#2026-fifa-world-cup

#2026-fifa-world-cup

France great Zinedine Zidane's son Luca Zidane was called up by Algeria for the first time on Thursday, with the team close to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper, represented France at youth level but never for the senior national team and is eligible for Algeria through his father's family ties. FIFA approved a change of national eligibility two weeks ago for Zidane, who once played at Real Madrid when his father was coach there.

Excitement on the ground is only exceeded by the facts, after a record-setting summer that saw downtown hotels finally beat pre-pandemic occupancy rates. Convention business is booming with the new Summit building complete, and cruise and concert travelers are back in full force. The average room now fetches north of $300 a night-a sign that demand has rarely been higher. And yet much higher it will go, with optimism running at a fever pitch ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Venezuela were beaten 6-3 by Colombia on Tuesday ending their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Venezuela has sacked its national football coach, Fernando Batista, a day after the team's FIFA World Cup qualification dream ended following an intervention by the country's president. News of Argentinian Batista's sacking on Wednesday night, alongside his entire backroom staff, came after President Nicolas Maduro called for a restructuring of the technical staff.

Writing at the Los Angeles Times, Karen Garcia reports that the sign is set to be removed - albeit temporarily - so that the airport's system of roads can be expanded to alleviate traffic conditions there and make life easier on pedestrians making their way around the airport's grounds.As for why this is taking place now, Los Angeles World Airports' chief development officer Michael Christensen told the Times that it relates to two massive international events on the horizon: next year's World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. The renovations that the temporary sign removal are part of are scheduled to run through 2030, and the Times notes that a date has not yet been set for the sign to be re-installed.

Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay secured their spots in the 2026 World Cup on Thursday in the next-to-last round of South American qualifiers. Uruguay and Colombia had 3-0 wins, and Paraguay had a scoreless draw to advance to the global tournament along with already qualified Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. Peru, which needed wins in the last two rounds to advance, is now out of contention following the loss to Uruguay.

Egypt and Morocco could book tickets to the 2026 Fifa World Cup during this month's international window (3-9 September) as African qualifying intensifies. Following an extended campaign which began in November 2023 and ends in October, four rounds of preliminaries are left to play. Only the nine group winners are guaranteed a spot at the finals next year, with the four best-placed runners-up entering play-offs in November for a second chance to qualify via an intercontinental route.

The truth is that the stadium offered FIFA many, many options, and FIFA rejected them all. Until they got to the point of 'you pay the equivalent of the most expensive ticket in the stadium for each seat and go ahead.' And it seems that's where a solution will finally be achieved. That is, the stadium will have to pay FIFA for our seats out of its own pocket.

2026 will be a massive year in sports, and the race is on for advertisers to reach sports viewers.

The new ball for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, named Trionda, features a design with only four panels, the least used in World Cup history, compared to the previous 20-paneled Al Rhila ball.