FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[Nahl]

We have already discussed about Italy several times in this thread. They still have a good chance of making the cut for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Italy, I would say were a bit unlucky this time. They were placed in a tough group along with Norway and Israel. And their second round path is also not that easy. In the first match they will take on Northern Ireland. If they manage to win that one, they need to face the winners from the Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match. At least on paper, Italy are the overwhelming favourites to win these matches. 

Let's say that they have a good chance of qualifying for the next World Cup and i think it is very likely that they will do it, Norway was practically perfect and Italy sat down and waited a little too long and Norway punished them for this they have to pay and do the play off

Italy journey is not smooth for qualification stage that because they only finish at runner up place under Norway and this condition makes them have to through an playoff stage against North Ireland this march and assuming Italy won from North Ireland for the final round they have to faced the winner between Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina so, Italy have to hard struggle before reach to world cup but seeing Italy opponents on the papet that shouldn't be a problem and as long as they can perform i think it's not hard to beat their opponents

[Shadiq]

This is true, you have to be a "team", before you are just talented. Playing long times together and getting used to each other is also a big part of this. Which is why France did so well in the past two world cups because it was basically bunch of people who played for many years together and still seen as the team to beat on this world cup too because they do play together for a long time. Argentina also won because most of those players played together for many years as well.

Team performance does not require playing together for many years or a long time, but rather trusting each other and helping each other score goals rather than scoring them yourself. If you look at Argentina, they give more importance to assisting than scoring, they fight around Messi on the field. They play well now because the whole team plays with the same plan and with the same goal, which was not the case before Scaloni came to the team.

In the upcoming World Cup, we will also see Spain as a strong team, because they prefer to play as a team, but in terms of experience, they will struggle. I have doubts about France. The reason for the defeat in the last World Cup final was overconfidence. They missed some opportunities where they could have scored a goal with a pass, but they are too lazy to pass. Maybe they will not make these mistakes in the upcoming World Cup.

[Franctoshi]

I think that Italy is no longer performing as it once was, it is clearly so, and everyone knows it, obviously there is always a chance if they qualify for the World Cup that national team is completely transformed and becomes a very difficult team to beat, it has always been like this

Unfortunately yes, it's been 2 or 3 World Cups now that we haven't been at the top and not even at the European Championships
Unfortunately, we have to resign ourselves, my friend, we have to understand that there is a time for everything.
Maybe in 10 years everything will change and we'll be back as strong as we once were, never mind...

This is a true life situation that happened to Italy, a time to rise or shine and a time to fall. Italy is currently experiencing their football downtime on the international stage and will definitely bounce back in no  time if they get the right coach, the appropriate players, and a good management team in place  at the same time. Italy is one of the football countries that I admire so much about their style of play when it comes to the World Cup and wouldn't wait to have them back in full form on the world stage.

[hyudien]

Italy journey is not smooth for qualification stage that because they only finish at runner up place under Norway and this condition makes them have to through an playoff stage against North Ireland this march and assuming Italy won from North Ireland for the final round they have to faced the winner between Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina so, Italy have to hard struggle before reach to world cup but seeing Italy opponents on the papet that shouldn't be a problem and as long as they can perform i think it's not hard to beat their opponents

It is sad to see that the euro 2020 winner has to go through the play offs for a world cup ticket, even this is the third time they have to fight in the play offs. If you look at the opponent, on paper, Italy is indeed favored but considering this is the biggest competition, you can't underestimate any country, you have to remember they were eliminated by Macedonia in the previous edition, I just hope Italy passes, not to repeat the previous two editions, because I miss seeing them play in the world cup.

[KTChampions]

I'm sorry, but a group containing Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova is not a tough group. All they needed to do was be better than Norway, but they couldn't even get one point from them in two matches.
Right now, they just need to find a way to win Northern Ireland and focus on winning whoever qualifies between Wales and Bosnia.

I think they will be in group B with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland if they qualify. That is a group they can qualify out of. Based on Italy's current form, it will be difficult, but Canada and Qatar are not very exceptional to make things extremely difficult for Italy.
I guess they have to first focus on qualifying for the World Cup, but personally, I doubt Italy will make it to that World Cup. beating N. Ireland and then Wales is a big hurdle.

It's quite funny (or shameful) that the groups at the World Cup are no stronger, and maybe even weaker, than the World Cup qualifying groups. For example, Group E: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand. Or Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde. Sure, some team might spring a surprise (like Uruguay or, as we've already seen, Morocco), but that's complete nonsense. The qualifying groups are dull, then the group stage at the finals is just as dull. Not a single death group or drama. This is not what I expect from a big tournament.

[Lida93]

We have already discussed about Italy several times in this thread. They still have a good chance of making the cut for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Italy, I would say were a bit unlucky this time. They were placed in a tough group along with Norway and Israel. And their second round path is also not that easy. In the first match they will take on Northern Ireland. If they manage to win that one, they need to face the winners from the Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match. At least on paper, Italy are the overwhelming favourites to win these matches. 

Let's say that they have a good chance of qualifying for the next World Cup and i think it is very likely that they will do it, Norway was practically perfect and Italy sat down and waited a little too long and Norway punished them for this they have to pay and do the play off

Italy's problems started when they replaced coach Spalletti with Genaro Gattuso due to his inefficiency to handle the Italian national team, the team had already suffered some defeats that has already jeopardise their chances of securing a ticket for the World Cup. So it became difficult for Gattuso to get the job due to how resilient the Norwegian team were at that moment.

[jostorres]

it's been 2 or 3 World Cups now that we haven't been at the top and not even at the European Championships
Unfortunately, we have to resign ourselves, my friend, we have to understand that there is a time for everything.
Maybe in 10 years everything will change and we'll be back as strong as we once were, never mind...

In last few years, sportsmen and sports are easy ways to blackmail any country with banning any country has never been favourable, but now things are happening, and few countries are using their influence for this like I watch Russians are not allowed while Israel is allowed to participate in all sports.

Hypocrisy is at its best, and they are doing as they want to go ahead with their policies and targets, here need few things which always encourage sportsmen to stay into their zone and give their best because this will bring better environment in this world and minds which are still not accepting truth.

[Ruttoshi]

Italy's problems started when they replaced coach Spalletti with Genaro Gattuso due to his inefficiency to handle the Italian national team, the team had already suffered some defeats that has already jeopardise their chances of securing a ticket for the World Cup. So it became difficult for Gattuso to get the job due to how resilient the Norwegian team were at that moment.

The big mistake the FIGC did was to underestimate Spelleti and overhyped Gattuso who has little knowledge on how to fix the team. Gattuso only has mouth and good on paper. He's not good on field. He came up with a  game strategy that isn't smart enough to outplay his opponents.

I didn't expect Italy to be left out in this tournament because they are good contenders since they have the quality and players. It's a shame that Gattuso couldn't take this squad to the world cup. However, improving the team should be his main priority.

[LUCKMCFLY]

It is sad to see that the euro 2020 winner has to go through the play offs for a world cup ticket, even this is the third time they have to fight in the play offs. If you look at the opponent, on paper, Italy is indeed favored but considering this is the biggest competition, you can't underestimate any country, you have to remember they were eliminated by Macedonia in the previous edition, I just hope Italy passes, not to repeat the previous two editions, because I miss seeing them play in the world cup.

At least Italy has a chance , they have a good opportunity to qualify in the Playoffs , I would feel great if I had that chance At least they're not completely eliminated , they're still in the running European and global Teams have Raised their level of football, and it's a fact that this World Cup will be very exciting more teams, more Football!

[jaberwock]

For sure Italy will do fine, they are going to be in the world cup, but at the same time we have to remember that it is playoffs and there is never a guarantee. You may do fine, you may do terrible, you never know what's going to happen so you have to be careful.

This is why I think Italy will have to face some trouble, and because of that it is not going to be easy and we are going to end up with something that will take a while for people to end up getting the deserved right they want. Italy "may" lose a game, every team may lose games, just because you are better doesn't mean you will win, it is a higher possibility that they will win both games, it is a very good chance, but it is not a zero chance that they will lose.

[Dump3er]

That sounds kind of baseless to me. I doubt that there were no political controversies in Russia in 2018 considering they annexed Crimea shortly before that. There were controversies in all those World Cups, but the nature of those conflicts might have differed. I think no matter what you do or expect from World Cups, it is literally impossible to host a World Cup fully free of any negative circumstances that involve politics. There is so much going on in the political world that perfect peace and harmony is not attainable.

I think that these competitions must be independent of what happens in war zones, of course you cannot spit out a World Cup where there is a war, but you must allow national teams to participate in war so as to defuse the situation, it seems ridiculous to me to exclude sportsmen

That is wishful thinking because hosting sports events of that magnitude inevitably contains politics. Sport events are a legit means of taking influence on many incidents around the world. The exclusion of sportsmen can be a viable action in special cases, but in general it should not be like that. Now you can see that the US government has published a list of countries that are blocked from visiting the World Cup. Venezuelans can't support their team and I think Ivory Coast and Senegal is excluded. It is sad because the teams can play and they get exceptions because they are sportsmen, but the message said that supporters and journalists will be excluded unless they get exceptions via other ways.

[Ale88]

We have already discussed about Italy several times in this thread. They still have a good chance of making the cut for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Italy, I would say were a bit unlucky this time. They were placed in a tough group along with Norway and Israel. And their second round path is also not that easy. In the first match they will take on Northern Ireland. If they manage to win that one, they need to face the winners from the Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match. At least on paper, Italy are the overwhelming favourites to win these matches. 

Let's say that they have a good chance of qualifying for the next World Cup and i think it is very likely that they will do it, Norway was practically perfect and Italy sat down and waited a little too long and Norway punished them for this they have to pay and do the play off

Italy's problems started when they replaced coach Spalletti with Genaro Gattuso due to his inefficiency to handle the Italian national team, the team had already suffered some defeats that has already jeopardise their chances of securing a ticket for the World Cup. So it became difficult for Gattuso to get the job due to how resilient the Norwegian team were at that moment.

Eh? I'm absolutely not a Gattuso fan but how can you say it's his fault? When he was managing Italy at the Euro Cup the team was a disaster, and losing 3-0 in Norway immediately compromised the World Cup qualification. And let's not forget about Mancini, who managed to lose against North Macedonia. So, how are all these fails Gattuso's fault?