# A Grand Old Stretch in the Evenings ![A Grand Old Stretch in the Evenings](http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/world-cup-2026.webp) **Simon Dymond** School of Information & Communication Studies, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland ### Social Profiles - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com - Twitter: zorroesque Right. Here we go again. The long march towards the 2026 World Cup starts for real in 2025. It’s a proper cod of a journey, that one. You’ll shell out fifty quid for a seat at the Aviva, just to watch us hoof it about in the drizzle. We all remember Egan's thumping header against Portugal, pure bedlam in the local down in Cork. Thought we’d conquered the world that night. Funny thing is, I'm pretty sure FIFA already did the draw for the big show. Or was that for the women's tournament? My head’s wrecked thinking about it. And dont even get me started on the other palaver. The European Championship qualifiers are a more intimate affair. Less globetrotting, more gallivanting to nations that sound made up, battling it out on some bog of a pitch. We expect nothing and somehow, were still let down. But then, some young fella from the Championship pops up with a thirty-yard screamer and it’s all worth it for a week. It’s the hope that kills you, it always is. Get the pints in. It’ll be grand. ![2026 World Cup](http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2026-world-cup.jpg) ## ## ▶ The Ins and Outs of This Whole Malarkey It's the scale of the World Cup dream that’s so preposterous. You’re up against behemoths. Teams with players whose weekly wage could buy half of Leitrim. We wheel out our lads, bless their cotton socks, who play with grit and pure stubbornness. It’s a beautiful, doomed enterprise. We don't ask for poetry on the pitch just a bit of heart. And maybe for our centre-half to not get a red card in the first twenty minutes. That’d be a nice change of pace. The Euro qualifiers though, that feels like our turf. It’s a family feud. A scrappy, glorious mess. The away trips are a pilgrimage. A flight to some far-flung corner of the continent for less than a train to Galway, singing songs in a square you cant pronounce. You just know we’re destined to lose 1-0 to a flukey, deflected goal in the last minute. But you go anyway. You have to. Is there any other way to be, really. It's our magnificent curse. ## ## ▶ The Last Pint of Hope So we look to the future for that World Cup business. We pin our hopes on some seventeen-year-old from the Bohemians academy who can do a few step-overs. His Da probably spent a fortune in Elverys on his gear. We'll build him up into the next big thing before he's even played a full ninety minutes. It's a cycle. A mad, beautiful ritual based on pure, uncut optimism. Maybe the new manager will try something radical. Like playing with two goalkeepers. Nobody’s tried that yet have they. But the Euros, that’s different gravy. It’s more real. That’s about the here and now, the grit. It’s about that shared, knowing look with a stranger on the bus back from the stadium after a draw that felt like a win. It’s not about glory, it’s about enduring. You go, you freeze, you probably lose, you wouldn't miss it for the world. It’s our thing. Another round, then. [Follow on Google News](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.odd.ie) --- ## Who Won the Last World Cup? Complete List of FIFA World Cup Winners ![Who Won the Last World Cup? Complete List of FIFA World Cup Winners](http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/fifa-world-cup-winners-300x168.jpg) The FIFA World Cup has produced some of the most memorable moments in international football, from Uruguay’s victory at the inaugural tournament in 1930 to Spain’s triumph in 2026. Spain are the current men’s world champions. Luis de la Fuente’s team defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the 2026 final, with Ferran Torres scoring […] http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/news/who-won-the-last-world-cup-complete-list-of-fifa-world-cup-winners/ ## Most World Cup Goals 2026: The All-Time Leading Scorers ![Most World Cup Goals 2026: The All-Time Leading Scorers](http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/lionel-messi-argentina-netherlan-300x211.jpg) Scoring at a FIFA World Cup is one of the greatest achievements in football. The pressure is enormous, the opposition is elite, and players have only a limited number of matches in which to make their mark. Some forwards have produced one outstanding tournament, while others have remained prolific across several editions. The record for […] http://bestbettingsitesireland.ie/news/most-world-cup-goals-2026-the-all-time-leading-scorers/ **Simon Dymond** School of Information & Communication Studies, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland ### Social Profiles - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com - Twitter: zorroesque