Genuinely annoys me as someone who loves the World Cup that as football lovers we’ve had to sit through three tournaments in a row with gritted teeth.
2018 Russia - joke, corrupt when it was awarded, invaded a sovereign European country before the tournament even happened
2022 Qatar - the biggest joke of all
2026 USA - joke, they had it 22 years ago so far too soon to repeat, and it’s a niche sport, be like holding the World Series of baseball in Belgium
That’s two countries with zero to hardly any culture of football, two countries whose human rights issues are off the scale, one country who would never qualify in a million years on a sporting basis, and the other two who would be lucky to get out of the group stage in a normal year, and certainly won’t ever be winning it.
It’s supposed to be the showpiece celebration of everything that’s beautiful about football, in a country which is passionate about football - and have earned the right to host.
Can’t believe it’s 16 years between tournaments that I’d even consider attending.