FIFA World Cup 2026

[SharperDingaan]

Less of the scholarship thing, as there just aren't the scholarships, and its not part of the culture. Hence the next step calls for improved soccer development infrastructure ... and only small grants to help with travel and living costs while you continue to train/develop.

 

The bigger concern is the coach abuse and corruption within the sports organisations managing this very one-sided power arrangement. Changing now as the women's games are emerging, and they aren't putting up with it. Good on them.

 

SD 

[bizaro86]

1 hour ago, SharperDingaan said:

Ice Hockey is great, but it's a rich persons sport and you only see the best players of that available. If mom/dad weren't rich enough to constantly get you the equipment as you grew through it, the extra coaching, to/from the practice and away games, etc, etc .... you never got to the farm/pro levels. The best of a small and rich population.

 

 

Yeah. The path to being a potential NHL player out of Canada is now a $200k commitment for the parents. Places like Rink Academy or Edge are hockey focused schools starting at middle school age for $20k+ per year, plus gear, travel team fees/costs, etc. 

 

Not many people coming from the pond behind the farm to the NHL anymore.

[Jaygo]

Football / soccer is absolutely not cheap in Canada. We are spending roughly 8K per year between my kids. 

 

The reasoning is very simple, Canada has absolutely shit weather and outrageously expensive and prohibitive real estate and development fees. 

 

A single indoor soccer pitch with an hour of Toronto is going to cost about 10 million bucks. Many will cost multiples of that and if you want to play all year and actually get good you need indoor 6 or 7 months a year. 

 

Our yearly fee for my son who is U2017 is 5k and more than half is going to field rentals. He's on the field 3-4 days a week. Maybe in Victoria, Windsor or Vancouver you can get away with outdoor all year round but not anywhere else. 

 

Watching Canada and the US play this WC just shows you our kids are just not getting the touches on the ball that other global citizens are. We suck plain and simple when comped to the Europeans. We rely on  speed and strength because we need to compensate for lack of ball control and Football IQ.

 

The reason the Spanish players are less athletic ( smaller and slower ) but still excel is that they play the purest form of football, the type that comes from playing every single day in a small court in Barca or Cadiz. They play with the ball like it is glued to their feet because that is the life they live. They grow up playing on a concrete surface in a Plaza or a school courtyard so they are used to a much faster, closer game. 

 

In Barca if you play on grass you are rich and at a disadvantage because the tiki taka comes from playing street ball. The more money that gets poured into north American programs will help but a fundamental shift is required to get world class. 

 

My son is a top player in his age group here and when we play in a park in Spain he cant get close to the ball, the game is just too fast for him because he is used to playing on long grass or super expensive turf. The reason Canada couldn't get a pass completed against Morocco is because they had no time so panicked, but that is football everywhere else in the world. Pass and move, pass and move. 

 

 

 

 

[raveslayer]

Argentinan here, very nervous watching the game while working (1pm in Buenos Aires, Egipto just scored).

 

What Jaygo  says is true... It is amazing to see how children who play soccer from a young age develop a playing style (complex blend of technique, tactics, physical fitness, intelligence and cunning) that is difficult to teach later in life.

 

I would encourage any parent to introduce their children to soccer culture. While it is true that in some countries (like here) it is highly competitive and puts a lot of pressure on the kids, it is a healthy culture with solid values based purely in team play.

[Eldad]

7 minutes ago, Jaygo said:

Football / soccer is absolutely not cheap in Canada. We are spending roughly 8K per year between my kids. 

 

The reasoning is very simple, Canada has absolutely shit weather and outrageously expensive and prohibitive real estate and development fees. 

 

A single indoor soccer pitch with an hour of Toronto is going to cost about 10 million bucks. Many will cost multiples of that and if you want to play all year and actually get good you need indoor 6 or 7 months a year. 

 

Our yearly fee for my son who is U2017 is 5k and more than half is going to field rentals. He's on the field 3-4 days a week. Maybe in Victoria, Windsor or Vancouver you can get away with outdoor all year round but not anywhere else. 

 

Watching Canada and the US play this WC just shows you our kids are just not getting the touches on the ball that other global citizens are. We suck plain and simple when comped to the Europeans. We rely on  speed and strength because we need to compensate for lack of ball control and Football IQ.

 

The reason the Spanish players are less athletic ( smaller and slower ) but still excel is that they play the purest form of football, the type that comes from playing every single day in a small court in Barca or Cadiz. They play with the ball like it is glued to their feet because that is the life they live. They grow up playing on a concrete surface in a Plaza or a school courtyard so they are used to a much faster, closer game. 

 

In Barca if you play on grass you are rich and at a disadvantage because the tiki taka comes from playing street ball. The more money that gets poured into north American programs will help but a fundamental shift is required to get world class. 

 

My son is a top player in his age group here and when we play in a park in Spain he cant get close to the ball, the game is just too fast for him because he is used to playing on long grass or super expensive turf. The reason Canada couldn't get a pass completed against Morocco is because they had no time so panicked, but that is football everywhere else in the world. Pass and move, pass and move. 

 

 

 

 

Always crazy to me that Canada has 4 people per Sq Km and the 10th lowest population density of any country and you all are always saying the cost of real estate is exorbitantly high. I realize probably half the land is almost uninhabitable but still. Isn’t there a nice 100k population town in Newfoundland or Quebec where you could live and work remote? 
 

Sounds like an opportunity for somebody to run indoor soccer clinics in smaller spaces and sell it as Spanish style. 

[Gregmal]

12 minutes ago, Jaygo said:

Football / soccer is absolutely not cheap in Canada. We are spending roughly 8K per year between my kids. 

 

The reasoning is very simple, Canada has absolutely shit weather and outrageously expensive and prohibitive real estate and development fees. 

 

A single indoor soccer pitch with an hour of Toronto is going to cost about 10 million bucks. Many will cost multiples of that and if you want to play all year and actually get good you need indoor 6 or 7 months a year. 

 

Our yearly fee for my son who is U2017 is 5k and more than half is going to field rentals. He's on the field 3-4 days a week. Maybe in Victoria, Windsor or Vancouver you can get away with outdoor all year round but not anywhere else. 

 

Watching Canada and the US play this WC just shows you our kids are just not getting the touches on the ball that other global citizens are. We suck plain and simple when comped to the Europeans. We rely on  speed and strength because we need to compensate for lack of ball control and Football IQ.

 

The reason the Spanish players are less athletic ( smaller and slower ) but still excel is that they play the purest form of football, the type that comes from playing every single day in a small court in Barca or Cadiz. They play with the ball like it is glued to their feet because that is the life they live. They grow up playing on a concrete surface in a Plaza or a school courtyard so they are used to a much faster, closer game. 

 

In Barca if you play on grass you are rich and at a disadvantage because the tiki taka comes from playing street ball. The more money that gets poured into north American programs will help but a fundamental shift is required to get world class. 

 

My son is a top player in his age group here and when we play in a park in Spain he cant get close to the ball, the game is just too fast for him because he is used to playing on long grass or super expensive turf. The reason Canada couldn't get a pass completed against Morocco is because they had no time so panicked, but that is football everywhere else in the world. Pass and move, pass and move. 

 

 

 

 

Yup, same way the Dominican/Caribbean kids whom learn growing up how to play baseball with bare hands, using little more than bottle caps and broomsticks run circles around the kids in more developed countries.
 

Heck it was even night and day going from NJ to FL, where the rec teams in FL are worlds better than the Northeastern travel teams for little reason other than how frequently and easily they get to be on the field. 

[LC]

Off topic but anyone who wants a great foot/ankle/achilles/calf workout - go to a soccer field (or anywhere, really) and run a few laps on your toes only - heels never touching the ground. Great for kids too, it builds an unmatched base of agility that translates well to other sports with quick changes of direction. Came from my old coach who was an ex-cosmos player.

[Jaygo]

2 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Yup, same way the Dominican/Caribbean kids whom learn growing up how to play baseball with bare hands, using little more than bottle caps and broomsticks run circles around the kids in more developed countries.
 

Heck it was even night and day going from NJ to FL, where the rec teams in FL are worlds better than the Northeastern travel teams for little reason other than how frequently and easily they get to be on the field. 

 

Absolutely regarding the Dominicans, the wild thing is that an obvious visible disadvantage becomes a hidden advantage. Less access to aluminum bats and softballs translate into higher hitting percentage once they play with the right equipment not a metal pipe or stick 

 

Its like listening to a podcast on 1.5x speed for a few hours, then when you listen on 1x its seems like slow motion. This is the hidden advantage to growing up playing on concrete. By the time you start playing on grass or turf the game seems like slow motion. Your brain and your body have been conditioned to an extremely fast paced game. 

 

Add to the above Spain's small physical stature has forced them to play a very team focused game that translates into success. You don't need super stars when you have a 100 world class players to pick from.

 

Canada's access to our African heritage super athletes has us focusing on speed and power strategies over the finer details like pass accuracy and game control. 

 

Maybe France has the golden ticket of big strong players with a higher skill level. I love the world cup because you see so many strategies based on the nations strengths and weaknesses. 

[dwy000]

Stunning comeback by Argentina.  @raveslayer, have you recovered yet?

[Xerxes]

2 hours ago, Eldad said:

Always crazy to me that Canada has 4 people per Sq Km and the 10th lowest population density of any country and you all are always saying the cost of real estate is exorbitantly high. I realize probably half the land is almost uninhabitable but still. Isn’t there a nice 100k population town in Newfoundland or Quebec where you could live and work remote? 
 

Sounds like an opportunity for somebody to run indoor soccer clinics in smaller spaces and sell it as Spanish style. 

In fact, 70% of population is in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor and close BC

 

The Canadian Shield north of the country ensures lack of fertile land so historically population gravitated toward already dense area. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Eldad]

32 minutes ago, Xerxes said:

In fact, 70% of population is in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor and close BC

 

The Canadian Shield north of the country ensures lack of fertile land so historically population gravitated toward already dense area. 
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I have an acquaintance where I live (that was weirdly on the Canadian National soccer team I believe at one time) and he is from Nova Scotia. One time I was introducing him to someone and I mistakenly said he was from Newfoundland. He said “You think I’m a Newfy!?” Or something to that effect. Apparently Newfoundland is like the West Virginia of Canada. I’m from a small Southern backwater state that everyone thinks is the worst and I know is the best, so I don’t care about those sorts of things haha. I was just looking at St. John’s average monthly temps and it sounds like paradise. Just saying. 

[raveslayer]

2 hours ago, dwy000 said:

Stunning comeback by Argentina.  @raveslayer, have you recovered yet?

 

almost died haha

 

im still trying to cope with the criticism, i know it's fair and reasonable

 

But for me -passionate about the sport- i just can't image the winner mentality needed to overcome a 0 -2 in 15 mins

[Castanza]

6 hours ago, bizaro86 said:

Not many people coming from the pond behind the farm to the NHL anymore.

That’s every sport now. It’s a terrible investment these days…parents spend 10s of thousands on sports for their kids only to have less than 2% of them get scholarships and only what 1% of those kids go pro? 
 

I played HS Basketball for the 16th AAAA team in the country back in the early 2010s. I got looked at by a few big schools (Penn State) early in my HS years but not coming from a wealthy family it was near impossible to keep up with the AAU fees and general expense for offseason play/training schedule. Decided it wasn’t for me as it became a job and I lost the love of the game. My point is unless you’re willing to commit 100% from a family perspective in terms of time and money and friendships it’s incredible difficult these days to do anything in sports. 100x worse now with kids in Middle School having agents! 

[tnathan]

I was at the US game yesterday. It was horrible but at least it was an iconic game (in a bad way)

[backtothebeach]

Argentina‘s 2-2 goal commentary.

[Xerxes]

20 hours ago, Eldad said:

Thanks. I have an acquaintance where I live (that was weirdly on the Canadian National soccer team I believe at one time) and he is from Nova Scotia. One time I was introducing him to someone and I mistakenly said he was from Newfoundland. He said “You think I’m a Newfy!?” Or something to that effect. Apparently Newfoundland is like the West Virginia of Canada. I’m from a small Southern backwater state that everyone thinks is the worst and I know is the best, so I don’t care about those sorts of things haha. I was just looking at St. John’s average monthly temps and it sounds like paradise. Just saying. 

yeah. I never got the “newfy” thing myself and lived in QC for decades. But I use to hear it in high school as a joke. 
 

I never been in St John, maybe it is the undiscovered Vancouver of east coast, without the Chinese money inflow (not expensive) but lots of snow

 

PS: fun fact, we (QC) buy a lot of electricity from Labrador on the cheap (which is part of Newfoundland) and resell to the north east States in the U.S. for massive profit. 
 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Xerxes

[Ulti]

A few observations from the Argentina Egyptian match.
 

1. Benz is amazing when you walk in the place … go to the FIFA.swag stands… There was only FIFA and Argentina gear couldn’t find any Egyptian.

 

2. Place was full of Argentina fans very few Egyptian, my buddy and I decided to root for Egypt because the 2 cute girls in front of us were rooting for Egypt. What was fun ?the flow of the game…. There was a long stretch where you can see the Argentinian fans, players and coaches had very tight, sphincter muscle ..

 

3. fan stay twenty minutes to thirty minutes after the match just cheering the Argentinian team and the Argentinian team was cheering themselves. That was amazing.

 

4. If all footballers are like the ones that played this game, they are all amazing actors, especially when they get touched.

 
5. Loud!!!

 

It was a great experience and glad I went.  and glad I wore earplugs.

[Parsad]

6 hours ago, Xerxes said:

yeah. I never got the “newfy” thing myself and lived in QC for decades. But I use to hear it in high school as a joke. 
 

I never been in St John, maybe it is the undiscovered Vancouver of east coast, without the Chinese money inflow (not expensive) but lots of snow

 

PS: fun fact, we (QC) buy a lot of electricity from Labrador on the cheap (which is part of Newfoundland) and resell to the north east States in the U.S. for massive profit. 
 

 

 

 

The East Coast of Canada is stunningly beautiful.  Much smaller and less diversity than Vancouver or British Columbia, but the people, land and food is amazing!  More akin to Ireland than most of the rest of Canada...literally across the pond from Ireland! 

 

I plan on making a driving trip in the fall of 2027 starting from Quebec and then all around the East Coast including Prince Edward Island (PEI).  

 

The "Newfy" stuff (big in the 1970's) was Canada's version of U.S. backwater jokes or Polish lightbulb jokes...more ignorance than anything else!  Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, etc are hidden gems that more people around the world should be aware of!  Cheers!