The 2026 World Cup arrives with a record eight Arab nations on the team sheet. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Iraq. That is double the previous record set in 2018 and the strongest Arab representation the tournament has ever seen. Jordan qualifies for the first time, while Iraq returns after 40 years away. The scale of a modern tournament is enormous. Organisers, drawing on an Oxford Economics study, estimate it could add up to USD$40.9 billion to global GDP and draw 6.5 million attendees across the ...