2026 arrived with Arsenal top of the table but facing a daunting January schedule. The last game of 2025 had brought Aston Villa, a potential title rival, to North London. Villa had been the last team to beat Arsenal and had recent history of thwarting Arsenal’s title ambitions. After a tight first half Arsenal broke through as Emi Martinez fumbled a corner with the deadly Gabriel pouncing and then Arsenal let out the clutch and destroyed them. Zubimendi scored from a delightful Ødegaard pass, then Trossard and Jesus put them into an unassailable 4-0 lead. We even had time to concede our usual goal to Ollie Watkins before wrapping up a very impressive victory.
Arsenal’s defence had built an incredible reputation so it was a matter for general astonishment when, in Arsenal’s next game at Bournemouth, Gabriel presented Evanilson with an early goal as a result of an errant pass. Stung by the mistake, he immediately struck an equaliser and in the second half, Declan Rice drove home two well-taken goals before Junior Kroupi retaliated with a very well-taken effort. Arsenal’s narrow 3-2 victory was the last game that Bournemouth lost in the season and they were to play a very big part in the title story that unfolded.
Liverpool, the defending champions, were next up at the Emirates as Arsenal sought to build a significant lead. The Merseysiders had endured a disappointing campaign, but they neutralised Arsenal with one of their best performances of the season, and a rather tame 0-0 draw resulted.
Early January brought the FA Cup third round. Arsenal seem to have developed an aversion to the FA Cup in recent seasons and their tie away to Portsmouth began in challenging fashion when they immediately fell a goal behind. Christian Nørgaard helped to force an immediate equaliser and Gabriel Martinelli completed a hat-trick which featured a couple of headers to take us through 4-1. Madueke could even afford to miss a penalty as we cruised home.
Fixture congestion was a major challenge for Arsenal in this most demanding of months. Next up was the two leg semi-final of the Carabao Cup. The first leg was away to Chelsea and although we won 3-2 the feeling lingered after the match that we had let the residents of the Bus Stop off rather lightly. Ben White scored an early goal from a corner and Gyökeres made the most of an awful Sanchez mistake early in the second half. However Garnacho brought Chelsea back into the game before Zubimendi scored a delightful solo goal only to see Garnacho score again. The result still represented a very decent start to the tie.
Last season we had travelled to a very in-form Nottingham Forest and been held to a 0-0 draw. This term we travelled to a much less successful Forest team and despite dominating play replicated a scoreless draw. Sean Dyche had produced a combative team and we seemed to lack the energy and inspiration to take all the points.
We then welcomed Manchester United to N5 hoping to pull away again and took the lead from a Martinez own goal after fierce early pressure. Zubimendi then gifted Mbuemo an equaliser with a poor sideways pass and Dorgu put United ahead with one of two incredible long range shots from which they were to score. Merino equalised late on with a header in his last game before sustaining a serious foot injury but Cunha wrapped up a surprise win for United with a spectacular injury-time goal.
Arsenal travelled to Leeds aware that the home team were undergoing something of a revival but dismissed them comfortably. Zubimendi opened the scoring before Madueke’s curling corner was allowed to creep in by Darlow. Gyökeres entered from the bench to add a third and Jesus completed a 4-0 rout with a great piece of improvisation. It was an encouraging result that restored a bit of momentum and in our next game we reached Wembley when a very late Havertz goal took us through against Chelsea after an attritional semi-final second leg. Our defensive solidity had rarely been threatened by ‘Linked In Liam’s’ boys and a few pundits started unwise talk of a quadruple.
Our next performance where we took care of a very decent Sunderland side underlined the strength of the squad. Zubimendi continued his useful habit of scoring goals with the first and a Gyökeres double highlighted the increasing impact he was having upfront .
The difficulty of contesting so many London derbies was underlined by Arsenal’s match at Brentford, one of the most improved sides in the league. A fiercely contested game appeared to be heading Arsenal’s way when Madueke gave us the lead with a spring-heeled header but we struggled with Kayode’s long throws throughout the game and Lewis- Potter latched onto one to equalise. Two more points were dropped, albeit against a side with genuine aspirations of playing in Europe and one of the success stories of the season.
The FA Cup continued with a fourth round tie against Wigan at home. The result was done and dusted by the 28th minute by which time we led 4-0. Madueke, Martinelli, a Hunt own goal and a delightful Jesus finish saw us through to a fifth round tie away to Mansfield Town.
Driving to a meeting before we played Wolves, I heard Stuart Pearce claim there would be no chance of an upset at Molineux that evening. When the meeting finished we led 2-0 through Saka and Hincapié but a Bueno goal and a late Calafiori own goal after a misunderstanding with Raya saw us give away two more precious points, very unnecessarily.
That concession on a frantic night in the Midlands was not ideal preparation for a North London Derby at the Armitage Shanks but Spurs in their wisdom had brought in Igor Tudor, a forbidding figure with no experienhce of English football. Arsenal steamrollered the Spuds for the fourth successive time in their own stadium. Eze continued to be their Nemesis with two goals and Gyökeres also collected two goals in a barnstorming performance. Tudor looked a peculiar and ill- judged appointment but one that typified the inability to plan and recruit intelligently at the Lane.
Chelsea and ‘Linked in Liam’ returned to N5 to play us in the league and gave us a very tough game. Saliba put us ahead from a corner but an unfortunate Hincapié own goal brought them level on halftime before Jurrien Timber forced in a corner in the second half to clinch victory.
Brighton proved stiff opponents at the Amex in our next game but an early Saka goal which owed a great deal to a significant deflection was enough to give us victory thanks to a great defensive performance. Our victory did not go down well with Fabian Hurzeler who betrayed his youth with an immaturity that Arsenal fans find particularly galling. He criticised our approach to football, but Arsenal fans who witnessed the cynicism and downright deceit from his side in their match at Arsenal last season had little sympathy. Hurzeler later recanted his remarks.
Attention switched to Mansfield in the FA Cup. Arteta rotated his side giving starts to Dowman and Marli Salmon. Madueke gave us the lead with a spectacular strike in the first half but Mansfield drew level after an under-hit pass from Salmon. Eze showed his explosive quality with a blistering shot that clinched victory in the second half.
The Everton match at the Emirates was one of the most memorable played during the season and climaxed with a very special moment that nobody who was there will ever forget . Everton were organised, obdurate and resisted everything Arsenal threw at them until Arteta turned to Dowman as a substitute. With two minutes left his brilliant, swinging cross deceived Pickford, bounced off Hincapié’s groin and Gyökeres tapped home. Then, in the last minute of injury time, Everton earned a corner. Jordan Pickford, their keeper, was waved forward but Gyökeres headed the ball clear, Dowman seized on it, beat two defenders and careered forward. It was obvious from a long way back that he possessed the pace, ability and composure to run the ball home to guarantee a vital victory. The 16 year old Hale Ender slotted home triumphantly for his first Premier League goal, the youngest player ever to do this. It was perhaps the most thrilling individual moment of the season.
Theoretically, we were well set up for the Carabao Cup Final which followed a week later but this was to be emphatically Man City’s day, secured by two second half headers by Nico O’ Reilly. Kepa gifted City their first goal but this was one of those days when the final just passed us by. So much for the Quadruple!
We then moved on to Southampton for the FA Cup quarter final, a game in which we rotated significantly with Dowman starting in a number 10 role. Southampton had already begun a long unbeaten run and were very well organised. They were significantly stronger than the side we played in the last game of the 24/25 season and opened the scoring through Stewart. Gyökeres came on on as a substitute and steered home a neat equaliser but, with the game heading for extra time, Southampton snatched the tie with a clever finish from Shea Charles. So much for the Treble!
Arsenal, freed from involvement in domestic cups, now had to narrow their focus onto the league to ensure that the deterioration in results did not escalate into a crisis. Unfortunately, Bournemouth, their next opponents, proved extremely uncooperative. Junior Kroupi gave them an early lead and although Gyökeres responded with a well taken penalty in the second half, Scott finished off a penetrative passing move and Arsenal could not get back into the game. With an away trip to Manchester City next up, Arsenal’s title prospects were suddenly looking much gloomier.
Perversely, though Arsenal lost to Manchester City, the game at the Etihad signified a big uptick in morale and quality of performance. An early Cherki goal was immediately cancelled out by Havertz who pounced on a Donnarumma mistake. Eze hit the post and Havertz headed a glorious Trossard cross just over, but a sharp Haaland finish in the second half gave City the points. As the final whistle blew, Declan Rice could be clearly seen asserting, “This is not done!” Was that a knee – jerk reaction or a genuine statement of intent?
It was generally felt that we had easier remaining fixtures than Manchester City. Effectively, we had a shootout over five matches. The first was a home match with the Barcodes. The crowd groaned, each time, as we tried a series of short corners, ignoring our giant, goal-scoring defenders, but when Havertz fed Eze, who finished sublimely, the jeers turned to cheers. The rest of the game was a hard watch but Arsenal stayed defensively secure and secured three valuable points.
It had been a dour struggle, but the following week, Fulham came to visit and were swept aside by an Arsenal side suddenly playing with confidence and a swagger. Gyökeres scored two first half goals and Saka combined with the Swede to put us three goals up at halftime. The mood among the fans was transformed and although Arsenal did not improve their position in the second half, a 3-0 win was hugely appreciated by the fanbase.
Everton had held City to a draw which meant that if Arsenal won their last three games they would be champions. The trickiest fixture looked to be against West Ham at the London Stadium and the game was a hard fought derby struggle. Raya produced an incredible close range save from Fernandes before Ødegaard set up Trossard to put Arsenal ahead with only a few minutes left. West Ham piled on the pressure and appeared to have equalised through Callum Wilson only to see the goal rightly ruled out for two separate fouls on David Raya. Chris Kavanagh’s announcement of the disallowed goal has become the stuff of memes and folklore but there is no doubt that this was a pivotal moment in the season. Arsenal’s revival meant that City had no margin for error and their involvement in the FA Cup had pushed two matches into midweek slots which, given the league’s insistence on a finish by the 24th May and Sky’s wish to transmit every twist in the title race, increased the pressure on City despite their lack of involvement in European football after their exit to Real Madrid.
This left us to overcome Burnley and to try, if possible, to improve our goal difference into the bargain. Kai Havertz opened the scoring in an inevitably tense game and while Burnley rarely threatened us it wasn’t a comfortable watch.
A 1-0 win left us five points ahead and the following night Bournemouth took a tired looking City to the cleaners. A beautifully executed Kroupi goal threatened to start an avalanche but slack finishing by Bournemouth meant that City stayed in the game until the last minute when Haaland equalised. The final whistle at the Vitality produced a tidal wave of sound, an impromptu gathering of over 100,000 Gooners at the Emirates, and saw the title go to Arsenal – our first Premier League in twenty two years, as we have been persistently reminded this season. At least, that stick that has been regularly used to beat Arsenal, has been taken away.
The dramatic title denouement gave Palace and Arsenal the opportunity to rotate heavily before their respective European finals. Goals by Jesus and Madueke gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead which Mateta reduced in the dying minutes. Pino had an even later goal disallowed for offside and Arsenal were able to finish the season seven points ahead of second placed City. Arsenal players and fans exulted in the sunshine and the strains of ‘North London Forever’ rang around Selhurst Park. It was a perfect day, albeit we were celebrating on another club’s soil. This made little difference to the euphoria on display.
It has been a magnificent performance by Arsenal despite the rollercoaster ride that had latterly ensued. Over the season, Arsenal dominated top spot. Defensive efficiency highlighted by a spectacular goalkeeper and superb holding midfielders made Arsenal incomparably the strongest defensive side. Injuries were again a huge problem but the squad strength so effectively supplemented by eight new signings gave Arteta the squad flexibility he had lacked in previous years. Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Saliba and Rice were all exceptional and we still have the promise of Dowman to fully enjoy.
Arsenal had not done the double over any side in the top six but had not lost to any side below sixth and had played twelve London derbies and remained undefeated in all of them. That is a significant accolade.
After three successive domestic runner-up placings which attracted the description ‘bottlers’, this success makes it possible to reinterpret the data and to plot a different trend and to believe that this hard-won triumph possibly represents the start of a period of domination and domestic success for Arsenal, especially given the travails and disruption at some of their rivals.
Domestic success was effectively secured but Arsenal also had European ambitions which they pursued ferociously. In the third part of our season review we will examine how Arsenal coped with integrating Champions League football into their challenge for the League title.
First. Thanks TTG
Cheers TTG, such a pleasant read/way to relive the twists and turns.
Obviously, some stories are much easier to enjoy/tell/be told when you already know the end. 🙂
That was an easier read than some of those games were to watch, TTG. Thanks for a succinct summary of a successful season. Looking forward to chapter three on the Champions League run.
Very good point in your first sentence there indeed, Ned! Basically TTG nearly managed to make me forget that. :-p
A little belatedly, I notice that the UK financial regulator has warned PL clubs that they could face legal action over sponsorship deals with crypto companies that are not authorised to operate in the UK. That would include Chelsea, Man City and Newcastle, by my count. I wonder if the clubs will argue that it is irrelevant that their sponsors cannot operate in the UK, as the intended audience is global, not UK.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/football-clubs-warned-questionable-sponsorship-deals-unauthorised-firms
The usual suspects are beginning to tout possible signings and I’m doing my level best to ignore them though not wholly successfully. Meanwhile thanks for an excellent review TTG. As Ned said @3, reading your review of each game was a much more enjoyable experience than watching almost every one of those games live. Will the tension really be less next season if we don’t develop the habit of settling the outcome earlier in games rather than hanging on to a one-nil lead? I know we make a virtue of one-nil to the Arsenal and recognise that we have the best central defence since Campbell and Toure though I never felt that pair were quite as secure as Bould and Adams, but I, personally, don’t feel that, good as our current centre backs are – and they’re very, very good – they handle a fragile lead quite as calmly as Bould and Adams either. Maybe that’s just the wistfulness of old age.
TTG – another excellent summary. An enjoyable read of an ultimately successful but tense season to – I think I’m going to have to say endure.
The explosion of celebrations once we were finally over the line clearly came about due to the pressure that had accumulated over three years of finishing second to a bunch of cheats, and some unprecedented criticism of everything we did throughout the season. Journalists, pundits and rival fans alike bleating about our tactics – crying that they weren’t as good as us at set pieces – demanding rule changes to reduce our presence in opposition areas – and decrying our physical, anti-football and even our defensive prowess. Some even wanted our title asterisked out because we were too boring ! There are a whole host of titles that should be asterisked before they get round to ours.
So bitter were the tears, I almost hope we go and do it all exactly the same again next season. Seriously, I hope the relieving of the pressure allows and encourages us to get back to our best free flowing football, hatfuls of goals and a good stuffing for all those who deserve it 😉 In the end, I hope we win it again any way we have to. Oh yes, and maybe Big Ears to go with it. Just for the Guv’nor ❤️
Before the sackcloth gets too worn out, there were 47 1-0s in the Premier League last season. We accounted for eight of them. More than our fair share, true, but we hardly had a monopoly.
Our goals per match, at 1.9, was second only to the rampant, free-flowing, free-scoring City’s 2.0. Our xG, shots on target and touches in the opposition box were all third highest in the league. We were also second for big chances created. So it is not the case that we parked the bus in August and let it rust in place until May.
Ned,
Thankyou for that fascinating and instructive data . Football is changing . I sat fitfully through the England ‘ game’ last night. It was excruciating. And England have an undoubtedly top striker . But there are very few around and defences set up with strong organisation and effective drills are increasingly hard to break down .
It is hard to develop a list of viable top strikers we could target and it seems more and more that wingers are the key attacking players nowadays .
I can’t generate any interest in the World Cup . Until yesterday I didn’t know when it started and who England were playing and when . That farce against New Zealand hasn’t fired my enthusiasm
My two-cents on the England game was that it was an exercise in acclimatisation and nothing more. I’d be pretty sure Tuchel knows his starting set up for the first game but isn’t going to tip his hand about who they are or how they will play.
Defending these days is about controlling space, closing off passing lanes and getting the opposition to have to attack where you are most comfortable defending not where they want to be. Our 4-4-2 midblock is the personification of that. Even an attack as potent as PSG’s struggled with breaking it down. You are right to highlight the importance of wingers, not because they can whip in cross for a big no nine, but because they are instrumental in creating the overloads needed to work space between the defensive lines. You saw PSG increasingly trying to do that in the second half in Budapest.
Thanks for Part 2 TTG, I agree with you that it was a magnificent performance and also with Trev that there was a degree of enduring at the end there
However, if there was any bottling it was by Cheaty over the last five games, but I expect in truth that it was simply exhaustion after such a long hard fight. Our squad was better suited to that fight than theirs in the end.
On the other hand I have really enjoyed the widespread whining by assorted reptiles, poundshop pundits, clickbait podcasters, and other fans. And of course my non-Arsenal
supporting friends, who now hate The Arsenal even more if that was possible 😂😂
The England / New Zealand cricket match has been far more entertaining,
but to be fair I have little to no interest in international football these days.
I might watch some of the knockout stages to support our Arsenal players
I suppose, but I wouldn’t really mind if some of their countries got knocked
out early!
Thanks for the great summaries of our season. I really enjoyed reading them. It goes to show just how hard it is to win the league and no one apart from us recognises how it was made even harder with key players missing. We would have won it at Christmas with everyone fit.
As for the World Cup..meh…couldn’t care less. England are so unlikable and as for their supporters! I really detest everything they stand for.
This World Cup will be remembered for being too big with too many uninteresting contests between unmatched sides and between poor sides, far too commercial with massive exploitation of those fans foolish enough to travel and a bridge too far for several players whose levels of exhaustion, after a long hard season already, will culminate in a rash of injuries. Trump and Infantino hugging each other at the final will be the final humiliation of the ‘beautiful game’. I hope that the Gooners who have joined their national squads survive the experience injury-free and gain a relatively early escape.
It’s a sad state of affairs when players will tell you that playing in a World Cup is what they dreamed of when growing up but, having got there, they find a tournament ridiculously exploited for the personal ambitions of two corrupt chancers, dreaded by so many fans who fear injury to their favourite players, and priced out of the reach of those fans who would actually like to attend what was supposed to be an international festival of football.
Apart from football induced injury I hope that all players will avoid the potentially dangerous affects of heat exhaustion, dehydration and lightning strikes, which are also bound to add to the general chaos and time involved in travelling huge distances across three countries.
Is it over yet …? 😳
What Bath said @14 and Trev said @15 about Trump’s and Infantino’s ugly little tournament.
B.O.Y.C.O.T.T.
Bath @14 and Trev @15: 👏👏👏
Thanks TTG for another superb recap of the season – you made it less painful than it was at times but with a great finale.
Bath & Trev espouse my feelings to a tee in regard of the upcoming World Cup.- a big fuck you to Trump & Infantano. May all our participating players find it satisfies their own ambition and then return home safely.
All of what bt8 said @ 16
This article from the Houston Chronicle shares our disdain for this fandango:
https://apple.news/AfCH8-BVkRvm3d2hEWqai5Q
Absolutely glorious piece in celebration of the achievement TTG writes about so well.
Bath@20
Thanks for attaching that article which pours disdain on the preposterous hyperbole of the ghastly Infantino. He may not have heard the phrase ‘ less is more ‘ but the knock on effect on the 26/27 season is going to be enormous and not in a good way . Most international superstars wh9 reach the knockout stages will be exhausted , many will carry injuries and though there is bound to be drama and some excitement ( and with profuse apologies to our American friends ) this tournament is in entirely the wrong country and that it is there is for entirely the wrong reasons .
You could hold the World Cup anywhere and make money but the climatic conditions, distances between venues and lack of local interest make the USA entirely unsuitable . 1994 wasn’t a vintage World Cup and my sense is that by the time we get into the latter stages we will probably be fed up with it . And if Trump jumps on the publicity bandwagon it will become even more obnoxious . I wish England and Scotland well but I’m still drained after our efforts at Arsenal this season. Imagine how the players feel !
C100@21
That article expresses better than anything else I’ve read why Arsenal’s success resonates so much and causes such a mixture of discord and joy. Arsenal is huge and in the past fortnight I’ve started to realise just how big it is . Those parades in Uganda and Kenya were quite awesome. The noise around this success has deafened our rivals who must hate it and it reminds them how much bigger Arsenal is than any other London or arguably English club
Long May that continue
Cheers TTG. Another masterful effort which I thoroughly enjoyed.
And thanks to Countryman@21 for linking a great article.
I’m not at all excited about the WC for the same reasons as others. I trawled through the group stage fixture list and there are barely a handful of games that look interesting as a neutral. 48 teams is too many. If FIFA want nations who have not got the football infrastructure of the teams that have traditionally done well to be more competitive then they must find a way to provide investment in that infrastructure so they can produce teams good enough to win their places on merit. Simply making the tournament bigger so that worse teams can be part of it is no solution.
Infantino is hard to read in the sense that I can’t tell how much of his own perverse rhetoric he believes. I presume he’s deluded and lost to his own cult of ego, but how much cynicism is mixed in is hard to tell. I suspect not much as that would require self-awareness, which does not seem like a quality he even understands.
The organisation of this tournament has been woeful throughout. With any luck, once we reach the knockout rounds the football will take over and none of the glaring problems with this tournament will be able to derail the excitement of the four yearly spectacle of seeing the best international teams battle it out for the biggest prize.
My fear is that this WC will be remembered for huge headlines that have nothing to do with football. I hope that it doesn’t come to that.
A rather nice meander through last season’s league goals, suggesting perchance that we might have scored just one or two from open play too:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/enjoy-all-our-premier-league-goals-202526
I suspect you’re right about Infantino, GSD.
There’s an amusing piece from Blogs today on all the World Cups
he remembers.
Made me think my first one was 1974, West Germany, as was,
beat Holland in the final and me and all my mates met up
spontaneously at the local park after the game and spent a
couple of hours pretending to be Muller, Breitner or Cruyff.
Simpler times and all that, but now I wonder if the 70s were a kind
of high watermark for international football.
‘holics, your cynicism demeans you. “The greatest event that humanity has ever seen” will “deliver great excitement against a backdrop of peace, joy, love, hope and passion -– qualities so essential in today’s turbulent world”. That must be true because those are the words of the great Gianni himself.
In some respects, football is getting the World Cup it deserves. Sovereign wealth funds and multimillionaires’ money and sportswashing now rule the game. This World Cup is dedicated to squeezing out every last dollar.
I also think Infantino views international football as an existential struggle against club football, measured by the dollars generated. FIFA is not in a good place, inasmuch as the three major European club tournaments directly generate as much revenue as the World Cup and do so annually, not every four years.
Ned @28, for a minute there, I thought you had revealed yourself to be ‘Big Brother’. However the world returned to its normal axis after your first paragraph.
I am sure that you are correct in Infantino’s existential war to help FIFA match or even exceed UEFA’s income generation. Hence his bromance with the orange monster. His solution may be to decrease the intervals between FIFA summer tournaments – we may see the “Club World Cup” taking place every year that no World Cup is held. If he can make players play in the heat of Qatar and Saudi and make fans traverse the length and breadth of North America, he can add further to the frequency of FIFA competitions.
I sincerely hope that this year’s World Cup bombs financially and is widely seen as a failure.
Matt @27
I think you definitely have a point . I can remember the 1958 World Cup . Not all England games were shown live and we went out in a play- off! In 1962 satellite technology was not advanced enough to allow live transmission from Chile. I remember watching a recording of a game and being told we had beaten Argentina but we only saw it the day after .
1970 was an incredible World Cup. Brazil were magical, we were holders and very credible challengers and I remember coming in from a party and sitting up to watch Brazil and I think Czechoslovakia with my Dad . Pele was extraordinary. Since then I think Italia 90 and France 98 have been the best for overall football although Argentina in 78 was also memorable . Ned explains the reasons for the decline in quality very well.
C100 @21 – that is a really great piece. Thank you !
I have seen some articles that have tried to claim in some way that Arsenal went out to try to “recruit” a black following, or tried to somehow encourage black people to support the club.
I think this article actually nails the truth. I don’t think Arsenal had ever gone out to encourage any particular group of people. I just think that no group of people has ever had a reason to feel discouraged. If you support the Arsenal you’re welcomed – doesn’t matter what you are. That has been far from the case at some other clubs I won’t bother to mention here. We know who they are.
Jordan Jarret-Bryan 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Superb second phase. TTG. Very well done. I’m looking forward to the Part 3 finale.
Like many, I suffered some agonies along the way and while the meander through the season’s goals (posted by Bath @25 above) makes it look like good times rolled constantly, my own personal lowest spot was the late, late equaliser away to Wolves – my F-bomb heard by every one in the neighbourhood for miles around. Kepa’s slip-up at Wembley had a similar effect on my son.
I enjoyed particularly the Zubimendi goals in the season’s showreel.
The first World Cup I saw was 1966 in which Portugal were the most exhilarating team to watch with England, West Germany and the USSR rather uninspiring and machine-like. Sadly Brazil were kicked off the park by North Korea and Portugal and never got going but made up for it at Mexico in 1970 with the most exhilarating football I have ever seen though Italy showed a lot of flair too but fell well short in the final. In 1970 England and West Germany matched other to the point of exhaustion. Germany 1974 was another flair-filled tournament with Netherlands the most watchable but ultimately succumbing to the West German machine in the final. Argentina 1978 was another good tournament and we saw the host nation at their exhilarating best with another excellent Netherlands squad again falling at the last hurdle. In my opinion, the finals went downhill from that point.
It’s really hard to be a worse World Cup host than Qatar but so far the US are smashing it.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/somali-referee-denied-entry-us-155115048.html
Auntie also seems to agree with the GHF cerebrati on the forthcoming shitshow:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cg4wqr2ev33o
And there is more:
World Cup: Iran accuses USA of cutting its ticket allocation
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/world-cup-iran-accuse-usa-120300560.html
And some sobering thoughts from Keenos on the Academy but hope of remedial action:
We are also expected to sign Leicester City’s highly rated 18-year-old winger, Jeremy Monga. So the concerns are not only with the pipeline of defenders.
Even though this fine establishment is its own little corner of digital media, we hold a generally dismal view of most of the rest of it. If you read only one thing today to confirm that bias, read this about the appropriation of the New York Knicks basketball team’s run to the NBA finals. You just know that the whole ghastly circus of social media manipulation is coming to football, if it hasn’t already arrived.
https://www.garbageday.email/p/the-clear-channel-internet
Sorry, Ned, I tried to read it – but failed.
I don’t know what a psyop is. I don’t know what a clipper account is.
There were so many accounts posting to other accounts I had completely lost track by the end of screen 2-3 and, frankly, I didn’t care. A fog of confusion that all meant nothing to me at all. My loss ? Possibly.
Maybe one day I’ll need to try to understand American sports but for now – Superbowls (is that a cup final ?) – World Series that has one country in it – deeefence and uuufence – ugh.
Sorry, I’m sure you’re right but I’ll worry about it when I have to and hope that I never do.
And the roundly booed President apparently fell asleep during the Knicks game!
I’m disgusted by the banning of the Somali referee and the fact that FIFA appear to have no backbone to protest the ban . ICE agents at matches and Iranian fans with ticket issues ( although would you want to watch football in a country you were at war with? )
A couple of football fanatic English mates have suggested we ought to pull out of the tournament to me today . When they suggested that to me I realised I didn’t care about it .It should be the greatest show on earth but like the last World Cup where I only watched two England games and the Final I’m not very bothered . At all
Trev@40: The short version: a company, Kalshi, which runs prediction markets, was paying actors/social media influencers to pose as Knicks fans, do purportedly crazy fan things that genuine Knicks fans video and post to social media, and then the company’s automated accounts amp up to go viral. The company either makes ad revenue money off of X, Meta or TikTok or gets some promotional benefit for the sports markets it offers. It is creating synthetic fandom for commercial gain. As well as being depressingly tawdry, it gnaws away yet more at real fandom.
Bad news for Timber as it seems he has exacerbated his groin injury,
I assume by playing in Budapest and will now miss the World Cup.
I know many of use are ambivalent about this World Cup but I assume
it was important for Jurrien and it showed great commitment to put
that on the line by playing in a moment of need for The Arsenal.
@41 I have wanted England to leave FIFA for some time now as
I have given up on it as an organization that can be reformed from within.
I know all the reasons it’s unlikely to happen, but it would make me
very happy if England and some like-minded chums withdrew from
both the World Cup and FIFA and gave the reason as “we’ve just had enough”
A Bealian scream from the heart 😃
Nice that we are being guided through this World Cup by experts
Alan Pardew on TalkSport pointing out the need to develop an understudy for Saka and suggesting that England may start Jarrod Bowen in the World Cup .
That’s the Jarrod Bowen that isn’t in the squad 😱
Guys I can’t agree with the antipathy on here about the World Cup. I deplore its expansion and commerciality. I revile Infantino and Trump. But I love the tournament. My first World Cup was 1966. I was 9. My Dad and his mates were so into it and I had started following Arsenal a couple of years earlier. I was enthralled by 1970. I was at Wembley when Poland meant sure we wouldn’t be at the 1978 World Cup. My University undergraduate tutor was a football mad Hearts and Scotland fan and he had the Archie Gemmill goal on a loop in his office (very distracting when you were trying to defend your latest essay). I was in New York when Ireland beat Italy, and the following morning (a Sunday) wandered into St Patrick’s cathedral to find two thirds of the congregation at mass in replica Irish shirts.
I just love the tournament despite the racist mess that Trump is making and Qatar and and and. Next week TTG has kindly invited me and my son to the Test match at the Oval. However I have warned him we will be leaving in good time to be on the sofa for England’s first game at 9pm. So I’ll leave the anti World Cup feeling to you guys.
Matt @44. Have you thought this through? If England walk out of a FIFA competition unilaterally then we will be banned from UEFA and all the UEFA competitions, including the Champions League. Is that what you want?
FIFA is a hot mess. But it has to be changed from within, not by flouncing, unless it is a coordinated flounce by e.g. all UEFA members.
From our Where Are They Now dept: Two keepers formerly of this parish are on the move. ‘Don’ Vito Mannone has joined Crawley as a player/coach and Matt Macey, who came up through our Academy and played twice for the first team, has signed for Wycombe Wanderers after being released by Colchester Utd. Macey always seemed to be a keeper who should be playing at a higher level than League One, but such are the unglamorous byways in the journey of academy footballers who don’t quite make it at the top.
We missed two World Cups in 1974 when Poland who eliminated us finished third and 1978 when Italy who eliminated us finished fourth . Those were wonderful tournaments and we missed being part of them enormously but what is happening since Infantino took over the reins is a level of corruption and grift that makes Sepp Blatter look like Mother Teresa . Linking those wonderful sporting occasions when football was king with these ghastly exercises in grift is totally inappropriate.
We debated the morality of the price increases at Arsenal next season but the modest increase levied by a club that is providing premier entertainment to its fans and may invest upward of £200 million in its squad seems small beer when compared to the astronomical prices being charged across America . I had lunch this week with a very wealthy individual ( an Arsenal fan) who has supported England in the last five World Cups in venues across the world . His eyes are watering at the price of tickets , internal air travel and accommodation he’s paying . Other wealthy supporters I know who have been to umpteen World Cups are either deciding it’s not for them on principle or are cutting back on the time they are committing as the bloated 104 game tournament that has expanded beyond reason extends over six weeks . When Declan’s hammy goes in September don’t be surprised.
Infantino will justify the explosion in prices and the number of countries involved by claiming he is supporting grass roots football globally . Perhaps he can set up a fast track system for Somalian referees so they can compete in the next World Cup . A few magical football moments won’t take away the stench and corruption from this deeply unpleasant exercise in extortion and sycophancy
The World Cup lost its magic for me some twenty years ago as the corruption quotient grew and I applaud the Italian players of the last 16 years for ensuring that I Azurri are taking no part in the forthcoming dollar-fest nor the last two disgracefully determined and inappropriately located sports-washing extravaganzas out of respect for the Cosa Nostra who have been eclipsed by FIFA as the premier criminal outfit in the world. Someone has to take a stand!
The view from the Washington football establishment, in the form of the leaders of the Congress’ bipartisan World Cup Caucus and the White House’s World Cup task force, which is run by Andrew Giuliani (Rudi’s son), all of whom participated in an event yesterday on the tournament and US soft power, is that the organisation of this World Cup is a huge success.
Tellingly, Giuliani’s perspective was primarily security-focused. In his words, this will be the safest and most secure World Cup. He ticked off achievements such as installing anti-drone defences at every venue and major fan zone, coordinating the thousands of local police forces and law enforcement agencies that will be involved, and the Customs and Border Protection agency’s efforts to ensure no bad actors took advantage of the World Cup to enter the United States. He strongly supported denying entry to the Somali referee Omar Artan, saying he had seen the ‘derog’ — the negative details gathered by immigration officials about a visa applicant — that justified it. Regarding ticket prices, he said that a White House priority was to avoid price controls.
The two Representatives were positively Pollyannaish, saying that visitors to the US for the tournament would get a wonderful view of the greatness of the United States through their contacts with everyday Americans celebrating ‘soccer’. That view arguably skirts the inconvenient truth that the visitors who are being allowed in will likely not have overly negative views of the United States anyway.
That the United States would be staging the biggest, longest and richest World Cup was largely a source of pride for all the parties, not a concern. They also placed this World Cup within an arc of US-hosted events, including the 2028 Olympics in LA, the 2031 (Men’s) Rugby World Cup and the 2032 Women’s (Football) World Cup.
Sportswashingsoft power through sport can take many forms.Well in, for the half-ton, Bath. A pure cause for celebration.
Well in, baff.
Some interesting perspective amid all the pearl clutching in the New Republic.
https://newrepublic.com/article/211568/2026-world-cup-trump-infantino
Meanwhile a reminder from Keenos that the Premier League we all follow with such avid interest has its own multiple murky corners.
Beautiful article at 55
The key sentence –
‘ World soccer’s biggest blackguards eventually benefit from the fact that the actual soccer is riveting.’
In other words if the football is good enough everything else is forgiven . That can’t be right . It never will be in my world
My point is that the wrong doings are not forgiven and must be called out. But we love football so much we will keep watching. That’s where I am with the World Cup.
Enjoyed the England game tonight.
Ned @42 – thanks for the condensed version – much appreciated. At least that makes sense even if what these people are doing is distasteful. It’s bad enough trying to decide what is real and what is AI already, without all sorts of people pretending to be all sorts of things they are not.
@47 C100 have thought it through many times over the last
several decades! I do agree with you on unilateral however.
By like-minded chums I did indeed mean other UEFA countries though
all would be unrealistic, several countries from other regions would be
a welcome addition too. After the inestimable pleasure of flouncing
out, preferably in high dudgeon while clutching twin pearl sets, I doubt
there would be any meaningful fall-out. Do you imagine enraged football
fans taking to the streets of London, Madrid, Paris, Milan etc etc to demand
an immediate return to FIFA? I don’t, though I imagine some corrupt
dictators might feel unhappy, the House of Saud might even want a refund.
Waiting for FIFA to reform from within is simply passing the problem down to future generations ad infinitum.
I don’t think we will leave FIFA or indeed anything will happen as the general
population is simply too supine or simply disinterested. I don’t even believe that the world would suddenly smell of roses if 30 countries set up an alternative organization but it would be just a tiny bit better and it wouldn’t affect my enjoyment of football in any negative way.
I recommend the last sentence from each of the posts @49 & @50 as a fair
summary of my own view.
With you there OM. Sadly it’ll never happen. The world is returning to the jungle.
>>>>>>>>>>>>