The guest list is fi­nal­ly set. Af­ter a qual­i­fy­ing jour­ney that felt longer than a marathon, 48 teams have booked their tick­ets to Mex­i­co, Cana­da, and the Unit­ed States for the 2026 FI­FA World Cup. While the cel­e­bra­tions are in full swing, we must pause for a mo­ment of si­lence for the gi­ants who tripped over their own shoelaces at the fi­nal hur­dle.