The 2026 World Cup is too big, too expensive and too hard to love

More teams than ever before, more matches than ever before, more pointless words from journalists and former players than ever before – if such were possible, which it probably will be.

There will be 104 games, some doubtless played in extreme heat, a couple perhaps interrupted by thunderstorms. And then there is ‘dynamic pricing’, ensuring that many fans will be ripped off more than ever before.

Not to mention potential visa issues for those same fans trying to enter one of the host nations from a country that is not part of their visa waiver program. Oh, and a President of the United States who, unironically, is the recipient of FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize.

Given how difficult it will be for any established footballing nation not to qualify for the round of 32, except for the odd highlight package, I’ll be giving this tournament a miss. At least until the round of 16. Sixteen, incidentally, was the number of teams that competed in the tournament stage of FIFA World Cups between 1934 and 1978.

If, like me, you’re of a certain age, you’ll not only remember your first World Cup but also the last one that – the odd few games aside – you really enjoyed watching. In my case it was Argentina, 1978 and then France, 1998.

The tournament in Argentina provided us with a startling and controversial result: the host’s 6-0 victory over Peru, a match they needed to win by four clear goals to ensure qualification for the final.

And who can forget the 2006 World Cup, awarded after a close vote to Germany. This after Oceania’s representative abstained instead of voting as instructed by his Confederation.

Or the 2010 World Cup. Not the vuvuzelas that may have made you reach for the mute button. Not Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal in an age – apparently – before goal-line technology. But the awarding of the tournament to South Africa, followed by accusations that the FIFA Vice-President and other Executive Committee members had been bribed. Incidentally, the man who led South Africa’s bid was eventually arrested on charges of fraud and theft.

What about the 2015 FIFA corruption case? This resulted in the resignation of then FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the man in charge when World Cup tournaments had been awarded to Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022)

Still, at least we now have Gianni Infantino and the likelihood of a 2034 winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia – like Qatar, a nation that has rarely made footballing headlines (unless you count their 8-0 defeat by Germany in 2002).

On the plus side, some of the group stage matches in the coming edition of the World Cup will be kicking off in the early hours of the morning. Wake me up when we get to the round of 16.

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Dr Ariel Hessayon is an early modern historian at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has written on a wide variety of topics. Among his many research interests are ball games in Britain and Ireland, particularly before the 1860s. He blogs at https://arielhessayon.substack.com/

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