But I think the three-country bid was dumb. The U.S. has more than enough cities/stadiums/major airports to accommodate 48 teams.
No teams are going to want to get stuck playing in Edmonton or Guadalajara.
And Estadio Omnilife is a premier stadium.
You are still correct, the US didn't NEED to join with Mexico and Canada
My God, was that a shithole.
been a very close call against Morocco. Canada and Mexico were able to deflect a lot of anti-US sentiment amongst the smaller nations.
With 48 teams it’s a little less of a problem for the rest of Concacaf
And so with 3 autos, then everyone else would be fighting for the last 1.5 or 2 spots. That's a tough sell considering 3 non soon-to-be-host teams qualified for those spots this rotation.
Central America and Caribbean would get hosed if they just give spots to hosts out of regular CONCACAF slots and don't free up at least 2.5 spots for rest of confederation.
In the past, all hosts have automatically qualified -- including both Japan and South Korea in 2002. But as we know all too well, FIFA makes up its own rules as it goes along. It is expected that FIFA will decide this issue at its June 2019 meeting in Paris.
The groups and knockout stage?
Top two teams from each group go into the knock-out stages. No room for errors in that format...
I assume?
That's the point, right? To put on a mini-World Cup the year before as a practice run.
Into question I believe.
Don’t recall the specifics but I remember hearing something on SiriusXM about reworking the off year international competitions, including the confed cup.
... not at Levi's Stadium... please we beg thee.
I can't stand Levi's and don't know many people who do in Northern CA.
the old structure was second in height only to the old eucalyptus trees just outside the stadium.
I think there were over 100 rows of classic wooden benches, holding 94,000 people.
I think Cal would be the best setting of any stadium here now.
They should just put any CA games in the Rose Bowl, or perhaps the new Kroenke trophy will be built by then?
And it's being built with soccer in mind, as well.
been in, in any sport.
Just had the capacity required for a day like USA vs Brasil.
just took the Real job, but agreed to a contract extension three weeks earlier with El Rojo. Crazy.
Glad I waited to fill out my bracket.
It doesn't seem like FIFA could do much about it if Chicago was added in several years.
2018 and 2022 bids that ultimately failed.
Probably as an alternate if another city falls through somehow but I don’t see that happenjng
I assume the 7 that are cut from the current 17 would be ahead of Chicago at this point.
midwest and great plains will not have a host city.
[Edit: I didn't realize the cities weren't set yet.]
Maybe KC
I can understand the unpopulated northern plains states being ignored...again but I’m shocked that Chicagoans are 5 hours from a match, Detroit as well to a lesser extent
Cincinnati is definitely Midwest.
10 hours to the east coast and 32 hours to the west coast
The use of “Midwest” to describe Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, etc is an affront to logic
we always considered ourselves "Midwest." Granted, the term is East Coast-centric, and a throwback to an era when the Plains were considered "West" and anything from the Rockies to the Pacific the "Far West." But not all terminologies or classifications are recalibrated whenever logic changes with the times.
You must have really felt tortured when the Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West while the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals were in the NFC East.
high plains than mountains /topographically (albeit less so culturally).
I would have expected Chicago or Minneapolis to host too. Once they dropped out, I don’t think any other Midwest or Great Plains city was likely.
And Missouri is absolutely on the plains.
Except that MetLife is Fake Turk (NDN TM)
They will put in grass over the fake turk, as they did in 1994. The plan also calls for Arlington and Atlanta to host semifinal games. Those stadiums also have fake turk, as do Seattle, Cincinnati, Houston, Orlando, Montreal, Edmonton, and Foxboro.
So some of these smaller cities will probably get cut out.
Looking at you Nashville, Orlando, Kansas City.
Decent breakdown of the American host cities here...
Orlando gets the ax since Miami will certainly get it.
That could change obviously, but KC's airport is inferior to most all of the other options.
Which may dramatically increase air activities.
Also, I suspect we will see Denver and KC selected. The hearland won't be shut out.
Will replace the current terminals.
MCI was state if the art when it opened. And then a short while later screening was mandated. And then the hub and spoke model came to dominate the airline industry post deregulation.
TWA consolidated operations in STL due to the horrible setup in MCI.
That means a choice between Landover and Baltimore -- although it's possible Washington DC will have a new football stadium by 2026, and therefore could host. Here are my best guesses at the cuts:
Baltimore
Orlando (don't need 2 Florida cities)
Nashville (Atlanta is close enough)
Houston (Arlington is close enough)
Denver (not as big on soccer as some cities)
Philadelphia (could lose out in crowded NE corridor)
Cincinnati (I think they'll keep one Midwestern city, and KC seems a tad more likely)
Both cities had the same group. Also, DIA is better for overseas and NA connections (particularly Mexico) than a good number of others.
I'd like the following:
New York City
Los Angeles
Atlanta
Dallas
San Francisco
Miami
Seattle
Denver
2 of Boston/Philadelphia/Washington, D.C.
The Seattle matches were on a Thursday night (5:30 and 8 pm PT), while the Denver matches were on Sunday (1:30 and 4 pm MT).
However, I think your suggested group of 10 is reasonable, even though you have no Midwestern cities. Some of the cuts will be more difficult than others.
Mexico v Canada was arguably a more interesting match to El Tri's fans in Seattle than Mexico v Martinique was to El Tri's fans in Denver. Having been at the matches in Denver that day, I'm certain there were more Canadian fans in Seattle as well (although admittedly likely fewer than would have attended if the match was on a weekend).
The broader point I was trying to make was that Denver's interest in international soccer relative to Seattle's (or other cities' for that matter) shouldn't be measured solely (or even predominately) by interest in their respective MLS clubs.