2026 World Cup

[Darran]

https://twitter.com/fifaworldcup/status/1537552949722890241?s=21&t=z8nfzZFiFAdgdCuX7IiyyQ

 

[Ebo]

Monterey looks spectacular View attachment 7408A3FD-373A-4451-8FE0-734CDF3281EA.jpeg koi

 

[Allergic2Hoof]

So do the usa, Canada and Mexico all auto qualify?

 

[crazedbison]

So do the usa, Canada and Mexico all auto qualify?

Yes, but the entire field is being expanded to 48. Supposed to be 16 groups of 3. With top 2 from each group advancing to a knockout stage of 32 teams. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Makes qualifying easier but the matches at the finals much more tense.

 

[crazedbison]

One thing that has me a bit perplexed is most of those stadiums in the US and Canada use artificial turf. Will they just roll a sod pitch over the top?

 

[Cooperman]

One thing that has me a bit perplexed is most of those stadiums in the US and Canada use artificial turf. Will they just roll a sod pitch over the top?

They have four years to get it fixed, but I’m certain that we won’t see much in the way of astroturf at Soccerball 2026.

 

[JackSomething]

One thing that has me a bit perplexed is most of those stadiums in the US and Canada use artificial turf. Will they just roll a sod pitch over the top?

Hard to say for sure as they just list cities rather than stadiums, but I don't think there's a lot of artificial turf in the stadiums they're likely to use. I'd imagine there'll be plenty of NFL and college football stadiums on the list and American football players hate artificial turf as it tends to lead to a lot more injuries.

The 'San Francisco Bay Area' stadium is almost definitely the 49er's Levi's Stadium (because it's actually in Santa Clara, nowhere near downtown San Francisco). They definitely have a grass pitch.

 

[crazedbison]

One thing that has me a bit perplexed is most of those stadiums in the US and Canada use artificial turf. Will they just roll a sod pitch over the top?

Hard to say for sure as they just list cities rather than stadiums, but I don't think there's a lot of artificial turf in the stadiums they're likely to use. I'd imagine there'll be plenty of NFL and college football stadiums on the list and American football players hate artificial turf as it tends to lead to a lot more injuries.

The 'San Francisco Bay Area' stadium is almost definitely the 49er's Levi's Stadium (because it's actually in Santa Clara, nowhere near downtown San Francisco). They definitely have a grass pitch.

I’ve seen the list of stadiums. Almost exclusively NFL stadiums.

Seattle, Vancouver, NYC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Atlanta, and Boston are all artificial turf.

 

[JackSomething]

Hard to say for sure as they just list cities rather than stadiums, but I don't think there's a lot of artificial turf in the stadiums they're likely to use. I'd imagine there'll be plenty of NFL and college football stadiums on the list and American football players hate artificial turf as it tends to lead to a lot more injuries.

The 'San Francisco Bay Area' stadium is almost definitely the 49er's Levi's Stadium (because it's actually in Santa Clara, nowhere near downtown San Francisco). They definitely have a grass pitch.

I’ve seen the list of stadiums. Almost exclusively NFL stadiums.

Seattle, Vancouver, NYC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Atlanta, and Boston are all artificial turf.

Apologies, I stand corrected. I was thinking the old style astroturf that used to be popular (think Luton had it in the 80's), but you're right that a lot of them do have the more modern artificial turf. Thanks for the info.