17 Sep 2025

First Touch '26

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Remembering a Random World Cup Legend:

1998 and 2002 Nigeria defender, Taribo West!

World Cup Tickets Update:

Each week First Touch ‘26 will provide an update on the best way to purchase tickets to the 2026 World Cup.

THE VISA PRESALE LOTTERY IS OPEN FOR TWO MORE DAYS.

You have two more days to apply through fifa.com for the lottery. Following the September 19th deadline, fans will be informed no earlier than September 30th on the results of the lottery.

Want to find other ways of increasing your chances of getting tickets?

We have some good and bad news. Individual federations may each have a bloc of tickets, and you can access U.S. Soccer’s lottery for free by signing up to be an insider here!

The bad news – and don’t shoot the messenger (by unsubscribing) – yes, it is a weighted lottery that will prioritize paid accounts.

Headlines:

That lottery we were just talking about? Yeah, there were 1.5 million applications in just the first twenty-four hours.

All those negative headlines about dynamic payments and ticket demand are going to be paired with MASSIVE DOLLAR FIGURE headlines like this one: FIFA announced they’ll reimburse clubs $355 million for participating players, nearly double the 2022 total.

Those big dollar numbers come with big power for FIFA too, to the point that every stadium with a non-official sponsor will go by a templated name of their city name plus “stadium.” Check out this list of some of North America’s most famed destinations, like “Dallas Stadium” and “New York New Jersey Stadium.”

Quick! Name the Netherlands’s all-time leading goal scorer.

So tough to choose amongst so many attacking legends. Bergkamp? Kluivert? Johann Cruyff? Van Nistelrooy? Van Persie?

No, that honor now belongs to Memphis Depay (52), who surpassed Robin van Persie (50) with his two goals against Lithuania last week.

At 31, Depay still has time to build on his record and his astonishing goal scoring returns for the Oranje.

A Thing We're Excited About:

Cape Verde! The tiny archipelago nation is one result away from qualifying for the World Cup, becoming the second-smallest country to qualify behind Iceland.

What makes this World Cup so special? Of course the U.S. has the largest diaspora from Cape Verde, which the U.S. State Department claims “rivals the size of the nation’s current population of 490,000.”

Get ready to see a sold out stadium of Cape Verde fans, folks.

Level Up:

Each week Kickback approves the leveling up of a player who has taken that crucial leap with their game.

This week, we highlight Morocco’s star recruit, Eliesse Ben Seghir. A youth star for France, Ben Seghir followed the recently well trodden path of fellow France-born Moroccans and joined the set-up in 2024.

Since then, Ben Seghir’s star has only burned brighter. The attacking midfielder secured a $30m+ move from Monaco to Bayer Leverkusen at the deadline, and started both matches for Morocco in the most recent qualifiers, helping them secure qualification to the World Cup.

If Morocco is able to build upon their incredible success of 2022, Ben Seghir growth is likely to feature prominently.

Allocate your points wisely, Eliesse.

USMNT Player of the Week:

It was a mixed bag for Americans across their clubs this past week, but the best news came from Germany where Gio Reyna not only debuted for Borussia Monchengladbach, but started in his preferred role as a central playmaker.

The club performance was poor, with ‘Gladbach’s 4-0 loss leading to the immediate termination of their head coach. But as friend of Kickback Matt Doyle has mentioned on the Kickback Committee, no one raises the ceiling of the USMNT like Gio Reyna if he’s healthy and performing.

In the end, it was a solid ‘75 minute return to action for Reyna, who will hope he can play his way into match fitness and back into the USMNT. His statements after the match show conviction that this move will help him secure a spot on the World Cup roster.

Qualified Teams (so far):

Here are the countries who have booked their spot at the final tournament, so far!

U.S.A, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Morocco, Tunisia

September 17, 2025 — Newsletter #4