here's a nice personal account by an Englishman of how weird the World Cup has been (and perhaps, become?).

Newsflash: Football is never coming home

For supporters of the England team, the national self-image of strength under pressure has been subtly undermined for many years by the underperformance of the national team. Throughout my life, England have gone into World Cups with teams that look great on paper but have disappointed on grass [...] The England fans do not have the self-mythologising bonhomie of Scotland’s Tartan Army

LOL.

Every World Cup has its own distinct flavour. In 2026, the theme seems to be the wild accusations of conspiracy and corruption that are swirling around the tournament.

in this World Cup, it seems, few victories are entirely untainted. Travelling back into town, I started reading match reports. The Norwegians were saying that England’s first goal should not have stood — something to do with a ball hitting a cable. And it seemed as if a legitimate Norwegian goal might have been unfairly disallowed

I support VARgentina:

the Egyptian manager Hossam Hassan said: “It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament. [...] What does seem possible is that referees are human and that some find it hard to make big calls that could tilt games against the legends of the game — among whom Lionel Messi is pre-eminent.

VEEERY interesting regarding tickets and pricing: FIFA = the ultimate middleman (Knotzi) scalper?

One innovation is that Fifa itself has taken over the scalping. Fans can and do get allocated the tickets through the draw and then instantly resell them, for a big mark-up via Fifa itself — which pockets a considerable commission

“Welcome to Trump’s America,” whispered my daughter Natasha, who lives in the US and had gone to the match with me. “Everyone’s a conspiracy theorist.”“Welcome to Trump’s America,” whispered my daughter Natasha, who lives in the US and had gone to the match with me. “Everyone’s a conspiracy theorist.”

As I later discovered, watching England play live involves a unique form of stress. It is more relaxing to just enjoy the game and the occasion

As I shall today, too.

archive: https://archive.md/QByei