I've been trying to get tickets for the WC even though I'm no fan of the host country at all. I applied for tickets for all England, Iran and NZ games and all I've managed to land is us versus Japan.
Has anyone else has any luck and for those who went to SA in 2010 how did you manage to score tickets so late in the piece?
I had no problems with Russia in 2018 which as a tourist was a far better place to visit then Qatar is.
G'day boss. Managed myself to get NZ tickets if we qualify in the first ballot, along with tickets to a few other matches in the sale afterwards. In this phase two ballot only some Brazil group games.
In terms of buying tickets, there are many more chances. You get the feeling that tickets to most group matches should be readily available. Though once you know exactly when you'll be over there I'd advise to start trying for matches that interest you within those dates.
Keep an eye on whenever the next "First Come First Serve" sale ends up happening. These are your easiest moment to get tickets.
G'day boss. Managed myself to get NZ tickets if we qualify in the first ballot, along with tickets to a few other matches in the sale afterwards. In this phase two ballot only some Brazil group games.
In terms of buying tickets, there are many more chances. You get the feeling that tickets to most group matches should be readily available. Though once you know exactly when you'll be over there I'd advise to start trying for matches that interest you within those dates.
Keep an eye on whenever the next "First Come First Serve" sale ends up happening. These are your easiest moment to get tickets.
Thanks for the reply. I missed the first ballot which is probably why I've not had much luck but I get the feeling most tickets are gone now, although given no one here in the UK is interested in this years WC, I'm not sure who's buying.
G'day boss. Managed myself to get NZ tickets if we qualify in the first ballot, along with tickets to a few other matches in the sale afterwards. In this phase two ballot only some Brazil group games.
In terms of buying tickets, there are many more chances. You get the feeling that tickets to most group matches should be readily available. Though once you know exactly when you'll be over there I'd advise to start trying for matches that interest you within those dates.
Keep an eye on whenever the next "First Come First Serve" sale ends up happening. These are your easiest moment to get tickets.
Thanks for the reply. I missed the first ballot which is probably why I've not had much luck but I get the feeling most tickets are gone now, although given no one here in the UK is interested in this years WC, I'm not sure who's buying.
Probably by some of the millions of football fans worldwide who don’t live in the UK.
I think the concesus from those of us who went to the game was that we, as fans, were lucky the AWs missed out on qualifcation. It was gutting to lose but great to not have to go back there in November.
The country will have serious issues WC time. It was a train wreck at the airport, the stadium etc with only minimal fans there, nothing to do away from football. Will be an absolute shark show come November.
FIFA considering ditching the proposed 3-team group format for 2026, reverting to twelve groups of four. Fantastic news for us - three guaranteed games instead of just two if we win OFC. More of an authentic World Cup experience
FIFA considering ditching the proposed 3-team group format for 2026, reverting to twelve groups of four. Fantastic news for us - three guaranteed games instead of just two if we win OFC. More of an authentic World Cup experience
FIFA considering ditching the proposed 3-team group format for 2026, reverting to twelve groups of four. Fantastic news for us - three guaranteed games instead of just two if we win OFC. More of an authentic World Cup experience
then a round of 32?
You'd think so though that will lead to the last remaining 4 teams (the finalists, plus 3rd/4th playoff) playing 8 games in total. 1 game more than now, and not something UEFA/clubs want.
Basically a 48 team WC, no matter what format FIFA chooses, creates all sorts of issues.
Having 16 groups with only 3 teams per group, greatly increases the chance that 2 teams in a group could collude, and unfairly prevent the 3rd team getting through. Talk that in the group phase, any draw in NT with be followed by a pen shootout, to reduce possible collusion!! So gimmick in the US's MLS Next Pro comp, a possible forerunner.
https://www.quora.com/Why-wont-FIFA-group-a-48-team-World-Cup-into-12-groups-of-4 First, due to objection of some national associations (especially in Europe) if the number of matches for one team is increase. With the current number is 7 to reach the final, any proposal must be equal or less than that limit. With 12 group of 4, the only way to keep this “magic number” is to maintain the 16-team knock-out round. Which mean, you can only have 12 group winner plus 4 runner-up to qualify. As in every group there could possibly 3 teams eliminate, there will be a lot of dead rubber.
Second, the number must be feasible for scheduling. Currently, the 32-team format require 32 days to finish. Also, except for final group day, there must not be any match that play at the same time at other match (in order word, maximum 3 matches per day). If you expand 4 more groups, the tournament must finish longer to accommodate that, or you have to scramble these groups into existing schedule, which is not good for hosting and broadcasting.
Third, the number must be feasible for hosting. Currently, there are about 11-12 venues for hosting the World Cup, which mean average 5 match/venue. The reason to keep this ration is to maintain the quality of the pitch and to make logistic work possible. With the 3 team 16 groups, the number of match is 80, which mean 15–17 venues needed (which is possible). With the 4 team 12 group, even if we only have 16-team knock-out tournament, there are already 96 matches, which mean 20 venues needed (which is impossible for most of countries). Otherwise, you have to organise more match in one stadium, which is hard for other logistic work.
If you’re a World Cup aficionado, you may want to take the time to savor this one, because it may be the last version with a format — groups of four teams — that has a fair and consistently exciting opening phase.
The new opening format — two teams advancing from groups of three in an expanded 48-team field in 2026, and possibly as soon as the next World Cup in 2022 — raises a very serious issue: The risk of collusion will be much higher.
I think the concesus from those of us who went to the game was that we, as fans, were lucky the AWs missed out on qualifcation. It was gutting to lose but great to not have to go back there in November.
The country will have serious issues WC time. It was a train wreck at the airport, the stadium etc with only minimal fans there, nothing to do away from football. Will be an absolute shark show come November.
Can I ask what the issues were at the airport? How long did it take you to get out of there from the time you landed to being on the street? I think they will be trying very hard to make sure there are no issues once November rolls around, but I also expect they are going to really struggle to pull this off.
I do think this disaster is going to be the closest thing to the last proper World Cup. Having thought about it more, I don't think a 48-team World Cup is going to be as poor and bloated as I maybe initially expected (the five extra African sides should all be pretty decent at least).
Groups of three are a disaster (Canada famously won the Gold Cup after escaping a group of three following a coin toss since there was no other way to separate the teams). But I don't see any way to have 12 4-team groups. The knockout phase doesn't work very well. You only have a 16-team knockout phase, the four second-place winners could be pretty arbitrary. Plus, if you lost your opening match, your tournament is very close to over. While I think the initial proposal of having 48 teams and playing 48 matches to eliminate 12 of them seemed fairly ridiculous, I also think there are going to be a lot of dead rubbers in 12 groups of 4.
From a competitive standpoint, the best solution I heard was 12 groups of 4, top two advance, then 8 groups of 3 with the winners advancing to the quarter-finals. The positive is that it gives each team three matches, it should do a better job of determining the top 8 to get to the QFs (the original 32-team knockout phase seemed like it could be a disaster in terms of top sides drawing each other even in the round of 16) and I think top two advancing is a fair way of doing this. The downside is obviously it adds 24 more matches to the tournament and I would think at least another week... and we still have groups of 3, but with only the winner advancing I think it's better than the original proposal.
Only FIFA would announce something like this and then seemingly have no idea how they are going to manage to execute it.
The airport is not used to handling large numbers of people actually coming in and out of Qatar. It functions as a transit destination but struggles with pax actually heading into or out of the country. 3 of us nearly missed our flights on the way out even though it was quiet and we all arrived quite early. My luggage was lost too.
The airport is not used to handling large numbers of people actually coming in and out of Qatar. It functions as a transit destination but struggles with pax actually heading into or out of the country. 3 of us nearly missed our flights on the way out even though it was quiet and we all arrived quite early. My luggage was lost too.
The airport is not used to handling large numbers of people actually coming in and out of Qatar. It functions as a transit destination but struggles with pax actually heading into or out of the country. 3 of us nearly missed our flights on the way out even though it was quiet and we all arrived quite early. My luggage was lost too.
Has it shown up since?
it has now which is good but that shouldn't have happened in the first place on a direct flight with a priority tag.
FIFA considering ditching the proposed 3-team group format for 2026, reverting to twelve groups of four. Fantastic news for us - three guaranteed games instead of just two if we win OFC. More of an authentic World Cup experience
then a round of 32?
You'd think so though that will lead to the last remaining 4 teams (the finalists, plus 3rd/4th playoff) playing 8 games in total. 1 game more than now, and not something UEFA/clubs want.
Basically a 48 team WC, no matter what format FIFA chooses, creates all sorts of issues.
Having 16 groups with only 3 teams per group, greatly increases the chance that 2 teams in a group could collude, and unfairly prevent the 3rd team getting through. Talk that in the group phase, any draw in NT with be followed by a pen shootout, to reduce possible collusion!! So gimmick in the US's MLS Next Pro comp, a possible forerunner.
https://www.quora.com/Why-wont-FIFA-group-a-48-team-World-Cup-into-12-groups-of-4 First, due to objection of some national associations (especially in Europe) if the number of matches for one team is increase. With the current number is 7 to reach the final, any proposal must be equal or less than that limit. With 12 group of 4, the only way to keep this “magic number” is to maintain the 16-team knock-out round. Which mean, you can only have 12 group winner plus 4 runner-up to qualify. As in every group there could possibly 3 teams eliminate, there will be a lot of dead rubber.
Second, the number must be feasible for scheduling. Currently, the 32-team format require 32 days to finish. Also, except for final group day, there must not be any match that play at the same time at other match (in order word, maximum 3 matches per day). If you expand 4 more groups, the tournament must finish longer to accommodate that, or you have to scramble these groups into existing schedule, which is not good for hosting and broadcasting.
Third, the number must be feasible for hosting. Currently, there are about 11-12 venues for hosting the World Cup, which mean average 5 match/venue. The reason to keep this ration is to maintain the quality of the pitch and to make logistic work possible. With the 3 team 16 groups, the number of match is 80, which mean 15–17 venues needed (which is possible). With the 4 team 12 group, even if we only have 16-team knock-out tournament, there are already 96 matches, which mean 20 venues needed (which is impossible for most of countries). Otherwise, you have to organise more match in one stadium, which is hard for other logistic work.
If you’re a World Cup aficionado, you may want to take the time to savor this one, because it may be the last version with a format — groups of four teams — that has a fair and consistently exciting opening phase.
The new opening format — two teams advancing from groups of three in an expanded 48-team field in 2026, and possibly as soon as the next World Cup in 2022 — raises a very serious issue: The risk of collusion will be much higher.
There was a hint of that in yesterdays Womens World Cup Qualifier between Western Samoa and Cook Islands. 93rd minute Cook Islands are down 1-0 and their goalkeeper is dribbling the ball back to the goal line soaking up time. The 1-0 scoreline being a score that guarantees both teams to progress as the 1st 2 from a group of 3.
We were robbed by some thoroughly sharkhouse refereeing, maybe this is our chance to sneak in via the backdoor?
Don't see how this saga can help the AWs in anyway. But yes could mean Chile or Peru replace Ecuador at the World Cup.
Chile are hoping to replace Ecuador if they are thrown out of the World Cup, as Castillo played against them in two qualifying games from which they took just one point.
If FIFA followed recent precedent by awarding two 3-0 victories in the event of their complaint against Ecuador being upheld Chile would move up from seventh to fourth in the South American qualifying competition ahead of Peru on goal difference, which would see them earn a place in Qatar. Peru are the other potential beneficiaries if Ecuador are simply expelled with all their matches forfeited, as they finished fifth in the table.
In 2016 Bolivia were stripped of four World Cup for fielding an ineligible defender Nelson Cabrera, who had previously represented Paraguay, with Chile and Peru both awarded 3-0 victories as a result.
12 pools of 4 teams, with top two teams each pool (24 teams), plus best eight 3rd placed teams (32 teams) - into a knockout Round of 32 now looks likely.
With pools of 4 teams, the last round of games with simultaneous kickoffs does produce TV winning drama. Plus does reduce possible collusion that can get with 3 team pools.
