The 2026 World Cup is now in full flow; the visible symptoms of that fever will differ from nation to nation...

Not the World Cup 2026. Grassroots football, Tilcará, Jujuy 2026.

World Cup Fever 2026 is now beginning to grip football fans across the globe. The Champions League Final ended with PSG beating Arsenal on penalties. Herald celebrations and destruction in Paris; a glass of Durigutti Bonarda and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sultry version of J.J. Cale’s ‘Same Old Blues’ for me in Buenos Aires. Now World Cup fever could start to build. And it has, and the show has well and truly begun.

In the 1980s Nick Hornby wrote one of the most acclaimed books on football ever. ‘Fever Pitch’ is a superb account of the highs and lows of being a football fan, in his case, Arsenal. Despite tonight’s defeat, it was a great season for him I believe. Briefly; in ninety days, the joys and pain will resume.

In the meantime, we have the 2026 World Cup. Despite all the cynicism about the venues (excluding Mexico and Canada of course), all the justified anger surrounding the exorbitant ticket prices; football fans will necessarily get, well, feverish.

The visible symptoms of that fever will differ from nation to nation. In England, who begin their campaign on Wednesday, people will cover their sunburnt red and white faces with red and white paint, and sing longingly about football coming home, and harking back to THAT year. 1966, for those not in the know.

In Scotland the Tartan Army are already partying, fueled by an opening game victory against Haiti, and still scarcely believing they qualified on a night of McTominay inspired magic. Mentally scarred by the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, when Ally MacLeod built the team up as world-beaters and allowed them to party like never before, the Scots will not dare to dream too much, but they will party just the same.

In Argentina, World Cup Fever 2026 has already reached extraordinary levels.On Tuesday the on-field activities will start. The off-field mania is already flying high. Football is not merely a sport here; it is a religion, a way of life. It brings a country divided on so many issues together; a uniting force like no other.

It is also a panacea for politicians. Thirty days of relative freedom from media observation, and even more leeway from a distracted public, glad for a break from economic woes and corruption scandals. A timeout from everyday life. Even the scandals surrounding the President of the Argentine Football Association have been swept into a temporary corner. *

In England, now a country of 60 million England team managers, the fierce arguments over players left out are finished, and now team selection will be at the forefront, most of it not based on who is best for the England team, but on partisan club bias. I consider myself to be above all that, but I am still totally justifiably scandalized that neither Gary Lineker nor Jamie Vardy are in the squad. Or Gordon Banks or Peter Shilton for that matter.

In Scotland they are just happy to have a full squad; and in Argentina Luis Scaloni is so admired that no one will challenge his judgement. They also do not suffer from the club bias so inherent in English fandom, as the vast majority of their players have played overseas for a long time.

Build-up to the 2022 World Cup Final, Jujuy shirt on display. Carmelo, Uruguay 2022.

So let the music begin. I will be supporting England, and if that goes wrong, which of course every English person expects it to, then I will switch to Argentina. Be fair, Nico and Tamara are Argentinian, and Messi and Scaloni are just likeable. Dark horse? The Vikings of Norway. Led by Erling Haaland they could be fearsome.

Whatever the outcome, World Cup Fever 2026 will dominate conversations for the next few weeks.Closing music? For England probably the Same Old Blues. For Argentina, hopefully not tango. And for Norway, Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrants’ Song’ can always cut your head off….

• See my book ‘Circle the Wagons‘ to be published next week on Amazon.