The Soccer Thread (Version 8)

Depends on whom Qatar hires to play for them.

 

It's likely all three will get in but, as I said, it's not official yet. I wouldn't be as sure about worst ever -- Canada has actually qualified on its own merit before, unlike Qatar. China shipped nine goals and scored none while going three-and-out in 2002, and the likes of Haiti, DR Congo, and El Salvador did even worse than that.
All-time table of the FIFA World Cup - Wikipedia

 

They'd better hurry up if that's the case. FIFA regulations require five years of residency before a naturalized player can represent their new country, and Brazilians mysteriously ending up with passports from AFC member nations is already under heavy scrutiny.
Asian football passport row could continue with more players | Philstar.com

 

Qatar's been pretty adept at this for years.

I'd expect them to stock their national club with plenty of low-profile ringers.

 

I was wondering if it was like the Greeks trying to fill out teams in some sports not played there in the 2004 Olympics. "You're name sound Greek? Welcome to the team!"

My one fear, though: Unless U.S. soccer is serious about reforms, they'll find a way to kill this golden goose, again.

 

I remember in what must have been 2006 there were Brazil born players on something like 8 teams. Reading Wikipedia, it seems that year was the impetus for the to residency.

Luckily, it doesn't seem to change for players with 'ties' to other countries. I always enjoy hearing about the battle over whether a guy will play for Australia or Croatia, or Germany/Poland.

 

We'll see. Looking at their most recent squads for their senior team and AFC U-23 Championship (the ones who will be the core of the 2022 side), the rosters are about 70-75% native-born Qataris with a smattering of guys born in places like Mali, Egypt, Algeria, and Sudan (plus one Portuguese). Many of them came through the ASPIRE Academy, which one could write off as a factory farm that lures players with the promise of a better life but only delivers for a select few, and one wouldn't be entirely incorrect. That said, the Qataris would (and do) argue that they're giving youngsters from poor areas a chance to train professionally at a location with superior resources and build a better life for themselves and their families, and that the players who choose to represent Qatar are no more 'ringers' than David Regis, Dom Dwyer, or Darlington Nagbe.

Is there some exploitation going on? Without question. Is that unique to Qatar? I'm not so sure.

 

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. We have eight years and no guarantee that all the proposed host cities will still exist in 2026.

 

IN
Atlanta
Dallas
Houston
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
New York/New Jersey
San Francisco Bay Area
Seattle
Washington, D.C.

OUT
Baltimore
Boston
Cincinnati
Denver
Nashville
Orlando
Philadelphia

 

Will turf fields in the Canadian cities be as big an issue as they were in the Women's World Cup?

 

I don't think there's much exploitation happening. But I do think Qatar, with its tiny population, has a history of seeding its international athletic teams with willing out-of-towners.

When the Aspire Academies were first lifting off, in the mid-2000s, Qatar was offering very liberal citizenship terms and incentives to surplus distance runners from Kenya and weightlifters from Bulgaria.

Athletes who might have been second or third tier in their home countries went right to the head of the class in Qatar. A great opportunity for them, and a pretty good deal for everyone.