Four sporting wishes for a very happy 2026
The biggest World Cup in history kicks off in June; the Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly looks set to continue unless a fresh challenger emerges
I LOVE the even-numbered years, for it typically means that there will be a Fifa World Cup, the Summer Olympics or football European Championships to look forward to.
In a few months, the most watched sporting event on the planet – the World Cup – will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, promising to be six weeks of non-stop action as 48 nations slug it out in pursuit of glory.
I usually try to take at least a week off from work so that I can wake up at some ungodly hour and catch some of the matches live, and not have to worry about trudging into the office all bleary-eyed the next morning.
That said, here are my four wishes as we enter a new year and savour everything the world of sport will serve up in the coming months:
A brand-new World Cup champion
The World Cup final in 2022 will live long in the memory as one of the best – if not, the greatest – football finals of all time.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Kylian Mbappe’s France produced a battle for the ages, sharing six goals in 120 adrenaline-pumping minutes, with Argentina emerging the winners only after a gritty penalty shoot-out.
That was Argentina’s third World Cup trophy (and its first since 1986), while two-time champions France were unsuccessful in their bid to defend the crown they won in 2018.
With a record 48 teams taking part in this summer’s World Cup in North America, there is every chance that we could see a brand-new winner. The Netherlands have been runners-up on three occasions, while the likes of Portugal, Belgium and Croatia are also still dreaming of the day they can finally add a star above the badges on their jerseys.
Perhaps one of the host nations could defy the odds and surprise us all? The US finished third in the inaugural edition nearly a century ago in 1930, and Mexico have gone no further than the quarter-finals.
Whatever happens, this World Cup is fast shaping up to be one that will keep fans enthralled from start to finish.
A three-way fight for the Premier League
The English Premier League is at the halfway mark, and all signs point to Arsenal winning the league title for the first time in more than two decades. The Gunners have certainly impressed this season, and it’s little wonder that the bookies have made them the firm favourites.
Arsenal are now four points clear of second-placed Manchester City, with Aston Villa – which saw their 11-match winning streak come to an end against Arsenal last weekend – two further points behind.
Those gaps are not insurmountable, so could we still see a three-way tussle for the Premier League this season, and perhaps some final-day drama too?
A fresh challenger to Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly
Men’s tennis was once again dominated by two young players in 2025. For the second year in a row, Italian Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz split all four Grand Slam titles between them.
Last year, the pair met in three of the four finals, including an epic five-set French Open final that tennis fans will likely remember forever.
Alcaraz won at Roland-Garros and the US Open, while Sinner took home the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns. They even contested the season-ending ATP Finals in November, which Sinner won in straight sets.
Could we see a new challenger to this duopoly this season? It will be tough to match the level and intensity that Alcaraz and Sinner bring to the court, but it’s perhaps time for the likes of Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz to step up to the plate. It would certainly make the season more unpredictable.
End of winless streak for Jeeno and Alonso
Fernando Alonso is 44 years old and at the tail end of his F1 racing career.
How fitting it would be if the Spaniard could somehow win one more time in the 2026 season. The last time he finished at the top of the podium was more than a decade ago, at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2013.
In women’s golf, it could finally be Jeeno Thitikul’s year to shine. The 22-year-old from Thailand is the top-ranked female golfer in the world, but has yet to win a major championship.
She came agonisingly close at last year’s Evian Championship in France, losing to Grace Kim in a two-hole playoff. Thankfully, age is on her side, and it’s simply a matter of time before she makes that big breakthrough to lift a major trophy for the first time.
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