June 13 – The long-standing issues of VISA entry to the US for Cubans took a different twist this week with the Cayman Islands men’s team pulling out of a World Cup qualifying fixture in Cuba.
June 12 – In an indictment of Igor Stimac’s management, India crashed out of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after a 2-1 defeat against Qatar ended their hopes of making the third round group stages.
June 11 – The two year countdown to the 2026 World Cup kick-off at the Estadio Azteca Mexico City on June 11 has begun, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino continuing his ‘greatest’ theme saying the finals would be “the greatest event, the greatest show, the greatest tournament”.
June 10 – Amid an institutional crisis at Cameroon’s football federation over the government appointment of head coach Marc Brys, he led the Indomitable Lions to a comfortable 4-1 victory against Cape Verde in the World Cup qualifiers.
May 13 – Concacaf has released the schedule for second round of World Cup Qualifying that will begin next month complete in 2024.
April 3 – The second round group qualifiers for AFC nations chasing places at the 2026 World Cup has now seen seven out of 18 slots filled for the third round.
March 22 – North Korea’s upcoming home World Cup qualifier against Japan was unexpectedly called off on Friday just hours after the announcement that it would be moved to a neutral venue.
February 5 – The 2026 World Cup final will be played at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants, beating out Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles for the tournament’s showcase game.
January 26 – Panama grouped with Nicaragua and Jamaica paired with Guatemala were the highlights of the first round group draw for the Conacacaf 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
January 24 – The draw for the Concacaf World Cup 2026 qualifiers will be held in FIFA’s Zurich headquarters tomorrow (January 25).
July 22 – FIFA has said it will announce the venues for the final of the 2026 World Cup and match schedule for the 2026 World Cup on Sunday February 4.
January 8 – The battle for the hosting of the 2026 World Cup final is ongoing with the two favourites – the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – both seemingly committing to multi-million dollar projects to woo FIFA’s decision makers.
November 23 – The qualification road for Asia’s nations for the 2026 World Cup is a long one. The first round saw 20 teams play knock-out matches to qualify for the first group stage. There will be a further group round and play-offs before the AFC’s 2026 qualifiers are confirmed.
By Paul Nicholson
October 27 – If the expanded 48-team World Cup in 2026 matches the no-holds barred drama and competitiveness of the US cities battling in the high-stakes race to host the final, then it really could be a best-ever World Cup for FIFA.
October 17 – Palestine’s men’s team will play all home matches in Algeria until further notice following a request from the Palestinian FA in the wake of the military conflict between Hamas and Israel.