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

[Fiatless]

Today we will have the final phase of matches in AFC third round qualifier. Picture is a lot clear now. Iran and Uzbekistan has qualified from Group A, and for the latter this will be the first time that they are qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. From Group B, South Korea and Jordan have qualified. Japan and Australia have qualified from Group C. For the fourth round, the scenario is still not that clear. For me, the strongest teams in this round are Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for their first-ever World Cup. The win against Oman confirmed their qualification and I hope they will make an impact in the tournament. Uzbekistan is ranked 57th and is not generally seen as a football nation, but we cannot underrate them. Jordan is currently ranked 62nd and will also be their first time. Due to a lack of experience, the first-timers usually don't even make it to the second round.

[Odusko]

However, the matches of China vs Bahrain and Saudi Arabia vs Australia will be competitive. The opponents in these two matches are equally strong. I will try to enjoy the Saudi Arabia vs Australia match live.

This set of match in the run up to FIFA qualifying is what get my attention the most the reason is that, aside from seeing china going head to head with other countries like Saudi Arabia this will definitely be a highly competitive matches considering how most of them have improved in performance and broken records in the last season this make it a tough game to bet on for this stage.

[Agbe]

Today we will have the final phase of matches in AFC third round qualifier. Picture is a lot clear now. Iran and Uzbekistan has qualified from Group A, and for the latter this will be the first time that they are qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. From Group B, South Korea and Jordan have qualified. Japan and Australia have qualified from Group C. For the fourth round, the scenario is still not that clear. For me, the strongest teams in this round are Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for their first-ever World Cup. The win against Oman confirmed their qualification and I hope they will make an impact in the tournament. Uzbekistan is ranked 57th and is not generally seen as a football nation, but we cannot underrate them. Jordan is currently ranked 62nd and will also be their first time. Due to a lack of experience, the first-timers usually don't even make it to the second round.

Waoo congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for the world cup this expanded format of the world cup has really helped a lot because it has made it possible for countries like this to be qualifying for the world cup because if not countries like this will not be thinking of qualifying for the world cup, but the big task should be on how to prepare and do well going into the world cup because most of these small countries will conceive alot of goals

[Richbased]

However, the matches of China vs Bahrain and Saudi Arabia vs Australia will be competitive. The opponents in these two matches are equally strong. I will try to enjoy the Saudi Arabia vs Australia match live.

This set of match in the run up to FIFA qualifying is what get my attention the most the reason is that, aside from seeing china going head to head with other countries like Saudi Arabia this will definitely be a highly competitive matches considering how most of them have improved in performance and broken records in the last season this make it a tough game to bet on for this stage.

I actually followed up the match between China and Bahrain, it was really an interesting match and the it almost ended in a draw before China's Yudong Wang scored in 90+3 minutes and gave them the win. Saudi Arabia match against Australia is live now and Saudi Arabia was lucky to score the first goal before Australia equalized in halftime. When the second half started Australia scored another goal and Saudi Arabia would have looked forward to equalize the score but they got a red card which will probably slim their chances of an equalizer and they have given Australia more advantage to win this match.

Edit: Seems the red card against Saudi Arabia have been cancelled which means they can still equalize the score before fulltime.

[Polkeins]

The Netherlands in group g is relatively tight competition. Not Malta, Lithuania, but Poland as a strong team based on the victory that Poland has got although the two teams defeated by Poland according to us are also not tough teams.
Against Malta, the Netherlands can target a score over.

Netherlands already lead 3-0 after the first half and are likely to take the game to victory.
Depay made a double and now he has 50 goals for the national team as well as Robin Van Persie.
Apart from Poland Netherlands have no serious rivals and most likely Netherlands should come out of the group from the first place, because now the national team of Finland beats Poland with the score 1:0 and if Finland wins, it will take points away from Poland and thus will help Netherlands in their fight for first place with Poland.

[Franctoshi]

Today we will have the final phase of matches in AFC third round qualifier. Picture is a lot clear now. Iran and Uzbekistan has qualified from Group A, and for the latter this will be the first time that they are qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. From Group B, South Korea and Jordan have qualified. Japan and Australia have qualified from Group C. For the fourth round, the scenario is still not that clear. For me, the strongest teams in this round are Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for their first-ever World Cup. The win against Oman confirmed their qualification and I hope they will make an impact in the tournament. Uzbekistan is ranked 57th and is not generally seen as a football nation, but we cannot underrate them. Jordan is currently ranked 62nd and will also be their first time. Due to a lack of experience, the first-timers usually don't even make it to the second round.

Congratulations to Uzbekistan and Jordan as they made history today, These two teams has raised their bar by being able to qualify for their first ever World Cup competition in USA, Mexico and Canada come 2026 and this achievement indeed marks a significant milestone for the two countries. I do believe that they will showcase an incredible performance in this competition to try to qualify from the group stage, it's not really about first time or their inexperience for the competition, but it all about good preparations ahead of time, if they prepare very well,  Tuey absolutely will do fine because some of the teams or countries they will be facing are not very familiar with their own tactical system of play and that will give them an edge over doing well.

[Joca97]

The Netherlands in group g is relatively tight competition. Not Malta, Lithuania, but Poland as a strong team based on the victory that Poland has got although the two teams defeated by Poland according to us are also not tough teams.
Against Malta, the Netherlands can target a score over.

Netherlands already lead 3-0 after the first half and are likely to take the game to victory.
Depay made a double and now he has 50 goals for the national team as well as Robin Van Persie.
Apart from Poland Netherlands have no serious rivals and most likely Netherlands should come out of the group from the first place, because now the national team of Finland beats Poland with the score 1:0 and if Finland wins, it will take points away from Poland and thus will help Netherlands in their fight for first place with Poland.

As it looks Netherlands won this match its 4-0 and im still shocked with how good Depay is playing that he isnt playing in europe,he still has a lot more to give. This groups is getting intresting. Finland is leading 2-1 and if they manage to win the game they will keep the first place but have two more games then Netherlands

[LTU_btc]

Poland lost Lewandowski after conflict with coach and their problems doesn't ends there. They played very poor game with Finland and lost 1:2. I think absence of Lewa was big factor today, Poland missed player like him. If they will continue playing like today, qualifying to EURO might be too difficult task.
While I was writting this post, something bad happened to one of spectators and game was stopped. Not clear when they will continue to play, but now health of spectator is the most important thing.
EDIT, they resume game with 17 minutes remaining.
In other games nothing what would be very interesting didn't happened.

[Unsoldier]

The Belgium-Wales match was a very good match. In previous years, national matches were very boring and had few goals, but especially in this time, we are watching enjoyable and goal-rich matches. A total of 7 goals were scored in the match. Belgium took a 3-0 lead, but Wales did not give up. They scored one goal in the first half and 2 more in the second half, making the score 3-3.

Belgium scored the 4th goal with Lukaku, but the ball had already crossed the touchline, so they cancelled out the goal. Kevin De Bruyne made a great single shot on the cross from the right with 5 minutes left in normal time, making the score 4-3.
Belgium completed the match, which they would have won comfortably, with a hard time.

What a wild one that was – an absolute shootout in Brussels! Belgium looked like they were cruising at 3-0, but somehow let it all slip. Credit to Wales for not giving up and dragging it back to 3-3. Just when it seemed like they’d steal a point, De Bruyne stepped up. A perfect first-time finish in the dying minutes – that's why he's world class. This win was anything but easy.

[tiCeR]

...

He will find a pre-top club, roughly speaking the same as Napoli. Although they are in the big four and seem to be on par with two of the three clubs, Napoli's weight is not Juventus or Milan or Inter.
I understand why Ranieri does it, but I don't understand why the Italian national team does it. It seems like the wrong choice. Although maybe sometimes a team without a coach plays better than with a coach (whom for some reason they don't like, who knows what the situation was in the locker room with Spalletti, I didn't follow that closely). In this case, Ranieri would be the ideal option - he simply won't get in anyone's way.

For Ranieri it is amazing. I am sure he told them that is this old grandpa and he can't do it anymore and then they started begging and this gave him a very special feeling for a last time in his career. I mean seriously when a coach is at the end of his career and then there is one more World Cup around the corner and the bosses of your home country, which by the way is not a bad country in football, show up and ask you if you want to do it for a last time and they need you so badly. If my health allowed for it, I would do it definitely. The World Cup in the USA / CA is going to be a huge event in all regards and what other event could be the best point in life to actually end a career? I wish him personally good luck with that.

[Solokan]

today of course there are so many match schedules that of course make us all confused about which match to choose which match do you think you choose which match to watch? if I apparently want to watch the Japan vs Indonesia match because I come from Indonesia and I want to see Indonesia win even though of course it is not easy for the Indonesian national team to win.

As an Indonesian, I will also watch the Japan vs Indonesia match. Even though I know Indonesia will most likely lose. But I won't mind that. because I think we all know there is a clear difference between the quality of the Japanese national team and the quality of the Indonesian national team. Moreover, even from the FIFA rankings, the difference is very, very big. So what we expect from Indonesia is perhaps whether they can show a better game or not than usual. Even if Indonesia loses but can score a goal against Japan then that is good enough in my opinion.

And regarding whether Indonesia can qualify for the World Cup or not. Actually that's not a problem. Because in the end those who will pass are those who deserve to pass thanks to their persistence and quality. So if Indonesia can qualify, it will be a matter of pride, even though I know that in the World Cup, Indonesia might even have difficulty getting through the group phase.

Source: https://bola.kompas.com/read/2025/06/10/19310648/hasil-jepang-vs-indonesia-6-0-garuda-petik-pelajaran-di-osaka
yes now Indonesia's match against Japan has finished and the result is really disappointing because Indonesia lost with a score of 6-0 and of course Indonesia really couldn't move and I saw Indonesia's defense also looked very weak in that match and honestly in that match I bet on Japan's victory because of course if you look at the strength of the squad it is certainly very different from Indonesia and Japan but yes fortunately I bet on Japan's victory if not it would make me even sadder because the team I support lost plus lost the bet.

Japan's game is really good so it's no wonder Japan always enters the World Cup and what makes me disappointed is that Indonesia couldn't score even 1 goal against Japan. now of course we can only wait for the 4th round because there of course Indonesia still has a chance to get a ticket to the World Cup. yes hopefully Indonesia can get a ticket to the 2026 World Cup and of course I and the Indonesian people will be proud if Indonesia can get a ticket to the 2026 World Cup. yes indeed although it will certainly be difficult for Indonesia to qualify from the group phase in the World Cup but yes by being able to qualify for the World Cup of course it is also good progress. but yes I hope Patrick can learn from yesterday's match between Japan and Indonesia and I think Indonesia's back line really needs to be improved, the proof is that Japan was easily able to score a goal against Indonesia.

[Ale88]

...

He will find a pre-top club, roughly speaking the same as Napoli. Although they are in the big four and seem to be on par with two of the three clubs, Napoli's weight is not Juventus or Milan or Inter.
I understand why Ranieri does it, but I don't understand why the Italian national team does it. It seems like the wrong choice. Although maybe sometimes a team without a coach plays better than with a coach (whom for some reason they don't like, who knows what the situation was in the locker room with Spalletti, I didn't follow that closely). In this case, Ranieri would be the ideal option - he simply won't get in anyone's way.

For Ranieri it is amazing. I am sure he told them that is this old grandpa and he can't do it anymore and then they started begging and this gave him a very special feeling for a last time in his career. I mean seriously when a coach is at the end of his career and then there is one more World Cup around the corner and the bosses of your home country, which by the way is not a bad country in football, show up and ask you if you want to do it for a last time and they need you so badly. If my health allowed for it, I would do it definitely. The World Cup in the USA / CA is going to be a huge event in all regards and what other event could be the best point in life to actually end a career? I wish him personally good luck with that.

I really hope it's going to be Ranieri because today some Italian medias were also mentioning several former players such as Cannavaro, Gattuso, and De Rossi. With all due respect for them this is not the time to experiment with coaches with minimal experience, we need someone who knows exactly what is doing, and that person would be Ranieri. I just don't understand how it's possible that nowadays ex football players with minimal coaching experience have so much trust from both clubs and national teams.

[Sithara007]

Waoo congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for the world cup this expanded format of the world cup has really helped a lot because it has made it possible for countries like this to be qualifying for the world cup because if not countries like this will not be thinking of qualifying for the world cup, but the big task should be on how to prepare and do well going into the world cup because most of these small countries will conceive alot of goals

The next World Cup (in 2026) is going to be a beautiful event. We need teams like Uzbekistan in the world cup. It adds to the diversity and makes football a truly global sport. So far 6 countries have qualified from AFC third round qualifiers: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia. 6 more have qualified for the fourth round - Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Out of these teams, two will qualify and one will proceed to the Inter-confederation play-offs.

[tiCeR]

For Ranieri it is amazing. I am sure he told them that is this old grandpa and he can't do it anymore and then they started begging and this gave him a very special feeling for a last time in his career. I mean seriously when a coach is at the end of his career and then there is one more World Cup around the corner and the bosses of your home country, which by the way is not a bad country in football, show up and ask you if you want to do it for a last time and they need you so badly. If my health allowed for it, I would do it definitely. The World Cup in the USA / CA is going to be a huge event in all regards and what other event could be the best point in life to actually end a career? I wish him personally good luck with that.

I really hope it's going to be Ranieri because today some Italian medias were also mentioning several former players such as Cannavaro, Gattuso, and De Rossi. With all due respect for them this is not the time to experiment with coaches with minimal experience, we need someone who knows exactly what is doing, and that person would be Ranieri. I just don't understand how it's possible that nowadays ex football players with minimal coaching experience have so much trust from both clubs and national teams.

I think it is wrong to generalize skills and experience when it is about younger coaches. If you see what Zidane has done with Real Madrid when practically he didn't have much experience with great clubs, he is an example for a young or new coach who can get things done. In his case it was mainly his aura and the respect players had for him. I don't think he is a tactical genius because most of what he has done in his career as a player was extraordinary intuition. Of course he understood the gameplay very well, but he is not the Guardiola type, making strategies all the time.

I haven't been following Cannavaro and Gattuso lately, but the bad thing about his career as a coach is that he really only took on jobs with C-level teams except for Udinese, but that was over quite quickly.

Gattuso has some more experience with good teams and he has spent a lot of time in Italy as a coach. I don't like Gattuso much as a character, but speaking of experience he would probably be the better choice.

De Rossi doesn't have great experience either. Under these circumstances Ranieri might indeed be the best coach for the national team.

[SquallLeonhart]

Indeed Japan vs Indonesia not really important match after Indonesia have close for directly qualifying to World Cup but its important match to improve FIFA standings position, Indonesia have good trend under new manager Justin Kluivert by winning two of last three games. Actually Japan still the top team and favorable for winning the match but since have been qualified Japan not performed well and last match defeated by Australia.

Very doubtful that Indonesia will win against Japan, we are still inferior in statistics to Japan even though this victory is very important for Indonesia for the FIFA ranking points.
Bookies offer unreasonable odds to Indonesia with odds of 11.00 while Japan is 1.22, this is quite a striking difference because they have guessed that Indonesia will likely lose.
But hope Kluivert can provide a good strategy when fighting Japan, a draw is also good enough for Indonesia.

I was not expecting any miraculous performance in this game because now it's time for Japan to plan for their Fourth Stage preparation which is going to be announced soon after having four wins in last five games while Japan is now already in FIFA World Cup 2026. Yeah I agree, this game was Japan's because they had good home record and Indonesia was not capable to give them any surprise, but they would have done their best for having different result or fewer goals defeats.

An important game in this group is going to be played at Jeddah where Saudi Arab is going to host Australia while they are at third and Australia is having second spot Australia is unbeaten in last six game with three matches winning streak and Saudi Arab will be tried to have advantage of hot weather and conditions for win in this game.

[Phoenix Anka]

Today we will have the final phase of matches in AFC third round qualifier. Picture is a lot clear now. Iran and Uzbekistan has qualified from Group A, and for the latter this will be the first time that they are qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. From Group B, South Korea and Jordan have qualified. Japan and Australia have qualified from Group C. For the fourth round, the scenario is still not that clear. For me, the strongest teams in this round are Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Congratulations to both Uzbekistan and Jordan for qualifying for their first-ever World Cup. The win against Oman confirmed their qualification and I hope they will make an impact in the tournament. Uzbekistan is ranked 57th and is not generally seen as a football nation, but we cannot underrate them. Jordan is currently ranked 62nd and will also be their first time. Due to a lack of experience, the first-timers usually don't even make it to the second round.

Even participating in the World Cup is considered a great success for them. No one expects success from them in the World Cup, I think it will be enough for them if they just leave a good mark. I am sure that the Uzbekistan and Oman players are already looking forward to the tournament. Playing in the World Cup is every football player's dream. Also, considering that it happens every four years, it means that a very difficult possibility is trying to become real.

[giorgione]

...

He will find a pre-top club, roughly speaking the same as Napoli. Although they are in the big four and seem to be on par with two of the three clubs, Napoli's weight is not Juventus or Milan or Inter.
I understand why Ranieri does it, but I don't understand why the Italian national team does it. It seems like the wrong choice. Although maybe sometimes a team without a coach plays better than with a coach (whom for some reason they don't like, who knows what the situation was in the locker room with Spalletti, I didn't follow that closely). In this case, Ranieri would be the ideal option - he simply won't get in anyone's way.

For Ranieri it is amazing. I am sure he told them that is this old grandpa and he can't do it anymore and then they started begging and this gave him a very special feeling for a last time in his career. I mean seriously when a coach is at the end of his career and then there is one more World Cup around the corner and the bosses of your home country, which by the way is not a bad country in football, show up and ask you if you want to do it for a last time and they need you so badly. If my health allowed for it, I would do it definitely. The World Cup in the USA / CA is going to be a huge event in all regards and what other event could be the best point in life to actually end a career? I wish him personally good luck with that.

I really hope it's going to be Ranieri because today some Italian medias were also mentioning several former players such as Cannavaro, Gattuso, and De Rossi. With all due respect for them this is not the time to experiment with coaches with minimal experience, we need someone who knows exactly what is doing, and that person would be Ranieri. I just don't understand how it's possible that nowadays ex football players with minimal coaching experience have so much trust from both clubs and national teams.

I totally agree with you, now Italy needs a very good and prepared technical guide, who cannot be a coach who could train at most in Serie C, so it must be a person who has already trained at high levels, and yes I think Ranieri is the right person to lead this national team

[babo]

I totally agree with you, now Italy needs a very good and prepared technical guide, who cannot be a coach who could train at most in Serie C, so it must be a person who has already trained at high levels, and yes I think Ranieri is the right person to lead this national team

I don't agree with you!
Italy is done for! It will be the third world cup in a row that they don't participate in and I think it's fair given that the quality of the players and the game sucks
losing by 3 goals against Norway puts us in the same league as teams in the second division and not teams that have won a few World Cups

[Despairo]

Even participating in the World Cup is considered a great success for them. No one expects success from them in the World Cup, I think it will be enough for them if they just leave a good mark. I am sure that the Uzbekistan and Oman players are already looking forward to the tournament. Playing in the World Cup is every football player's dream. Also, considering that it happens every four years, it means that a very difficult possibility is trying to become real.

It's Uzbekistan and Jordan, Oman still need to enter qualification stage.

United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. Although it's still depend on drawing, both Iraq and Saudi Arabia looks convincing to qualify for World Cup. The qualification is still long, there's still fifth round and Inter-confederation play-offs.

Imagine, the teams who won fifth round and they lost in Inter-confederation play-offs, it's like they already did what their best for a long time, but they didn't get any results.

[Jossque]

The Netherlands had no difficulty in finding goals against Malta.The Netherlands scored 8 goals against Malta and managed to win comfortably.The Netherlands scored 3 goals in the first half and 5 goals in the second half and showed that they are at a level that will easily lead the group.
Finland managed to win against Poland.I didn't expect Poland to lose but this was a surprise result.Poland suffered their first point loss in the group with this defeat.Poland had 24 shots during the match and their inability to be effective in the goal paths cost them dearly.