5 Things with Saturdays Football

We teamed up with the footy fanatics behind Saturdays Football — retailer of vintage soccer stuff and cultural community hosting free pickup games countrywide — on a limited merch run marking this summer’s global games. The collaborative collection includes our take on a couple Saturdays signatures, as well as the jersey we’d wear if Ace were a sports team.

We took the opportunity to ask Saturdays founder Mat Davis what to watch for during the FIFA World Cup 2026. Below, five facts and observations as worthy of noting for the new football fan as for the one who’s been watching way too many games.

1. The More the Merrier?

The World Cup used to be a lot easier to follow: 32 teams split into eight groups of four. After having played each team in their respective group — the “Group Stage” — the top two teams in each group emerged to compete in the Round of 16 “Knockout Phase.” From here the competition operated like tournaments we’re more familiar with: you win, you advance; you lose, you go home.

This year, the ever-magnanimous FIFA decided to invite more teams to the party – expanding the field to 48 teams, with 12 groups of four. Following suit, the Knockout Phase expands from 16 to 32 teams. This new format leads to some unwieldy math; the top two teams from each group will still advance (24 teams total), but now an additional eight third-place teams from the groups will also move on to fill the 32-team draw.

What does that actually mean? A more forgiving format, with more teams advancing out of the group stage, means a team losing its opening game is no longer cause to panic. Teams can drop a game, scrap a draw and still be alive. No doubt it will also create some confusion for fans, particularly those tuning in for the first time. We’re not fans initially but let’s see how this plays out.

2. Four Nations Playing in Their First World Cup

Cape Verde. Curaçao. Jordan. Uzbekistan. All countries competing in the World Cup for the first time. These are your underdogs, and at least one is going to give you a moment you’ll be telling people about for years. Curaçao is the unlikeliest newbie: The island has a population of roughly 156,000 people — fewer than the city of Pasadena — making it the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for a men’s World Cup. Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation by population to ever qualify, has significantly more Cape Verdeans living outside the island nation than on it. Uzbekistan is the first Central Asian nation ever to make it. Jordan, the 64th ranked team in the world, finally arrives on the big stage after decades of failed attempts.

These teams aren’t lifting the trophy. But the World Cup has never been only about who wins. It’s about the moment a country of 156,000 people shuts down to watch its flag on the same pitch as the giants of world soccer.

3. Heat, Altitude and Time Zones — Added Opposition

The 2026 World Cup has been tagged the most environmentally extreme World Cup ever played. Fourteen of the 16 host cities are projected to face dangerous heat. Ten are at very high risk of severe heat stress. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, all of the stadiums were within driving distance of one another. This year, split between three countries and multiple time zones, some grueling travel schedules will be a much bigger factor. Not to mention, in the same tournament, teams could go from playing one game at an elevation of over 7,000 ft in Mexico City, to seas level in Boston.

FIFA, in anticipation of these harsh conditions has mandated three-minute hydration breaks in each half, also a first. These outside factors are the kind of things that can lead to surprising results. No doubt the team that lifts the trophy in July will have won as much off the pitch — sleep, recovery, hydration, the boring stuff — as on it.

4. A First: The World Cup Halftime Show

The first men’s World Cup final was played on July 30, 1930. In the nearly century since, the game has never had a halftime show. Until July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium, when Madonna, Shakira and BTS will take the stage.

If that sounds like FIFA imitating the Super Bowl, that’s because it is — FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been open about wanting to “Americanize” the commercial moment for the U.S. market.

Music and pop culture have always played a role in marketing the World Cup, from Pavarotti in the ‘90s, to this year’s official tournament anthem, “Dai Dai,” by Shakira and Burna Boy — but never has it been inserted into the match experience itself.

Whether you love it or hate it, it’s certainly a shift in how the tournament treats itself culturally.

5. The Away Jerseys are the Real Fashion Story

If you only watch the home shirts, you’re missing the show. The most interesting design work for this tournament is happening on the away kits. This is not totally surprising as teams are always more conservative with their home jersey designs, honoring, in some cases, over a hundred of years of color tradition. Teams tend to give themselves much more design freedom with their away jerseys and this year was no exception.

This is the most maximalist World Cup kit cycle in memory. Brands are leaning into national craft, indigenous patterning, historical reference — anything but a safe design template. A few examples: Portugal’s away kit, with a deep V-panel of crashing waves — a nod to the country’s seafaring history. Or the soft purple floral pattern in South Korea’s away kit. Spain’s away kit goes deep on the layers, with graphics pulled from classical Spanish manuscripts. Paraguay broke from their red-and-white stripes entirely for an away shirt that looks like a fever dream of light and motion.

For collectors, this is a defining drop. For the new fan, one of these might just be their first WC kit purchase.

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