November 20 – The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is reportedly exploring the idea of hosting a competition featuring countries like their own who missed out on next year’s World Cup in Russia.
According to the BBC, the concept is in a preliminary stage with no associations yet invited and no format approved. The timing of the tournament would likely be before the World Cup start in June. The US will have to tread carefully in this respect to be ensure it doesn’t alienate FIFA and take the shine off their big event with a vote for the 2026 World Cup hosting currently scheduled a day before the 2018 World Cup kicks off.
With big-hitters like Italy, Chile and the Netherlands having missed out on qualification, the idea could be attractive to fans in the US who could theoretically see some of the game’s top players in action, albeit players who couldn’t get their national teams to Russia.
But with all these national federations re-evaluating their approaches to their national team, there are performance criteria that would be useful for each of them from a national perspective to play in a tournament.
It could also provide valuable broadcasting revenue, especially for the USSF who will miss out on millions of dollars from FIFA for failing to reach Russia, but have a big ambition in an even bigger country.
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