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

[Roseline492]

Expecting Bahrain to be able to balance the match vs Saudi Arabia, it seems rather difficult because the dominance of Saudi Arabian players is very good. This is inseparable from the experience of each of their players playing in the SPL who learned a lesson because in one team has players who are rich in experience playing in famous leagues in Europe.

Saudi Arabia isn't how they were before in football because now they have become confident and one of the fastest football or rather soccer growing nation and very soon what they're playing now will be very little to what they would be in this cup and any other, their growth is what gave me the confident that they might win Bahrain, although one thing they both have in common is that there players are not on this big leagues but they only play mostly on there own leagues instead, Mohammed Marion the Bahrain striker is on the Kuwait SC and the Saudi Arabia striker Ayman Yahya come from AI-Nassr FC, there performance paid really well.

[Volgastallion]

We know how this world cup is gonna be played long ago and we already know a few teams who are already qualified, but man, what a shit teams are starting to be qualified with this new format.

Jordan and uzbekistan...... is incredible how for example Chile is gonna be out being much more stronger than this other teams just because from what federation they are.

[AprilioMP]

From the CONMEBOL Zone, there is one match that is crucial for three other teams as the number of points they collect could see them drop out of the World Cup qualifying pool. The match I'm referring to is Columbia vs Peru. With Brazil drawing against Ecuador and Uruguay losing against Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay will be displaced if Columbia wins against Peru.

In another match, Norway will face Italy in the UEFA Zone Qualifier.
This international break presents an interesting match according to the teams that will try to qualify for the World Cup.

[Plaguedeath]

The odd given to Norway is too small. It's almost the same with Italy's, which is funny because Italy is better. Norway has been in good form, winning most of their recent matches, but they've not faced any solid team. Israel, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia are teams that Norway is expected to win. In fact, the last time they faced a fairly decent team against Austria, they were beaten 5-1.
Italy, on the other hand, have been playing teams like Germany and France, which are more difficult to win. I believe Italy will win that game by over 2 goals. Norway is not in the kind of form to win against Italy, except Italy has a very bad day.

Yep, even though the match will held in Ullevaal Stadion, but I don't think Norway is that strong.

Norway have Haaland, Sorlothm, Odegaard and Ryerson, other than that are mediocre players. Italy are balanced, they don't really have one player who really shine, but all of them playing in Europe.

It's either Italy win or draw, I'm more convinced Italy will win.

[aylabadia05]

<snip>

Yep, even though the match will held in Ullevaal Stadion, but I don't think Norway is that strong.

Norway have Haaland, Sorlothm, Odegaard and Ryerson, other than that are mediocre players. Italy are balanced, they don't really have one player who really shine, but all of them playing in Europe.

It's either Italy win or draw, I'm more convinced Italy will win.

I think the strength of the two is balanced. Haaland has been in declining form with his club although with Norwagia in 4 matches he was able to score 6 goals. Rather than Haaland, Sorloth is more convincing in my opinion in the Norwagia line-up.
Meanwhile, Italy seems like the match against Norwagia is their first match in the world cup qualifying round. There is more motivation for them to chase the first 3 points in this group. Like you, I prefer Italy as the team to win this match which I am not saying what is the reason behind my choice.

[BigBos]

Before meeting China, the Indonesia team has played against other fairly tough side to reach this round of the qualification, and so, beating China wasn't anything they couldn't do, only that many fans underestimated them without actually putting their home advantage in this game into consideration. We could see the winning goal margin, it was just 1 goal in the whole full-time and was actually a penalty scored in the first half, which Indonesia was able to defend it to the end. Perhaps they might not pass beyond this round but we can't conclude just yet.

All is not lost for Indonesia. They can still qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is confirmed that they will qualify for the fourth round, along with Saudi Arabia. From Group A, it will be Qatar and United Arab Emirates, while from the Group B it will be Iraq and (probably) Oman. Among all these teams, perhaps UAE is the strongest one. But then we need to see how these teams will be placed in fourth round. There will be two groups of 3 teams each. And then there is a fifth round, for entry to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Indonesia's journey in this round was not easy, they had lost momentum and finally they were able to regain that momentum and now they have met the initial target of being in the 4th qualifying round. This is the best achievement achieved by an ASEAN country, previously Thailand and Vietnam and they could not talk much in this 3rd round.

In the next match which will be the last match, Indonesia will face Japan. The results will not affect, but this should be used to deepen the strategy, because if you look at the opponent's level, Japan is the toughest opponent and this can be a good preparation to hone mentality.

[Juse14]

Australia now has a total of 16 points, with only one more match left, so no one can shift them from second place.

AU already secured the second place. Eventhough Saudi can have same points as them if Saudi beats them. However, they have greater GD than saudi. So i think the table is fixed now. There will be no more chances, and the last game is just formality for all of nations in this group.

I congrat Indonesia & Saudi for qualifying for the 4th round.

From Asia we already have 6 teams that have secured their places in the 2026 World Cup which are certain to finish as champions and runners up, where in Group A there are Iran and Uzbekistan, Group B there are South Korea and Jordan, and finally Group C there are Japan and Australia.


What disappoints me is that the 4th round of the Asian zone World Cup qualifiers will be played entirely in Saudi Arabia and Qatar as hosts, I am disappointed because the qualifying match should have been held in a neutral place. and the Indonesian national team is the only non-Middle Eastern team that has managed to penetrate the 4th round, so this will be a very tough test for the debut team from Southeast Asia.

[Slow death]

We know how this world cup is gonna be played long ago and we already know a few teams who are already qualified, but man, what a shit teams are starting to be qualified with this new format.

Jordan and uzbekistan...... is incredible how for example Chile is gonna be out being much more stronger than this other teams just because from what federation they are.

Since its inception, the World Cup has been dominated by a few teams, and those two teams you mentioned won't even make it past the group stage when they're in the World Cup. There are many teams that will qualify and already know they won't do anything relevant when they're in the World Cup. To be honest, I wonder why most of the teams that qualify for the World Cup celebrate even though they know they won't achieve anything relevant when they're in the World Cup. For example, I saw this news:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45458584/world-cup-2026-qualified-uzbekistan-australia-south-korea-jordan

Does anyone here believe that South Korea can be the world cup champion? 

[bitgolden]

I think the strength of the two is balanced. Haaland has been in declining form with his club although with Norwagia in 4 matches he was able to score 6 goals. Rather than Haaland, Sorloth is more convincing in my opinion in the Norwagia line-up.
Meanwhile, Italy seems like the match against Norwagia is their first match in the world cup qualifying round. There is more motivation for them to chase the first 3 points in this group. Like you, I prefer Italy as the team to win this match which I am not saying what is the reason behind my choice.

This match is going to be interesting because Norway is doing good while Italy recent performance is not good even they are doing their best for having some good improvement but they are not giving as they were in past which is big problem for them.

Norway recent results showing about their depth while this game is going to be played at Oslo which is another advantage even Italy is always have good depth to give surprise to any team. Italy starting their campaign from this game while Norway already had two wins with big margin which is good for them and they are confident about their performance this could be challenging game for them but still it's not easy to predict about winner because from here any team can go through while mostly are predicting about Italy due to their superiority but now things are already change and Norway is also good side.

[Jossque]

As we come to the last matches in Group A, the standings are almost clear.
The United Arab Emirates drew with Uzbekistan and lost their chance to finish 2nd.If they had won they would have finished 2nd, but now they will most likely finish 3rd in the league.They played better in the match, but they didn't have much luck in front of goal.
Qatar managed to defeat the leader Iran and increased their points to 13.Iran suffered their first defeat in the group.Iran, who continued to play with 10 men after Milad Mohammadi received a red card in the 35th minute, could not feel the pressure in the match.
North Korea and Kyrgyzstan played to a 2-2 draw.North Korea managed to take the lead in the first half and started the second half with a goal.Kyrgyzstan drew with a last minute goal in a match in which they were 2-0 down, but it should be said that it was not a result that changed much.

[snipie]

We know how this world cup is gonna be played long ago and we already know a few teams who are already qualified, but man, what a shit teams are starting to be qualified with this new format.

Jordan and uzbekistan...... is incredible how for example Chile is gonna be out being much more stronger than this other teams just because from what federation they are.

FIFA wants to have more nations from continents with a lot of countries and obviously more matches they have more money they obtain, more money the countries hosting the World Cup generate.
It is a famous business model by FIFA and UEFA too.
Do not bother from the games having weak teams playing in it, it is dedicated for some part of the World, just skip them and wait for the final stages.

[salad daging]

From Asia we already have 6 teams that have secured their places in the 2026 World Cup which are certain to finish as champions and runners up, where in Group A there are Iran and Uzbekistan, Group B there are South Korea and Jordan, and finally Group C there are Japan and Australia.


What disappoints me is that the 4th round of the Asian zone World Cup qualifiers will be played entirely in Saudi Arabia and Qatar as hosts, I am disappointed because the qualifying match should have been held in a neutral place. and the Indonesian national team is the only non-Middle Eastern team that has managed to penetrate the 4th round, so this will be a very tough test for the debut team from Southeast Asia.

Didn't they previously state that it would be at a neutral venue? And now the new rules come in with the hosts in round 4 qualifiers Arabia and Qatar, this seems like a disadvantage, but no matter if Indonesia has the quadruple determination to win they can do it.
The Indonesian national team must prepare themselves for the next qualifier, and feel they can compete with the middle eastern teams.

[aylabadia05]

<snip>

This match is going to be interesting because Norway is doing good while Italy recent performance is not good even they are doing their best for having some good improvement but they are not giving as they were in past which is big problem for them.

This is the umpteenth time I've been wrong. When Norway managed to break Donnarumma's goal, I thought there would be a goal back that would make the match tighter, eh now Italy is already 3 goals behind.
The extra motivation I thought Italy would have against Norway because I assumed it was Italy's first match in the qualifying round, turned out to be Norway who wanted to quickly lock in a ticket even though the team they faced now was Italy.
This current situation reinforces what you said about Italy's recent performance.

[el kaka22]

What a first half for Norway as they thrash Italy with the score of 3 - 0 Italy completely out of way in this game and look like Norway is having all they way despite having less ball control 4 shots on goal and 3 goals good perfection from Norwegian team in this first qualifier for Italy.

After watching first half of this game look like Norway is having one of the best team after decades which is ready to make their mark in international soccer third game and they already had 12 goals against their name Italy is still not good team and with this start their chances for coming world cup are looking not bright they had to give their best and bring some strong depth otherwise things can go worst for them like they are facing in last few years.

[Akbarkoe]

......................

Indonesia's journey in this round was not easy, they had lost momentum and finally they were able to regain that momentum and now they have met the initial target of being in the 4th qualifying round. This is the best achievement achieved by an ASEAN country, previously Thailand and Vietnam and they could not talk much in this 3rd round.

In the next match which will be the last match, Indonesia will face Japan. The results will not affect, but this should be used to deepen the strategy, because if you look at the opponent's level, Japan is the toughest opponent and this can be a good preparation to hone mentality.

The Indonesian National Team's target, in addition to having a target to be able to appear in the 2026 World Cup, also has a target to be able to improve its FIFA ranking. After successfully defeating China with a score of 1-0, and getting 15.05 FIFA points, they are now ranked 117, and their target is to be able to enter the top 100 FIFA rankings. Therefore, in their last match against Japan they must try to win, most likely in that match the Japanese National Team will not field their main squad so this is an opportunity for Indonesia to be able to win over Japan. And if Indonesia succeeds in defeating Japan, then the FIFA points they get are 21.9 points, a very large number of points to bring Indonesia closer to the top 100 FIFA rankings.

[Jossque]

Norway was 3-0 up against Italy in the first half and we have already entered the last 10 minutes of the match and it should be said that the match is still 3-0.Norway is about to win the match unexpectedly.With this win, they will reach 3 wins in 3 matches and they will sit comfortably in the leadership seat for now.Although Italy had a clear superiority in the last meetings of these 2 teams, I think no one would expect Italy to lose with such a different score.
In the other match of the group, Israel is leading 2-1 against Estonia.Dan Biton is about to win the match for his team with his goals in the 39th and 49th minutes.We can say that Israel is playing a better game.

[coinlocket$]

Italy is getting destroyed by Norway.
Not a great start for italians.

Will they miss another world cup? the 3rd in a row?
It will be MEGA embarrassing considering their history with 4 wins even in recent times.

[Jossque]

Croatia crushed their opponent Gibraltar in Group L.Croatia scored 7 goals against Gibraltar and won the match comfortably.Almost all players scored 2 goals each.Kramaric, Pasalic and Ivanovic scored 2 goals each and Perisic scored the other goal.Pasalic has 2 assists as an extra.Croatia is likely to finish as the leader of this group.Gibraltar has 0 points in 3 games.
In the other match in the group, Czech Republic won 2-0 against Montenegro and won their 3rd match in the group.They are now in the lead with 9 points.In the last 5 matches between the 2 teams, Czech Republic have won 5 of them and the result has not changed again.

[LGD2Business]

Italy is getting destroyed by Norway.
Not a great start for italians.

Will they miss another world cup? the 3rd in a row?
It will be MEGA embarrassing considering their history with 4 wins even in recent times.

Italy's defeat may have been a shock for them but it was their toughest game in the group. It's not easy to beat Norway away. Norway are on a perfect run, winning all 3 of their matches. They already have a very good squad. They are really strong with Haaland, Ødegaard, Sørloth and Nusa. Today they all contributed to the score.
I think Norway will be the leader of this group. Italy competes with Israel for second place. It can be a bit of a troublesome process for them. Because missing the World Cup again would be devastating. There will be a lot of pressure on players.

[ShowOff]

Italy is getting destroyed by Norway.
Not a great start for italians.

Will they miss another world cup? the 3rd in a row?
It will be MEGA embarrassing considering their history with 4 wins even in recent times.

With the squad depth Italy possesses, it would be quite astonishing if Luciano Spalletti failed to qualify Italy for the 2026 World Cup, that would clearly be very embarrassing. In my opinion, Group I should be fairly easy for Italy to navigate, but the 3-0 loss to Norway suggests that Italy will likely face significant difficulties. Luciano Spalletti needs to change his playing strategy and even re-evaluate the performance of the players he's called up.

Meanwhile, it can be seen how porous the Italian defense is, they conceded 3 goals in the first half, that is clearly a very serious problem. Meanwhile, the midfield and front lines were also unable to create many opportunities, throughout the 90 minutes Italy was only able to release one shot on target from six attempts. These statistics are enough to tell everyone that Italy strength has declined significantly at this time, and it is possible that they will again be losers in the qualifying round.