World Cup 2026 GIS resources

I've been sharing World Cup stories as we get ready for the tournament that starts later today. There are mixed fortunes for the hosts and those who want to go and pay extortionate amounts to view matches... they're being shown on the telly you know...

Here are some GIS and data-related resources.

Brendan Conway has shared some GIS Maps ahead of the tournament which may be of interest to people.

First up.

The #WorldCup2026 is geographically the most extensive ever:
- More participants than ever before (48 countries)
- The distances are vast: 5000km (3000mi) north to south; west to east
- Three international 'regions' for the venues across 4 time zones
How can we use #GIS #filters to show the extent of the tournament?
Here's a webmap with #Bookmarks + #PopUps to step the presentation:
- Stadium locations, images, time zones and links to further details
Use from the front or as follow-up; homework; retrieval practice

Webmap created using #Geo Mapper2D

Check out Geo Mapper by the way...

Secondly...

An above average array of issues around the #WorldCup2026...
- How can we compare the track record and development of each country?
- How many flags and anthems do you recognise?
- What about the teams in England and Scotland's groups?
- How can we use #GIS #filters to manage big data?
Here's a webmap with #Bookmarks + #PopUps to step the presentation:
- 2026 FIFA ranking, HDI rank flags and🔊🎵most anthems🎵🔊
- All national FAs shown; 48 qualifiers; desire lines show #FootballMiles
Use from the front or as follow-up; homework; retrieval practice

Check out the webmap made with Geo Mapper.

Andy Funnell meanwhile posted this over on LinkedIn.

The FIFA World Cup will soon be upon us, which means I'm back to loading up the GIS maps from the CIES Football Observatory to fuel geographical debates in the classroom.

Click the tabs....

A fantastic way to explore themes such as migration, globalisation, demographics, culture and identity:

⚽ Demography Maps
Which national team has the tallest players on average?
Which squads are the youngest?
Are there regional patterns in player profiles?

⚽ Migration Atlas
Why do so many Brazilian footballers migrate to Portugal?
Which countries are the biggest exporters of football talent?
What historical, cultural and linguistic links help explain these patterns?

I looked at the diaspora from Iceland... some interesting figures..

Brendan Conway to finish with this post... there will be plenty more World Cup related posts over the next month or so... like it or not...

Another demography link here.

This is from the International Longevity Centre UK. I'd not heard of this before but will be investigating their resources and a future post will be appearing.

The page from this link is a complete stats-fest, with bubble charts and all sorts of tables on the longevity and age of players, managers etc.

Plenty more to come over the weeks ahead...

GIS - a new Tutor2U blog series

 GIS is a growth area, but one which many teachers are still unsure about.

I worked with Brendan Conway on the GI Pedagogy project, which has now concluded. Our resources are available on the hub.

Brendan has also teamed up with Tutor2U to produce a series of posts about GIS.

The first two are now up. A link to the first is here:

First in a series of blogposts about teaching with GIS, from our in-house expert @mildthing99 who is an advocate of making GIS 'part of furniture' in your classroom #everydayGIS https://t.co/wp2oSkmt7z

— tutor2u Geography (@tutor2uGeog) April 25, 2023

& the second is here:

Good afternoon!
We have added the latest in a series of blogs about GIS to the website today - written by @mildthing99 (who has an incredible amount of knowledge with GIS!)... @tutor2uGeog @tutor2u #geographyteacher https://t.co/3nDvs74ofA

— woollyvix (@woollyvix) May 11, 2023

How could my local area be improved?

 

Our D3 project has come to a conclusion.

As the final part of the project, we developed a gallery of maps which were made by teachers who had engaged with the project itself.

Brendan Conway, with whom I am working on the GI Pedagogy project took the time to create a map for us, which is excellent and provides a good introduction to the 15-minute city concept which I drew on for my work on the project.

Check out this excellent StoryMap which he created.

Rivers and GIS crowdsourcing project

Time to sign up for the Great British and Irish River Managment GIS Initiative, being organised by Alistair Hamill, Brendan Conway and Andy Funnell.

Get more of a sense of the Great British and Irish River Managment GIS Initiative in this video. These are the citizen scientists across these islands who have signed up so far.

Want to join us? https://t.co/x73nk7dAR7 pic.twitter.com/7XBvpKTrTk

— Alistair Hamill 😷 (@lcgeography) February 20, 2021

As it says on the sign-up page:

The local walk has been the lifeline for so many of us over the past year. The chance to get away from the desk and from the computer screen; the chance to get out and feel the wind against your back and the warmth of the sunlight on your face (or, perhaps, if you live in N. Ireland, yet more rain driving into your face!)

And, perhaps, during your local walks you have come to know your local area a bit more. Perhaps you’ve ventured down pathways or streets you don’t normally walk; perhaps you’ve come to appreciate that little bit more that place we call our community.

Maybe, like me, you’ve spent more time exploring your local river, getting to know all its twists and turns, watching it respond to the changing weather patterns. Perhaps you have come to appreciate it even more too.

If so, then the Great British & Irish River Management GIS Initiative might be just for you.

The idea behind this is to pool the resources of geography teachers and other interested parties in a kind of ‘citizen science’ data capture of river management across these islands. Not in some theoretical way – but in the way it happens on the river beside us, the river we have local knowledge and experience of. River management as it actually happens, warts and all. So we’re interested in the small scale stretch of river beside you; the kilometre or three that you walk along, that you know and love well.

We will use GIS to collect and collate the information. All it will take is for you to collect data with your phone and you will be supported into how to bring this into the wonderful world of GIS. Don’t worry if you haven’t much experience in using GIS so far. The skills you will need for this are very accessible and you will be supported in developing them.

SIGN UP HERE.