England 0-4 Hungary
Their worst home defeat in 94 years. A mostly 2nd choice lineup, but still…really? And an absolutely embarrassing dive by Harry Kane.
2021-22-23-24 News Thread
- Thread starter jeffbear
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Their worst home defeat in 94 years. A mostly 2nd choice lineup, but still…really? And an absolutely embarrassing dive by Harry Kane.
Host cities for the joint US/Canada/Mexico 2026 World Cup were selected today. Of the 80 matches, 60 will be played in the US with 10 each in Canada and Mexico. All matches from the quarterfinals on will be played in the US
US cities: New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium), Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Seattle (Lumen Field), Houston (NRG Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium) and Boston (Gillette Stadium). Nothing in DC, only the 3rd time ever a capital city hasn’t hosted any matches. They’re also not playing at the Rose Bowl in LA, they’re at the new stadium instead.
In Canada: Toronto (BMO Field) and Vancouver (BC Place)
In Mexico: Guadalajara (Estadio Akron), Monterrey (Estadio BBVA Bancomer), Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)
US cities: New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium), Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Seattle (Lumen Field), Houston (NRG Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium) and Boston (Gillette Stadium). Nothing in DC, only the 3rd time ever a capital city hasn’t hosted any matches. They’re also not playing at the Rose Bowl in LA, they’re at the new stadium instead.
In Canada: Toronto (BMO Field) and Vancouver (BC Place)
In Mexico: Guadalajara (Estadio Akron), Monterrey (Estadio BBVA Bancomer), Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)
VinatieriDefinesClutch
Active member
Having world cups in places that can do it entirely on existing infrastructures makes so much sense and is the only real sustainable route going forward. Countries have finally started to wise up to spending billions on structures that will immediately become vacant with no return on investment for the world cup or even moreso for the olympics (the world cup is never going away, but I could see the winter olympics no longer being a thing and the summer olympics going the way of the world cup and only happening in places with existing infrastructure).
Also as someone who lives just outside of Boston, I fortunately won't have to deal with any WC crowds as Gillette Stadium is nowhere near Boston and the public transportation to the stadium is a rarely used commuter rail line.
Also as someone who lives just outside of Boston, I fortunately won't have to deal with any WC crowds as Gillette Stadium is nowhere near Boston and the public transportation to the stadium is a rarely used commuter rail line.
My wife grew up in Needham and her father used to take her and her brother to the occasional game at Schaefer Stadium. She said the traffic on Rt. 1 was brutal after a game. I can’t imagine it‘s any better now.
VinatieriDefinesClutch
Active member
You are correct. There's basically only one way in and out that everyone is taking and literally everyone going to games is driving as that's the only way to get there. It's also why people just keep tailgating after the game since if you're going to have to wait anyway, might as well have another beer.
About the only thing I've seen anybody bitching about is that DC didn't get included. It's obviously one of the 3 or 4 best soccer markets in the US, but ... Dan Snyder and his terrible stadium. So ... yeah.
As for LA ... SoFi is a brand new modern palace while the Rose Bowl is a crumbling dump. Easy call there.
I love that Arrowhead got a shout though. It's been meticulously maintained and it's great to see at least once funky old school American stadium on the list.
As for LA ... SoFi is a brand new modern palace while the Rose Bowl is a crumbling dump. Easy call there.
I love that Arrowhead got a shout though. It's been meticulously maintained and it's great to see at least once funky old school American stadium on the list.
The Washington bid had really morphed into a Baltimore bid with some fan experience stuff in DC. But that was kind of a last minute thing to rescue a floundering bid.
What are they going to do in the stadiums with artificial turf? MetLife, Lumen, Jerry World, Mercedes Benz, Gillette and BC Place are artificial turf fields.
There's been talk of temporary grass fields being installed. It's expensive but do-able, and unlike for the women's tournament FIFA does require actual grass surfaces for the men.
I guess I'm going to bit the bullet and see about tickets for Atlanta when sales open. I missed out on a chance to see Mexico play Italy at RFK in 1994 and I've always regretted it. I'm not too picky about the teams ... I just want to have been there for a match or two this time.
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It’s 4 years away, too early to decide. But I’d probably head to Seattle with my Portland-based daughter. Took her to the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cups at the Meadowlands and RFK. She went to the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France…saw the US/France quarterfinal in Paris and then both games in Lyon.
VinatieriDefinesClutch
Active member
I believe Kraft is planning on switching back to a grass field. Gillette was grass forever and they didn't want to go turf, but there was one season where the field was absolutely destroyed and kind of forced their hand
Kraft should be trying to find a soccer specific stadium for the Revs. Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte switched to turf specifically to accommodate Charlotte FC without destroying the grass for the Panthers.
Marcelo Bielsa may be returning to Athletic Bilbao, if Inaki Arechabaleta wins the club’s Presidential election later this week. He coached Bilbao from 2011-13, making the 2012 Europa League Final but listing to Atletico Madrid. He won less than 40% of his matches and wasn’t offered a new contract after the 2012-13 season. He spent 1 season at Marseille, 2 days at Lazio and less than half a season at Lille before being hired by Leeds for the 2018-19 season.
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The thing is ... with the money that gets spent on World Cup by organizers, you could rip out your artificial turf, put in a natural surface and then rip THAT up to put in brand new FieldTurf system for an absolute pittance compared to the cost of one brand new stadium ... for a tournament that routinely sees 3 or 4 new facilities built to order. And that's almost certainly what you're gonna see from these venues with artificial surfaces. That or the tray-based temp grass surface that the NFL has played around with in the past. With that system you just roll the segments in on top of the existing subsurface and then either re-install or replace the FieldTurf.
That’s how State Farm Arena in Arizona works, it’s a concrete floor and the grass field moves in and out on rails. The stadiums used by Vitesse Arnhem and Schalke work the same way. Tottenham’s stadium has grass for soccer and artificial turf for NFL games. The field sections split so they can be stored under the parking lot. Giants Stadium tried to go the tray route and it was a spectacular failure
VinatieriDefinesClutch
Active member
Preaching to the choir, but he's never going to do it. He owns the stadium and sees no reason to spend more money, plus let's just say that large construction projects in the greater Boston area are difficult at best on top of just finding space for it. I would love a soccer specific stadium that was actually in the Boston area. As is, I go to one game at most per season as it's a slog to get to, you have to drive and the actual experience of being in a giant lifeless mostly empty stadium is not the best. If I could get on the T and take that to an appropriately sized stadium, I would do that regularly as would many others and we could actually have a cool atmosphere.
I read an article awhile ago that indicated that the company that the NFL used for the Super Bowl in Arizona has figured out the logistics to do the panned grass thing in "normal" stadiums as well. Either way, it's expensive to rip, replace, repeat ... but not expensive by FIFA standards. It'll get done in some way shape or form for all the host venues.
Well, looking at the cost of a soccer specific, MLS-sized venue it would cost around $250 million ... Allianz (Minn. United) was built for around $200 million and Banc of California LAFC) for $250 million, but that was the more recent new build. Without even an NWSL team to groundshare in Boston, that's a lot of cheddar even for Kraft, considering he has an otherwise empty NFL stadium sitting right there in a big old parking lot. (I know ... not the Kraft Cheese Krafts, but still ... quality Dad joke material is hard to pass up)
Wayne Rooney leaving Derby.
www.espn.com
Wayne Rooney resigns as Derby manager
Wayne Rooney has told Derby County that he wishes to leave his role as manager with immediate effect, the club announced Friday.