For once, it is not just excitable new year talk to say 2026 has a strong chance of going down as the most momentous in English football history.
And, yes, perhaps the best of times and the worst of times.
England could win the World Cup, the second in their history and a first men’s trophy since 1966, on its 60th anniversary.
The Manchester City case may finally have an outcome. The club insist on their innocence, but a development would create the biggest controversy the English game has ever seen – and that’s no matter how it goes. Whatever happens, though, the new Independent Football Regulator is going to have a lot to deal with. The body’s very implementation is another landmark moment in 2026.
Of course, it almost sums up the repetitive nature of modern football that we’ve heard much of this before, without any delivery.
This is now the third consecutive year where we’re talking about the City case potentially dropping over the ensuing 12 months – a reality that remains an embarrassment for the Premier League.
And no one needs to hurt England fans by counting up how many times the early hopes of a tournament year have ultimately been dashed.
Everyone well knows the scores, we’ve seen it all before.
But what is true is City are back, and will be in contention for the Premier League and Champions League as much as Arsenal. What if City narrowly win the title… only to face a points deduction months later? What if they face a deduction during the title race?
Meanwhile, England’s form under Thomas Tuchel ensures they are considered one of the three favourites for the World Cup, along with Argentina and Spain. That isn’t just the old excitability, either. It’s the view of rival managers and figures within football.
A lot of people in the game are already starting to think about the World Cup, in a way that is a bit of a throwback.
It used to be the case that World Cup buzz would dominate a year from January on. You finally had the great festival in sight. The explosion of the club game over the last 15 years had started to change that, so it hasn’t felt like there’s the same long build-up. This was taken to an extreme before Qatar, given that it felt like there was no huge anticipation for the tournament just weeks out.
That’s changed right back.
The 2026 World Cup already feels a dominant story, as we go into January. Some of that is admittedly down to much more than football.
A huge part of the intrigue – in what is almost a tragicomedy – is what Donald Trump is going to do. Will he surpass the appearance at the Club World Cup final? What else might change between now and 11 June? People in football are seriously wondering whether Trump might demand the opening game be changed from Mexico to the US.
How Fifa react to anything like that is just as significant a part of the story. Indeed, another reason that the World Cup is being talked about so early is because it’s impossible not to talk about Fifa as they seemingly move to yet another nadir.
The beauty of the game is, well, the beauty of the game. Football finds a way to rise above all of this.
That will never be truer for England if Tuchel and his team lift the trophy itself. It now looks in such close reach that’s impossible for fans not to at least imagine; to dream.
England might have to withstand the impact of Spain’s Lamine Yamal, who will be seeing this as the chance to make it his tournament and really crown a Lionel Messi-like rise. The Argentine of course may have a final showdown with Cristiano Ronaldo, as Jude Bellingham no doubt has his own ideas on making the future his. Everyone else will be waiting to see how he’s used.
England’s chances may not rest on which playmaker is chosen but rather how the manager chooses to play, especially amid variable conditions.
As well as the weather, there’s the exhaustive length of the tournament. The year will show whether a 48-team World Cup can actually work properly, while the numbers in the stands will probably indicate whether Fifa’s disgraceful pricing strategy is here to stay.
It will have to be worth the watch.
Both the World Cup and 2026 as a whole will tell us whether the recent return to aerial football will persist, or if it’s just a recent fad.
All the while, it feels like the game is now waiting for the next great tactical idea. Will something come this year? Will Ruben Amorim do something different with Manchester United? Will Mohamed Salah leave Liverpool? Will Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finally win the title or Champions League?
Can other “outsider” clubs emulate Crystal Palace and win a major trophy, or has the Premier League clubs’ call to introduce squad-cost ratio without anchoring potentially ended that sense of democracy for an era? Will the league vote through anchoring this year? It needs something similar, or else we may also see a return to some modern version of “the big four”.
The Football Association meanwhile face a decision that has echoes of the City case, as they have to decide on an investigation into Chelsea over breaches of agent regulations.
These are issues that will only further influence the work of the Independent Football Regulator.
The body has already spoken a lot about forced sales for “rogue owners”. If the City case ends with the most severe punishment, would the club come into that category? Or would that be risking an international diplomatic incident with Abu Dhabi?
These are big themes to consider.
English football may have its greatest ever crisis, as it enjoys its greatest ever moment, all with its strongest ever regulation.
Whatever happens, 2026 is unlikely to be just another year.
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