Tranmere Rovers
Getting Thumped - The World Cup Cometh
Pen to Paper
By David Sindall
June 3 2026
It’s back again, this time in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The northern and southern neighbours are portrayed as having a walk-on role. This is really an American, not Pan-American, World Cup.
Forty-eight teams mean it’s mega. I am sure we will all be staying up late to watch the excitement of Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia, although I suspect Vauxhall Motors v Poulton Vic would get a bigger global TV audience. Same for Qatar v Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mouth-watering ties. Forty-eight teams, 24 go through automatically, plus eight third-place qualifiers. Add in VAR and it’s possible that some games will still be being played next Easter.
As far as teams from the British Isles are concerned, we have England and Scotland. Obvs, under Tommy England are going to win, right? It’s just a question of who scrapes into the final to play us. There is a sense that the Tartan Army shouldn’t take more than a hold-all. Even allowing for third-place qualification, they are unlikely to get out of the group. For the record, my money is on Mexico, albeit the odds on Cape Verde look tasty.
It starts on 11 June and finishes on 19 July. That’s over five weeks of footy. Because it’s across the Atlantic, the kick-off times are late, particularly those on the west coast. In the round of 32 there is a 4am kick-off. If that goes to extra time and penalties, it will finish at around 06:45. Australia v Turkey is a 5am kick-off, but that’s in the group stage.
Football isn’t just what happens on the pitch, though, and those kick-off times concern me. England’s games kick off at 21:00 for two group games and 22:00 for the final one. That leaves lots of time for people to get rat-arsed before the game and, with extended licensing hours, enough time to get totally el-blotto by full-time. We know that when England lose, incidents of domestic violence rocket. There is less evidence to support comparable figures in Scotland. Research based on data from Lancashire police suggests that when England play, domestic violence increases by 26%; when they get beaten, this goes up to 38%, and there is a general 11% increase in such violence the following day, regardless of the result. It’s a sad state of affairs, but some of the people reading this will be the same people who decide that thumping their partner is an appropriate response to a poor England performance. Makes you proud? No, me neither.
There are simple steps people can take. Most people reading this won’t need them, but you may have a mate, a family member, or just stumble across someone who is going in the wrong direction.
This might seem a long way from football. It isn’t. Celebrate wins, accept defeat, and keep your hands and your temper to yourself.
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03/06/2026 10:16
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