Do they feel lucky? FIFA and Morocco 2026

TSX HEADLINES – for Mar. 19, 2018: One of Hollywood’s unforgettable lines was Clint Eastwood’s question to two criminals looking down the barrel of Inspector Harry Callahan’s .44 Magnum in “Dirty Harry”:

“You’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

The question might also apply to representatives of FIFA’s 211 national federations, who will be voting on the location of the 2026 World Cup in June. Do they go with the United 2026 bid that will place the event in Canada, Mexico and the United States?

Or do they take a chance and place it in Morocco, which needs to build or upgrade nine of its 14 proposed stadia. Does Morocco have the money to make this happen? The expertise? Will voters feel lucky after the difficulties for Brazil in 2014, Russia for 2018 and the continuing drama of Qatar’s preparations for 2022?

We explore the situation in our Lane One commentary, plus an enormous weekend of sport, with reports on 24 events in this 31-page issue:

(1) THE TICKER: The U.S. won the medal count at the just-completed Winter Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, plus two “world records” in New York in the indoor marathon!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: It didn’t take long for suspended Olympic pistol shooter Keith Sanderson to have his attorney file a motion with the United States Olympic Committee to overturn it. But the clock is running …

(3) ALPINE SKIING: Mikaela Shiffrin wins her second overall World Cup in a row and scores her 43rd World Cup win … at age 23!

(4) CROSS COUNTRY: She did it again: Jessica Diggins scores a silver medal at the World Cup Final and vaults to where no American has been since 1982! Amazing end to the best season of women’s Cross Country skiing in history!

(5) FREESTYLE & SNOWBOARD: Five U.S. World Cup wins as the season winds down for Jaelin Kauf, Nick Goepper, Caroline Claire, Nate Holland and Chris Corning!