Destination New Jersey: Can Iran play a World Cup in the USA?
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World Cup 2026
In my working lifetime, and probably in my lifetime, I've never gone into less than 100 days to a Men's World Cup with the host country at war.
Two teams that are actively at war, playing against each other in the World Cup, would be something that FIFA has never had to deal with.
This summer's finals already feel damaged and that maybe this is different like no other.
There's the kind of the more footballing problem which is the ticket prices and the sense that this is a giant kind of rampant gouging exercise that FIFA is doing very little to stop.
FIFA decided to take the world's game and use this very American system of buy and demand to make the most money off of their tickets and keep all of the revenue from the markup themselves.
Iran national team
At the moment, I would have thought that nobody cares in Iran whether the national team play in the World Cup or not. Everyone there is in a fight for survival.
I'm sure Iran will go to the World Cup. It's an opportunity for huge PR. If the current regime are in place, their flag will be raised on American soil. Their anthem will be played on American soil.
Mexico World Cup hosting
President Trump was threatening with military invasion to our country. So in that regard, the response of the authorities is obviously to collaborate.
Politics in sport
We appear to have lost that ability to say that sport can be separate or at least should be should aim to be separate.
Mexico national team
There isn't the enthusiasm that Mexico had in the late 90s and early 2000s. There's a lot of worries in terms of injuries... this would be Guillermo Ochoa's sixth World Cup, guys. That speaks of the lack of depth in terms of talent.
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