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

[alegotardo]

Even before the World Cup football is there in Asian countries, but the importance and infrastructure available is very limited. In specific specific region of the country used to have good number of clubs and players. With the football world cup there is big awareness and people have known much about football. Once again the participation of Ronaldo into Saudi Arabia Pro League have made things even better and made people read about football in everyday news. Few days it was Ronaldo's contract pay that was the discussion everywhere. This is how things move, and it tempts even the unknown person to see who is Ronaldo.

I agree with you!

Football is a sport that moves a lot of money and Cristiano Ronaldo's move there will certainly raise the quality of football in that region as a whole.
The first step is already happening, which is the global media giving much more attention to a region hitherto ignored by many. mainly due to contracts closed with sponsors and broadcasting rights for the most disputed matches).

One thing "pulls on the other" and so that chain that started with a single player keeps feeding and growing in a way that reaches many people.

Cristiano may not have achieved the career he wanted in Europe, but he must surely be satisfied with what he is managing to do in Saudi Arabia.

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[Sithara007]

In the next World Cup I have high hopes of seeing some countries that have never been to the World Cup, it is also good taste that the quotas of the countries that will participate will be increased, this means that we will have much more time enjoying great football, that means that there will be more emotions, and if the World Cup lasts longer, it means that there will be more opportunity to know much more about the host countries, this refers to their customs, it will also generate more business and it will translate into great tourism for the countries , which will cause the economy of those countries to have large income and achieve more progress.

Yes.. this is what excites me the most. Next time we are going to witness the participation from a number of countries, who will be playing in the world cup for the first time ever. Some of the probable names are Iraq, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Finland, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Look at the map below, and you can find huge areas in Asia and Africa never getting represented in the FIFA World Cup. Finally the scenario is going to change:

[slapper]

But different from Japanese football, South Korea, they have a much better system than other Asian. even if the two countries are serious about developing their football. I believe, Japan and South Korea can be much better than what they are currently showing. So, speaking of the 2026 world cup. several Asian teams that will participate in the world cup rounds later, will only be entertainment teams. I do not intend to belittle, but armed with what I know. that's the truth. however, the world cup still has a long time lag, hopefully teams from Asia will want to build up their football so that it can grow even more.

Talking about Japan and South Korea, they are more organized in terms of developing sports such as football and the large number of players who also compete in European leagues makes their national players have more experience and that is quite helpful when they will compete in the World Cup later. , and agree with you that there will be many Asian countries that will only be cheerers during the World Cup later but maybe it will be different if they start to improve from now on even though the results will not be immediately visible but at least in the next few World Cups there will be more Asian countries which provides strong resistance for strong teams such as from European and American countries.

Actually I really hope, the development of football in Asia has increased. at least, being able to compete with the two Asian countries which always take part in the world cup stage, such as Japan and South Korea for example. but unfortunately, most of the development of football in other Asian countries has not changed much. especially, ASEAN countries whose football development is very slow. Also, the bad system is dilapidated as well as weak regulation, which makes the development of football in several other Asian countries not stand out.

Spoke Japanese and South Korean squads. these two countries, have very high discipline, dedication, work ethic, whatever the field, including football. therefore, if their government prioritizes the development of their football. I am quite optimistic, Japan and South Korea can compete with European and Latin American countries, regardless of the many Japanese and South Korean players who play in European clubs.

So, in the 2026 world cup later. only the two teams from this country seem to be able to put up a pretty good fight, compared to other teams from Asia who will take part in the stage at the world cup championship later.

It is with regret that I have to point out the excessive optimism in your viewpoint. While Japan and South Korea have made headway in football, they still trail behind European and Latin American nations by a wide margin. Even if they do manage to catch up, it will take several years, if not decades. And to be frank, I doubt that ASEAN countries can ever compete at the global level.

Football is not our strong suit; rather, we excel in unique areas such as our cuisine, culture, and hospitality. Instead of trying to imitate the West, we should concentrate on developing our inherent strengths. Why pour millions of dollars into football when we can invest in education, healthcare, and infrastructure? Such investments will help raise the quality of life for our people and contribute to our countries' economic growth.

[armanda90]

FIFA World Cup 2026 have added participants from 32 become 48 national team and I wish my country will participants in this FIFA World Cup because I am expected preparing all needed away to United State. Looking on opportunities, Asian national team more competitive and have fewest spot on FIFA World Cup and seems with higher level upgrade after qualifying to Asian Cup 2023 have bigger hope my national team can play in first World Cup.

Indonesian national team still left from bigger team with Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia but with manager have experienced in World Cup 2010 with South Korea I believe he has chance bring my national team to FIFA World Cup 2026.

[nullama]

~snip~
It's because the sport for most asian are like about physical and contact sports. Now after the recent world cup, it has opened a lot of eyes that Asian's aren't just limited for those type of sports.

But it has encouraged a lot to get into Football and that's why there will be more aspiring great football players that we might see in the next decade coming from this continent.

Japan has been playing at a high level for a long time, so I don't really this it's something like that.

It might be something different, I don't know, probably cultural, they might enjoy other sports, etc.

[Leviathan.007]

FIFA World Cup 2026 have added participants from 32 become 48 national team and I wish my country will participants in this FIFA World Cup because I am expected preparing all needed away to United State. Looking on opportunities, Asian national team more competitive and have fewest spot on FIFA World Cup and seems with higher level upgrade after qualifying to Asian Cup 2023 have bigger hope my national team can play in first World Cup.

Indonesian national team still left from bigger team with Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia but with manager have experienced in World Cup 2010 with South Korea I believe he has chance bring my national team to FIFA World Cup 2026.

To be honest, I do not agree with increasing the teams of the world cup because if they that and increase the number of teams, there will be more weak teams in the role cup and this is lower the level of the world cup in 2026 while this one is the most important tournament in football any team can proud to be part of it and 48 teams a lot for a world cup comparing to 32 teams it was before.

[Zlantann]

If countries that are less interested in football get a chance to participate in this tournament, interest in football will increase in those countries. I think this is a very correct point of view. I support this approach. In addition, the world cup organization held in Qatar showed us the success of the Asian and African teams. I look forward to seeing more teams from these continents. If the name of this organization is the World Cup, we should make it a real world game. If that happens, we will enjoy this tournament more.

This idea to increase the number of world cup participants would also have some financial benefits.The funds that most teams in developing nations would get from participating in the world cup can also be used to promote football in their home country. Some teams in developing nations are underfunded which might have contributed to their poor performance. Teams from Asia and Africa need funds to finance their national teams and local leagues. This will help to to promote football in the country and discovery of more quality player.

[rahmad2nd]

~snip~

Japan is probably the best one at the moment. South Korea does have a great team as well though.

But yeah, in general the Asian countries don't really shine in the football arena. Not sure why, maybe they lack a bit of passion for it?

They do seem to have been excellent in other areas so I'm thinking maybe they are not that interested in football.

No, the enthusiasm for football in Asia is very high, it's just that there are many problems that occur in federations in Asian countries. Also, a bad system, weak regulations and many other factors make it difficult for Asia to develop in its football world. for Japan and South Korea, they have been very organized. they have good infrastructure, have good local coaches, also, many of the players play in European clubs.

Meanwhile, for Middle East countries. now they are starting to focus on the development of football, it has been proven that Qatar can break the dominance of Japan which has always been a strong candidate to win the Asian Cup. and the weakest is ASEAN, the development of football in ASEAN countries is very far behind compared to other Asian countries. there are many factors, starting from the infrastructure, local trainers who are not of good quality, as well as several others that I have mentioned above. I hope, with the addition of the world cup quota slot. countries in Asia are competing to improve the development of their football so that it is far more developed.

[KTChampions]

To be honest, I do not agree with increasing the teams of the world cup because if they that and increase the number of teams, there will be more weak teams in the role cup and this is lower the level of the world cup in 2026 while this one is the most important tournament in football any team can proud to be part of it and 48 teams a lot for a world cup comparing to 32 teams it was before.

Yes, completely crazy idea. Even the previous format raised questions, as the World Cup groups on average were probably weaker than the groups in the European Championship, and now it will turn into complete nonsense and scrapped all historical statistics. Players from strong teams will be able to score 7-8 goals in the group stage and reach the top in couple of World Cups lol. And I see no reason to watch such "interesting" games before the playoffs.

[Leviathan.007]

To be honest, I do not agree with increasing the teams of the world cup because if they that and increase the number of teams, there will be more weak teams in the role cup and this is lower the level of the world cup in 2026 while this one is the most important tournament in football any team can proud to be part of it and 48 teams a lot for a world cup comparing to 32 teams it was before.

Yes, completely crazy idea. Even the previous format raised questions, as the World Cup groups on average were probably weaker than the groups in the European Championship, and now it will turn into complete nonsense and scrapped all historical statistics. Players from strong teams will be able to score 7-8 goals in the group stage and reach the top in couple of World Cups lol. And I see no reason to watch such "interesting" games before the playoffs.

Just Imagine a team like Brazil with strong forwards and an attacking style which is one of the top teams in the world faces a weak team with they will obviously win the game with a result like 10 or even more goals and this is not interesting at all for people to watch this game also it can have a negative effect in that team and this lower also having more teams can lower the level of the world cup and being a part of world cup can't be an honor anymore.

[Silberman]

If countries that are less interested in football get a chance to participate in this tournament, interest in football will increase in those countries. I think this is a very correct point of view. I support this approach. In addition, the world cup organization held in Qatar showed us the success of the Asian and African teams. I look forward to seeing more teams from these continents. If the name of this organization is the World Cup, we should make it a real world game. If that happens, we will enjoy this tournament more.

This idea to increase the number of world cup participants would also have some financial benefits.The funds that most teams in developing nations would get from participating in the world cup can also be used to promote football in their home country. Some teams in developing nations are underfunded which might have contributed to their poor performance. Teams from Asia and Africa need funds to finance their national teams and local leagues. This will help to to promote football in the country and discovery of more quality player.

There are several reasons for the increase on the number of teams being allowed to participate on the world cup, to begin with there are political reasons for this move, Infantino became the president of FIFA by promising federations more spots for the world cup, another reason is that this will increase the interest on the world cup as now more countries will participate in it, and finally with this the amount of money FIFA will earn from the world cup will increase as well.

[el kaka22]

I think more clubs will definitely make it a lot more interesting, and if anything like Morocco happens where a team nobody gave a chance ends up getting better than expected results and go further, that would be lovely to watch, it is always fun to see teams that are not so high on level end up being such great situations that would be good entertainment for us.

But, if they end up anything like Qatar, like join for the first time, lose all their games, and quickly go back home? Then in that case it would be pretty terrible and I wouldn't want something like that to happen for sure, it is going to be pretty difficult to watch in that case and very sad for them.

[KTChampions]

Yes, completely crazy idea. Even the previous format raised questions, as the World Cup groups on average were probably weaker than the groups in the European Championship, and now it will turn into complete nonsense and scrapped all historical statistics. Players from strong teams will be able to score 7-8 goals in the group stage and reach the top in couple of World Cups lol. And I see no reason to watch such "interesting" games before the playoffs.

Just Imagine a team like Brazil with strong forwards and an attacking style which is one of the top teams in the world faces a weak team with they will obviously win the game with a result like 10 or even more goals and this is not interesting at all for people to watch this game also it can have a negative effect in that team and this lower also having more teams can lower the level of the world cup and being a part of world cup can't be an honor anymore.

Even now I don't like the group stage and even now there are (or are possible) crazy results like Germany 8 - 0 Saudi Arabia when Klose (hahaha so that's how he became top scorer) scored a hat-trick. With an increase in the number of teams, such results will be many times more and footballers like Mbappe, greedy for goals, will set mind-blowing records. But who the hell needs such records and games?

[uneng]

I think more clubs will definitely make it a lot more interesting, and if anything like Morocco happens where a team nobody gave a chance ends up getting better than expected results and go further, that would be lovely to watch, it is always fun to see teams that are not so high on level end up being such great situations that would be good entertainment for us.

But, if they end up anything like Qatar, like join for the first time, lose all their games, and quickly go back home? Then in that case it would be pretty terrible and I wouldn't want something like that to happen for sure, it is going to be pretty difficult to watch in that case and very sad for them.

It's very nice to see when the underdog reaches further on the competition, on the opposite of what is firstly expected. It's very possible a team like Morocco shines on the next edition, creating a kind of tradition on the soccer niche from that moment on. We saw that in 2018 with Croatia, which also came pretty strong in 2022, and now let's see if Morocco will be also able to maintain the performance.

About hosts, unlike Qatar, USA and Mexico can pass the initial phase, or at least win few games without difficulties. However, I can't say the same about Canada, which had a very bad gameplay on the last edition, last year.

[gagux123]

Japan is probably the best one at the moment. South Korea does have a great team as well though.

But yeah, in general the Asian countries don't really shine in the football arena. Not sure why, maybe they lack a bit of passion for it?

They do seem to have been excellent in other areas so I'm thinking maybe they are not that interested in football.

I admit this is an interesting question...

But honestly, I don't know, maybe that happens because part of the Asian population is not a big fan of football and it's not a very widespread and practiced sport there.

It is not a habit or a tradition of the Asian people, unlike Brazil, that when a large part of the population is born, they already receive a soccer ball as a gift or some kind of uniform from a Brazilian team or even, they already begin to have contact with football at the beginning of school life.

Of course, what I said is just a presumption on my part, but I believe that this may be or may have happened to some Asian countries.

[romero121]

Japan is probably the best one at the moment. South Korea does have a great team as well though.

But yeah, in general the Asian countries don't really shine in the football arena. Not sure why, maybe they lack a bit of passion for it?

They do seem to have been excellent in other areas so I'm thinking maybe they are not that interested in football.

I admit this is an interesting question...

But honestly, I don't know, maybe that happens because part of the Asian population is not a big fan of football and it's not a very widespread and practiced sport there.

It is not a habit or a tradition of the Asian people, unlike Brazil, that when a large part of the population is born, they already receive a soccer ball as a gift or some kind of uniform from a Brazilian team or even, they already begin to have contact with football at the beginning of school life.

Of course, what I said is just a presumption on my part, but I believe that this may be or may have happened to some Asian countries.

From the beginning maybe it got fixed as the westerners game. Maybe if some other country have ruled over the Asian countries in the past football might've gained more popularity. Most of the nations were under the British rule and the officers during those days used to spend time on staged fights and cricket. For that reason cricket have got good support from certain part of the continent and some part prioritise athletes. Slowly the transition could happen as more people have begun to give importance to football.

[nullama]

~snip~
From the beginning maybe it got fixed as the westerners game. Maybe if some other country have ruled over the Asian countries in the past football might've gained more popularity. Most of the nations were under the British rule and the officers during those days used to spend time on staged fights and cricket. For that reason cricket have got good support from certain part of the continent and some part prioritise athletes. Slowly the transition could happen as more people have begun to give importance to football.

Interesting perspective.

Most initial countries that participated were either European countries or former colonies of European countries (Brazil-Portugal, Uruguay and Argentina-Spain, etc)

[Sithara007]

Interesting perspective.

Most initial countries that participated were either European countries or former colonies of European countries (Brazil-Portugal, Uruguay and Argentina-Spain, etc)

At one point, 90% of the world was ruled by European powers. Japan was the only major non-European colonial power, and their domain was limited to Korea, Taiwan, Micronesia.etc. That said, football was never considered as a colonial sport. It was not spread through colonization, unlike the case with cricket. The fact that Latin American countries are strong in football has to do more with the demographics rather than colonial history.

A majority of the population in Argentina and Uruguay are descended from Italy, where football is extremely popular. Spain as the colonial power never contributed much to the popularity of football in these countries. In case of Brazil, there is a huge Italian population, but there is also a mixed race population comprised of former slaves. Football is very popular across these two segments. Half of Brazilian population is white, but apart from the Italians, you hardly see any whites being represented in the Brazilian national team.

Spain was the main colonial power in Latin America. They ruled over all the countries apart from Brazil and Guiana. But if their influence was the sole metric for popularity of football, then Mexico and Peru should be as strong in football as Argentina. That is not the case.

[Naficopa]

Interesting perspective.

Most initial countries that participated were either European countries or former colonies of European countries (Brazil-Portugal, Uruguay and Argentina-Spain, etc)

At one point, 90% of the world was ruled by European powers. Japan was the only major non-European colonial power, and their domain was limited to Korea, Taiwan, Micronesia.etc. That said, football was never considered as a colonial sport. It was not spread through colonization, unlike the case with cricket. The fact that Latin American countries are strong in football has to do more with the demographics rather than colonial history.

A majority of the population in Argentina and Uruguay are descended from Italy, where football is extremely popular. Spain as the colonial power never contributed much to the popularity of football in these countries. In case of Brazil, there is a huge Italian population, but there is also a mixed race population comprised of former slaves. Football is very popular across these two segments. Half of Brazilian population is white, but apart from the Italians, you hardly see any whites being represented in the Brazilian national team.

Spain was the main colonial power in Latin America. They ruled over all the countries apart from Brazil and Guiana. But if their influence was the sole metric for popularity of football, then Mexico and Peru should be as strong in football as Argentina. That is not the case.

I think the Spain football team is the best but the team does not have a good finisher. If there was an attacking finisher in the Spain team, no one would be able to cope with the team. Because Spain's football style is completely different.

[gagux123]

From the beginning maybe it got fixed as the westerners game. Maybe if some other country have ruled over the Asian countries in the past football might've gained more popularity. Most of the nations were under the British rule and the officers during those days used to spend time on staged fights and cricket. For that reason cricket have got good support from certain part of the continent and some part prioritise athletes. Slowly the transition could happen as more people have begun to give importance to football.

I think what you said is plausible.
In general, I believe that one of the reasons is the traditions that each country has, I have no doubt that this is one of the important factors about it.

On the other hand, Asian countries have an excellent performance during the Olympics, and countries in which "only" football is seen with other eyes, for example Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and others, have a poor performance during the Olympics. .