Conor Harley

Geography, History & CSPE teacher 🌍🇮🇪

[Irish Football Pics @irish_pics]

On this day 1994, Joe Kinnear knew….

[Henry Bushnell @HenryBushnell]

Gianni Infantino, 2025: "It’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year."

FIFA today: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 👉 🇺🇸

https://t.co/ee9AL6ZANG

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

“Your first World Cup is like your first childhood Christmases. You’ll spend the rest of your life chasing the way it made you feel.”

Brilliant piece by @AkaPaulHoward

https://t.co/mGpWcZyOzs

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

🥲

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

This belongs to all of us.

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

Average tenure of British PM’s since the turn of the millennium until Brexit: 5 years and two months

Average tenure of PM’s since Brexit: 23 months

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 BREAKING: Several Cabinet ministers are reportedly preparing to tell Keir Starmer to resign tomorrow morning - Sky News and Bloomberg

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Marco Rubio: "Unlike them, we're hitting military targets"

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

That was painful to watch, not a good look for sport.

[Formula 1 @F1]

Jumping onboard with our pole-sitter! 🙌

The @pirellisport Pole Position in Australia goes to George Russell 💨

#F1 #AusGP

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

New Year, New Mayor.

[David McWilliams @davidmcw]

This is how it is done. The Italians are happy built a new metro right beside the Colosseum..yet here in Ireland people protest against infrastructure which might undermine the historic architecture of Ranelagh!!

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

It’s worth remembering that this FIFA peace prize was only conceived days after Trump failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s the level of pettiness Gianni Infantino operates at. The ultimate hypocrite.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Will you still heed me, will you still need me, when I’m 64? Thoughts on the pros and many cons of a possible expanded 2030 World Cup...

PROS...

Birthday party. 64 teams for 2030 is a CONMEBOL proposal. It is undeniably unfair that such a football-mad continent gets precluded from two future rounds of bidding under FIFA continental rotation simply because of hosting a few games of Centenary celebration in 2030. Under this proposal, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay get to host more group-stage games than simply the Centenary celebration openers.

Do the maths: 64 easier than 48 for a tournament. 64-team group stage goes more cleanly into a round of 32. No clunky third-placed sides parachuted in (as next year).

More money generated by tournament going into development of game around the globe.

Wonderful opportunity for players and supporters of “smaller” nations. Proposal surely welcomed by CAF and AFC.

CONS…

Quantity dilutes quality. The World Cup is the most important sporting event in the world. It’s a celebration of talent, body and mindset. It should be difficult to qualify for. That’s the essence of sport. Competition. Supporters of the CONMEBOL proposal argue that there’s not much difference between sides ranked 48 and 64. Well, yes, there is: Peru (48) have a history with the World Cup (Tefilio Cubillas, ask Scotland, Dalglish swapped shirts with him in 1978). Burkino Faso are 64th. Plus, given variation in continental allocations, teams far lower than 64 will qualify.

What is the sporting integrity of a revered competition where 64 of 210 - 30% - of FIFA members get in? It does further damage to group-stage drama/watchability with weaker teams crushed, something that TV will hate. Groups need some jeopardy (and, yes, there’s a legitimate debate over whether third-place slots enhance/diminish group-stage drama). 48 is too big anyway, let alone 64; 32 was the best balance.

Elite player workloads are heavy enough anyway. Again, it’s a CONMEBOL proposal, not FIFA, but FIFA should be protecting players, not putting them at further risk of physical and mental fatigue. FIFA has to learn from the experience of those clubs and players counting the cost to sinews of the Club World Cup (while clubs and players also count the cash from being there).

Kills qualifying. Will club managers let stars report for qualifiers which are losing their meaning? Has CONMEBOL thought through what it means to its qualifying campaigns? 6+1/10 qualify anyway. This kills qualifying. No point. No money for national associations. Less competitive preparation.

This means more. And more. 64 proposed only for 2030. Again, it’s a CONMEBOL proposal, not FIFA. But, knowing FIFA, knowing the game’s relationship with money, some will inevitably push for continuing with 64. The creed of greed. More countries that go to a World Cup, the more indebted they are to FIFA regime. NB: Gianni Infantino can stay as president only until 2031 max.

Bigger carbon footprint becomes a violent stamp on the environment. Longer tournament (six weeks?), more venues, more travel, more damage.

Let the summer breathe. Give other sports a chance of some coverage. Even those obsessed with football surely need a few days off.

Basically…don’t do it.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

Everyone please congratulate @marcorubio, the new host of ABC's late night show!

[Mohamed Salah @MoSalah]

Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

The tap out merchant has tapped out once again..

[RTÉ News @rtenews]

Breaking: Former MMA fighter Conor McGregor has withdrawn his application to bring in fresh evidence in support of his appeal against the finding of a High Court jury in a civil trial that he raped Nikita Hand https://t.co/NL67e0tKBY

[Daniel Lambert @dlLambo]

Everyone should read this article:

👉https://t.co/BvpukYP5y9

[Joe Brolly @JoeBrolly1993]

They weren’t strangers when he needed their votes.

[Football on TNT Sports @footballontnt]

Manchester United have announced their plans to build a $2bn, 100,000 seater MEGA stadium 🏟️😳

Credit: Manchester United

[Conor Harley @ConorHarley1]

#BloodySunday

[Michael Spicer @MrMichaelSpicer]

Celebrity Masterchef with Ange Postecoglou