Thanks ripCanada's venues will be Olympic, BMO, and Commonwealth in Edmonton.
Forgot about 2009 Gold Cup. Didn't think that place had any experience with soccer.Will they put a site in both Reliant and JerryWorld? JerryWorld is tailor-made for this.
Yeah, BMO expands to 34K for playoff games and cup finals now with roll-away seats, rolling in a second deck of 5K seats each behind each goal shouldn't be hard.I'm more surprised they're going with BMO over Rogers, but with the Blue Jays needing it at the same time and plans to expand BMO to seat 45K for the tournament, it makes sense.
According to the bid documents, Dallas is one of two venues under consideration for the final, the other being New York. The bid recommends a New York final with the semifinals in Atlanta and Dallas. New England and Washington are also under consideration.Will they put a site in both Reliant and JerryWorld? JerryWorld is tailor-made for this.
IIRC Vancouver wouldn’t pony up the required FIFA bribe.Thanks rip
Surprised BMO is chosen for capacity reasons over BC Place, but makes plenty of sense for other reasons.
I would say the same for one of Philadelphia /NY-NJ. Hard to imagine both getting selected.The 3 Canada locations are Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium), Montreal (Olympic Stadium), and Toronto (BMO Field).
The 3 Mexico locations are Guadalajara (Estadio Akron), Mexico City (Azteca), and Monterey (BBVA Bancomer Stadium).
The 10 US locations will be chosen from these 17: Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Baltimore (M&T Bank Stadium), Boston Area (Gillette Stadium), Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Denver (Mile High Stadium), Houston (NRG Stadium), Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium), Los Angeles (Rose Bowl), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), Nashville (Nissan Stadium), New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium), Orlando (Camping World Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), San Francisco Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium), Seattle (CenturyLink Field), and Washington, DC (FedEx Field)
It will be interesting to see which 7 get cut, but I would say only one of Baltimore/DC, and only one of Orlando/Miami makes it.
On the subject of players for 2026, I wonder how many other potential dual nationals over the next eight years might get pulled into the USMNT's orbit now that a World Cup Finals berth is guaranteed. Definitely can't hurt.Pulisic will be 27. Depending on circumstances he could be the biggest star athlete in the country before / during / after 2026.
You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.Pulisic will be 27. Depending on circumstances he could be the biggest star athlete in the country before / during / after 2026.
The biggest dual national battle at the moment is over a player who might wind up with...Mexico.On the subject of players for 2026, I wonder how many other potential dual nationals over the next eight years might get pulled into the USMNT's orbit now that a World Cup Finals berth is guaranteed. Definitely can't hurt.
School pickup jerseys commonly seen: Brady, Gronk, Iring, Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo, Pulisic. He might already be top 50 with the younger kids at least in my area and probably much higher.You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.
I don't know about THE biggest, but if Pulisic moves to a bigger club in the Premier League its conceivable that he could be in the top 10.You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.
Messi is top 5 now, and he's not even American. It all depends on ~75% how good he becomes and ~25% the concussion discussion with football vis-a-vis soccer.You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.
Fun tangential factoid.You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.
Yeah, pro soccer’s rise in popularity among under-30 sports fans (note: not the “more American kids play soccer than any other sport” factoid that’s been trotted out since the 70s; I’m taking about audience demos for current pro sports), combined with the fact that every World Cup seems to get bigger and bigger mindshare / ratings here (US V Portugal was only beaten in the 2014 ratings by the SB, AFC & NFC CGs and the NCAA championship), combined with the hope and hype that comes from hosting the tourney - that’s a tsunami. And that’s just the baseline.You think that by 2026 the biggest star athlete in the US will be a soccer player? Can you show your work? Seems unlikely that he's top 50.
Plenty of dual-nationals likely to come through the system in the next eight years, though - I was thinking more of the kids who are 14 and 15 now who might be good enough to make the squad in 2026 but won't have committed yet.The biggest dual national battle at the moment is over a player who might wind up with...Mexico.
North America will host the new intercontinental playoffs in 2025, so the Confederations Cup is almost certainly dead.By the way, I wonder how the Confederations Cup might work in 2025, assuming that's still a thing. Maybe have 16 teams in four groups (two in the USA, one in Mexico and one in Canada) and just have the group winners advance to a semifinal round?
Sick burn, bro, but maybe there were other considerations at play.The decision will make Mexico the first country to host three times, but Maradona suggested the country's record in the World Cup was not good enough. El Tri has been eliminated in the round of 16 in six straight tournaments.
"I don't like it," Maradona told Telesur. "Mexico doesn't deserve it. The Mexicans come up against Brazil or Germany... and 'boom,' they're out."
The 57-year-old also took issue with Canada and the U.S., recalling a proposal ahead of the American-hosted 1994 World Cup from then-FIFA president Joao Havelange that would have split games into quarters to allow for more television commercials.
"There's no passion," Maradona said. "The Canadians may be good skiers, and the Americans wanted to have four periods of 25 [minutes] for the advertising."
Uhh... Diego?The Mexicans come up against Brazil or Germany... and 'boom,' they're out.
Dude's a bit of a mess.Argentina legend Diego Maradona on Monday said that he is supporting El Tri after a review of all of the Latin American teams participating in Russia.
"I am a supporter [of Mexico] already because they made this first round great. Mexico have shown that they could be able to beat Sweden, that they have the condition," Maradona told Venezuelan TV channel Telesur during his program "De la Mano del 10."
Maradona also said that by beating South Korea, Mexico showed that their initial win over Germany was no fluke. Against South Korea, Maradona said that Mexico went in aggressively and within the first or second touches they were already in position to score.
Maradona is probably worried about not being able to attend. He was denied a visa to go to Disney World because of his cocaine conviction.Maradona wasn't a fan of this bid winning:
The plan for the World Cup would be a permanent grass surface. Apparently, the irrigation system was not removed when the artificial turf was put in.In the past they’ve laid down ACL-seeking sod on top of the turf.
Glad to see Canada finally developed a solid plan to qualify for the WC again.
So all 3 countries that host get a team in ? Nice trick Canada and at this point, maybe the U.S., because soon or later Pulisic won't have any ankles.
I'm stealing this joke from BigSoccer, but since Canada is hosting, both of the NTs Canadian soccer fans root for will get an auto-bid: England and Italy.
Here's my question: if Canada gets an automatic berth in the finals as a host, will it also get a top seed in its group as is normally the case for being a host? Because the latter would feel very wrong, albeit not much more wrong than Qatar getting a top seed in 2022.
Ha funny funny, but a slightly unfair shot at the US who should be peaking in 2026. Now Mexico...Quoted for posterity, and Canadian pride!
It seems things have changed in a short time. Perhaps the U.S. or Mexico would be more at risk not to qualify in 2026, if 3 automatic berths aren't in the offing, though I'm sure they will be.
https://twitter.com/OldTakesExposedQuoted for posterity, and Canadian pride!
It seems things have changed in a short time. Perhaps the U.S. or Mexico would be more at risk not to qualify in 2026, if 3 automatic berths aren't in the offing, though I'm sure they will be.
Take your victory lap, Canadian soccer has never been better. If 3 host berths weren't under consideration before, surely Canada's qualifying campaign has erased all doubt that such a decision would be a farce.Quoted for posterity, and Canadian pride!
It seems things have changed in a short time. Perhaps the U.S. or Mexico would be more at risk not to qualify in 2026, if 3 automatic berths aren't in the offing, though I'm sure they will be.
Full credit to the CanMNT. When this thread was started in April 2017, things were looking pretty dire. Canada hadn't scored a goal in a Gold Cup since 2011. (They automatically qualify every year.) Alphonso Davies showed tremendous potential for the Whitecaps, but hadn’t been cap tied. (Canada are the worldwide leaders in dual-national panic.) Tajon Buchanan was a Syracuse student and had never worn a Canada shirt at any youth level. Jonathan David was a U17 in the soccer hotbed of Ottawa. What an amazing turnaround.Quoted for posterity, and Canadian pride!
It seems things have changed in a short time. Perhaps the U.S. or Mexico would be more at risk not to qualify in 2026, if 3 automatic berths aren't in the offing, though I'm sure they will be.
That article only mentioned Toronto and Edmonton. IIRC Vancouver declined to bid.Will Canada still need a third site? If so, Vancouver might be the heavy favourite.