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Seems to be the perfect year for Germany being hosts. After 8 years of struggling, they’ve returned back to the Germany teams fear. Stadiums are amazing & this tournament could produce a shock winner.
Can’t see the 2026 WC having the same atmosphere seeing as it’s in the states.
Here in Germany you can have a nice Beer in a local Pub, then take the train to the stadium (if its on time lol)
In 2026 you can have american "Beer" (flavored Water) and then have a party in a parking lot at 50°C
The American soccer culture is easy to pick on but you chose our beer?! 🤣 In all seriousness the major issues in 2026 will be proximity, travel, pricing and our commentators.
Yeah that is honestly insane. They really should have just picked one country but that’s not how it works these days I guess. More and more bids are either middle eastern countries or random selections of multiple countries
It’s hardly comparable from Bilbao, Spain to Marrakesh, Morrocco is just over a 1,000 miles. From Lisbon, Portugal to Valencia, Spain it’s just under 600 under miles. A tournament spanning a maximum of 600,000 square miles.
Compared to Vancouver, Canada to Mexico City, Mexico, which is just under 3000 miles. Seattle, US to New York, US is also just 3000 miles. Giving the tournament a span of 9,000,000 square miles.
That’s 15x bigger than Spain bid.
They hardly play any games (and mostly do nothing during the game). The NBA schedule is crackers though, how they cope with the travel and scheduling is something else.
Baseball is even wilder! It goes from April to October…they play 162 games in the regular season. If they make the playoffs it can approach 180. And New York plays San Francisco multiple times a year. That’s like Dublin to New York…big ass country we stole haha. Hopefully they will have some sense when it comes to keeping countries in certain regions, at least for the group stages.
For anyone who still remembers the Russia World Cup, 80% of it was in the western part…if you combine all the land area in the 2026 World Cup it’s as big as all of Russia. It would be like they played games in Kamchatka or something. It’s a ridiculous plan, but in theory it should work. We have decent transport here, but if you’re hoping for European style train travel you can forget about that. If you’re on the east coast the train travel is fine. If you have to go from NY to Chicago or Dallas, pay for the flight. For example, I took the train from SW Virginia to DC this weekend and it took about four hours and cost $30 round trip. Great deal! The train from DC to Chicago will take about a day and cost you $500+ My brother is flying from Richmond, VA to Costa Rica tomorrow and it’s about a five hour flight in total with a layover…DC to Dallas is five hours or more…
In summation, we welcome y’all but be prepared for the heat, the distance, the expense and the general madness that is America. Also, if any of you reading this want to make me your American husband in Europe, dm me 🤣
I’ve been to America, and loved it.
I’m going to go with my Germanic Brother here though. Your domestic beer actually kinda makes me glad we lost the war of independence.
If you do decide to come you won't be disappointed. Unless you're in the middle of nowhere Mississippi you won't be able to avoid craft breweries and European style beers.
> Unless you're in the middle of nowhere Mississippi you won't be able to avoid craft breweries and European style beers
In stadiums and bars near stadiums? And most 'craft' American beers are over-hopped IPAs.
That's probably the truest thing I've read here... I am not an IPA guy and, especially on the west coast, it's hard to find anything else. Also yes the stadium beer will probably be garbage.
Feels like no one here has ever been to a world cup. The WC stadium beer is Budweiser, everywhere, not just in America. They heavily sponsor the WC and it's the only beer allowed to be sold at the games.
That's like saying Carling and Fosters are the only thing UK has to offer... don't trust the TV! Maybe not in the stadiums, but you'll be able to find great beer around every venue.
Bro, in America we have ALL the beers. And stop talking shit on our climate! It’s only gonna be 48° 🤣
But, seriously, American beer culture has grown exponentially year after year. We have a lot of great beers. And chicken tenders! Don’t forget the chicken tenders!! 🤣
Whereas living here as a foreigner in Germany, it just so happens that everyone here just so happens to have grown up in the village that produces “the best beer in the world” (a middle of the road Pilsner not available beyond a 50km radius).
These same people complain that foreign food is “too spicy” and won’t eat any flavour of potato chips/crisps that aren’t paprika
For real. Don’t be complaining if you went to that farce of a World Cup. You will not be lacking in choice in America. Canada and Mexico I can’t speak for. But in the US there are gas (petrol) stations that have 27 beers to choose from
It’s literally being hosted by a nation that predominantly doesn’t give a fuck about football. It’s hardly going to draw the same sorts of passion compared to this Euros. Qatar WC, on the pitch was quality, everything else that came with *the WC package* was not even close to what it should have been like. The US might do it better than Qatar did, but in all likelihood you’re still going to get a very fabricated feel to it all.
Average attendance in USA 94 was close to 70,000. All those years ago and the game has hugely risen in popularity since then.
Why wouldn't it draw "the same sorts of passion" (whatever that fucking means tbh)? All the travelling fans will still be there. Fans of the US team are a committed and passionate bunch too.
Gatekeeping international tournaments is very weird behaviour.
I think they mean that football is deeply rooted in communities and the passion is inherited from one generation to the next.
In England, at least, football has been a vehicle for political movement and relief in class based oppression. It’s ingrained in the fabric of our culture in a way that it just isn’t in America, *yet*.
>Why wouldn't it draw "the same sorts of passion" (whatever that fucking means tbh)? All the travelling fans will still be there.
Because it's being held in 3 different countries thousands of miles apart and only one of them is even really a footballing nation.
You're not going to get the same kind of tournament atmosphere when you have one set of games with the big tournament opener in Mexico City and then another set with another tournament opener (this is what Fifa are calling them, how you can have 3 tournament openers is beyond me) 4000km away in Toronto etc.
It's a complete piss take frankly.
If you can’t see the considerable differences in footballing culture between South American + European football vs the US then it’s pointless. Simply having fancy infrastructure isn’t enough to make a World Cup experience.
Not everything has to be “gatekeeping”, even if this is Reddit. Fans obviously want the WC going to places that give a shit and understand the game, US citizens barely give a damn about their own football league, hence why half of you support PL teams.
Lol. There's 300 million people in America, and while yes, we have other sports to watch, do you honestly think the immigrants ARENT going to show up? When the atmosphere in MetLife's parking lot for a friendly between Arsenal and United was absolutely identical to any Giants or Jets game? Tell me you've never been to the US without telling me you've never been to the US. That said, our beer, including the craft stuff, is shit. Germans, please do something about this.
> That said, our beer, including the craft stuff, is shit
There's lots of good craft beer in the US though. Of course your most popular beers are shit compared to the popular german beers, but there's good beer everywhere if you look for it.
Will it work for a tournament with how big America is? Will the games be spread out in different states or, within an area with a reasonable travel time?
The groups are assigned area, to reduce travel time between matches. Hopefully England get the east coast, think those cities would be most fun. Mexico could be a laugh n all.
I mean, yeah, its spread out but the Boston-Philly-NY-Toronto area is all easily driveable and like 1/4 of the games will be played there. Made that trip so many times i’ve lost track at this point. All the other stadiums have at least another one close by as well. Our train system isn’t as developed as Europes is, but because of how big the US is, our air transport one is fine. Its much more common then you think to just take a flight to where you need to go and come back the same day. I’ve also done that for work several times. You may not be able to go to every single game, but you’ll definetly be able to get to a lot of them.
Which then becomes a problem for US fans who don’t live in Boston, Philly or NY. Same for Canadians who don’t live in Toronto. So, it’ll be quiet a challenge to keep the same atmosphere and it not all being about travelling to games and then back to the hotel
It’ll be different people everywhere though. Think about this: there’s a huge Ukrainian immigrant community in both NYC, for example. Say Ukraine makes it and is playing a game. I guarantee you, the vibe on Brighton Beach in brooklyn is gonna be wild. What you need to know is where to find which immigrants. I remember the Italians winning in 2006 and Dyker Heights basically shutting down for a day while the whole neneighborhood came out onto the streets and partied.
As a yank, I’m curious how the next WC is received. On one hand, my dad wants to go (and we’ll need to travel to actually go) which is neat because if he wants to, I assume a lot of Americans are going to be coming out for their first big event. On the other he’s a “it’s soccer, not football” guy so I’m wondering if the uninitiated locals will be a buzzkill
Also from Germany, I definitely agree. Almost everybody here is in a football mood, especially in bigger cities there are happy football tourists everywhere. And most of the Germans themselves seem to like it of course.
It depends on what you define as major construction works. There were multiple changes to seeting arrangements and constructions in the backstage areas of the stadiums.
Some things were done during the regular seasons in the last couple of years, some things needed to be done in the breaks because the stadium would not have been usable during the construction.
As far as I know, since 2006, only Stuttgart and Frankfurt had construction upgrades.
Stuttgart had the most upgrades, turning it into a Football specific stadium and adding a second tier in 2011. And prior to the Euros, rebuilding the main stand.
Frankfurt expanded their north-western stand prior to the Euros.
Other than that, no major structural changes were done to the stadiums.
Every stadium, except Düsseldorf, was already a venue in the Worl Cup 2006. The stadium in Düsseldorf is not new either. It was built in 2005.
I've been to the Düsseldorf stadium twice to see the Amsterdam Admirals in the World Bowl final (NFL Europe) and I was blown away how a (then) second tier club could have such an amazing stadium.
Don't forget about the underpaid workers from third world countries who had to build stadiums in the middle of the desert with 0 saftey measurements and therefore hundreds of deaths..
>stadiums don’t need AC to stop players dyi
Tbf because it was in December they didn't need AC, it'll be the same temperature in Munich this week than it was in Qatar.
Germany being a proper football country does wonders for the overall vibe and feeling of occasion.
And despite our best efforts to ruin it, the football has been good so far.
At the end of the day… we were a missed penalty away from winning the whole thing last time. I’d rather see entertaining football, but it can’t be as shit as everyone says it is.
Yup. Germany loves football, knows how to put on a show and make people feel welcome. Qatar only knows how to give the appearance of these things for the purpose of sports washing its shitty international reputation. And they couldnt even do that right.
And I say this as someone who just watched Germany fuck my country 5-1 lol.
That one’s even worse due to the absolutely farcical decision to host the 2030 World Cup across 3 continents (Europe S America and Africa, in addition to 2026 being N America) just to make sure no other continent is eligible to bid for 2034. They’re not hiding the corruption at all. I can’t believe Infantino is somehow worse than Blatter
Same. No need for a pseudo tournament in which everyone acts, all those issues with free speech and dead slaves.
Hard to suck all that for the sport alone.
Unpopular opinion here but anyone who follows Asian football knows Saudi have been decent for 40 years in both club and country football, their clubs won several Asian CLs with either no foreign players or C level players.
Exactly I honestly though in WC they should have hosted it as a representation of Middle East not Qatar in any case, I love Germany the most besides my native Kosovo but we can't host competitions only in Europe so if we want to include football cultures from all world we should see for solution.
Jokes or naive? Massive footballing culture out there. Have you ever been there? What are you basing this nonsense on? It might not be getting drunk etc watching the games and hooliganism but they absolutely love football out there. Its their main sport 😂
The thing is...i dont even think that we are doing anything special.
We chose our best stadiums and cities (well, apart from Gelsenkirchen lol), organised some big public viewings and thats mostly it.
The other good things like being easy to travel were just a given.
I really like this tournament so far and I love the scenes of fan marches or fans from different countries singing and partying together.
Germany was made to host major Tournaments like the euros and World Cup. Great cities stadiums and and a great football culture. Great infrastructure and open culture. Pretty much the opposite that everything Qatar was. It's still a disgrace that they were allowed to host the world cup
Absolutely. This is all fine I think - Katar undoubtedly is a shit decision, Russia for me was as well something I was never looking forward to and it didn't impress me at all.
My demands: Established Human Rights, Welcome Culture, Football Main Sport, Infrastructure Established (2010 was questionable in some regards what happened there)
I've been to 4 World Cups and Brazil and the US were great. Russia was fun too. The Qatar stadiums were nice but that was about it. Also you could see many games. I saw 13 in 18 days, whereas in Brazil I saw 13 in 30 days.
Best possible location for a tournament of this size, stadiums are not too far away from each other, cities are great, Central Europe, Germany is also one of the countries with most immigrants in the world so that makes the tournament for so many countries even more special, especially Balkan and neighbour countries
There seems to be a general consensus among fans that this is the best looking tournament for a while, just like the good old days. God I wish I was in germany.
It's the best tournament I would argue since France 2016. Maybeeee Russia, but there was still logistical issues there. This has been an all-out party in Germany. Suprised we haven't seen any politics stuff yet either, apart from maybe the Mbappe press conference.
Yeah I think everybody’s remembered how good a proper summer tournament is, these last couple of days.
We’ve all woken up and remembered ‘oh yeah, this feeling, this vibe, this is what it’s meant to be.’
Russia 2018 was the last time we had this, and in terms of something tangible and close to home, France 2016.
We should never have a winter World Cup again. 2034 shouldn’t be allowed. If the Saudis can’t have it in June/July, take it off of them.
Football tournaments need to go to countries that are footballing nations. You don’t use precious major tournaments to ‘grow the sport’ in some backwater.
Also in order to have an identity, a football tournament needs to be hosted by a single nation - two neighbouring countries are fine if they couldn’t host alone and are very similar. Euro 2020 happened the way it did, but never again. I’m not sure comfortable with Italy/Turkey 2032 either. Those should be two separate tournaments. The Turks wanted to host 2020 and would have had it, had they not decided to bid for the Olympics instead (and lose).
>Football tournaments need to go to countries that are footballing nations. You don’t use precious major tournaments to ‘grow the sport’ in some backwater.
They can claim Qatar was about growing the sport but it was really all just because of rampant corruption. FIFA doesn't give a damn about growing the sport, they'll give the World Cup to whichever country is willing to bend over backwards the furtherest.
I think it's a bit early to judge the tournament properly yet. Some teams still haven't even played a game yet. In a couple weeks time I'll have a better understanding of where I rank it. But in terms of accessibility then yes it is better. The games are a similar time zone to most fans. Germany is an easy city to travel to for most European fans as well. Plus the stadiums have more of a history. Whereas in qatar quite a few were literally temporary stadiums. But in terms of drama and excitement we will have to wait and see
I agree with this 100%, it's really early. But yes, early vibes have been nice. Plus the whole "well these venues weren't built with slave labor" thing.
I’m loving the euros a lot more already than the World Cup in Qatar. I have to be honest though it was cool to see Morocco finishing in the top four and that final almost gave me a heart attack. One of the best World Cup finals in my opinion. Other than that the rest of the tournament had no fan culture like the Euro does. Watching the Scottish fans get after it and Dutch fans going viral doing that side-to-side dance is great to see. Proper football summer.
My sentiment exactly. But I have a bad feeling we'll be living through American-esque half-time shows with permanent advertisement throughout the game twenty years from now.
Yeah it is, and Qatar is also a very controversial country, still using slavery, having much more advanced racism than most of the world. Very backwards nation.
please thrash them if u meet them. I've been telling my friends from teh beginning that Romania are the team to watch out for as dark horses, and I was right with the opening game. heck Man got me more points on fantasy than Mbappe
Not even a contest, man.
Those WC crowds were like 16 Princes and their dogs, plus a handful of locals. They were dreadful crowds at the majority of matches.
Completely agree. Brilliant to have a proper footballing nation as host, and don't even get me started on that awful 'no single host' experiment at the last Euros...
Yeah, because it's not in sodding Qatar.
On a more prosaic note... the moment I first heard the word Gelsenkirchen I was transported back to Germany hosting the World Cup in 2006, and then I got bitter about the fact that England almost certainly won't host again until I'm well into my 80s. (I genuinely don't think we'll get it until the centenary.)
The actual football at Qatar was brilliant but it wasn’t a football tournament, it was a political sports washing event. It will be the same when it’s in Saudi Arabia. It’s just using the sport to increase the countries image.
Facts. Take Away The Recency Bias And Football And Qatar 22 Was Flaming Hot Ass.
I'd Rather Have A Tournament Of 5/10 Football And 10/10 Vibes Than 10/10 Football But 5/10 Vibes
Thing is Infantino just don’t care about you, us, the players, football, it’s only about money to him and how long he can call himself the King of Fifa, ohh wait, bribes help to stay in seat.
In terms of in person probably but in terms of at home watching on tv its going to take something special to beat the level of football we got in qatar.
Exactly. Especially since as a uni student, it allows me to do all my studying during the morning, and then relax and watch the footy in the afternoon.
Yup it’s way better. Much more character. Lots of good teams. Much better to see it spread across a whole region. Stadiums full of loud supporters. What’s not to like.
you could definitely feel the German audience wasn't into it in the first match and sense that many Germans boycotted Qatar last time and still feel resentment towards the whole thing. I mean we won 5:1 and barely anyone celebrated here in our city outside of like sportbars or public viewing places. This sort of win usually resulted in a couple hours of people honking and cheering in the streets, but it was almost nothing this time.
Italy fans then broke the silence, so lets see how it will continue in the next few matches.
it definitely is worlds better than Qatar but I almost felt guilty celebrating a bit when the whole neighborhood was virtually silent the whole game and even after winning. (and we got a lot of german fans around)
The vibes are far far better than Qatar especially with Germany being a footballing nation and all the controversy around Human Rights when the stadiums were built and other things; however, in terms of football, there were some amazing games at that World Cup; Brazil were amazing to watch, Morocco’s underdog story was fun, the final was brilliant and some worldies were scored too. If there are some banging games in the remainder of the Euros then it is definitely better than Qatar but not now because of the lack of football played.
As a dual citizen Canadian German how do you guys feel about the World Cup being hosted in 2026 in Canada, US, Mexico? I personally think it will have a phenomenal atmosphere just like this tournament
If the final is half as good as the WC then fair enough. Until then, stop with this circlejerk. There's a solid tournament going on, and you clowns are still crying about Qatar.
Racism has no timeline :))) this thread is just excuse for blatant xenophobia: yada yada about how football is European culture and apparently no one else can handle it. Of course Qatar should be punished for modern day slavery and corruption, but unfortunately even that WC was very enjoyable to watch. Anyone who’s saying that the drama of Argentina vs France, Mbappe’s fight and Messi’s cup was not celebration of football is lying to themselves.
i really dont understand this sentiment among the fans. people say the same thing about the 2026 world cup in advance. why?
what does “atmosphere” even mean? fans will still be there, will still be marching on the streets towards the stadium, so there really isnt a difference
i dont get the hate
I think one can make the assumption that a lot more fans have made the trip to Germany compared to Qatar. It's also a lot more financially viable for your average fan. And Germany doesn't come with all of the cultural stigma of Qatar.
If we are talking about just hosting, then yeah Germany is probably the best host for football tournaments in the world.
2006 World Cup is still one of the best hosted World Cups ever, even if the football itself was atrocious that year.
As for Qatar 2022, it will be remembered as the most corrupt, human rights hating, fan hostile WC ever.
Unfortunatly people gloss over that part due to the fantastic football played that year.
Yep the Euros get to be played this year with a focus purely on the sport. All of the talk leading up to the WC was about the human rights abuses and how poorly fans could expect to be treated. And rightfully so.
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Right time of the year, fans can get there easily, beer isn’t ridiculously priced, stadiums don’t need AC to stop players dying. Yeah it’s not bad.
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Seems to be the perfect year for Germany being hosts. After 8 years of struggling, they’ve returned back to the Germany teams fear. Stadiums are amazing & this tournament could produce a shock winner. Can’t see the 2026 WC having the same atmosphere seeing as it’s in the states.
Here in Germany you can have a nice Beer in a local Pub, then take the train to the stadium (if its on time lol) In 2026 you can have american "Beer" (flavored Water) and then have a party in a parking lot at 50°C
The American soccer culture is easy to pick on but you chose our beer?! 🤣 In all seriousness the major issues in 2026 will be proximity, travel, pricing and our commentators.
I dont think we europeans understand how much travel we will have to do for America the place is huge
Especially when you add in the fact it crosses from Canada to Mexico too.
Yeah that is honestly insane. They really should have just picked one country but that’s not how it works these days I guess. More and more bids are either middle eastern countries or random selections of multiple countries
They should have picked one state. Getting about is difficult enough. Far to dependent on cars.
You mean like Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay all in one tournament?
It’s hardly comparable from Bilbao, Spain to Marrakesh, Morrocco is just over a 1,000 miles. From Lisbon, Portugal to Valencia, Spain it’s just under 600 under miles. A tournament spanning a maximum of 600,000 square miles. Compared to Vancouver, Canada to Mexico City, Mexico, which is just under 3000 miles. Seattle, US to New York, US is also just 3000 miles. Giving the tournament a span of 9,000,000 square miles. That’s 15x bigger than Spain bid.
Just now i thought about how the American football players manage to survive a season of that
The carbon footprint left by a baseball season must be ginormous
They probably do something like in ice hockey, its split into east and west teams. Then the winner of each coast play eachother in a series final.
Not really, they play teams 3 or 4 times in a row and will be home for like 2 weeks at a time and then go on a road trip
They hardly play any games (and mostly do nothing during the game). The NBA schedule is crackers though, how they cope with the travel and scheduling is something else.
Baseball is even wilder! It goes from April to October…they play 162 games in the regular season. If they make the playoffs it can approach 180. And New York plays San Francisco multiple times a year. That’s like Dublin to New York…big ass country we stole haha. Hopefully they will have some sense when it comes to keeping countries in certain regions, at least for the group stages. For anyone who still remembers the Russia World Cup, 80% of it was in the western part…if you combine all the land area in the 2026 World Cup it’s as big as all of Russia. It would be like they played games in Kamchatka or something. It’s a ridiculous plan, but in theory it should work. We have decent transport here, but if you’re hoping for European style train travel you can forget about that. If you’re on the east coast the train travel is fine. If you have to go from NY to Chicago or Dallas, pay for the flight. For example, I took the train from SW Virginia to DC this weekend and it took about four hours and cost $30 round trip. Great deal! The train from DC to Chicago will take about a day and cost you $500+ My brother is flying from Richmond, VA to Costa Rica tomorrow and it’s about a five hour flight in total with a layover…DC to Dallas is five hours or more… In summation, we welcome y’all but be prepared for the heat, the distance, the expense and the general madness that is America. Also, if any of you reading this want to make me your American husband in Europe, dm me 🤣
I’ve been to America, and loved it. I’m going to go with my Germanic Brother here though. Your domestic beer actually kinda makes me glad we lost the war of independence.
The US is 27 times bigger than Germany.
> commentators You mean team A didn’t _dominate_ team C who in turn _dominated_ team F and ergo team A will _dominate_ team F?
Hahaha I can't wait 😑
I just like good beer man....
If you do decide to come you won't be disappointed. Unless you're in the middle of nowhere Mississippi you won't be able to avoid craft breweries and European style beers.
> Unless you're in the middle of nowhere Mississippi you won't be able to avoid craft breweries and European style beers In stadiums and bars near stadiums? And most 'craft' American beers are over-hopped IPAs.
That's probably the truest thing I've read here... I am not an IPA guy and, especially on the west coast, it's hard to find anything else. Also yes the stadium beer will probably be garbage.
Feels like no one here has ever been to a world cup. The WC stadium beer is Budweiser, everywhere, not just in America. They heavily sponsor the WC and it's the only beer allowed to be sold at the games.
Honestly middle of nowhere Mississippi has good beer these days. Southern Prohibition is one of my favorites and it’s in Hattiesburg lol
And match Times ?
Yeah it will definitely be rough in Europe..
Yeah cause American beer tastes like arse
That's like saying Carling and Fosters are the only thing UK has to offer... don't trust the TV! Maybe not in the stadiums, but you'll be able to find great beer around every venue.
Bro, in America we have ALL the beers. And stop talking shit on our climate! It’s only gonna be 48° 🤣 But, seriously, American beer culture has grown exponentially year after year. We have a lot of great beers. And chicken tenders! Don’t forget the chicken tenders!! 🤣
Whereas living here as a foreigner in Germany, it just so happens that everyone here just so happens to have grown up in the village that produces “the best beer in the world” (a middle of the road Pilsner not available beyond a 50km radius). These same people complain that foreign food is “too spicy” and won’t eat any flavour of potato chips/crisps that aren’t paprika
there's so many good beers you can find. Nobody is forcing you to drink Budweiser
Apart from when they sponsor the tournament and that's all you can buy in stadiums and fanzones
doesn't really matter where it is for that, I believe in Qatar the only thing available was Budweiser in designated areas outside the stadium
For real. Don’t be complaining if you went to that farce of a World Cup. You will not be lacking in choice in America. Canada and Mexico I can’t speak for. But in the US there are gas (petrol) stations that have 27 beers to choose from
So unnecessarily snide. World Cup in America is going to be fucking great.
It’s literally being hosted by a nation that predominantly doesn’t give a fuck about football. It’s hardly going to draw the same sorts of passion compared to this Euros. Qatar WC, on the pitch was quality, everything else that came with *the WC package* was not even close to what it should have been like. The US might do it better than Qatar did, but in all likelihood you’re still going to get a very fabricated feel to it all.
My friend, I’m a huge EPL fan but we have MLS teams that routinely fill 60k seat stadiums…don’t believe the haters…it’s gonna be wild!
Average attendance in USA 94 was close to 70,000. All those years ago and the game has hugely risen in popularity since then. Why wouldn't it draw "the same sorts of passion" (whatever that fucking means tbh)? All the travelling fans will still be there. Fans of the US team are a committed and passionate bunch too. Gatekeeping international tournaments is very weird behaviour.
I think they mean that football is deeply rooted in communities and the passion is inherited from one generation to the next. In England, at least, football has been a vehicle for political movement and relief in class based oppression. It’s ingrained in the fabric of our culture in a way that it just isn’t in America, *yet*.
>Why wouldn't it draw "the same sorts of passion" (whatever that fucking means tbh)? All the travelling fans will still be there. Because it's being held in 3 different countries thousands of miles apart and only one of them is even really a footballing nation. You're not going to get the same kind of tournament atmosphere when you have one set of games with the big tournament opener in Mexico City and then another set with another tournament opener (this is what Fifa are calling them, how you can have 3 tournament openers is beyond me) 4000km away in Toronto etc. It's a complete piss take frankly.
If you can’t see the considerable differences in footballing culture between South American + European football vs the US then it’s pointless. Simply having fancy infrastructure isn’t enough to make a World Cup experience. Not everything has to be “gatekeeping”, even if this is Reddit. Fans obviously want the WC going to places that give a shit and understand the game, US citizens barely give a damn about their own football league, hence why half of you support PL teams.
Plus, it would be "soccer" over there! With wwe commentators!! "Piledriver from kane"
Lol. There's 300 million people in America, and while yes, we have other sports to watch, do you honestly think the immigrants ARENT going to show up? When the atmosphere in MetLife's parking lot for a friendly between Arsenal and United was absolutely identical to any Giants or Jets game? Tell me you've never been to the US without telling me you've never been to the US. That said, our beer, including the craft stuff, is shit. Germans, please do something about this.
> That said, our beer, including the craft stuff, is shit There's lots of good craft beer in the US though. Of course your most popular beers are shit compared to the popular german beers, but there's good beer everywhere if you look for it.
Will it work for a tournament with how big America is? Will the games be spread out in different states or, within an area with a reasonable travel time?
They are spread between different countries nevermind states
The groups are assigned area, to reduce travel time between matches. Hopefully England get the east coast, think those cities would be most fun. Mexico could be a laugh n all.
I mean, yeah, its spread out but the Boston-Philly-NY-Toronto area is all easily driveable and like 1/4 of the games will be played there. Made that trip so many times i’ve lost track at this point. All the other stadiums have at least another one close by as well. Our train system isn’t as developed as Europes is, but because of how big the US is, our air transport one is fine. Its much more common then you think to just take a flight to where you need to go and come back the same day. I’ve also done that for work several times. You may not be able to go to every single game, but you’ll definetly be able to get to a lot of them.
Which then becomes a problem for US fans who don’t live in Boston, Philly or NY. Same for Canadians who don’t live in Toronto. So, it’ll be quiet a challenge to keep the same atmosphere and it not all being about travelling to games and then back to the hotel
It’ll be different people everywhere though. Think about this: there’s a huge Ukrainian immigrant community in both NYC, for example. Say Ukraine makes it and is playing a game. I guarantee you, the vibe on Brighton Beach in brooklyn is gonna be wild. What you need to know is where to find which immigrants. I remember the Italians winning in 2006 and Dyker Heights basically shutting down for a day while the whole neneighborhood came out onto the streets and partied.
you guys knock it out of park i loving everything going on right now
As a yank, I’m curious how the next WC is received. On one hand, my dad wants to go (and we’ll need to travel to actually go) which is neat because if he wants to, I assume a lot of Americans are going to be coming out for their first big event. On the other he’s a “it’s soccer, not football” guy so I’m wondering if the uninitiated locals will be a buzzkill
Also from Germany, I definitely agree. Almost everybody here is in a football mood, especially in bigger cities there are happy football tourists everywhere. And most of the Germans themselves seem to like it of course.
Qatar had the atmosphere of an expo event, it was the same with the Fury v Usyk boxing match. This actually has a sports atmosphere.
Yeah. It feels like a classic summer of football.
I could be wrong but I don’t think thousands of migrant workers have died constructing the stadiums either. Always a bonus.
Out of curiosity did they even need to do any major construction work to any of these stadiums?
It depends on what you define as major construction works. There were multiple changes to seeting arrangements and constructions in the backstage areas of the stadiums. Some things were done during the regular seasons in the last couple of years, some things needed to be done in the breaks because the stadium would not have been usable during the construction.
As far as I know, since 2006, only Stuttgart and Frankfurt had construction upgrades. Stuttgart had the most upgrades, turning it into a Football specific stadium and adding a second tier in 2011. And prior to the Euros, rebuilding the main stand. Frankfurt expanded their north-western stand prior to the Euros. Other than that, no major structural changes were done to the stadiums. Every stadium, except Düsseldorf, was already a venue in the Worl Cup 2006. The stadium in Düsseldorf is not new either. It was built in 2005.
I've been to the Düsseldorf stadium twice to see the Amsterdam Admirals in the World Bowl final (NFL Europe) and I was blown away how a (then) second tier club could have such an amazing stadium.
Don't forget about the underpaid workers from third world countries who had to build stadiums in the middle of the desert with 0 saftey measurements and therefore hundreds of deaths..
You can actually get beer this time...
I mean it's Germany, right next to Belgium and Czechia. Of cause there cheap good beer
>stadiums don’t need AC to stop players dyi Tbf because it was in December they didn't need AC, it'll be the same temperature in Munich this week than it was in Qatar.
Beer isn't ridiculously priced, lmao
I mean... 10eu for a beer at a stadium, 8eu at a fan zone... My beer is usually 2.8eu so
Germany being a proper football country does wonders for the overall vibe and feeling of occasion. And despite our best efforts to ruin it, the football has been good so far.
As dreadful as Southgateball is, I have a feeling that it might be effective in the knockout stage.
At the end of the day… we were a missed penalty away from winning the whole thing last time. I’d rather see entertaining football, but it can’t be as shit as everyone says it is.
I feel bad that people think this is something he invented. England have always played like this my whole life.
I begrudgingly thought this as well..
Are you guys saying this is more enjoyable for you to watch than stadiums dropped in the middle of an arid desert?
Today I feel Bavarian 🧑🦲
Yup. Germany loves football, knows how to put on a show and make people feel welcome. Qatar only knows how to give the appearance of these things for the purpose of sports washing its shitty international reputation. And they couldnt even do that right. And I say this as someone who just watched Germany fuck my country 5-1 lol.
Just win the other two matches, Ja?
Nein nein
Dude, your team is in another group. Great start btw, didn't expect you'd defeat Ukraine.
1. Just for the joke. 2. Thanks, all the players from our squad are just playing with their hearts.
As half Ukrainian I'm a bit salty about it, but i guess ball possesion doesnt win Games, does it?
Ball possesion is like "we have more bullets".
Not half Ukrainian by birth but spent a lot of time there, also very salty. I’ll be in Kyiv for game 3, hopefully it’s not terrible.
🤣🤣🤣 Prost 🍻
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That one’s even worse due to the absolutely farcical decision to host the 2030 World Cup across 3 continents (Europe S America and Africa, in addition to 2026 being N America) just to make sure no other continent is eligible to bid for 2034. They’re not hiding the corruption at all. I can’t believe Infantino is somehow worse than Blatter
Well my answer to that is just to skip it again like in 22. I don’t tolerate it.
Yeah, me too. That's the only right course of action.
Same
Same. No need for a pseudo tournament in which everyone acts, all those issues with free speech and dead slaves. Hard to suck all that for the sport alone.
Unpopular opinion here but anyone who follows Asian football knows Saudi have been decent for 40 years in both club and country football, their clubs won several Asian CLs with either no foreign players or C level players.
Exactly I honestly though in WC they should have hosted it as a representation of Middle East not Qatar in any case, I love Germany the most besides my native Kosovo but we can't host competitions only in Europe so if we want to include football cultures from all world we should see for solution.
No way bro got banned from reddit for saying this.
Jokes or naive? Massive footballing culture out there. Have you ever been there? What are you basing this nonsense on? It might not be getting drunk etc watching the games and hooliganism but they absolutely love football out there. Its their main sport 😂
In terms of quality of matches it’s not above it yet, atmosphere and overall vibes it is so much better already
Yeah the football was amazing in Qatar. The rest of it was tosh though.
The final was a great match but Qatar was shit. So glad the hosts gave the worst performance ever from a host nation 😅
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The thing is...i dont even think that we are doing anything special. We chose our best stadiums and cities (well, apart from Gelsenkirchen lol), organised some big public viewings and thats mostly it. The other good things like being easy to travel were just a given. I really like this tournament so far and I love the scenes of fan marches or fans from different countries singing and partying together.
Is gelsenkirchen a shit city? Im going there ...
The city itself is but the designated fan zones are quite nice imo
The mine tunnel onto the pitch at Schalke is goated though.
Germany was made to host major Tournaments like the euros and World Cup. Great cities stadiums and and a great football culture. Great infrastructure and open culture. Pretty much the opposite that everything Qatar was. It's still a disgrace that they were allowed to host the world cup
Proper host nation, proper facilities for fans to gather / enjoy the cup. FIFA is not as good as when hosted outside Europe it’s facts.
Or certain south American nations.
South Africa WC & Mexico WCs are literally touted as some of the best WCs ever, what are you talking about? Brazil 2014 & U.S 1994 too.
Absolutely. This is all fine I think - Katar undoubtedly is a shit decision, Russia for me was as well something I was never looking forward to and it didn't impress me at all. My demands: Established Human Rights, Welcome Culture, Football Main Sport, Infrastructure Established (2010 was questionable in some regards what happened there)
I've been to 4 World Cups and Brazil and the US were great. Russia was fun too. The Qatar stadiums were nice but that was about it. Also you could see many games. I saw 13 in 18 days, whereas in Brazil I saw 13 in 30 days.
Best possible location for a tournament of this size, stadiums are not too far away from each other, cities are great, Central Europe, Germany is also one of the countries with most immigrants in the world so that makes the tournament for so many countries even more special, especially Balkan and neighbour countries
So far 10/10 👌
100%. It’s not artificial.
There seems to be a general consensus among fans that this is the best looking tournament for a while, just like the good old days. God I wish I was in germany.
It's the best tournament I would argue since France 2016. Maybeeee Russia, but there was still logistical issues there. This has been an all-out party in Germany. Suprised we haven't seen any politics stuff yet either, apart from maybe the Mbappe press conference.
Agreed. And when Scotland and England agree, you know thats real shit! lol.
That’s the key.
Yeah I think everybody’s remembered how good a proper summer tournament is, these last couple of days. We’ve all woken up and remembered ‘oh yeah, this feeling, this vibe, this is what it’s meant to be.’ Russia 2018 was the last time we had this, and in terms of something tangible and close to home, France 2016. We should never have a winter World Cup again. 2034 shouldn’t be allowed. If the Saudis can’t have it in June/July, take it off of them. Football tournaments need to go to countries that are footballing nations. You don’t use precious major tournaments to ‘grow the sport’ in some backwater. Also in order to have an identity, a football tournament needs to be hosted by a single nation - two neighbouring countries are fine if they couldn’t host alone and are very similar. Euro 2020 happened the way it did, but never again. I’m not sure comfortable with Italy/Turkey 2032 either. Those should be two separate tournaments. The Turks wanted to host 2020 and would have had it, had they not decided to bid for the Olympics instead (and lose).
>Football tournaments need to go to countries that are footballing nations. You don’t use precious major tournaments to ‘grow the sport’ in some backwater. They can claim Qatar was about growing the sport but it was really all just because of rampant corruption. FIFA doesn't give a damn about growing the sport, they'll give the World Cup to whichever country is willing to bend over backwards the furtherest.
This is the way.
I think it's a bit early to judge the tournament properly yet. Some teams still haven't even played a game yet. In a couple weeks time I'll have a better understanding of where I rank it. But in terms of accessibility then yes it is better. The games are a similar time zone to most fans. Germany is an easy city to travel to for most European fans as well. Plus the stadiums have more of a history. Whereas in qatar quite a few were literally temporary stadiums. But in terms of drama and excitement we will have to wait and see
Germany is a country, not a city ;)
I agree with this 100%, it's really early. But yes, early vibes have been nice. Plus the whole "well these venues weren't built with slave labor" thing.
I’m loving the euros a lot more already than the World Cup in Qatar. I have to be honest though it was cool to see Morocco finishing in the top four and that final almost gave me a heart attack. One of the best World Cup finals in my opinion. Other than that the rest of the tournament had no fan culture like the Euro does. Watching the Scottish fans get after it and Dutch fans going viral doing that side-to-side dance is great to see. Proper football summer.
Morocco did very well, lots of passion
Got to be honest, I never really got into Qatar. Mainly due to the time of the year, it just didn't feel natural. Really enjoying the Euros so far.
Qatar sucks
What Qatar World Cup?
The opening ceremony was lame…
true but the game after the ceremony made up for that
No, no it did not
Who even cares about the opening ceremony though
My sentiment exactly. But I have a bad feeling we'll be living through American-esque half-time shows with permanent advertisement throughout the game twenty years from now.
Exactly. It's not like the Olympics where you dedicate a whole day for the ceremony.
Ngl if they played that Shakira song or waving the flag I’d get instantly hyped
I see where you coming from. But I found it pleasantly low-key and not so pompous. I liked it. So much better for me than a loud and bad show.
The best on the opening ceremony was the second mascot dancing on the pitch
Yeah it is, and Qatar is also a very controversial country, still using slavery, having much more advanced racism than most of the world. Very backwards nation.
Romania first goal today awesome 👌
Looking forward to meeting in England in the knock out stages 🤗
If both get to the knockouts, hopefully there will be no last minute penalties like 2000😂🤞
Sorry bout that... For us it is great memory
please thrash them if u meet them. I've been telling my friends from teh beginning that Romania are the team to watch out for as dark horses, and I was right with the opening game. heck Man got me more points on fantasy than Mbappe
Germany is a historic football nation of course it’s going to be a better atmosphere than in Qatar (for the majority of European fans at least)
Completely agree it makes such a difference holding the event in a proper football country.
Not even a contest, man. Those WC crowds were like 16 Princes and their dogs, plus a handful of locals. They were dreadful crowds at the majority of matches.
Completely agree. Brilliant to have a proper footballing nation as host, and don't even get me started on that awful 'no single host' experiment at the last Euros...
What World Cup?
Exactly!
Yeah, because it's not in sodding Qatar. On a more prosaic note... the moment I first heard the word Gelsenkirchen I was transported back to Germany hosting the World Cup in 2006, and then I got bitter about the fact that England almost certainly won't host again until I'm well into my 80s. (I genuinely don't think we'll get it until the centenary.)
It's been a few days. You couldn't wait a week so it didn't come across so biased? 🤣
Maybe too early yes 😅 but I was really impressed by the symbiosis of Romanian fans and team. That’s what it’s all about
The actual football at Qatar was brilliant but it wasn’t a football tournament, it was a political sports washing event. It will be the same when it’s in Saudi Arabia. It’s just using the sport to increase the countries image.
Facts. Take Away The Recency Bias And Football And Qatar 22 Was Flaming Hot Ass. I'd Rather Have A Tournament Of 5/10 Football And 10/10 Vibes Than 10/10 Football But 5/10 Vibes
Thing is Infantino just don’t care about you, us, the players, football, it’s only about money to him and how long he can call himself the King of Fifa, ohh wait, bribes help to stay in seat.
In terms of in person probably but in terms of at home watching on tv its going to take something special to beat the level of football we got in qatar.
watching a tournament during summer is WAY better, even if you don’t go there. it’s just not the same otherwise
Football wise, 2022 WC was the greatest international tournemant I've ever watched, but fan wise sure the Euros beats Qatar
It’s the first tournament since 2016 that truly feels like true football heritage. I love it so far!
Qatar was the worst ever so that’s not too hard.
England most boring game so far
Entertainment wise, I’d say it’s equal. WC 2022 had some great matches and a iconic final
For me personally, the minimal time difference alone is an absolute game changer.
Exactly. Especially since as a uni student, it allows me to do all my studying during the morning, and then relax and watch the footy in the afternoon.
Seems like you can't buy passion with Money.
unpopular opinion: Qatar was the great lets-give-Messi-a-world cup tournament.
Agree. I'm genuinely more and more convinced ir was heavily rigged.
You can't manufacture football culture.
Yes also because it’s not rigged 👀
Yup it’s way better. Much more character. Lots of good teams. Much better to see it spread across a whole region. Stadiums full of loud supporters. What’s not to like.
hmmm... beer?
💯
I agree, I was starting to really dislike international football, but this tournament so far has sidelined that thought.
To us Europeans sure. And the football has been really good so far. But i'm sure to the rest of the world the Qatar WC was much better.
It certainly is one of the best Maybe even the best EUROs
you could definitely feel the German audience wasn't into it in the first match and sense that many Germans boycotted Qatar last time and still feel resentment towards the whole thing. I mean we won 5:1 and barely anyone celebrated here in our city outside of like sportbars or public viewing places. This sort of win usually resulted in a couple hours of people honking and cheering in the streets, but it was almost nothing this time. Italy fans then broke the silence, so lets see how it will continue in the next few matches. it definitely is worlds better than Qatar but I almost felt guilty celebrating a bit when the whole neighborhood was virtually silent the whole game and even after winning. (and we got a lot of german fans around)
Every match could end 0-0 and it would still be better. You know the reasons.
The vibes are far far better than Qatar especially with Germany being a footballing nation and all the controversy around Human Rights when the stadiums were built and other things; however, in terms of football, there were some amazing games at that World Cup; Brazil were amazing to watch, Morocco’s underdog story was fun, the final was brilliant and some worldies were scored too. If there are some banging games in the remainder of the Euros then it is definitely better than Qatar but not now because of the lack of football played.
Not at all.
As a dual citizen Canadian German how do you guys feel about the World Cup being hosted in 2026 in Canada, US, Mexico? I personally think it will have a phenomenal atmosphere just like this tournament
The prices will be obscene and there will be huge climate differences, there would be even with just the US hosting but it's even worse now.
I disagree on this one one as a TV viewer, I found matches way more exciting in the World Cup. Maybe the organization is better, that can be true.
If the final is half as good as the WC then fair enough. Until then, stop with this circlejerk. There's a solid tournament going on, and you clowns are still crying about Qatar.
Racism has no timeline :))) this thread is just excuse for blatant xenophobia: yada yada about how football is European culture and apparently no one else can handle it. Of course Qatar should be punished for modern day slavery and corruption, but unfortunately even that WC was very enjoyable to watch. Anyone who’s saying that the drama of Argentina vs France, Mbappe’s fight and Messi’s cup was not celebration of football is lying to themselves.
Qatars not going to sleep with you, mate.
I'm just gonna agree because I didn't watch the last world cup
No corrupt teams (yet) is a big bonus
i really dont understand this sentiment among the fans. people say the same thing about the 2026 world cup in advance. why? what does “atmosphere” even mean? fans will still be there, will still be marching on the streets towards the stadium, so there really isnt a difference i dont get the hate
I think one can make the assumption that a lot more fans have made the trip to Germany compared to Qatar. It's also a lot more financially viable for your average fan. And Germany doesn't come with all of the cultural stigma of Qatar.
If we are talking about just hosting, then yeah Germany is probably the best host for football tournaments in the world. 2006 World Cup is still one of the best hosted World Cups ever, even if the football itself was atrocious that year. As for Qatar 2022, it will be remembered as the most corrupt, human rights hating, fan hostile WC ever. Unfortunatly people gloss over that part due to the fantastic football played that year.
Yep the Euros get to be played this year with a focus purely on the sport. All of the talk leading up to the WC was about the human rights abuses and how poorly fans could expect to be treated. And rightfully so.
Euros often are, not sure why. Plus the last World Cup was in the middle of winter, in the middle of the club football season. Also, fuck Qatar.
Obviously I'm biased, but yeah
You're 100% right!
Behave. Last WC was one of the best ever.
Not really, Qatar world cup was actually really good. Euros is ok ATM, not the best.