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

[Adbitco]

Appreciated Brazil's win against Paraguay. Although they win with narrow score, they have done it better compared to their last game. They created more chances, only bad in converting the chances. It feels so good to see them beat an opponent that extremely consistent. I see there is a hope for them to play like what they used to.
I also aware how Ancelotti does his job properly, and getting more optimistic with him to lead Brazil as a potential winner in WC.

On other hand, i also aware how Casemiro is not a finished player. He successfully blocked some vital crosses owned by Paraguay. Another plus is that he has very good connection to the Ancelotti. He deserves a spot as a starter.

Casemiro is still a very defensive midfielder who can still be very much relied on by his team and I'm sure he will be used by the coach in the world cup, I believe Ancelotti knows exactly how to deploy and use him to his advantage were he will produce the desired results for the team in his position. Brazil scored the only goal of the game which is a scrappy win but I would say this is still his first game as the national team coach, with time he will get use to his boys and the boys in turn will get use to his pattern. I wouldn't want to start an conclusion now because it will be wrong to start that just after one game.

[Unsoldier]

I’ve been really impressed with Norway’s performance in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Four wins out of four isn’t just a lucky run — it’s a clear statement of intent to finally return to the World Cup stage. They’ve missed out on every tournament in the 21st century, but now it’s looking different: 5–0 against Moldova, 4–2 over Israel, a solid win over Italy, and a calm finish against Estonia. With this kind of form, they truly deserve to make it out of the group and write a new chapter in their history.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Brazil won their game against Paraguay 1nil and that's the first win for the former Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and they have qualified for the World Cup come next year and it doesn't seem to me that Brazil are even ready to compete for the World Cup, they might drop out too quick, they haven't lived up to expectations, let's say in this qualifiers. They struggle at games they are suppose to show much dominance and I won't start praising Carlo Ancelotti that this is a new beginning and  a time for great things to happen (it can be) because the team is lacking so much and the work to be done is much so let's say they need to start playing as a complete team not what we're seeing with the quality players they have, is becoming uninteresting to watch them play, who's Ecuador to be at 2nd where you have Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, to be honest this young generation of the Brazil national team are not impressive.

Appreciated Brazil's win against Paraguay. Although they win with narrow score, they have done it better compared to their last game. They created more chances, only bad in converting the chances. It feels so good to see them beat an opponent that extremely consistent. I see there is a hope for them to play like what they used to.
I also aware how Ancelotti does his job properly, and getting more optimistic with him to lead Brazil as a potential winner in WC.

All you said are true but how can a team create more chances as shown on the image above but just 1 goal? They won quite alright but the problem is they are not showing signs of improvement at all and it will affect them if they don't change the way they play in competition that is more crucial like the world cup. The team is stronger than what they displayed just like England playing against Senegal, the English side have everything but they are not operating like they should.
Back to the Brazil national team, they did everything but Paraguay had one shot on target, imagine what would have happened if that chance had enter the back of the net? Do you think Brazil would have come back to equalize and probably win the game? No way if that had happened it would have ended in a draw believe me when I say this, so that is why I said they are playing with fire if no improvement is shown with the quality they have.

[AirtelBuzz]

The goals were massive but it didn't come as a surprise to me. When it's comes to World Cup, Netherlands have more experience and playing tactics than Malta.When I saw the fixtures I knew Malta are going to receive it very hot from Netherlands, infact the goals would have been more than 8-0 if not for some miss calculated chances from the Netherlands side. However I wasn't also  expecting Poland to be superior in that group when we also have Netherlands in that same group, besides Netherlands have more quality and experienced players that Poland and if both teams happens to meet,then it's obvious that Netherlands will surely come out victorious. I am not actually underestimating Poland but when it comes to World Cup,I can always vouch for Netherlands.

Yes the goals were massive and from what I saw, this European qualifier match was much easier for the Dutch. According to the ranking and experience of the Malta football club, they are far behind the Netherlands football team, so the result of this match was as expected by everyone. Moreover we observed that the Netherlands football team has many experienced players who have played in the English Premier League as well as the Spanish La Liga, those players participated against the Malta football team most notably Van Dijk.
It is perhaps entirely correct that the body language of the Netherlands players in this match was very positive which enabled them to score a total of eight goals against Malta.

[CLS63]

Norway are really incredible in the World Club qualifiers so far. They have even beaten Italy very easily. Attacking is their most powerful side of course but I can say they have really skilled defenders as well. It isn't too difficult to predict them to finish their group as the leader. Unless Italy make a big progress after a coach change. By the way Haaland is really a beast. He has reached 42 goals in 43 national matches. Norway's current generation is really promising.

[Mate2237]

Congratulations to Brazil for qualifying for the world cup next year they have once again showed that they are one of the best footballing countries in the world as they won convincing yesterday to book their place to the world cup with this result Brazil still maintain their record of qualifying for all world cup in the history of football.


I believe that with anceloti coming to handle the Brazilian national team it's going to have a positive impact on the performance of the team because Brazil has not performed well in the past two world cup

[pawel7777]

Barcelona's star and top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, got unhappy with the Poland national team manager's decision to strip him of the captain's badge and rage-quit playing for Poland (at least under the current manager, Michał Probierz). He is now getting a lot of heat from the Polish fans on social media.
Yesterday, Poland, without Lewandowski, lost 2-1 to Finland, but it's not like they were doing much better with him on board. Poland is currently 3rd in the Group G table of the World Cup qualifiers. Their next game is against the Netherlands, so they won't be a favourite.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Brazil won their game against Paraguay 1nil and that's the first win for the former Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and they have qualified for the World Cup come next year and it doesn't seem to me that Brazil are even ready to compete for the World Cup, they might drop out too quick, they haven't lived up to expectations, let's say in this qualifiers. They struggle at games they are suppose to show much dominance and I won't start praising Carlo Ancelotti that this is a new beginning and  a time for great things to happen (it can be) because the team is lacking so much and the work to be done is much so let's say they need to start playing as a complete team not what we're seeing with the quality players they have, is becoming uninteresting to watch them play, who's Ecuador to be at 2nd where you have Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, to be honest this young generation of the Brazil national team are not impressive.

Considering how the Brazilian National team have performed in the world cup, we cannot really applaud them for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup because their previous performances is not appealing but not until they perform better in the world cup even if they don't win it but they should be able to make it to at least the semis or the final stage only then we can commend them and Carlo Ancelotti because it will be visible that they have improved under the managerial watch of the former Real Madrid coach, Ancelotti. Brazil is one of the best countries in the world in terms of football but i wonder why they have declined so much in performance and finds it difficult in competitions even when they have fairly good, young and talented players in the quad

I agree with you because if they continue this way they won't make it far and if there's a way to play more friendlies I'd advise them to continue till they find their rhythm if not they are just going to make a heavy mess of themselves in the World Cup, it will be humiliating to be honest. I can't remember one of the past players that said the squad is a disgrace like they are not living up to expectations that they are gradually killing the game, this is so important to them back then (I don't know about these set of players), football is very much important to these people and these sets of generation are using it as a joke which you and I know is not suppose to be so.
With the young talented players they have, they are still not performing well but the expectations of the supporters is not what they are seeing, is as if the players are not even interested in national football anymore, the club football is more important than international games which I believe is the cause of them not playing well. Very soon if care isn't taken San Marino will build their squad to beat Brazil, im just saying because this is getting too much.

[snipie]

Barcelona's star and top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, got unhappy with the Poland national team manager's decision to strip him of the captain's badge and rage-quit playing for Poland (at least under the current manager, Michał Probierz). He is now getting a lot of heat from the Polish fans on social media.
Yesterday, Poland, without Lewandowski, lost 2-1 to Finland, but it's not like they were doing much better with him on board. Poland is currently 3rd in the Group G table of the World Cup qualifiers. Their next game is against the Netherlands, so they won't be a favourite.

Poland isn't well and Lewandowski is not a forever player for his nation, they have to pass him at certain level. I understand that representing the national team is a must for the fans regardless of incidents happening in the change rooms or outside the field, I blame such attitude by both the coach and Lewandowski. He did a lot for his national team and he deserves to be respected after all and to have a honorary exist / retirement in case of..

[indah rezqi]

Congratulations to Brazil for qualifying for the world cup next year they have once again showed that they are one of the best footballing countries in the world as they won convincing yesterday to book their place to the world cup with this result Brazil still maintain their record of qualifying for all world cup in the history of football.


I believe that with anceloti coming to handle the Brazilian national team it's going to have a positive impact on the performance of the team because Brazil has not performed well in the past two world cup

Ancelotti managed to ensure Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup, after beating Paraguay with a narrow score of 1-0. It was the first victory for Ancelotti, and will be a good start for the next matches. Gradually, I think Ancelotti can easily adapt to his new environment, and most likely in the future Brazil will be much stronger under his guidance.

The South American zone World Cup qualifying round still has two matches left, and Ancelotti has a great opportunity to lead Brazil to finish in the runner-up position in the standings. Their next opponents are Chile and Bolivia, on paper Brazil is clearly more superior. The match is scheduled to resume in September, which means Ancelotti has plenty of time to prepare his best strategy.

[Adbitco]

Ancelotti managed to ensure Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup, after beating Paraguay with a narrow score of 1-0. It was the first victory for Ancelotti, and will be a good start for the next matches. Gradually, I think Ancelotti can easily adapt to his new environment, and most likely in the future Brazil will be much stronger under his guidance.

The South American zone World Cup qualifying round still has two matches left, and Ancelotti has a great opportunity to lead Brazil to finish in the runner-up position in the standings. Their next opponents are Chile and Bolivia, on paper Brazil is clearly more superior. The match is scheduled to resume in September, which means Ancelotti has plenty of time to prepare his best strategy.

Your very first sentence actually made it feel like it was Ancelotti that did all the work in ensuring that Brazil qualifies for the world cup. You didn't give any credit to the previous coach for taking Brazil at least this far. Brazil has accumulated 25 points so far out of 16 played and from statistics, the previous managed 22 points in 15 games and Ancelotti has 3 points in 1 game. I understand that a team like Brazil shouldn't be accumulating such kind of points in 15 games but it is what it is. Nevertheless, such achievement by the coach shouldn't be entirely ignored, just my opinion though.

[Chikito]

Barcelona's star and top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, got unhappy with the Poland national team manager's decision to strip him of the captain's badge and rage-quit playing for Poland (at least under the current manager, Michał Probierz). He is now getting a lot of heat from the Polish fans on social media.
Yesterday, Poland, without Lewandowski, lost 2-1 to Finland, but it's not like they were doing much better with him on board. Poland is currently 3rd in the Group G table of the World Cup qualifiers. Their next game is against the Netherlands, so they won't be a favourite.

He's being sensitive and has many problems right now. Demotion as captain makes him frustrated and does not consider him a legend who helped Poland be like today. Besides being offended demotion as captain, Lewa also have problem with eks manager, Cezary Kucharski, and undergoing in court to solve it. Therefore, he made a decision to temporarily retreat on national team to focus on his problem which I think it does not really affect with Poland team because the squad still have Karol Świdersk to substitute Lewa.

[Ale88]

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

Italy have only played two games in Group I so I think they still have a chance to qualify automatically as long as they win all their remaining games and also catch up on Norway goal difference and hope Norway slip up a game or two. But in terms of play I agree they are very poor especially their defense is very fragile. I don't expect them to finish second because considering the last two editions it was a nightmare for them.

I'm Italian and trust me, I have no hopes that we can qualify directly to the World Cup: Norway already scored a ton of goals, beat us 3-0, and already won away against Israel and Estonia, even if we beat them at home and win all the other matches we should score so many goals that is difficult to believe it: Italy are good defending, not scoring goals, we beat Moldova 2-0 at home, come on, that should have been a match to win with a 4-5 goal difference...

[joniboini]

I'm Italian and trust me, I have no hopes that we can qualify directly to the World Cup: Norway already scored a ton of goals, beat us 3-0, and already won away against Israel and Estonia, even if we beat them at home and win all the other matches we should score so many goals that is difficult to believe it

Are you confident in your chances if you need to go through the play-off round? I'm not familiar with other European countries, but it's hard to imagine Italy failing to win against teams like Romania, Albania, etc (probably because I don't know any star player from there). On paper, they should have good chances. CMIIW.

Therefore, he made a decision to temporarily retreat on national team to focus on his problem which I think it does not really affect with Poland team because the squad still have Karol Świdersk to substitute Lewa.

I guess it's not a good idea to rely on one player to carry the team anyway, even though finding new players to substitute him is another challenge.

[JeffBrad12]

Appreciated Brazil's win against Paraguay. Although they win with narrow score, they have done it better compared to their last game. They created more chances, only bad in converting the chances. It feels so good to see them beat an opponent that extremely consistent. I see there is a hope for them to play like what they used to.
I also aware how Ancelotti does his job properly, and getting more optimistic with him to lead Brazil as a potential winner in WC.

On other hand, i also aware how Casemiro is not a finished player. He successfully blocked some vital crosses owned by Paraguay. Another plus is that he has very good connection to the Ancelotti. He deserves a spot as a starter.

Casemiro is still a very defensive midfielder who can still be very much relied on by his team and I'm sure he will be used by the coach in the world cup, I believe Ancelotti knows exactly how to deploy and use him to his advantage were he will produce the desired results for the team in his position. Brazil scored the only goal of the game which is a scrappy win but I would say this is still his first game as the national team coach, with time he will get use to his boys and the boys in turn will get use to his pattern. I wouldn't want to start an conclusion now because it will be wrong to start that just after one game.

This kind of result can still be tolerated caused by this is his first time coaching the national club. As long as his club win the game even with narrow score. that's fine. The three points really helped his club a lot to decrease the pressure. I can starting to see the patter he brings to the Brazillian's squad. Hopefully, he can get his confidence asap.

[Hanadawa]

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.

I would also like to congratulate Uzbekistan and Jordan who have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history. Of course this is a historic moment for both countries. Uzbekistan's football team has developed rapidly in recent years. They even have several players who play in top European leagues. And for Jordan, honestly I don't know what the football culture is like there but this success proves that they are one of the best teams in Asia. And for the teams that have qualified for the fourth round of qualification, among the 6 teams I favor Saudi Arabia and Qatar who have the greatest chance of becoming group champions. Even though I am Indonesian, but seeing the last match against Japan I think Indonesia still has many problems that need to be solved. Even in the match against China I think Indonesia also failed to convert or create big opportunities. This shows that Indonesia still has to continue to improve to prepare for the fourth round of qualification.

[AprilioMP]

Barcelona's star and top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, got unhappy with the Poland national team manager's decision to strip him of the captain's badge and rage-quit playing for Poland (at least under the current manager, Michał Probierz). He is now getting a lot of heat from the Polish fans on social media.
Yesterday, Poland, without Lewandowski, lost 2-1 to Finland, but it's not like they were doing much better with him on board. Poland is currently 3rd in the Group G table of the World Cup qualifiers. Their next game is against the Netherlands, so they won't be a favourite.

With 158 caps for the Poland national team and 84 goals to his name, the current Poland coach should appreciate Lewandowski's contribution by not stripping him of the captain's badge.
On the other hand, Lewandowski also does not need to make a decision to quit the Poland squad under Probierz's coaching as Lewandowski should see the other side that is more important for his career and his country without having to behave like that. Both should be wise.

[Uruhara]

With 158 caps for the Poland national team and 84 goals to his name, the current Poland coach should appreciate Lewandowski's contribution by not stripping him of the captain's badge.
On the other hand, Lewandowski also does not need to make a decision to quit the Poland squad under Probierz's coaching as Lewandowski should see the other side that is more important for his career and his country without having to behave like that. Both should be wise.

Although I understand how Lewandowski feels on this issue. but yeah, he should still think about his love for the Polish national team and keep playing. But I also really don't understand why there should be a removal of the captain's badge from Lewandowski. because in my opinion, currently Lewandowski is the most suitable to be captain of the Polish national team. And Lewandowski should get respect from the current coach by continuing to make Lewandowski the captain of the Polish national team.

The news that is no less surprising is Michal Probierz, has reportedly also resigned as coach.¹ And I think in the end this dispute made the Polish national team the victim and disadvantaged.

----------------
Reference:
1. https://mediaindonesia.com/sepak-bola/781779/pelatih-timnas-polandia-mengundurkan-diri-setelah-berselisih-dengan-lewandowski

[babo]

I'm Italian and trust me, I have no hopes that we can qualify directly to the World Cup: Norway already scored a ton of goals, beat us 3-0, and already won away against Israel and Estonia, even if we beat them at home and win all the other matches we should score so many goals that is difficult to believe it: Italy are good defending, not scoring goals, we beat Moldova 2-0 at home, come on, that should have been a match to win with a 4-5 goal difference...

whoever the coach is among other things, it's not a question of coach
it's a team thing, we don't have a team in practice
we don't have any strong players of note... we're really at rock bottom

but that's okay, the more slaps we get, the more they realize that something is wrong

I hope Italy stays out of another world cup, the 4th in a row
so that white-collar workers pressured by failures take a step back

[Volgastallion]

I'm Italian and trust me, I have no hopes that we can qualify directly to the World Cup: Norway already scored a ton of goals, beat us 3-0, and already won away against Israel and Estonia, even if we beat them at home and win all the other matches we should score so many goals that is difficult to believe it: Italy are good defending, not scoring goals, we beat Moldova 2-0 at home, come on, that should have been a match to win with a 4-5 goal difference...

whoever the coach is among other things, it's not a question of coach
it's a team thing, we don't have a team in practice
we don't have any strong players of note... we're really at rock bottom

but that's okay, the more slaps we get, the more they realize that something is wrong

I hope Italy stays out of another world cup, the 4th in a row
so that white-collar workers pressured by failures take a step back

Direct qualify for Italy is literally nearby to imposible or nearby to a miracle sadly, i really hope to see Italy in the next world cup, is so much not having them with, 4 World Cups titles and out again in consecutive worl cups, i think is gonna be the first time in history a team with more than 1 world cup is out on  3 consecutive world cups. Is so much.