close to winning the cup after Brazil snatched the old cup. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/430 "2026-06-08T15:44:12Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > the last WC England Obligatory nitpick: the **only** FIFA WC England ever won. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/431 "2026-06-08T15:46:09Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Obligatory nitpick: the **only** FIFA WC England ever won. Yeah, I surely know, I meant the real cup, the physical object in that post when I wrote WC. ā€œThirty years of hopeā€ have become sixty years now. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/432 "2026-06-08T15:46:09Z")
(very nerdy) If Harry Potter touched the Cup it would turn out to be a portkey that disapparated him to a cold, rainy night in Stoke. (/very nerdy) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/433 "2026-06-08T15:49:14Z")
Nerdy _and_ requiring Football lore to understand, my favorite kind of writing! ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/434 "2026-06-08T16:33:21Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > cold, rainy night in Stoke Though that is the kind of team that will win this world cup. Though rather than grinding out an uninspiring win in the cold West Midlands it will involve grinding one out in 100% humidity in New Jersey Politics aside this is shaping up to be a terrible world cup, between the new format (which takes most of the jeopardy out of the group stages) and the climate, and the ticket sales. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/435 "2026-06-08T16:35:15Z")
All I know is I drew Austria in the sweepstake, and somehow I really feel this is going to be their year. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/436 "2026-06-08T18:48:58Z")
And now a Somali FIFA referee, due to officiate at the World Cup, has been refused entry to the US and has had to fly to Turkey. > **[World Cup 2026: Somali referee Omar Artan barred from entering United States](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cnv9drg0qzgo)** > > Somali referee Omar Artan, who was set to be the first from his country to officiate at the World Cup finals, is denied entry to the United States. Farcical ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/437 "2026-06-08T18:56:28Z")
Apparently, Artan is from a country thatā€™s on Trumpā€™s Snit List. He has found yet another way to embarrass us and make us look bad. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/438 "2026-06-08T19:06:40Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Artan is from a country thatā€™s on Trumpā€™s Snit List. Yeah the POTUS has a personal racist grudge with Somalians (even above his personal racist grudge towards all black people), so America has denied entry to a highly qualified Somalian world cup referee. Itā€™s barely made the news šŸ˜« ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/439 "2026-06-08T21:07:06Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Itā€™s barely made the news šŸ˜« In fairness, the World Cup itself has barely made the news in the US. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962/440 "2026-06-08T21:14:46Z")
This made me curious and I apologize if it has already been posted. The Iranian team is training and staying in Tijuana Mexico and when they have a game in the US they have to fly or bus in that morning and have to leave afterwards. They canā€™t spend the night here. How magnanimous šŸ™„ I suppose that the Somali ref could at least work the games in Mexico and Canada. Still bullshit of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-world-cup-2026-discussion-etc/1023962.md?page=23)