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

[KTChampions]

Are you constantly posting this to troll? The superiority of the European region is undeniable. First comes Europe and then a few floors below the rest of the regions. Look at the statistics for probably any period (adequate and not "50 years ago") and you will see that Europe dominates. This is a statistical fact and not a matter of personal preference.

The two strongest teams in Qatar 2022 were Argentina and Brazil. No one will deny that. All the other teams (including European teams such as France and Spain) would rank much below them. I agree that France managed to reach the finals, but they were lucky to avoid good opponents during the knockout phase. And one more thing. European teams perform well only when the tournaments are staged in Europe. This time the tournament was being held in Qatar, and teams such as Germany and Belgium had a horrible run.

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

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[rahmad2nd]

Argentina is definitely strongest of all but this time Brazil were really unlucky as they were knocked out by Croatia in quarter-finals in penalty shootout. 

So, according to you, Brazil was unlucky for losing in a semi-final penalty shootout, but at the same time, Argentina is the strongest for winning the final, also in a penalty shootout? That's absurd!

Talking about the past Qatar world cup. the wind of fortune blows strong for Argentina. not infrequently, in every game Argentina always gets a penalty. in fact, Argentina does not have a depth of players that are too good and shining, with the exception of Messi and D Maria. instead, Argentina lost far when referring based on the depth of the team owned by France and England. it's just that, the Argentinian players have very solid teamwork plus a bit of luck and that's what brought them to be champions.

while Brazil, should have been in the world cup yesterday Brazil is a team that has privileges with its players. it's a shame, Tite prefers players he likes. whereas, there is a senior player who is better than Richarlison namely, Firmino. plus, playing players who are not at their best and one of them is Raphina, even though, Martinelli is very reliable. but, that's football. that a good team in terms of player depth, the talents of each individual, especially skills, may not necessarily be able to win a championship.

So, in the 2026 world cup later. we don't have any idea yet, who will be the favorites to become the champion candidate.

[shogun47]

Are you constantly posting this to troll? The superiority of the European region is undeniable. First comes Europe and then a few floors below the rest of the regions. Look at the statistics for probably any period (adequate and not "50 years ago") and you will see that Europe dominates. This is a statistical fact and not a matter of personal preference.

The two strongest teams in Qatar 2022 were Argentina and Brazil. No one will deny that. All the other teams (including European teams such as France and Spain) would rank much below them. I agree that France managed to reach the finals, but they were lucky to avoid good opponents during the knockout phase. And one more thing. European teams perform well only when the tournaments are staged in Europe. This time the tournament was being held in Qatar, and teams such as Germany and Belgium had a horrible run.

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

Argentina isn't any stronger than France. But generally speaking, I would say that it is more or less even when you look at the total World Cup titles won between the two associations. It is 12 for UEFA and 10 for CONMEBOL. That's not really indicating any statistically significant advantages of one association over the other considering the full history. You could argue though that recently, like the 20 years before the Qatar World Cup, Europe pretty heavily dominated the World Cups. in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 there was just one single CONMEBOL team reaching the final (which was Argentina in 2014 against Germany). But to be fair the 2014 final could have gone either way as much as the 2022 final could have gone either way.

I would say that the history is even too short to actually draw some serious conclusions when it comes to World Cup winners. Five finals since 1994 ended with additional extra time three of which ended in a penalty shootout. I think that it's usually not the case that there is one overwhelming favorite. I guess nobody expected Argentina to win this World Cup after starting with a loss against Saudi Arabia!

[KTChampions]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

Argentina isn't any stronger than France. But generally speaking, I would say that it is more or less even when you look at the total World Cup titles won between the two associations. It is 12 for UEFA and 10 for CONMEBOL. That's not really indicating any statistically significant advantages of one association over the other considering the full history. You could argue though that recently, like the 20 years before the Qatar World Cup, Europe pretty heavily dominated the World Cups. in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 there was just one single CONMEBOL team reaching the final (which was Argentina in 2014 against Germany). But to be fair the 2014 final could have gone either way as much as the 2022 final could have gone either way.

I would say that the history is even too short to actually draw some serious conclusions when it comes to World Cup winners. Five finals since 1994 ended with additional extra time three of which ended in a penalty shootout. I think that it's usually not the case that there is one overwhelming favorite. I guess nobody expected Argentina to win this World Cup after starting with a loss against Saudi Arabia!

Friend  12 vs 10 titles?
12+10=22
22x4=88
Do you want to discuss a period of 88 years? 
I think the easiest thing is to take the last 5 championships (20 years is one or two generations at most) and see how many teams from Europe were in the top three and how many from COMNEBOL. I have a hunch that we won't see any superiority of COMNEBOL that supposedly should be there (since they're stronger lol).
Little hint for Sithara007: 13 places for Europe and 2 for COMNEBOL.

As i say:
1.Europe
2...
3...
4...
5...all others

[shogun47]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

Argentina isn't any stronger than France. But generally speaking, I would say that it is more or less even when you look at the total World Cup titles won between the two associations. It is 12 for UEFA and 10 for CONMEBOL. That's not really indicating any statistically significant advantages of one association over the other considering the full history. You could argue though that recently, like the 20 years before the Qatar World Cup, Europe pretty heavily dominated the World Cups. in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 there was just one single CONMEBOL team reaching the final (which was Argentina in 2014 against Germany). But to be fair the 2014 final could have gone either way as much as the 2022 final could have gone either way.

I would say that the history is even too short to actually draw some serious conclusions when it comes to World Cup winners. Five finals since 1994 ended with additional extra time three of which ended in a penalty shootout. I think that it's usually not the case that there is one overwhelming favorite. I guess nobody expected Argentina to win this World Cup after starting with a loss against Saudi Arabia!

Friend  12 vs 10 titles?
12+10=22
22x4=88
Do you want to discuss a period of 88 years? 
I think the easiest thing is to take the last 5 championships (20 years is one or two generations at most) and see how many teams from Europe were in the top three and how many from COMNEBOL. I have a hunch that we won't see any superiority of COMNEBOL that supposedly should be there (since they're stronger lol).
Little hint for Sithara007: 13 places for Europe and 2 for COMNEBOL.

As i say:
1.Europe
2...
3...
4...
5...all others

The bolded part of you quoting me hopefully sufficiently summarizes what you then put into words again. Actually, my part points the dominance even more out than your post as 1 : 8 is 12.5% for CONMEBOL while 2 : 13 is 15.4% for CONMEBOL.

Still I think that the variance is still quite huge. Now it's true that Europe is dominant, but at times the dominant number of Europe having 29 appearances in the final doesn't sometimes quite reflect how close many of the games actually were. In the semi finals of 2006, who would actually blindly ever guess that Brazil faced Turkey and Germany faced South Korea and both games were decided by a single goal.

I think that in soccer there is sometimes more variance in the game than in tennis, for example. But this is a discussion that could go on forever.

As far as the statistics currently go, you are right in so far as if someone had to bet his or her life on the World Cup winner coming either from CONMEBOL or UEFA, one should of course bet on UEFA. But if it's all about a single team, lots of people would have said "France" last year and would have lost, even more so if they had the choice to choose between Argentina and France after the first group stage game!

[Theones]

I think Ronaldo being in this one would be very very weird. Dude is already 37-38 years old, meaning by the time we are in 2026, that would make him at least 40, maybe 41 I don't know when it is. So that means he would be much worse than he is right now, and we have seen him not be that great this year already, so the fact that he could play on the next one would be insane, he would be much worse and not worth it at all.

I think it's quite important to remember that the best thing to do would be just making sure that he would be not hurting the team. You could end up with something much better if he was called but not played, it would be like a veteran legend out there helping the players psychologically at the very best case, but not playing.

Even in this age he is far stronger than most of the player.
He is a diamond and a legend and he wont go off the people mind for long.

[Cryptock]

Are you constantly posting this to troll? The superiority of the European region is undeniable. First comes Europe and then a few floors below the rest of the regions. Look at the statistics for probably any period (adequate and not "50 years ago") and you will see that Europe dominates. This is a statistical fact and not a matter of personal preference.

The two strongest teams in Qatar 2022 were Argentina and Brazil. No one will deny that. All the other teams (including European teams such as France and Spain) would rank much below them. I agree that France managed to reach the finals, but they were lucky to avoid good opponents during the knockout phase. And one more thing. European teams perform well only when the tournaments are staged in Europe. This time the tournament was being held in Qatar, and teams such as Germany and Belgium had a horrible run.

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

I think everyone has their opinion and we must respect them.
Brazil was a strong team - I couldn't get Neymar off my mind for days when they lost to Croatia -after I saw him crying

[alegotardo]

The two strongest teams in Qatar 2022 were Argentina and Brazil. No one will deny that. All the other teams (including European teams such as France and Spain) would rank much below them. I agree that France managed to reach the finals, but they were lucky to avoid good opponents during the knockout phase. And one more thing. European teams perform well only when the tournaments are staged in Europe. This time the tournament was being held in Qatar, and teams such as Germany and Belgium had a horrible run.

I must agree with you and highlight another very important factor...
Do teams in Europe have only European players in their squad? What continents do your players come from?
Argentina and Brazil certainly contribute a lot to these numbers, Brazil for example is the country that most exports players to the world and most of them are playing in European teams.

So, with that I can support your statement that European teams are only good when they play at home, because when they go to play the FIFA World Cup, they have many embezzlements, as most of their good players return to their home teams.

[nullama]

~snip~
I must agree with you and highlight another very important factor...
Do teams in Europe have only European players in their squad? What continents do your players come from?
Argentina and Brazil certainly contribute a lot to these numbers, Brazil for example is the country that most exports players to the world and most of them are playing in European teams.

So, with that I can support your statement that European teams are only good when they play at home, because when they go to play the FIFA World Cup, they have many embezzlements, as most of their good players return to their home teams.

Well, the world is getting a bit more mixed these days. For example, in France you have Mbappe, who was born in Paris, France, but his genetics come from his parents. His father is from Cameroon, and his mother from Algeria.

There are many examples like this. I think there is more migration in Europe than in South America though, so that would mean that there are more mixed players in Europe, probably ending up with better players.

[Hispo]

-snip-

Well, the world is getting a bit more mixed these days. For example, in France you have Mbappe, who was born in Paris, France, but his genetics come from his parents. His father is from Cameroon, and his mother from Algeria.

There are many examples like this. I think there is more migration in Europe than in South America though, so that would mean that there are more mixed players in Europe, probably ending up with better players.

That reminds me back during the celebration of Argentina victory, some people started to make and share memes on Twitter comparing the skin color of Argentina's team and France's team, highlighting the fact one was a South American team and the other one an European team.

There are truly "interesting" people out there on the internet.

[Sithara007]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

I guess you didn't watched the final match between Argentina and France. For the initial 80 minutes, France was nowhere in the picture and Argentina had ball possession of 70% plus. With just 10 minutes to go towards the end of regular time, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made the big mistake of substituting Ángel Di María with Marcos Acuña. This allowed France to score their first goal in 80th minute and then again in 81st minute. By the end of 120 minutes, score was 3-3, but France had scored two out of that goals through penalty kicks.

The last 10 minutes and then the extra time performance saved France from complete humiliation. But it was clear that Argentina was the better team by a long distance. Since you are talking about stats, check these:

Total shots: ARG 20, FRA 10
Shots on target: ARG 10, FRA 5
Saves: ARG 2, FRA 7

[bitgov]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

I guess you didn't watched the final match between Argentina and France. For the initial 80 minutes, France was nowhere in the picture and Argentina had ball possession of 70% plus. With just 10 minutes to go towards the end of regular time, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made the big mistake of substituting Ángel Di María with Marcos Acuña. This allowed France to score their first goal in 80th minute and then again in 81st minute. By the end of 120 minutes, score was 3-3, but France had scored two out of that goals through penalty kicks.

The last 10 minutes and then the extra time performance saved France from complete humiliation. But it was clear that Argentina was the better team by a long distance. Since you are talking about stats, check these:

Total shots: ARG 20, FRA 10
Shots on target: ARG 10, FRA 5
Saves: ARG 2, FRA 7

Messi's current interview suggests he may not play in the next World Cup. In fact, this year's World Cup was organized historically. And witnessing this historic event, Messi's Argentina made history and secured the World Cup. Lionel Messi is now complete in all aspects.

[Daniel91]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

I guess you didn't watched the final match between Argentina and France. For the initial 80 minutes, France was nowhere in the picture and Argentina had ball possession of 70% plus. With just 10 minutes to go towards the end of regular time, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made the big mistake of substituting Ángel Di María with Marcos Acuña. This allowed France to score their first goal in 80th minute and then again in 81st minute. By the end of 120 minutes, score was 3-3, but France had scored two out of that goals through penalty kicks.

The last 10 minutes and then the extra time performance saved France from complete humiliation. But it was clear that Argentina was the better team by a long distance. Since you are talking about stats, check these:

Total shots: ARG 20, FRA 10
Shots on target: ARG 10, FRA 5
Saves: ARG 2, FRA 7

I have to agree with you that Argentina showed the most during the entire world cup and in the end deservedly became the world champion.
They were dominant and better in every match, including the final match against the French, and Messi was definitely the best player at the World Cup and made the difference in every match.
Di María's early exit upset the balance of the game and helped the French get back into the match, based on the great individual quality of Mbappe but it was not enough.
Anyway, this was a great and very uncertain final but I agree that the better team won, the team that dominated most of the match.
I hope we will see Messi at the next World Cup, regardless of his age.

[knowngunman]

I have to agree with you that Argentina showed the most during the entire world cup and in the end deservedly became the world champion.
They were dominant and better in every match, including the final match against the French, and Messi was definitely the best player at the World Cup and made the difference in every match.
Di María's early exit upset the balance of the game and helped the French get back into the match, based on the great individual quality of Mbappe but it was not enough.
Anyway, this was a great and very uncertain final but I agree that the better team won, the team that dominated most of the match.
I hope we will see Messi at the next World Cup, regardless of his age.

Like it actually baffle me how people talk less about Morroco performance during the entire world cup and are hyping Argentina. Oh I guess because they are African. Argentina played well actually but the officiating favored them in most of their matches. France were just unlucky in that final match and Mbappe efforts was hampered by his team mates with their unprofessional kicks. By the way, football is all about luck and the lucky team won.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

You write incredible nonsense, sorry. Argentina is much stronger than France? That is why it could only win in the penalty shootout (twice in the tournament lol). And in any case, I'm not talking about single results - I suggest you look at more extensive statistics. Statistically, Europe is above all. And only then in the basement COMNEBOL is better than other regions, but this is only a struggle between the weak, nothing more.

I guess you didn't watched the final match between Argentina and France. For the initial 80 minutes, France was nowhere in the picture and Argentina had ball possession of 70% plus. With just 10 minutes to go towards the end of regular time, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made the big mistake of substituting Ángel Di María with Marcos Acuña. This allowed France to score their first goal in 80th minute and then again in 81st minute. By the end of 120 minutes, score was 3-3, but France had scored two out of that goals through penalty kicks.

The last 10 minutes and then the extra time performance saved France from complete humiliation. But it was clear that Argentina was the better team by a long distance. Since you are talking about stats, check these:

Total shots: ARG 20, FRA 10
Shots on target: ARG 10, FRA 5
Saves: ARG 2, FRA 7

I have to agree with you that Argentina showed the most during the entire world cup and in the end deservedly became the world champion.
They were dominant and better in every match, including the final match against the French, and Messi was definitely the best player at the World Cup and made the difference in every match.
Di María's early exit upset the balance of the game and helped the French get back into the match, based on the great individual quality of Mbappe but it was not enough.
Anyway, this was a great and very uncertain final but I agree that the better team won, the team that dominated most of the match.
I hope we will see Messi at the next World Cup, regardless of his age.

That's true in final of this world cup Argentina controlled the whole game they were totally over France and that's why they won the final .
France performance was not up to the mark according to final just Mbappe saved France from embarrassing defeat and scored all goals for its team.
Argentina performance brilliantly and so is Messi and they deserved this win .

[LUCKMCFLY]

Well.. 2026 is still three years away and therefore I don't want to make any predictions. Back in 2022, Mexico reported 31,127 violent homicides at a rate of 86 murders every day. Numbers are slightly down from the 2020 and 2019 figures (94 and 95 per day respectively). Juarez on the US border is regarded as the murder capital of Mexico, and that city saw 1,045 murders in 2022 (compared to 1,420 in 2021). Ciudad Juárez isn't that big. It has a population of just 1.5 million.

My concern is that crime rate in Mexico actually went up after 2016-2017 and even now it hasn't shown any hint of slowing down. Check the murder rates by year, in the image below:

I didn't know that, thanks for that data and information.

I don't have a huge information of Mexico, so I can't share something totally assertive.

Well, another event that happened in Brazil and that many people/tourists were afraid of was related to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. But at the end of it all, nothing extremely serious happened in this event, so this could also happen to Mexico.

As you said earlier, the world cup will only take place in 2026, so I believe that Mexico will have time to stop these types of events or at least reduce the rate of crime, homicides and others.

If the year 2026 arrives, and the level of crime/murders/corruption and others are high, I believe, FIFA will be able to reorganize the games, and the USA and Canada will continue with this event in 2026.

Well, what happens is that in South America these things are quite evident, but you don't have to go very far, in the USA, Europe, they are countries that have always had crime problems, the fact that these statistics are hardly shown is something else, In Mexico, what can be most evident is that there is a lot of the problem with the drug traffickers, it is the strongest because they represent a fairly developed force. But in every government, not only in Mexico, but also in the USA and Canada, security measures must be increased to ensure the tranquility and safety of fans from all over the world, it is a worldwide event, they cannot cope with things go wrong.

Argentina is definitely strongest of all but this time Brazil were really unlucky as they were knocked out by Croatia in quarter-finals in penalty shootout. 

So, according to you, Brazil was unlucky for losing in a semi-final penalty shootout, but at the same time, Argentina is the strongest for winning the final, also in a penalty shootout? That's absurd!

And Belgium didn't even made it to quarter-finals.

And Italy didn't even qualify for WC 2022. But that doesn't mean it's a weak team.

Many good teams who were able to perform well in the previous World Cup did not qualify for this World Cup. But it is expected that the rest of the teams will be well prepared for the next World Cup.

Football changes a lot, in Qatar we didn't have Italy or Sweden, but that doesn't mean that they won't qualify for the World Cup, between now and 2026 many things can happen, among them it is also known that they expanded the quotas so that more countries can go to the world, this is very good because we can see the debut of many countries, and therefore we can realize that countries have grown so much in soccer, everything is a process that is giving good As a result, there is nothing else to see JAPAN, they calculate that in a period of time they will always be the world champions, so these things are what have to be seen.

[rendravolt]

Messi's current interview suggests he may not play in the next World Cup. In fact, this year's World Cup was organized historically. And witnessing this historic event, Messi's Argentina made history and secured the World Cup. Lionel Messi is now complete in all aspects.

Lionel Messi is very satisfied with his achievements so far in football, he has won almost all competitions either in the league or in international competition with Argentina. So even if he retires later everyone will always remember the historical moment about him. But the 2022 world cup is the pinnacle of his career and with that I think he is done.

[Leviathan.007]

Messi's current interview suggests he may not play in the next World Cup. In fact, this year's World Cup was organized historically. And witnessing this historic event, Messi's Argentina made history and secured the World Cup. Lionel Messi is now complete in all aspects.

Lionel Messi is very satisfied with his achievements so far in football, he has won almost all competitions either in the league or in international competition with Argentina. So even if he retires later everyone will always remember the historical moment about him. But the 2022 world cup is the pinnacle of his career and with that I think he is done.

Right now we are in 2023 and the 2026 world cup starts in 4 years, which is far away, and Lionel Messi is 35 years old. He indeed got reach many achievements with many teams while playing for Argentina and the clubs he was paying there but playing at age of 39-38 in the world cup is not something many players can reach even the most professional players can't perform like the early years and mostly these players prefer to retire before everyone sees them playing for poor performance level compared to other times and I guess Lionel Messi is one these players.

[KTChampions]

Friend  12 vs 10 titles?
12+10=22
22x4=88
Do you want to discuss a period of 88 years? 
I think the easiest thing is to take the last 5 championships (20 years is one or two generations at most) and see how many teams from Europe were in the top three and how many from COMNEBOL. I have a hunch that we won't see any superiority of COMNEBOL that supposedly should be there (since they're stronger lol).
Little hint for Sithara007: 13 places for Europe and 2 for COMNEBOL.

As i say:
1.Europe
2...
3...
4...
5...all others

The bolded part of you quoting me hopefully sufficiently summarizes what you then put into words again. Actually, my part points the dominance even more out than your post as 1 : 8 is 12.5% for CONMEBOL while 2 : 13 is 15.4% for CONMEBOL.

Still I think that the variance is still quite huge. Now it's true that Europe is dominant, but at times the dominant number of Europe having 29 appearances in the final doesn't sometimes quite reflect how close many of the games actually were. In the semi finals of 2006, who would actually blindly ever guess that Brazil faced Turkey and Germany faced South Korea and both games were decided by a single goal.

I think that in soccer there is sometimes more variance in the game than in tennis, for example. But this is a discussion that could go on forever.

As far as the statistics currently go, you are right in so far as if someone had to bet his or her life on the World Cup winner coming either from CONMEBOL or UEFA, one should of course bet on UEFA. But if it's all about a single team, lots of people would have said "France" last year and would have lost, even more so if they had the choice to choose between Argentina and France after the first group stage game!

Yes, you are right, but we can say that one event is statistically insignificant and the more events we take into account, the more accurate the result. In any case, both your methodology and mine, and any other will show the undoubted dominance of Europe.

I think everyone has their opinion and we must respect them.
Brazil was a strong team - I couldn't get Neymar off my mind for days when they lost to Croatia -after I saw him crying

You can have any opinion, for example that the Earth is shaped like a suitcase or that COMNEBOL can be compared with Europe and conclude that COMNEBOL dominates, but since this contradicts the facts, then you will look ridiculous with such an opinion. Nothing personal   

~
Total shots: ARG 20, FRA 10
Shots on target: ARG 10, FRA 5
Saves: ARG 2, FRA 7

You pretty quickly went from boldly saying that COMNEBOL is the strongest federation to counting statistics in one match (which ended in a penalty shoot-out) ... Did something happen? 

[freedomgo]

Seems a long way away but it’ll likely fly by & we’ll be here before we know it. Too early to start predicting who will in it, Messi won’t be playing nor Ronaldo. So much can happen in football in that amount of time. The US actually have a good, young team. They could surprise a few people with home advantage.
France will be there, Mbappe should be in his peak, Spain have some real stars too.
I won’t make any solid predictions though.

You just said it yourself mate, it's still too premature to say anything towards the upcoming FIFA World Cup this 2026 and saying that Messi nor CR7 not playing is still a speculation as both superstars haven't hung their boots/cleats yet. Although, there's been a wide rumor already that CR7's last dance is in Euro 2024 but that will remain a mere speculation as of now because people are still believing that both superstar will still play in the FIFA as it will heavily boost their comrades confidence especially Messi as they are the defending champs.

From what I've heard outside this forum, it is widely believed that both Messi and Ronaldo won't be playing in the 2026 world cup because by then, both of them must have retired from football, I actually believed it, but then all the same, I still think you are right, non of them both have come out to make an official announcement that he is retiring at a certain time or year, so the current argument whether they wil play or not in the 2026 world cup is indeed all speculations currently, let see what happens going forward.

That's true and given that we're still in the year 2023, we are still quite away from the next World Cup that will happen in 2026 and both said superstars are now busy on their own career thus there's still a lot of things that will happen in the future as well. Let's just wait for their official announcement as arguing whether Messi and CR7 are retired by then is nonsense for now because even if there's a big rumor, only them can answer the big question.

That is normal that only them can answer this question but I doubt Cristiano will be able to play in the next World Cup,in the Euro Cup I know that this is highly possible because just 1.5 years from now it should be taking place and 1.5 years is not that big of a time to feel a radical change in the body of a super athlete like Cristiano.

For the World Cup though,in 2026 he should be well over 40 which makes it highly unlikely for him to be playing for the World Cup of 2026 for the Portugal team.Maybe Messi will be playing as he is a bit younger but also I have many doubts for him too.

I honestly had the same thought mate, but lately, I realized that maybe the can still play and be with their respective teams because even if they're not on the height of their prime anymore. Their experience and presence will somehow help the team because they are there supporting them as a player, not just a spectator that doesn't have any roles for the team. Especially Messi because aside from the fact that he is a bit younger than Ronaldo, he will gladly play with the team again as they are the defending champs.

How come i never knew that Ronaldo is older than Messi, and yet, Ronaldo looked younger while Messi looked older, ive always thought that Messi was older,  , how wrong i was..\

Anyways, if both of them are still going to play in the coming world cup, much shouldn't be expected from them since they are no longer as strong as they used to be, on a normal circumstance, they should just retire and let the younger players take over the field, because it will never be possible for them to play for ever, no matter how good they are, and their individual team should start to learn to play well with out Messi and Ronaldo in their midst, because, at some point, they will  have to play without this people, so why not start now?.

No worries mate honestly, I had the same impression too and I just figured it out late that CR7 was the older one and not Messi. Well, looks are quite deceiving as they say.

You got some point there, it's indeed fair for the whole team especially the younger ones to cover the lost ground because eventually, Messi and CR7 won't be with the team anymore. But we can't really deny that there are still a good reason why they must retain if they can, however, their minutes will be heavily reduced because it's not their era anymore. For CR7 though, I think he won't be around at that time already as I've just read an article that he and the Saudi Arabia will having a joint bid with the Greece and Egypt to host the next next WC. So, that comes with a lot of preparation.