For all the absurd political theatre around the World Cup 2026 draw, there was still a sense of “magic” – as Scotland manager Steve Clark put it – as countries began to visualise the tournament. They could see the groups, so they could see the path, so they could see the dream.
It used to be like this with the Champions League, but nobody would really say the competition has any sense of magic during this opening stage. It’s quite the opposite. It’s all so mundane. Filler.
