Sunday, October 11, 2026

The Latest Football News and Opinions From 90 Minutes Online

Political Football- Saudi Arabia 2034

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Logo for the Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup bid (via Wikipedia)

We come to the final entry in our recent series on World Cup political footballs, as we head into the desert for Saudi Arabia 2034. The path laid clear for it thanks to- shock, horror- what some would call a bending of FIFA's rules to eliminate any competition, after Asia and Oceania were the only confederations allowed to bid. This following the announcement that the first three games at the 2030 World Cup would be played in South America to mark the centenary of the first ever World Cup in Uruguay, despite hosting rights being won by Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

Political Football- Canada/Mexico/USA World Cup 2026

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The official World Cup 2026 logo (via Wikipedia)

Could change finally be on FIFA's agenda following the announcement that their own ethics committee is to investigate Gianni Infantino for what was a blatant breach of their stated political neutrality during the massively stage-managed/ orchestrated draw for the 2026 World Cup? An event that included the awarding of a first ever ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ to a more than slightly dubious recipient...

Political Football - The 2022 World Cup in Qatar

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FIFA World Cup 2022 logo (via Wikipedia)

After Russia 2018, next up on Gianni Infantino's air-miles list was Qatar for 2022. Eyebrows were raised once more due to its less than squeaky clean human rights record, not to mention lack of footballing infrastructure and concerns over the temperature, but nevertheless we got a first winter World Cup after another sackload of oil money made its way to FIFA HQ… 

Politburo Football - The 2018 World Cup in Russia

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FIFA World Cup 2018 logo (via Wikipedia)

As we continue a whistle-stop tour of World Cups past, we’re also exposing the tone-deafness which seems to plague FIFA's current leader. Having kicked off by exploring the disappointing, if not necessarily surprising, roots of the sort of criticism Gianni Infantino simply carries on swatting away in office to this day, where better to pick up than Russia in 2018, where he made another dubiously powerful friend in Vladimir Putin and got himself a nice shiny Medal of Friendship while he was at it, presumably having learnt more than a few dark arts from his predecessor, Sepp Blatter?

Political Football - The 1934 World Cup in Italy

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Official poster for the 1934 FIFA World Cup (via Wikipedia)

Anyone who followed the awkward, and ever so slightly insidious bromance between Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino which has been increasingly dominant in coverage of the build up to the impending, expanded World Cup across the USA, Canada and Mexico, might be forgiven for wondering if FIFA's current head honcho had bothered to read the history books. Starting with his parental homeland's hosting of the second tournament in 1934… 

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