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

[Leviathan.007]

In fact, you are not right, because until 1990, only the national team of Yugoslavia participated in the world cups, with players from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia, and the successes of that national team were the joint successes of all Yugoslav nations, not only Serbia.
Since Serbia, Croatia and other former Yugoslav republics have been participating in the world football cups, only Croatia managed to pass the group stage of the competition at the world cups and win three medals, one silver and two bronze.
From that side, it is completely clear which national team is currently the best and the level is higher compared to national teams from other former Yugoslav republics.
The Serbian national team was good in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and even won first place in the group ahead of Portugal and directly qualified for the World Cup, but their old problems reappeared in Qatar, namely the unity of the team and the relationship between the coach and the players.

I'm you are right and I'm wrong but that's all because in 1930 or years before 1990 we had no country named Serbia or the other five countries but in fact, Serbia and these other countries should share the achievements because Yugoslav used players from these countries so I leave actually Serbian should be there, that's my opinion about this. Also regarding Serbian national teams I'm not saying they are very weak, all I say is Serbia is not as strong as other European great teams and not that famous so I see not much luck for me in the upcoming world cup.

[1714642861]

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[1714642861]

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[rahmad2nd]

~snip~

Yes, I understand you.
Well, I have no doubt that the Brazil team is excellent, I won't deny it, but I cited the example of Neymar to clarify what I meant.

Unfortunately, Brazil only has Neymar as an elite player, that is, one of the best in the world.
There are currently no players Brazilians who are at his level, Casemiro? G. Jesus? Paquetá? Militantao? they are excellent players, but they are below Neymar's level.

If we search the squad of the Brazilian World Cup team in 1994, 1998, 2002 and even 2006.
Literally, in every position Brazil had a player who was one of the best in the world at that time, Rivaldo, Kaka, Cafu, R. Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Romario and others.

I have engraved in my mind the comments and videos of different people and players from around the world saying they were afraid to play against the Brazilian team, literally Brazil spread terror around the world!
One of the teams that I have remembered clearly are the 2002 and 2006, literally, the person who watched the Brazilian team watched a show/concert, a spectacle of team, chemistry and quality between the players.

Brazil will hardly have a team as good as the ones I mentioned earlier.

I understand exactly what you mean, especially when Brazil was in the era of the best players. almost all lines are filled by star players. every time Brazil will play, the atmosphere of the stadium is like a roar. the team he was against, felt the terror from the Brazilian players. especially since the era of Pele, Romario and Ronaldo. whoever the opponent, will be very careful when fighting them.

It's just, we forgot something. that today's football has evolved far compared to a decade ago. football today, does not really prioritize individual techniques per individual. I mean, modern football now emphasizes the game of teamwork. tiki-taka, one, two touches, the current system is more modern and that's why it's difficult for the Brazil squad to only rely on the individual actions of each player.  We can see how Tite implemented his system when his team played matches at the 2022 World Cup. Most of the time, they dribbled the ball too long and it was not uncommon for the players to take individual actions. Vini Jr, is a great player, he has undoubted skill. The problem is, he takes too long to dribble. the pattern of the Brazilian game system still carries the old system. that's why, one of the things that causes them difficulties when they meet teams that tend to defend. because the system they run, already has a counter to anticipate it.

Nevertheless, I agree with you. different when his era, Ronaldo, Romario, Bebeto, even Pele. Football at that time was more popular with the actions of its players, and that made Brazil highly respected by its opponents. but that's the difference this era, the system adopted in modern football is quite complicated. next, in the 2026 cup later. at least Brazil will still be respected by its opponents, because after all their players are all stars in their clubs. the problem is, can their new coach bring Brazil to win a trophy in the championship later.

[freedomgo]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

I think they will still be an early favorites including Portugal and Brazil. Although their stars may not with the team anymore especially for Messi and CR7 as that might be their last world cup but I guess their team can still give a hard time to the other national teams. But every team that will participate in the upcoming World Cup still have a lot of time to prepare and maybe there will be an improvement this time especially for the teams who failed recently, an experienced team will still make a difference, especially for the France.

[el kaka22]

I think it is quite important to also notice that Brazil is the best in their own continent, along with Argentina obviously, I do not see any other Latin American team to be as dominant as these two nations. On the other hand Europe has so many good teams, so that means Brazil, as one of the best in their continent, will have to face multiple European teams, which causes imbalance and unfair calculation.

You are talking about one nation, vs a whole football oriented continent, of course Brazil would lose to one of them. If you look at how many times European teams won against Latin American teams, that difference will be huge, and Brazil does better than average Latin American team.

[nullama]

I think it is quite important to also notice that Brazil is the best in their own continent, along with Argentina obviously, I do not see any other Latin American team to be as dominant as these two nations. On the other hand Europe has so many good teams, so that means Brazil, as one of the best in their continent, will have to face multiple European teams, which causes imbalance and unfair calculation.

You are talking about one nation, vs a whole football oriented continent, of course Brazil would lose to one of them. If you look at how many times European teams won against Latin American teams, that difference will be huge, and Brazil does better than average Latin American team.

You're forgetting Uruguay, they have won the world cup two times.

If you look at the world cup winners, you'll have a pretty competitive list, with only South America and Europe.

- Brazil (5)
- Germany (4)
- Italy(4)
- Argentina (3)
- France(2)
- Uruguay(2)
- England(1)
- Spain(1)

Also, South America has less countries (and funding) than Europe. So, if you compare the number of times the continent has won the world cup, you have South America with 10, and Europe with 12. Very close.

[Bushdark]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

Even though Argentina will not be able to carry the world cup this time just like France, they will still be grateful to Messi that had taken the shame from them making Argentina to carry the world cup. They are going to qualify for the world cup which I am very sure even though Messi would not be available for the team again since he would be retiring soon. I hope to see Argentina play again with there team giving them another opportunity for another greater height. Messi had layer a legacy to the Argentina football federal and he had opened a path which everyone of the team would follow again.

[Asiska02]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

This is correct and cannot be denied given Argentina's squad that competed in the 2022 World Cup. Many of them would have retired or reached the age where they will no longer be physically fit to represent their country in the next World Cup. I'm hoping they'll start developing young players now who will be ready to take on the challenge by then. I hope Argentina does not fade out of the top teams in the world if these players are not replaced with young and talented players like them.

[Sithara007]

Even though Argentina will not be able to carry the world cup this time just like France, they will still be grateful to Messi that had taken the shame from them making Argentina to carry the world cup. They are going to qualify for the world cup which I am very sure even though Messi would not be available for the team again since he would be retiring soon. I hope to see Argentina play again with there team giving them another opportunity for another greater height. Messi had layer a legacy to the Argentina football federal and he had opened a path which everyone of the team would follow again.

Well.. why we aren't mentioning about any of the other Argentine players? I agree that Messi lead from the front, and without him it would have been very difficult for Argentina to lift the trophy at Qatar 2022. But then, Argentina had displayed good team balance and cohesion throughout the tournament. Apart from Messi, players such as Emiliano Martínez and Enzo Fernández also played a crucial role. And we can never forget the contribution from Ángel Di María and Alexis Mac Allister. It was a team effort from Argentina.

And regarding the 2026 world cup, Messi's participation is doubtful. He will be 39 years old when the next world cup kickstarts and I don't think that he will be participating in top-level football leagues by then. And age do play a crucial role in the selection, as we saw in the case of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was dropped from the playing XI solely because of his age.

[Strongkored]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

If Argentina's core players are still with the same lineup as happened in Qatar the fact is that in the World Cup it's rare that the depending champions can perform as well in the next World Cup and what I remember is that France was able to do it but some teams actually performed badly, so I don't think that Argentina will be able to advance to the final even though the World Cup will be held in the Americas but Brazil will have more chances even to win this time

[Theones]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

If Argentina's core players are still with the same lineup as happened in Qatar the fact is that in the World Cup it's rare that the depending champions can perform as well in the next World Cup and what I remember is that France was able to do it but some teams actually performed badly, so I don't think that Argentina will be able to advance to the final even though the World Cup will be held in the Americas but Brazil will have more chances even to win this time

I just discovered that Qatar has donated all the ready made 10,000 shelters which they created for the world cup fan - -  to Turkey after the Earthquake
and we on the other hand are talking about their profit or loss.
I wish some relief work is done in Sham as well they too need some attention

[slapper]

I wonder what Argentina can achieve in next world cup in 2026. Their main players were already old at world cup in Qatar. In past Argentina squad was far better mix of young talents with experienced star players. I don't deny they will still be competitive but their squad quality may drop drastically. Brazil will always be candidate to title on the other hand. South America continent may be dominated by Brazil in coming years.

Your worries regarding Argentina's chances at the upcoming World Cup are reasonable. Argentina has long been a great footballing nation, but as its key player's age, the quality of its squad may decrease substantially. Nevetheless, Argentina can certainly make it to the World Cup even if Brazil continues to dominate South America. I have no doubt that they will be able to qualify and bring their best to the competition in the next World cup 2026. Though Messi will be leaving Argentine football shortly, he has already left a remarkable legacy and prepared the path for the next generation of players. Even if Argentina doesn't win the World Cup this time around, we should be thankful for Messi's efforts and what he did for the whole football industry. Perhaps they will surpass all expectations and reach a new peak.

[Leviathan.007]

Your worries regarding Argentina's chances at the upcoming World Cup are reasonable. Argentina has long been a great footballing nation, but as its key player's age, the quality of its squad may decrease substantially. Nevetheless, Argentina can certainly make it to the World Cup even if Brazil continues to dominate South America. I have no doubt that they will be able to qualify and bring their best to the competition in the next World cup 2026. Though Messi will be leaving Argentine football shortly, he has already left a remarkable legacy and prepared the path for the next generation of players. Even if Argentina doesn't win the World Cup this time around, we should be thankful for Messi's efforts and what he did for the whole football industry. Perhaps they will surpass all expectations and reach a new peak.

Since I watched every single game of Argentina in the last world cup I can say from what I saw and compared to the other teams, they don't have too much chance and the reason is their playing style. Argentina's national team is mostly based on Messi and you saw in the last world cup Messi was the key for them and definitely, without Messi they are going to have problems, while Messi is 35y old right now and in the next world cup he will be 38y old so he won't play like today so he will think about retirement and without him, Argentina won't play good like these days.

[Sithara007]

Guys, check this:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/soccer-canada-fifa-mens-world-cup-2026-qualification-1.6748502

Now FIFA has confirmed the automatic qualification for Canada as well, to the 2026 World Cup. And this is in addition to the United States and Mexico. I believe that this is very unfair. Giving automatic qualification to one of the hosts is OK. But giving that to all 3? Defies logic. The slots that are assigned to the CONCACAF qualifier is now reduced to 3 (from the original 6). Some of the more talented teams, such as Costa Rica and El Salvador are going to lose out on qualifying for the main event next time.

Now I have a question. Suppose the European Union is hosting the world cup. As we know, the EU is an union of 27 member states. In this case, are they going to give automatic qualification for all the 27 countries?

[Zaguru12]

Since I watched every single game of Argentina in the last world cup I can say from what I saw and compared to the other teams, they don't have too much chance and the reason is their playing style. Argentina's national team is mostly based on Messi and you saw in the last world cup Messi was the key for them and definitely, without Messi they are going to have problems, while Messi is 35y old right now and in the next world cup he will be 38y old so he won't play like today so he will think about retirement and without him, Argentina won't play good like these days.

Argentina has always been dependent on their talisman Messi and this World Cup proved that theory. When Messi had a brief retirement, Argentina had win games so the team revolved around him and also Dimaria. But if we look at the current squad we could see young and exciting players. The likes of Lisandro Martinez, De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alvarez and Mac Allister will be at their prime then. Players like Garnacho and Angel Correa will also be ready to compete. The only thing Argentina needs now is to build on a style of play without Messi. If they could get this team to play as a unit then could go on a long way.

[darewaller]

There were two nations hosting before and both of them got in, I remember clearly Korea and Japan hosted it together and they had no issues accepting all three. I think in this case USA will be the hardest one to accept, but even they were in the last one, Canada too, and if I am not mistaken, Mexico too?

It looks like this would be a bit of a situation if teams were too bad, but these are the teams that already got in last time, so if given the regular competition they would still be in again, and this is why it's not a shocker that they would end up with getting in right away if they are hosting as well, they totally deserve such a thing.

[LUCKMCFLY]

/snip

But I find it funny how host countries are sometimes able to somehow beat favorite teams. Russia played so well that they were eliminated in quarter-finals while almost beat Croatia, that went into finals and Qatar beat Argentina, a team that defeat all the other teams and won Fifa World Cup.
Russian players were definitely on steroids because they were running like horses but idk about Qatar.

Qatar didn't beat Argentina in the World Cup. They played really badly and it was evident that they don't have the quality to play against top teams of the world. They played four games in the group stage and managed to score only one goal against Senegal.

But I see your point. Playing at home often makes players give an extra effort for the fans and then surprises can happen. But sadly that didn't work out for Qatar.

Not that kind of advantage really that will boost the team's morale, I strongly think that it is the other way around where most of them are already feeling the pressure because they are the host and the people, and their federation are expecting that they can at least defeat some teams along the way so that the host team, for example Qatar, will still be relevant and won't get embarrassed in the early phase.

The thing about the house and the advantage is somewhat ambiguous, if it is necessary to consider that a host team has a little more advantage, but you must have a little more tact when it comes to giving a red or yellow card, because it is the advantage of the host, then it cannot be dealt with radically and harshly either, the hosts are the ones who usually win the first game, but in the case of Qatar things were very different, they even said that Ecuador had offered a lot of money to the players to let themselves win, I don't know if it was speculation or truth, but somehow that causes a lot of curiosity.

[slackovic]

The thing about the house and the advantage is somewhat ambiguous, if it is necessary to consider that a host team has a little more advantage, but you must have a little more tact when it comes to giving a red or yellow card, because it is the advantage of the host, then it cannot be dealt with radically and harshly either, the hosts are the ones who usually win the first game, but in the case of Qatar things were very different, they even said that Ecuador had offered a lot of money to the players to let themselves win, I don't know if it was speculation or truth, but somehow that causes a lot of curiosity.

Maybe you get the feeling that the host is usually the team that wins the first game, but it has nothing to do with it. It's just because most of the time a host is a country with a good national team like Brazil, Germany, France... But when you look at how Qatar played in the last World Cup, you see that there is no home advantage if you play against a stronger opponent.

[rahmad2nd]

Since I watched every single game of Argentina in the last world cup I can say from what I saw and compared to the other teams, they don't have too much chance and the reason is their playing style. Argentina's national team is mostly based on Messi and you saw in the last world cup Messi was the key for them and definitely, without Messi they are going to have problems, while Messi is 35y old right now and in the next world cup he will be 38y old so he won't play like today so he will think about retirement and without him, Argentina won't play good like these days.

Argentina has always been dependent on their talisman Messi and this World Cup proved that theory. When Messi had a brief retirement, Argentina had win games so the team revolved around him and also Dimaria. But if we look at the current squad we could see young and exciting players. The likes of Lisandro Martinez, De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alvarez and Mac Allister will be at their prime then. Players like Garnacho and Angel Correa will also be ready to compete. The only thing Argentina needs now is to build on a style of play without Messi. If they could get this team to play as a unit then could go on a long way.

Argentina at the 2022 world cup is not a special squad, even new names have sprung up since then. like Enzo, Alvarez, Mac Alisster, who are in the spotlight compared to other players, except for their talisman, namely Messi. but yes, Messi's influence in the 2022 world cup is enormous. however, it cannot be denied, that the Argentinian squad really does play as a team. they rely on teamwork, especially when Argentina is building an attack, the transitions between players they do are so quick, and so good.

Speaking of the 2026 world cup later, I'm not sure Messi will still be involved, especially since Messi has previously announced his retirement from the national team. so, Scaloni must prepare the potential of younger players.  and as you said, Argentina has a lot of potential players, and some of the names you have mentioned. after all, the 2026 world cup is still very long, maybe there will be new names who will become the golden generation after Messi.

[Silberman]

Since I watched every single game of Argentina in the last world cup I can say from what I saw and compared to the other teams, they don't have too much chance and the reason is their playing style. Argentina's national team is mostly based on Messi and you saw in the last world cup Messi was the key for them and definitely, without Messi they are going to have problems, while Messi is 35y old right now and in the next world cup he will be 38y old so he won't play like today so he will think about retirement and without him, Argentina won't play good like these days.

Argentina has always been dependent on their talisman Messi and this World Cup proved that theory. When Messi had a brief retirement, Argentina had win games so the team revolved around him and also Dimaria. But if we look at the current squad we could see young and exciting players. The likes of Lisandro Martinez, De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alvarez and Mac Allister will be at their prime then. Players like Garnacho and Angel Correa will also be ready to compete. The only thing Argentina needs now is to build on a style of play without Messi. If they could get this team to play as a unit then could go on a long way.

Argentina at the 2022 world cup is not a special squad, even new names have sprung up since then. like Enzo, Alvarez, Mac Alisster, who are in the spotlight compared to other players, except for their talisman, namely Messi. but yes, Messi's influence in the 2022 world cup is enormous. however, it cannot be denied, that the Argentinian squad really does play as a team. they rely on teamwork, especially when Argentina is building an attack, the transitions between players they do are so quick, and so good.

Speaking of the 2026 world cup later, I'm not sure Messi will still be involved, especially since Messi has previously announced his retirement from the national team. so, Scaloni must prepare the potential of younger players.  and as you said, Argentina has a lot of potential players, and some of the names you have mentioned. after all, the 2026 world cup is still very long, maybe there will be new names who will become the golden generation after Messi.

Messi stated that if they won the world cup of 2022, a thing they did, then he will do all what he can to play the world cup of 2026, I consider Messi a man of his word so I really think he will do what he can to preserve his level of skill and his physical capabilities as much as possible so he can fulfill his promise, now it is true that no matter how well he takes care of himself it will not be the same but he could still be a difference maker even then.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Messi can always change his opinion. It is also not excluded that the body eventually no longer wants and can no longer. But you can't say that yet. I wonder if he will be present at the 2026 World Cup. In any case, the pressure is no longer there to become world champion, so if he can't participate, he probably won't mind. I'd like to see him in action for a few more years. If he wants to quit the Argentina national team, everyone understands that of course. But Argentina without Messi, then you have little chance of success and in principle virtually no chance of becoming world champion. It's all still a long way off, still 3.5 years before the tournament starts. First, we will have Euro 2024 in 1.5 years.