World Cup Observations 2026

Just to be completely transparent, soccer or international football was never my primary sport. Uniquely, I played in gym class only because our gym teacher had played and coached, so I learned a few things. Which brings us to the more present, 30 years ago, you could only see a few pro soccer games on TV, it's not like that today. I'll admit to watching international football about 15 years ago. I flipped back between the English Premier League and the Bundesliga (the German professional league). Indeed, I'm late to the soccer "vibe" but, at the same time, I didn't just come to this highly popular international sport.

Even though I’ve watched a lot of pro games, there are certain plays or calls that I just don’t understand—similar to ice hockey, some plays that appear to warrant a penalty and aren’t called, and others in a benign plays result in a whistle. I certainly know what an offensive penalty looks like in the NFL, I wish I could apply that to these other two sports. Anyway, I’ve been watching the World Cup; some earlier games have been stinkers, but as you get into the knock-out rounds, the competition on the pitch has certainly been elevated. As I’m watching, there are certain things that I’ve wanted to share with others. I hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed watching Mexico versus England or Argentina versus Egypt.

48 Teams in the 2026 – Did it Result in More Goals?  

This is the first time FIFA has granted more teams to compete, a total of 48. Goals have occurred at a 2.95 clip, the highest in over 50 years. In terms of ranking, the average is 32.4, and yet in 2022, the ranking was 21.8, a 50% decrease in overall team rankings in this World Cup. With an overall diluted field of teams, a cynical view might say that’s why several games have been one-sided. In addition, you have scoring phenoms like Messi, Haaland, Kane, Dembele, and Mbappe, who salivate at the chance to play a 45th-ranked team in the world. Because the current allotment of teams won’t change anytime soon, all-time assists and goals records will be achieved by those who play international football in the ‘2020s, ‘30s and beyond.

Skol and Rowing

If you follow professional sports, you may know the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL do a "skol chant" during the start of the game. It's become popular over the last few years and is a special way to "fire up" the crowd and home players at various times of the game. During the early stages of success at the 2026 World Cup, the Norwegian team began rowing. Even Viktor Hovland, the Norwegian golfer who had just won Travelers on Sunday, participated in the vibe. I’m happy for Norway. However, because Minneapolis is well-populated by Norwegians who settled here in the 1870s, will they adapt “the row” moving forward? It’s trendy, but there’s a decent chance they'll somehow integrate something into the stadium moving forward that's aligned with rowing. If they do, you know where you read it first.

The Offsides of Today are Totally Unacceptable. But's it's so Common, it's Irritating

I will say it once, and I’ll say it again and again: offensive players cannot be clearly offside, especially near the goal line. It appears to me some anxious players fulfill that violation as they’re trying to get a jump on the defense, but why tempt fate? And please don’t get cute about such an important chance to score a goal. It’s a fool’s errand to try and get a competitive jump. I’ve seen attackers in a great position in front of the defender and goalie with a legitimate means to score but often in this scenario, one offensive player offside may ruin the momentum by being offside. If you’re threatening with the ball, be cognizant of this rule. Again, if you think you're offside, even by an inch, you’re offside. Move back six inches. You can’t cheat, not with VAR. I've seen fingertips being offside in these decisions. It's so precise so stop kidding yourself. Rules are sometimes pliable although considering offside, especially near the goal area will be refereed with the utmost attention.

Dude, What are you Doing?

Many players who haven't had a chance to shoot often send their attempts soaring 20 or 30 feet above the goal area. That's simply unacceptable. You won't get that many opportunities, so when you do get a shot, you need to keep it low, even if you're not successful. Also, when you shoot, you must aim for the goal and have a high degree of confidence that you’ll make it worthwhile and not send it in nearly to the second stadium tier. Even if the goalie gathers the ball, you need to put it on target.

What's a Foul?

If you watch this game long enough, you get an idea what type of play or action may warrant a yellow card -- for the most part quite obvious. However, that idea doesn't regularly apply to an actual foul. Quite often, I see two players tussling for the ball and one grabs the opponents shirt, which prevents him from getting the ball. You have a grabber and a grabbee. If inadvertent, no big deal but if it's to gain a competitive advantage, call a foul. It doesn't matter if you grab, hold, pull or bump, these are some examples of how soccer defenders try to defend. I get it, they're doing what they can but just by mentioning it, doesn't make it right.

48 Teams for the ’26 World Cup

For the 2026 World Cup, 48 teams qualified, and 16 will be eliminated before the knockout stage. For the 2022 World Cup, 32 teams qualified, and 16 were eliminated before the knockout round. To clarify, to win the World Cup four years ago, you had to win 4 knockout games. Today, you have to win five straight games to win the World Cup. Said differently, the group work might be easier but then those five straight games are typically against highly ranked opponents.

Hydration Breaks

From my research, “hydration breaks” are first used during the FIFA World Cup 2026. There will be one each half, occurring after about 20 minutes of action. The breaks will last approximately three minutes. FIFA executives have said that with the potential heat this year, especially in Mexico and the United States, we’re instituting these breaks to help with safety. What they don’t say is that networks covering the WC get at least six more minutes of ads. Someone said they are “concealed advertisement breaks.” I concur. However, the key annoyance for me is that the flow of the game could be distributed. I’ve seen it occur several times and you need to realize that these players aren’t used to these breaks, outside of the WC, they just play the entire 45-minute halves without a designated stoppage time.

Some astute coaches are going to take advantage of this moving forward. Now that there's essentially four quarters, tactics might change between quarters. For example, a coach may decide to focus on defense entirely in the first quarter to prevent being put behind with so much time left. Moving forward, their approach might shift to a more aggressive offensive position. You could go from defense to offense or just a slight shift of a given strategy. Of course, coaching occurs on the sideline throughout the game but these breaks allow a more detailed and strategic philosophy.

World Cup Observations 2026