World Cup
World Cup 2026 teams to be based in ‘clusters’
Teams at the expanded 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be based in regional clusters during the early rounds to ease travel, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said.
Speaking in Los Angeles to unveil the official logo and branding for the tournament, Infantino said the move was prompted by the scale of the 2026 finals.
For the first time the next World Cup will include 48 teams — up from 32 — and will be co-hosted by three countries, another first.
“The challenges will be the whole logistics around it,” Infantino said. “It’s a continent -– three countries and not three small countries either — three big countries.
“The distances, the time zones, the climatic differences too — altitude in Mexico, sea level in other parts.
“So for us it’s important to create the right environment for the teams and the fans to be put in the best possible conditions.
“Meaning not having to travel too much, especially at the beginning. So we will create some clusters where teams will be based depending on the draw and then they will play their games in that particular cluster.”
Infantino said travel, and the move towards basing teams in regions, had been discussed at a meeting in Doha last week of the 32 coaches involved in last year’s World Cup.
“This was one of the advantages of the World Cup in Qatar, where a player, one hour after the game, was in his bed,” he said.
“(In 2026) there will be some travel involved but we will coordinate that and make sure that it will be the best possible conditions for the teams.”
Infantino meanwhile hopes the tournament can build on the success of the 1994 finals in the United States, which helped establish Major League Soccer in North America.
Asked what he wanted the legacy of 2026 to be, Infantino told AFP: “That soccer will be the number one sport in North America.”
Infantino’s remarks came as FIFA rolled out a “green carpet” for celebrities and former players at the Griffith Observatory overlooking Los Angeles.
The gala event was held to unveil the official branding for the 2026 tournament.
Among the guests was former US international Alexi Lalas, one of the stars of 1994.
Lalas backed Infantino’s pledge to base teams in regions.
“At the risk of ‘grumpy old-manning it’, it’s not like these guys are sitting in the middle seat in economy on a budget airline or anything,” Lalas told AFP. “They’re on charter aircraft all over the place.
“But having said that, we’re obviously talking about six-hour trips, time-zone changes. For a lot of players around the world that fundamentally changes the competition, so a regional type of situation makes sense.”
-AFP
Paraguay held Uruguay to a goalless draw in their South American World Cup qualifier on Friday, with striker Luis Suarez bringing his 17-year international career to an end at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.
The 37-year-old forward reached 143 appearances for his country, finishing as their all-time leading scorer with 69 goals.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who finished third in the Copa America, played without five players from their starting line-up, including Darwin Nunez, who were suspended for their involvement in clashes with fans following the defeat to Colombia in the continental showpiece in July.
Uruguay wasted several chances, most notably a first-half right-footed volley from Suarez that struck the post after Facundo Pellistri’s cross.
Paraguay also created clear-cut opportunities, with Miguel Almiron coming closest only to be denied by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, but neither side managed to capitalise.
Uruguay remain second in the World Cup qualifying standings on 14 points, four behind leaders Argentina. They face Venezuela on Tuesday, while Paraguay take on Brazil.
-Reuters
Brazil got back to winning ways in the South American World Cup qualifiers with a drab 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Friday thanks to first-half goal by Real Madrid forward Rodrygo.
After its first streak of losses in three successive qualifiers, Brazil did just enough to earn the win that lifted the struggling five-time World Cup champions to fourth in the standings with 10 points.
They are eight points behind leaders Argentina and only two points over Ecuador in sixth, the last spot guaranteed a berth at the 2026 finals.
Playing their first match after a disappointing Copa America defeat to Uruguay in the quarter-final, Brazil had another lacklustre performance, dominating possession but failing to create clear chances throughout the match.
Brazil misplaced too many passes and struggled to connect up front, out of ideas on how to beat Ecuador’s rock solid defensive block.
Ecuador were relentless while applying a physically aggressive pressure high with three hardworking forwards, making the locals uncomfortable when putting the ball in play. They Brazil almost no room to get inside their box either, forcing them to roam the ball horizontally around their penalty area and resort to strikes from long range.
Brazil’s only two shots on target on the first half were made by Rodrygo, who, after stinging the goalkeeper’s hands from a free kick early, were lucky to break the deadlock in the 29th minute. His effort fired from the edge of the box deflected off a defender and arched around the wrong-footed goalkeeper before hitting the right post and finding the back of the net.
Ecuador almost levelled in a counterattack right before the break, but defender Gabriel Magalhaes denied Moises Caicedo’s effort with a last-minute goal-line clearance.
Brazil came back even worse in the second half, with an uninspired Vinicius Jr creating their only shot on target in an absolutely morose 45 minutes, with boos greeting the final whistle.
“We needed this win, doesn’t matter if it was ugly or not. I’m happy with the victory and to have scored, and I hope it helps us getting better and progressing to the level that we want to reach moving forward,” Rodrygo told Brazilian TV Globo. Brazil will face Paraguay at Asuncion on Tuesday while Ecuador is set to host Peru in Quito on Monday.
-Reuters
Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF) has proposed 11 stadiums as candidates to host matches during the 2030 World Cup, including the home arenas of LaLiga clubs Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Spain, who will co-host the tournament with Portugal and Morocco as well as centenary hosts Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, will also have 45 additional grounds as team bases, the RFEF said on Friday.
Other LaLiga clubs whose home arenas have made the list include Sevilla, Malaga, Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Las Palmas and promoted Espanyol.
Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, despite being the fifth-largest stadium in LaLiga with a capacity of 49,430, was not included in the list of potential venues.
“In order to define the venues, all the possibilities have been analysed, including the option of expanding to 13, an option that must be taken unanimously by the three federations,” the RFEF said in a statement.
The tournament will have a maximum of 20 venues, the RFEF added.
Co-hosts Morocco last year announced plans to build a stadium near Casablanca and upgrade six others before the World Cup.
-Reuters
Zimbabwe sports minister among candidates for International Olympic Committee presidency
World Athletics boss, Coe and multi-millionaire Eliasch among seven candidates for IOC presidency
Storm in CAF over proposed statutes amendments
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
AFCON6 days agoSuper Eagles lead Afcon Group D qualifiers despite Benin’s defeat of Libya
-
AFCON5 days agoAustin Eguavoen remains the ‘Big Boss’, says NFF
-
AFCON6 days agoWhy I benched Osimhen again – Eguavoen
-
AFCON4 days agoRwanda newspaper gives 5 lessons gleaned from Rwanda-Nigeria clash
-
Nigerian Football5 days agoWesterhof recommends Siasia for Super Eagles’ job
-
AFCON6 days agoNigeria’s managerial crisis resumes as Eguavoen reportedly declines to continue
-
AFCON1 week agoHurray, Super Eagles back to winning ways!
-
AFCON4 days agoPresent and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen