World Cup
As 2026 World Cup qualifying gets into fast lane, Australia’s Arnold set to break coaching record
Having taken Australia to new heights at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, coach Graham Arnold will scale a peak of his own when the Socceroos kick off qualifying for the 2026 finals in North America.
The 60-year-old will guide his nation in a 59th ‘A’ international against Bangladesh on Thursday, eclipsing the Australian record held with friend and former Socceroos team mate Frank Farina.
While reluctant to make a big deal out of it, Arnold can expect a warm reception at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, particularly if his Socceroos thump the low-ranked South Asians.
Arnold, after all, steered a lightly-regarded squad to two wins and a round-of-16 appearance in Qatar, their best performance at a World Cup.
Just getting the Socceroos to the tournament was a triumph given the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Australia all but shutting its borders, the Socceroos had to play many of their home qualifiers abroad and only squeezed into the Qatar finals via playoffs.
Qualifying for the 48-team World Cup in 2026 should be a cakewalk by comparison, with eight Asian teams able to qualify directly, double the allocation for Qatar.
Arnold will again hope to break new ground as the first coach to take Australia to two World Cups, while regenerating a squad sapped of experience by player retirements.
“If I asked you how many players aren’t here who were in Qatar? Seventeen,” Arnold told a press conference on Wednesday.
“So, you know, it’s how quick national team football can go.
“I’ve always been one that keeps my eyes open — for not (just) plan A for now. I always have plan B and plan C for the future because things can change very quickly.”
FAILED CAMPAIGNS
Arnold has learned the hard way how to deal with the unexpected – both as player and coach.
He was part of four failed World Cup qualifying campaigns as a Socceroos forward in the 1980s and ’90s.
In front of a huge crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he missed chances for a match-winning goal against Iran which would have sealed a ticket to the 1998 finals in France.
He was an assistant under Farina when the Socceroos failed to qualify for the next World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Arnold took over as a caretaker boss after Guus Hiddink stepped down following Australia’s drought-breaking appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
By his own admission, Arnold’s first stint in charge was a failure as a strong Socceroos squad bowed out of the 2007 Asian Cup in the quarter-finals.
“I tried to be someone who I wasn’t as a human being. I tried to be Guus Hiddink, be hard and all that stuff,” he recalled.
“I honestly say that the boys didn’t respect me as a coach in those days. And they were right because I hadn’t done anything as a coach.”
When Arnold returned for his second stint as boss in 2018 he carried more weight, having won domestic championships at two clubs.
Still, his ebullience occasionally got ahead of him.
His insistence that Australia would win every match at the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates came back to bite him when the hosts knocked them out of the quarter-finals.
Arnold will have the chance to make amends at the next Asian Cup in Qatar, which starts in January.
He will hope to emulate Ange Postecoglou, the Tottenham Hotspur boss who coached the Socceroos to their maiden Asian Cup title at the 2015 event on home soil.
Without a single player in a top European league, Arnold’s squad boasts more heart than talent, and he will hope to unearth a gem or two before the next World Cup.
If none are forthcoming, Arnold will likely shrug, clear his throat and wax lyrical about “Aussie DNA”, the term he coined for the grittiness and graft that carried the Socceroos to acclaim in Qatar.
-Reuters
World Cup
As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
As Morocco continues to attract global visitors, especially in the sporting segments, infrastructural development is ongoing.
The latest is the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed Rail Line (LGV) at Rabat-Agdal train station, paving the way for a new era of ultra-modern rail infrastructure across the country.
The project was launched on Thursday by the monarch, King Mohammed VI. Apart from being a centre of major sporting events, Morocco recently launched a tourism initiative that will make the kingdom the ultimate destination.
The internal transport system is being overhauled. The 430-kilometre project forms part of a $9.6 billion railway development program that will transform the country’s transportation network.
It will be recalled that the 2030 FIFA World Cup is being co-hosted by Morocco along with Spain and Portugal.
It is the first ever transcontinental edition of the World Cup, which also marks the 100th anniversary of the global championship.
According to information from the Moroccan News Agency (MAP), the Kenitra-Marrakech LGV reflects Morocco’s strategic vision for sustainable development, particularly the promotion of low-carbon collective mobility solutions.
“This project demonstrates Morocco’s firm determination to continue developing the national rail network,” said an official statement during the ceremony, noting the railway’s role as “the backbone of a sustainable and inclusive transport system.”
The high-speed line will connect Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech while serving Rabat and Casablanca airports.
It will drastically reduce travel times, with journeys between Tangier and Rabat taking just one hour, Tangier to Casablanca 1 hour 40 minutes, and Tangier to Marrakech 2 hours 40 minutes — saving over two hours compared to current durations.
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Saudi Arabia would be ready and willing to host a 64-team World Cup in 2034 if FIFA accepts a controversial proposal to expand the tournament from 48, according to the kingdom’s sports minister.
South America’s CONMEBOL has officially suggested staging the centenary 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco with 64 teams, but the idea has been opposed by some other continental confederations.
Next year’s tournament, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will have 48 countries participating, up from 32 in 2022.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal told a select group of reporters at the Saudi Arabian Formula One Grand Prix in Jeddah that his country would have no objection to an increase in the numbers for 2034.
“We’re ready, or we will be ready, inshallah (God willing). If that’s a decision that FIFA takes and thinks that that’s a good decision for everyone, then we’re more than happy to deliver on it,” he said.
He pointed to the infrastructure already in place for Islamic pilgrims, with four million people attending Mecca for Umrah during Ramadan this year and five million expected for the Hajj.
FIFA expected to confirm Saudi Arabia as 2034 World Cup hosts – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – December 11, 2024 A model of the proposed Roshn Stadium is seen inside the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
The global soccer governing body officially announced Saudi Arabia as hosts of the 2034 men’s World Cup in December, a bid that was uncontested but strongly criticised by rights organisations.
The Kingdom has invested heavily in sport over the last few years, but critics accuse it of ‘sportswashing’ its human rights record. The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.
The bid book pledged 15 stadiums, new or refurbished, by 2032 and which are expected to be completed with the help of migrant labour.
Al-Faisal said worker safety was of the highest priority and Saudi organisers were talking regularly with FIFA and 2022 hosts and neighbours Qatar, the first World Cup in the region, to learn from their experience.
He said the death, reported last month, of a worker at the Aramco Stadium construction site in Al Khobar had come after millions of hours without issue.
“Every incident we take seriously, we file an investigation, we look what went wrong,” said the minister. “Unfortunately, in construction, these things happen.”
He said Saudi Arabia was part of the International Labour Organisation and a 2021 Labour Reform Act had abolished the kafala system that binds migrant workers to one employer and prevents them from leaving without the employer’s approval.
Alcohol, prohibited for observant Muslims, is banned in Saudi Arabia and Al-Faisal confirmed the World Cup would be dry.
“The law now here in Saudi is that there’s no alcohol. Will that change in the future? We don’t know. But I don’t see it really affecting our sporting events at all,” he said.
“We’ve had more than 100 international events so far. We’ve had people come from all over the world to attend these sporting events. And everyone’s happy with the hospitality, the setup, the experience that they get.
“I don’t see it as an issue, to be honest. So I hope it’s not going to be an issue”.
Alcohol was not sold at stadiums in Qatar, where drinking in public is illegal, in 2022 but beer was available at designated fan zones and in some hotels.
-Reuters
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A 64-team World Cup in 2030 should not be considered, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani has said, joining some other confederations in opposing a plan presented by CONMEBOL.
CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez last week officially proposed staging the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams, up from the 48 set to take part in next year’s edition, with the tournament to be hosted largely by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
The opening matches will take place in Uruguay, where the first World Cup was hosted in 1930, along with Argentina and Paraguay.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told ESPN, opens new tab.
CONCACAF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The CONMEBOL plan would have a long way to go for approval, with the 48-team 2026 edition already expanded from the 2022 tournament, when 32 countries took part.
The 2026 tournament is set to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table,” said Montagliani.
His comments echoed complaints by UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin, who this month voiced opposition to the idea, and Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who told AFP, opens new tab he fears expansion would lead to chaos.
-Reuters
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As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
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