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

[Sithara007]

Who is gonna put MEssi in doubt for the next world cup? Man he is gonna play no matter what, the only thing that can stop him for playing is a serious injury because he is no longer young anymore, he now is old.

Yesterday i saw the news about Cristiano, tlling he is gonna play also this next world cup, i think he can but lets see.

I am not that sure whether he will be interested in playing. Just a few months ago, he rejected a billion plus USD offer from Saudi Arabia and chose to move to the United States instead. His wife wanted to settle down in the US, and that was one of the reasons why he made that decision. Given all this, I don't think that he will continue to play for another 3 years. My guess is that he wants another year or so with the Major League Soccer (MLS), and after that he is going to retire from professional football.

[1715675847]

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[nullama]

~snip~
I am not that sure whether he will be interested in playing. Just a few months ago, he rejected a billion plus USD offer from Saudi Arabia and chose to move to the United States instead. His wife wanted to settle down in the US, and that was one of the reasons why he made that decision. Given all this, I don't think that he will continue to play for another 3 years. My guess is that he wants another year or so with the Major League Soccer (MLS), and after that he is going to retire from professional football.

Yeah, that's what I think as well.

Relocate to the US with a company paying for it, get some extra money for a couple of years or so, and then retire to make ads for whoever pays the most.

He would be able to make the ads from anywhere in the world really, or at least it would be a simple short trip and back for a nice amount of money.

Pirlo and Salgado for example have been making ads for Dubai.

[Weawant]

Who is gonna put MEssi in doubt for the next world cup? Man he is gonna play no matter what, the only thing that can stop him for playing is a serious injury because he is no longer young anymore, he now is old.

Yesterday i saw the news about Cristiano, tlling he is gonna play also this next world cup, i think he can but lets see.

I am not that sure whether he will be interested in playing. Just a few months ago, he rejected a billion plus USD offer from Saudi Arabia and chose to move to the United States instead. His wife wanted to settle down in the US, and that was one of the reasons why he made that decision. Given all this, I don't think that he will continue to play for another 3 years. My guess is that he wants another year or so with the Major League Soccer (MLS), and after that he is going to retire from professional football.

Talking about his wife influencing his decision to play at the MLS in the United States because she wants to settle there, Messi is a very much family oriented person as seen most time in both picture and videos he post online and on social platforms. It's very true his family will have Avery big influence on his decision to continue professional footballs till the time world cup will be held, obviously he may most likely retire after his play at the MLS.

If his family doesn't find it really comfortable he playing the world cup he most likely wouldn't consider the offer even if he is been called as age will aswell not be on his side, but then let's keep an open mind and watch out and see how everything plays out as we still have about two years ore more to the next world cup games, but honestly for the fun of it I would have loved to see Messi this last time at the world cup but then if he chooses not to it's still fine but if he eventually chooses not to then let him take up  a coaching role with the coaching crew for his national team, I think he will be more useful there.

[Jody.Drummer]

Yes, it could very well happen when we see his name on the coaching staff list for his country. Age does not lie, even though he is still able to play, his contrbution to the game will not be the same as when he was younger and that cannot be denied. And even at his age, it's amazing that he can still contribute to the club he's playing for.
The next World Cup is the stage for the young players of today, and I'm sure there will be many new players who will get a lot of attention and then become a target for the big clubs.

The fact that he has moved out of European league tells that the retirement is very near. Usually star players devote the last 2-3 years of their career to get a good deal from some of the American or Asian clubs, so they can retire with enough savings. The same has happened with Lionel Messi, who has moved to Inter-Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS). The level of competition in MLS will obviously much lower than that in different European leagues. And this will be taken into account, when Argentina announces their squad for 2026 World Cup.

Yes his departure to the MLS is a sign that he won't be around much longer and maybe he'll announce his retirement soon, although there are no rumors of that at the moment.
This is the era of youth and young plyers should be able to compete more competitively, and indeed many young players are showing good progress at the moment. Many clubs are promoting young players, and even the price of young players is now very high for a club to bring in.
This will continu and we will see it in the next World Cup.

[Leviathan.007]

Who is gonna put MEssi in doubt for the next world cup? Man he is gonna play no matter what, the only thing that can stop him for playing is a serious injury because he is no longer young anymore, he now is old.

Yesterday i saw the news about Cristiano, tlling he is gonna play also this next world cup, i think he can but lets see.

I am not that sure whether he will be interested in playing. Just a few months ago, he rejected a billion plus USD offer from Saudi Arabia and chose to move to the United States instead. His wife wanted to settle down in the US, and that was one of the reasons why he made that decision. Given all this, I don't think that he will continue to play for another 3 years. My guess is that he wants another year or so with the Major League Soccer (MLS), and after that he is going to retire from professional football.

Talking about his wife influencing his decision to play at the MLS in the United States because she wants to settle there, Messi is a very much family oriented person as seen most time in both picture and videos he post online and on social platforms. It's very true his family will have Avery big influence on his decision to continue professional footballs till the time world cup will be held, obviously he may most likely retire after his play at the MLS.

If his family doesn't find it really comfortable he playing the world cup he most likely wouldn't consider the offer even if he is been called as age will aswell not be on his side, but then let's keep an open mind and watch out and see how everything plays out as we still have about two years ore more to the next world cup games, but honestly for the fun of it I would have loved to see Messi this last time at the world cup but then if he chooses not to it's still fine but if he eventually chooses not to then let him take up  a coaching role with the coaching crew for his national team, I think he will be more useful there.

Checking the past decisions Messi made in his life I think Messi gave more priority to his family and that's why he chose MLS to live in America and have a better life for his wife and kids.
Otherwise, he could accept the other offers he had from other teams.
I think playing in MLS can't change Messi too much but still, this palyer can't be a favorite for the next World Cup in 2026.
 

[Sithara007]

Yes his departure to the MLS is a sign that he won't be around much longer and maybe he'll announce his retirement soon, although there are no rumors of that at the moment.
This is the era of youth and young plyers should be able to compete more competitively, and indeed many young players are showing good progress at the moment. Many clubs are promoting young players, and even the price of young players is now very high for a club to bring in.
This will continu and we will see it in the next World Cup.

Messi was needed during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. But I am not sure whether that will be the case in 2026. He is no longer playing in European leagues and therefore I am not sure whether he will be having the same abilities to compete at the top-most level. Also, there is no dearth of younger players as far as Argentina is concerned. Pushing till 2026 is going to be risky for both Messi and Argentina. And there is a good chance that he will struggle and the coach maybe left in a dilemma whether to include him in the squad or not.

[Litzki1990]

Yes his departure to the MLS is a sign that he won't be around much longer and maybe he'll announce his retirement soon, although there are no rumors of that at the moment.
This is the era of youth and young plyers should be able to compete more competitively, and indeed many young players are showing good progress at the moment. Many clubs are promoting young players, and even the price of young players is now very high for a club to bring in.
This will continu and we will see it in the next World Cup.

Messi was needed during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. But I am not sure whether that will be the case in 2026. He is no longer playing in European leagues and therefore I am not sure whether he will be having the same abilities to compete at the top-most level. Also, there is no dearth of younger players as far as Argentina is concerned. Pushing till 2026 is going to be risky for both Messi and Argentina. And there is a good chance that he will struggle and the coach maybe left in a dilemma whether to include him in the squad or not.

Messi will definitely be involved with the Argentina football team in 2026 but there are doubts about whether he will take the field as a player. Lionel Messi's age has not affected his performance. He left Europe last season, if he hadn't left Europe he could have stayed in Europe for a few more seasons. Recently I heard some rumors that Lionel Messi will return to Europe again he will return to his old club Barcelona but I don't know how true these rumors are. If Lionel Messi plans to play in the 2026 World Cup then he must come back to Europe again because no matter how good his performance is in the league he is in now, his performance against European teams is nothing, so if he is to play in the 26th World Cup, it must be a tough fight to pass three years.

[nullama]

~snip~
Messi will definitely be involved with the Argentina football team in 2026 but there are doubts about whether he will take the field as a player. Lionel Messi's age has not affected his performance. He left Europe last season, if he hadn't left Europe he could have stayed in Europe for a few more seasons. Recently I heard some rumors that Lionel Messi will return to Europe again he will return to his old club Barcelona but I don't know how true these rumors are. If Lionel Messi plans to play in the 2026 World Cup then he must come back to Europe again because no matter how good his performance is in the league he is in now, his performance against European teams is nothing, so if he is to play in the 26th World Cup, it must be a tough fight to pass three years.

Playing for four years in the US and his increased age will definitely lower his performance.

I don't think it would be a good idea for Messi to play in the 2026 World Cup, he could do marketing, ads, etc. But playing?, much better to give a chance to the next generation.

Messi already won everything there is to win. No need to try again in 2026. He will probably just keep playing in the US for a bit to make some extra cash, and then retire.

[Strongkored]

Checking the past decisions Messi made in his life I think Messi gave more priority to his family and that's why he chose MLS to live in America and have a better life for his wife and kids.
Otherwise, he could accept the other offers he had from other teams.
I think playing in MLS can't change Messi too much but still, this palyer can't be a favorite for the next World Cup in 2026.
 

At his current age, of course playing in a league with softer competition would be an option because it could also prevent him from getting injured because playing in a big club in Europe will make him busier and it will be difficult to maintain his performance because he needs good stamina to be able to perform well.
However, economic factors could be the reason he went to MLS, not because of the salary he earned but from other things such as contracts with well-known products that made him a star. There is nothing wrong with him going to MLS just like Ronaldo went to SPL and in fact many previous star players also did the same thing ending their careers in smaller leagues because maybe the desire to play is still there but stamina has become an obstacle to continuing to play in Europe.

[Jody.Drummer]

Yes his departure to the MLS is a sign that he won't be around much longer and maybe he'll announce his retirement soon, although there are no rumors of that at the moment.
This is the era of youth and young plyers should be able to compete more competitively, and indeed many young players are showing good progress at the moment. Many clubs are promoting young players, and even the price of young players is now very high for a club to bring in.
This will continu and we will see it in the next World Cup.

Messi was needed during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. But I am not sure whether that will be the case in 2026. He is no longer playing in European leagues and therefore I am not sure whether he will be having the same abilities to compete at the top-most level. Also, there is no dearth of younger players as far as Argentina is concerned. Pushing till 2026 is going to be risky for both Messi and Argentina. And there is a good chance that he will struggle and the coach maybe left in a dilemma whether to include him in the squad or not.

We have to be fair about this, even though he may be old but when he still has a decent performance to defend his country I don't think it's a problem if he is still trusted to defend his country. But on the other hand when his performance is no longer possible, they must firmly give other players a chance. I hope there is no reason to keep calling him up, especially with the reason of honoring him for what he gave to his country. We have to see from 2 different views as I said and it can be seen from his game from the time to come, because the World Cup is still quite long.

[Volgastallion]

Fuck man i totally forgot the new format of the world cup, because yesterday when i see the south america one only 3 teams are not gonna reach the world cup, so this qualifiers are not so hard for the 80% of the teams. In conmebol for example you can now Bolivia and some one is gonna be out beofre you can think.

[Litzki1990]

~snip~
Messi will definitely be involved with the Argentina football team in 2026 but there are doubts about whether he will take the field as a player. Lionel Messi's age has not affected his performance. He left Europe last season, if he hadn't left Europe he could have stayed in Europe for a few more seasons. Recently I heard some rumors that Lionel Messi will return to Europe again he will return to his old club Barcelona but I don't know how true these rumors are. If Lionel Messi plans to play in the 2026 World Cup then he must come back to Europe again because no matter how good his performance is in the league he is in now, his performance against European teams is nothing, so if he is to play in the 26th World Cup, it must be a tough fight to pass three years.

Playing for four years in the US and his increased age will definitely lower his performance.

I don't think it would be a good idea for Messi to play in the 2026 World Cup, he could do marketing, ads, etc. But playing?, much better to give a chance to the next generation.

Messi already won everything there is to win. No need to try again in 2026. He will probably just keep playing in the US for a bit to make some extra cash, and then retire.

Messi has achieved everything for himself, for his club, for his country, there is nothing left for him to achieve so it will not be surprising if he retires from the national team now. Or if he announces to play in 2026 World Cup we won't be surprised because he will definitely perform very well if he participates in 2026 World Cup. He can play if he wants to play but there is no guarantee that he can make it to the 2026 World Cup so he might want to paint the last World Cup of his life which he did in 2022. Most of the matches of the 2026 World Cup will be played in America and considering that he is currently playing for an American club, we think he can play in the 2026 World Cup.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Talking about this, I remembered the previous year before the Qatar World Cup. Yes many of us speculated that the possibility of the Qatar World Cup would be the last World Cup for Messi and not just Messi but other players as well, like Ronaldo for example. But now we are starting to speculate about the possibility of Messi plying in the World Cup or not. Yes it is interesting considering his age, but indeed his influence on his country is huge. Even though he is only in the lineup and not the main player, he can give his experience to other players and also provide motivation. I also haven't heard any rumors of him retiring anytime soon.

He has seen what happened to Ronaldo during Qatar 2022. It doesn't matter whether you are a legend. When you get old, then you are out of favor with the coach. Messi will be 39 years old by the time of North America 2026 and there is a good chance that he will retire from active football before that. He has achieved whatever he wanted to achieve in international and club football. So rather than risking his reputation by playing in 2026, he may just stay out of that tournament. At the most, he may enroll for some sort of coaching responsibility for the national team.

Yes, it could very well happen when we see his name on the coaching staff list for his country. Age does not lie, even though he is still able to play, his contrbution to the game will not be the same as when he was younger and that cannot be denied. And even at his age, it's amazing that he can still contribute to the club he's playing for.
The next World Cup is the stage for the young players of today, and I'm sure there will be many new players who will get a lot of attention and then become a target for the big clubs.

I think this will a better idea for him, if he is seen amongst the coaching staff for his country I think he will do more from there, with regards to contributions and I'm very sure they will be very willing to benefit from his wealth of knowledge and experience in the world cup and football generally, he will be more impactful from the sides than he would on the pitch.

If he happens to be on the pitch he will not be very optimal as age will definitely tell on him, he may not even be able to play full time, so it will not be much needed as he will be fatigue prone and if the team puts some level of dependency on him it will turn out the teams morale may drop when he fails to meet up with expectations owing to age telling on him.

Messi is most likely to have retired by then although all these are just speculations but the let's wait and watch till 2026 and see how it plays out if he will still be in active football service and get a call from his country or he might have retired and probably taken up some coaching responsibility with the national team of his country, till then let's keep our fingers crossed.

Well there are good omens, because Messi is preparing to play in the World Cup qualifiers, he is already in his team's concentration and that is so that he can help them get to the World Cup, so that is very good, in fact CR7 is also playing for Portugal so that he can be in the Euro, and in the World Cup, I have more hopes that CR7 will be there, but Messi I think they can convince him to stay in the team, in fact for me that Messi is going to go to the World Cup. USES,. because the way things are going in the team, the Argentina team does not function the same without Messi and I think that Messi himself has realized it, it does not matter that there are so many new players, legends and stars like him do not happen overnight. another, they don't even get someone Similar, similar or who makes a difference, I think things here are quite obvious when it comes to how to do so that they can establish a stronger team, furthermore I don't think Messi leaves his team helpless, Argeinta does it needs and cannot leave them there with the danger that they will not qualify, I also believe that everyone, including the coaches, wants Messi to play in the next World Cup.

The majority of people who are fans of Messi, of CR7 are very large, they want to see him again, as I have said, it would be good if they could play a game between Argentina and Portugal, where the technicians have no shame in putting these two legends from beginning to end, that they do not start inventing to put them on the Bench as they are always bored by the technicians who have been through both squads, here things must happen as they are, with the greatest rivalry in football and show who is the best, that is where they will realize who is the best, until now Argentina is the defending champion, and Messi knows it, for that reason I don't think he is going to leave his teammates alone, because they obviously know that they need him , and With the Experience he has it is obvious.

[Leviathan.007]

~snip~
Messi will definitely be involved with the Argentina football team in 2026 but there are doubts about whether he will take the field as a player. Lionel Messi's age has not affected his performance. He left Europe last season, if he hadn't left Europe he could have stayed in Europe for a few more seasons. Recently I heard some rumors that Lionel Messi will return to Europe again he will return to his old club Barcelona but I don't know how true these rumors are. If Lionel Messi plans to play in the 2026 World Cup then he must come back to Europe again because no matter how good his performance is in the league he is in now, his performance against European teams is nothing, so if he is to play in the 26th World Cup, it must be a tough fight to pass three years.

Playing for four years in the US and his increased age will definitely lower his performance.

I don't think it would be a good idea for Messi to play in the 2026 World Cup, he could do marketing, ads, etc. But playing?, much better to give a chance to the next generation.

Messi already won everything there is to win. No need to try again in 2026. He will probably just keep playing in the US for a bit to make some extra cash, and then retire.

Not just Messi but I think that's the same for any other player and they need to accept any person will get old one day and they are not going to be the same as their years ago and payers like Ronaldo and Messi will have the same situation.
They had a good performance a few years ago when they were younger but these days we can't see the same good performance from them and that's why I think a player like Messi should not be in the next World Cup.
 

[Rampagoe004]

The majority of people who are fans of Messi, of CR7 are very large, they want to see him again, as I have said, it would be good if they could play a game between Argentina and Portugal, where the technicians have no shame in putting these two legends from beginning to end, that they do not start inventing to put them on the Bench as they are always bored by the technicians who have been through both squads, here things must happen as they are, with the greatest rivalry in football and show who is the best, that is where they will realize who is the best, until now Argentina is the defending champion, and Messi knows it, for that reason I don't think he is going to leave his teammates alone, because they obviously know that they need him , and With the Experience he has it is obvious.

I think even though they could meet at the 2026 World Cup, even though the chances are very, very small unless they are in the same group or both enter the final round, I think their rivalry is over. LM10 has played in MLS and CR7 has played in the Saudi pro league. I admit that they both still have decent quality but their next meeting from now on will no longer be about rivalry, but about their leadership and charisma on the field to bring or motivate young players in their respective countries if the two meet. I couldn't explain it any better but I think you know what I mean.

[Volgastallion]

The msot interesting think about Messi and Ronaldo is they still ahve all the focus, the new generation is fantastic and we can see Mbappe or Haaland taking the palce of them, but in the end i dont see in both of them the same glow, Ronaldo and Messi were diferent, and they have much more rivalry in the pitch.

[armanda90]

Messi was needed during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. But I am not sure whether that will be the case in 2026. He is no longer playing in European leagues and therefore I am not sure whether he will be having the same abilities to compete at the top-most level. Also, there is no dearth of younger players as far as Argentina is concerned. Pushing till 2026 is going to be risky for both Messi and Argentina. And there is a good chance that he will struggle and the coach maybe left in a dilemma whether to include him in the squad or not.

If Lionel Messi not on the top level when World Cup 2026 I think he still needs in Argentina teams become motivate for young players, actually Messi still in Argentina squad for Qualifier round and seems still top level performance with Inter Miami he will priority as important player for Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2026. Have much values when Lionel Messi still in Argentina squad for World Cup 2026, its not about his performance only but also Lionel Messi effort highest values or advertising and Argentina fans still needed with Lionel Messi contribution. There are not reason have to leave Lionel Messi not participants in World Cup 2026 depend on top performance level.

[BIT-BENDER]

The msot interesting think about Messi and Ronaldo is they still ahve all the focus, the new generation is fantastic and we can see Mbappe or Haaland taking the palce of them, but in the end i dont see in both of them the same glow, Ronaldo and Messi were diferent, and they have much more rivalry in the pitch.

I don't think there would be any player like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a long time, if you look at Cristiano Ronaldo come up, he has always been a good player but he got to god status when he moved to Real Madrid and they club built the team around him and same thing with Leonel Messi, Barcelona built the team around him and this increased their confidence and also their global image.

In present day football is hard to see a team built around one player. Now many other players in teams also want that same recognition and also coaches wants to be seen as the reason for the club's success so except we have a very good player in a team with amazing players and a good coach that has agreed to build the team around a player .

[Joca97]

The msot interesting think about Messi and Ronaldo is they still ahve all the focus, the new generation is fantastic and we can see Mbappe or Haaland taking the palce of them, but in the end i dont see in both of them the same glow, Ronaldo and Messi were diferent, and they have much more rivalry in the pitch.

I don't think there would be any player like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a long time, if you look at Cristiano Ronaldo come up, he has always been a good player but he got to god status when he moved to Real Madrid and they club built the team around him and same thing with Leonel Messi, Barcelona built the team around him and this increased their confidence and also their global image.

In present day football is hard to see a team built around one player. Now many other players in teams also want that same recognition and also coaches wants to be seen as the reason for the club's success so except we have a very good player in a team with amazing players and a good coach that has agreed to build the team around a player .

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi happens only once and we were lucky to see a huge battle between them for a long time. I dont think that there is anyone even close to the rivarly or to their level. Mbappe is looking really good and Haaland but that just isnt the rivarly. This two players will be good but not even close to Messi or Ronaldo.

[bitgolden]

The majority of people who are fans of Messi, of CR7 are very large, they want to see him again, as I have said, it would be good if they could play a game between Argentina and Portugal, where the technicians have no shame in putting these two legends from beginning to end, that they do not start inventing to put them on the Bench as they are always bored by the technicians who have been through both squads, here things must happen as they are, with the greatest rivalry in football and show who is the best, that is where they will realize who is the best, until now Argentina is the defending champion, and Messi knows it, for that reason I don't think he is going to leave his teammates alone, because they obviously know that they need him , and With the Experience he has it is obvious.

I think even though they could meet at the 2026 World Cup, even though the chances are very, very small unless they are in the same group or both enter the final round, I think their rivalry is over. LM10 has played in MLS and CR7 has played in the Saudi pro league. I admit that they both still have decent quality but their next meeting from now on will no longer be about rivalry, but about their leadership and charisma on the field to bring or motivate young players in their respective countries if the two meet. I couldn't explain it any better but I think you know what I mean.

Maybe not at the finals because that would be very very difficult for both teams, I can see them face earlier on. I mean as soon as they go out of the group stages they could face each other, and if I am not wrong there is nothing stopping them from playing against each other on the group stages as well, that should be a good thing.

I believe that we need to arrange some friendlies to make sure they play any sooner than that because there doesn't seem to be one and I doubt that it would happen. However, at this point they are going to get near retirement age anyway and the game will not be all that talent loaded like they were back in the day. All those Real Madrid vs Barcelona games that they played against each other were amazing.