BONUS EPISODE: Is World Cup 2026 Broken?

David Gyasi and Guvna B discuss some of the challenges, politics and logistics around World Cup 2026 and what that means for players and fans.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

African football is blistering. The talent, the fans, the culture, and access right now is bigger than it's ever been before. There's more, and yet the conversation feels like it's still happening elsewhere. Well, that's why we're here. I'm David Jesse.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

And I'm Governor B. Welcome to Afconnect, the home of African football, culture, and conversation. The biggest names, the biggest stories. This is AfConnect.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Okay, so is World Cup 2026 broken?

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Big question. On the one hand, and I think this is quite a sad thing, I almost think that whatever happens off the pitch, because of the love that you and I, millions of people around the world have for the game, football will always be football. It will always carry on, it will always bring people joy. We'll always find a way to watch something, enjoy it, and have a great tournament. But I think everything around it, especially this World Cup, has soiled quite a lot of that. And I think the main kind of I guess contradiction is that one of the reasons for increasing the number of countries at this World Cup, I think it's 48 now, which is you know considerably more than we've had before, is that it makes football more global. More people can interact with it, more countries can feel welcomed. Last World Cup, I think Africa had five teams, this World Cup we've got 10. That's amazing, right? Yes. But then you look at what's happening politically and with people being able to go into the country, the countries that are hosting the World Cup, and who's not allowed, it almost feels like a contradiction. Yeah. 48 teams because everyone's welcome. Oh, but we're gonna lock the door, and some of you can't come, you know. For that reason, something's not quite adding up, and they say money makes the world go around. I just wonder if that's kind of ruined some of the enjoyment that we can have at this tournament.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

It's a really good point, and I wonder if sometimes for us to advance there has to be tension, you know. There uh so the opposite of money makes the world go round, the opposite of that sort of like sort of capitalist model. I'm not like at in capitalism, but I that sort of like get as much as you can and football, which you and I were able to just get a ball, yeah, put down two jumpers and say, mate, do you want to have a kick around? Do you want to and you get people from all over playing this game? The spirit of that, the spirit of 48 different countries, 48 uh maybe not quite 48 different styles, but different styles from different areas of the planet coming together and playing. I mean, there's one there's one ground that is like so high up, there's 25% less oxygen. I remember I I was in Rwanda doing a film once, and and I did this this training session with this PT and he was like, okay, you just run to the to the lamppost and you come back, and I ran to the lamppost, I nearly died on the line. High altitude. High altitude. So suddenly you're you're testing you know you're testing different elements of playing the game and different elements of fitness, health, and all of these things. I think that's quite interesting to me. And then there is a togetherness, and we know as Africans, as I mean, like one of the most hilarious things. I was thinking about when England play Ghana and you know, you're like Vindaloo, Vindaloo, la la. It's one of the games where I'll be singing both the songs, but you'll have that, but you we know that Ghana Ghana songs are basically praise and worship. You know, that spirit of um of togetherness and that wholesome, it's gonna be very, very interesting. So I think it with with the way things are politically at the moment, where everywhere where there's almost a a pull or a push to pick a side. Yeah are you going are you going for uh this is my team and this is my tribe and I'm gonna just stick up for this, or are you going for actually you know, let me not judge you by the colour of your skin, but by the content of your character? Are you in that camp? I think football does a lot to kind of show the benefits of togetherness, so it's uh it's an opportunity despite the restrictions that are there.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah, I'd agree. I think what I hope to happen, because I was asking myself, what would it actually take for things to change politically and especially concerning football and the decisions to be made with football and the love of football at the centre of the decision? And I hope that the football is great, but there's something about the atmosphere and the fact that fans haven't been let into the country and stuff that takes away from the emotional contribution of football, and we think, oh, do you know what this don't bang like? It don't feel like 98, yeah, it don't feel like 2002, and that feeling causes some kind of great reset where we say, actually, guys, man, football used to be an escape from the madness of the world, that's why we love it so much, yeah. Not just because it's great football, but because all the other stuff doesn't matter for these 90 minutes. We need to get back to that, and I hope that happens as a as a result.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

There is there is that which could absolutely uh be a stimulus for that kind of change, but then there's also I mean imagine like Senegal win, but their fans have not they've been banned from travelling there. Yeah. So what does that say? Could it you know, and sport has these moments, doesn't it? It it it has um it has Jesse Owens in the 1930s doing doing what he did. Uh it has the the athletes that raise their fists, it has uh Kapanik taken a knee, it has these moments which can really speak into the zeitgeist and speak into the moment. And I mean, what is it like three African nations have had their fans that just completely can't travel? Another three have been given like visa bonds where they have to, I think it's like pay between five thousand and fifteen thousand dollars and they get it back if and they get it back if they if they return.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

You know what it's like when you're waiting for that invoice to clear as well. They better return the money quickly, bro. And that's a lot, you know. Yeah, it's a lot, it's not cheap. That point about Senegal, I know it's just an example, it's such a big one though, because can you imagine if one of those three nations that you just mentioned get to the final? The disadvantage for not having a large number of your fans in that stadium cheering you on. Yeah, that's not fair, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

And it's it's it's it's also because earlier we were talking about whether the North Africans will kind of will start to get a bit of a split there if we're doing politics at the moment, like obviously South Africa, like it's breaking my heart what I'm seeing there of this kind of xenophobic approach to uh or attitude, it's breaking my heart. Having travelled to some of these countries and felt love and and deposited love, um, it's uh we've got to be careful not to live up because me myself, like yes, I'm an England fan. Yes, absolutely, but I will be happy if an African nation, any one of the ten, goes deep.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

I was gonna say that, like obviously, you know, we're hitting with that tribalism, yeah. But one thing I do love about Africa as a continent, and it's especially noticed at a World Cup, is if there's one African team that does like what we did in 2010, yeah, and we got to the quarters, I think it was, bro, Nigerians that have been bantering me for years were Ghana fans. Yeah, so I think everyone's gonna jump on whoever it is, hopefully there's at least one that goes you know to the latter stages.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

We're we're gonna be with them. Bro, I was Cameroonian in the last night, you know. Yeah, um, the question of is it broken? Um, it's it maybe you have to separate football and the bureaucracy. Yeah, 100%. Maybe that's and you said, yeah, you said I think it is 48 teams, 16 more, and as you said, five more African teams than there was before. So for me as an African, I'm like, great, you know, if we've taken pretty much a third of the increase, that's that's amazing. And I I I say I say it's amazing because I think it will just add so much to the tournament. I love I I loved the World Cup for that reason, seeing the different vibes and energies. So for me, that's a plus. Although I do host a an award show, and the award show, you know the award show because you've performed it. We include so many people by the end of the event, people are like, I need to go and say it's a good night, but we you know, I think we have to think about like streamlined a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

One positive I just thought about when you mentioned the the increase of 16 teams, double the amount of African teams, is and obviously this is a very complicated decision if you're the football player, but for players that you know, for example, were born in England and have to make the decision do I play for England? Yeah, do I wait? Do I play for the motherland? Yeah. If you're watching a major tournament and you're like, there's double the amount of teams, yeah, you know, a lot more players, a lot more opportunity, I think I'm just gonna play for the motherland from the jump and and not wait for my decision. I think that can only be a positive thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

I think I think you're right. I think you're right. And how many stars get made at a World Cup? How many how many players get that move, you know? So Yeah.