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World Cup 2026: Running List of Complaints from the British Media
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The 2026 World Cup is about six months away, and we’ve finally got the fixture list and local schedule for Lincoln Financial Field.
The U.S. plays Paraguay, Australia, and a TBD European squad in Group D, while Philly will host Brazil, France, the Ivory Coast (2x), Haiti, Curacao, Croatia, Ghana, and the winner of the Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname playoff. There’s a chance we get Germany vs. France on Independence Day at the Linc, if the early results play out in a certain way.
Meantime, the British are doing a lot of complaining about the tournament, whinging that began this past summer, actually. British media especially likes to bitch and moan about anything and everything to begin with, which is worth a footnote. Since we still have six months to go before the tournament, let’s start a running thread of things these blokes are whining about:
it’s too hot
The European teams aren’t used to playing in the heat. Their domestic schedules run through mild winters and then pause in the summer. 85 degrees for them might as well be playing on the surface of Venus.
These games are going to feature hydration breaks in each half and a number of them will be played in domed stadiums or at 7 p.m. or 9 p.m., when things start to cool off in the summer. Here in Philly, only one of the five group stage games has a start time earlier than 5 p.m., and that’s between an African team and Caribbean team. Meantime, England opens inside of Jerry World, then gets a 4 p.m. at Gillette and 5 p.m. at MetLife. They’ll be totally fine. These guys thought we were gonna have them play outside in Houston at high noon.
Yank shit / “Americanising” the game
The World Cup draw was one of the worst things ever broadcasted. It took two hours to complete and featured all sorts of ridiculous musical performances and ceremonial blatherings. They made up a fake peace prize to give to Donald Trump and had assorted wankers up on the stage adding absolutely nothing to the program.
But this was typical FIFA. It’s not an American thing. We hated the draw as much as you did. Anybody who has ever watched a FIFA production knows they’re getting absurdity, with obsequious and sycophantic behavior directed at the politician of the moment.
The Brits also don’t like the “Super Bowl-style” halftime show and assorted Americanisms, but the culture of the host country or countries is always going to be part of the tournament. Case in point, when South Africa had the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup, we listened to Vuvuzelas nonstop for two summers in a row. And when people complained about that, Sepp Blatter told us that Africa moved to a “different rhythm,” which was a nice way of telling us to shut the fuck up and accept that this is what they over there. We survived that and the Brits will survive some flamboyant displays of capitalism.
USA isn’t welcoming
“The great @jonawils on the 2026 World Cup: “I think the obvious concern from the point of view of the U.S. is the way it stands apart from I think every previous World Cup. Every other World Cup host has essentially said to most of the rest of the world, ‘please come to our country.’ Whereas the U.S. appears actively hostile to outsiders. And I think a lot of people feel pretty uncomfortable just about the idea of going to the U.S.”
Yeah look, people are wary because of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, ICE raids and deportations and whatnot. It’s a little harder to get into the United States than it is other countries because of our visa process, but there’s a reason Russia and Qatar, the last two hosts, wanted others to ‘please come to our country,’ and it’s because both are repressive authoritarian regimes that needed to roll out the red carpet or else nobody would have showed up. If you’re in the LGBT community, would you feel more comfortable here, or in Putinville or the Middle East? That’s what I thought, so let’s cool it with the nonsense.
You come here as a World Cup visitor and follow the rules and you’ve got nothing to worry about. The Club World Cup was totally fine. Ask the Wydad and Esperance fans who came to Philly about their experience.
it’s not football, it’s soccer
No one cares, it’s the same sport.
tickets are too expensive
Talk to FIFA. We didn’t have anything to do with it.
public transportation blows
Can’t argue this one. It’s gonna be something else when the Dutch fans to roll up to Arrowhead Stadium and discover the wondrous marvel of sprawling parking lots. Behold Kansas City, aka “The Amsterdam of North America.” –
We will update this list as more complaints are filed.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com