2026 WORLD CUP

[RIPPA]

It is an annoying tweet but it does have everyone who has already qualified

[SirFozzie]

On 11/16/2025 at 1:27 PM, RIPPA said:

This is even better

 

The judges would have also accepted that "Hungary were sick as a Parrott after a last second winner.."

[odessasteps]

 

[RIPPA]

 

[odessasteps]

 

[Ryback Hates Bullies]

https://x.com/KDCunliffe/status/1990901958157148672

What scenes.

Edited November 18, 2025 by Ryback Hates Bullies

[SirFozzie]

Tierney will never have to buy a drink in Scotland ever again. (even from Rangers fans)

[Pete]

Smallest nation (155,000) ever to qualify for the WC. The soccer team only started up 15 years ago. Madness.

[odessasteps]

They are one of the Caribbean teams that benefitted from the eligibility rules being changed allowing more flexibility to people playing for their country of heritage,  I heard someone from there on the radio recently and many of the players on the team are Dutch. 

[Marcel]

On 11/16/2025 at 3:27 PM, odessasteps said:

Aka a quarterfinal match in Texas Stadium vs Haaland and Norway next year. 

That they'll lose on PKs.

[RIPPA]

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

They are one of the Caribbean teams that benefitted from the eligibility rules being changed allowing more flexibility to people playing for their country of heritage,  I heard someone from there on the radio recently and many of the players on the team are Dutch. 

Which also explains them being managed by Dick Advocaat

CONCACAF's qualifiers were wide open with the extra spots and the US, Mexico and Canada not needing to qualify

Panama and Haiti also qualified.

It is only the 2nd time Panama qualified. Ditto for Haiti - whose only other appearance was in 1974

Jamaica and Suriname qualified for the playoffs and yup - Honduras and Costa Rica will both miss 2026

[RIPPA]

And to follow up on on the FIFA inter-federation playoff

In what is a Football Manager fever dream - the 6 teams are

• Jamaica
• Suriname
• Bolivia
• New Caledonia
• DR Congo
• Iraq

Because FIFA never does things simply - teams will be broken into 2 groups. DR Congo and Iraq are "seeded" so they get byes to each groups finals

Two teams play - winner plays DR Congo for spot

Other two teams play - winner plays Iraq for spot

Draw for that tomorrow (11/20)

Games will be played in March with Mexico hosting all the games

[odessasteps]

The person I heard on the radio who was I think a Jamaican reporter that covered North America says the former Dutch colonies have been the big winners, the Central American countries less so.  I’m not sure which former French colonies are filled with diaspora players but given the way that North African teams benefit from them, you’d think it would be the same deal. 

[RIPPA]

A cleaner graphic - the 6 remaining spots are the 4 UEFA slots and the 2 FIFA interconference ones

[Dolfan in NYC]

 

[Pete]

6 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Which also explains them being managed by Dick Advocaat

CONCACAF's qualifiers were wide open with the extra spots and the US, Mexico and Canada not needing to qualify

Panama and Haiti also qualified.

It is only the 2nd time Panama qualified. Ditto for Haiti - whose only other appearance was in 1974

Jamaica and Suriname qualified for the playoffs and yup - Honduras and Costa Rica will both miss 2026

Suriname would've qualified outright with a win over already-eliminated Guatemala and Panama dropping points to El Salvador. Panama did their business and won 3-0, whereas Suriname were down 3-0 and falling out of playoff qualification... then a late own-goal by the Chapines saved Suriname at Honduras' expense. They were tied on group stage points and GD, however Suriname (9) scored more goals than Honduras (5)... so Honduras cruelly go home on the THIRD tiebreaker.

[Cobra Commander]

looking at the countries broken down by pot and here are the FIFA rankings of the remaining qualifying candidates

note that the lowest ranked team in Pot 3 is #61 South Africa. Pot 4 is half teams ranked 66-86, and the 6 open spots

so the remaining teams

Quote

• 56) Congo DR
• 58) Iraq
• 70) Jamaica
• 76) Bolivia
• 123) Suriname
• 149) New Caledonia

Quote

• 12) Italy
• 21) Denmark
• 25) Turkey
• 28) Ukraine
• 31) Poland
• 32) Wales
• 43) Sweden
• 44) Czech Republic
• 45) Slovakia
• 47) Romania
• 59) Ireland
• 63) Albania
• 65) North Macedonia
• 69) Northern Ireland
• 71) Bosnia
• 80) Kosovo

Pot 1 is 1-9 plus the 3 hosts

Pot 2 is 10-26

Pot 3 is 29-61

so, there's a potential that some of the Groups are gonna be loaded. Like it's possible to get three top 12 teams in a group if Italy gets drawn into the 'right' group

the highest ranked team not in the World Cup is Russia, who is... well... busy with things that render them ineligible (started a war). Serbia and Nigeria are the two highest non-qualifiers who were able to qualify.

Ready for the draw so we can get to the "oh crap, we need to switch game locations because this team can't get into the USA easily but can get into Mexico" moments that we're due to have

[Marcel]

The Playoffs are set:

All semi-finals and finals will be played on March 26 and 31 respectively.

 

Intercontinental Playoffs:

Path A

·       New Caledonia vs. Jamaica

·       Winner plays DR Congo for a World Cup spot

PathB  

·       Bolivia vs. Suriname

·       Winner plays Iraq for a World Cup spot

 

European Playoffs:

Path A Semi-FInals

• Italy vs Northern Ireland
• Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina

Winner of Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina with home advantage in final

Path B Semi-FInals

• Ukraine vs Sweden
• Poland vs Albania

Winner of Ukraine vs Sweden with home advantage in final

Path C Semi-FInals

• Turkey vs Romania
• Slovakia vs Kosovo

Winner of Slovakia vs Kosovo with home advantage in final

Path D Semi-FInals

• Denmark vs North Macedonia
• Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland

Winner of Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland with home advantage in final

[RIPPA]

13 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Ready for the draw so we can get to the "oh crap, we need to switch game locations because this team can't get into the USA easily but can get into Mexico" moments that we're due to have

You joke but there is one nation this is already an issue for - Haiti

Haitian nationals are on a travel ban to the US at the moment so if Haiti has games in the US (which would be dicey as fuck to begin with) - none of their fans can travel to the game

[odessasteps]

I heard yesterday people “with tickets” are allegedly going to get expedited visa applications.

in contrast, for noted free border countries Russia and Qatar, a WC ticket either got you a visa or guaranteed you would get one. 

[Cobra Commander]

3 hours ago, Marcel said:

Winner of Ukraine vs Sweden with home advantage in final

Although for reasons that should be obvious to anybody who has watched the news in the last 3 years, Ukraine has been playing their matches in Poland. So it’s possible to get Poland/Ukraine with Ukraine as the home team in Poland.

3 hours ago, RIPPA said:

You joke but there is one nation this is already an issue for - Haiti

Iran is another nation which I figure is gonna run into some problems with getting into the US

[sabremike]

10 hours ago, RIPPA said:

You joke but there is one nation this is already an issue for - Haiti

Haitian nationals are on a travel ban to the US at the moment so if Haiti has games in the US (which would be dicey as fuck to begin with) - none of their fans can travel to the game

This might have something to do with the country not having an actual government for the past 5 or so years (that fact is also why their national team hasn't played a home match in years as well, which makes their qualification even more stunning).

[The Natural]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c30jp9q4jp6o

Ronaldo cleared for World Cup opener despite red card. Corrupt as fuck. Disgusting.

[ReiseReise]

Could have happened to any other player /sarcasm Off

 

[SirFozzie]

Ok, they changed things starting with the round of 32. Now, the knockout stages will be seeded ike tennis, with the 12 group winners being seeded 1-12 based off their Fifa world rankings (with 1-2 being on the opposite sides of the bracket so they can't meet till the final, etcetera