On the Eve of the new Season...

grateful wrote:
leet

Turkey is a real country.  Seriously. 

But yeah, good call.

USMT is bringing an Argentine in to take over coaching

Mauricio Pochettino
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mauricio-pochettino-negotiating-deal-become-us-mens-soccer-112866402

SideThatch wrote:
Saudi Arabia likely to host 2034 World Cup after Australia decides not to bid for soccer showcase

confirmed:
https://x.com/Saudi2034
https://saudi2034.com.sa/

This is the problem with the world: the $ is never enough. FIFA makes money on World Cups no matter where they are held but they want top dollar.

Plenty of soccer loving countries that are far more deserving of hosting a World Cup based on tradition and infrastructure but when rich countries can bribe FIFA and member states it’s all about the $.

2030 should have been Uruguay and Argentina to mark the WC centennial. If it wasn’t for Uruguay and Argentina we wouldn’t even have a World Cup. 2034 should have been anywhere but Saudi and other repugnant dictatorships.

Whoa… thought we were none

DC’s Audi Field to host 3 FIFA Club World Cup games

note the use of the word "Club" in there… that's not the inter-country World Cup


edit:  games at Audi Field
Group G: Al Ain FC v Juventus FC Wednesday, 18 June, 21:00
Group H: FC Salzburg v Al Hilal Sunday, 22 June, 18:00
Group G: Wydad AC v Al Ain FC Thursday, 26 June, 15:00

sweetcell wrote:
note the use of the word "Club" in there… that's not the inter-country World Cup


edit:  games at Audi Field
Group G: Al Ain FC v Juventus FC Wednesday, 18 June, 21:00
Group H: FC Salzburg v Al Hilal Sunday, 22 June, 18:00
Group G: Wydad AC v Al Ain FC Thursday, 26 June, 15:00

First two conflict with
Mannequin Pussy

Peach Pit & Briston
Mumford and Sons

Respectively

the second game starts at 6:00, so over by 8:30 assuming no OT.  depending on start times of the concerts one might be able to swing both the game and a show.

sweetcell wrote:
note the use of the word "Club" in there… that's not the inter-country World Cup


edit:  games at Audi Field
Group G: Al Ain FC v Juventus FC Wednesday, 18 June, 21:00
Group H: FC Salzburg v Al Hilal Sunday, 22 June, 18:00
Group G: Wydad AC v Al Ain FC Thursday, 26 June, 15:00

Yeah this is a pretty transparent action on the part of FIFA to get a bigger piece of European football club action which is what the world is living and dying by these days. It’s kind of weak sauce. Nobody thinks anyone has a chance against European clubs so the Champions League will remain the marquee club competition. Now if FIFA made some changes so poor countries and clubs weren’t giving up talent at younger and younger ages maybe we could have a competitive world club competition .

BarelyHatch wrote:
Whoa… thought we were none

DC’s Audi Field to host 3 FIFA Club World Cup games

The way things are going we are not going to be able to afford to go to any World Cup games in 2026…it’s not 1994 anymore…for the good teams in 2026 you are going to be looking at $500 to get in the door!!! Ro was telling me a while ago we should go see argentina and I didn’t have the heart to tell him we won’t be able to afford it!!!

I can tell him for you.

hutch wrote:

BarelyHatch wrote:
Whoa… thought we were none

DC’s Audi Field to host 3 FIFA Club World Cup games

The way things are going we are not going to be able to afford to go to any World Cup games in 2026…it’s not 1994 anymore…for the good teams in 2026 you are going to be looking at $500 to get in the door!!! Ro was telling me a while ago we should go see argentina and I didn’t have the heart to tell him we won’t be able to afford it!!!

Can you also tell him I would rather watch it on TV and keep my $500?

Sure.  Anything else?

hutch wrote:
Can you also tell him I would rather watch it on TV and keep my $500?

FIFA WC'26 will kick off in exactly 365 days

i just registered for ticketing info.  no onsale date yet, but per the intertubes "FIFA has announced that tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will go on sale in the third quarter of 2025"

one can currently buy "hospitality packages" for the WC, AKA their equivalent of platinum tickets.  there are package for all games at a given venue, all games for a given team (3 round-robin + 1 round of 32, transpo not included), or packs of 4 or 8 games of one's choosing.  8-pack is the only way to get finals tickets, at this time, as far as i can tell - but not available online, someone will call you (AKA $$$$$$$$$).

i looked into getting a set for seattle which is hosting 6 games.  cheapest option is $9,850 ($1,642/game), top shelf is $27,200 ($4,533/game) per seat.  all packages include hospitality suites/tents, various refreshments, commemorative gift, exclusive access to blah blah blah…

edit: i can get 4 tickets to the opening round games for $1,412/game… prices crashin' yo.

hopefully the single-game, non-platinum tix will be a little more affordable.

sweetcell wrote:
i looked into getting a set for seattle which is hosting 6 games.  cheapest option is $9,850 ($1,642/game), top shelf is $27,200 ($4,533/game) per seat.  all packages include hospitality suites/tents, various refreshments, exclusive access to blah blah blah…

LOL, poverty-ass sport. We're paying more than that per person for a single F1 weekend in Montreal starting in two days.

more than how much?  more than $27k per person???

(FYI all those WC price are per person/seat)

sweetcell wrote:
more than how much?  more than $27k per person???

The suite for the three days plus the Mercedes Benz gala plus all the VIP food/drinks options is around $27k PER PERSON.

Wish Smackie still checked in here so I could ask if it’s coming home or not.