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

[BitcoinAccepted]

Will we see both Ronaldo and Messi at the World Cup? There is a good chance that Messi will be there at the World Cup. He wants to continue as long as possible and is, after all, also a few years younger than Ronaldo. I have confidence in that. Ronaldo makes enough playing minutes every week in Saudi Arabia, but the level of course leaves much to be desired. Playing alone is not enough, it must also be at an acceptable level. Belgium in particular seems to be the big loser of recent years. Perhaps the best Belgian team ever, but no title won and probably won't come in the coming years. Germany also has a few things to put right after the deception at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But they will aim the next arrows at the European Championship 2024, which they can organize themselves.

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[bitgolden]

I think that he is the best player for France and it was thanks to him that France got to the penalties in the final against Argentina this last world cup as without him France would have probably not even a shot on goal on that game.Things have changed now and despite the old players being usually captains now there is a new trend which the captain usually becomes the best player of the team and I think France has made the right decision to appoint Mbappe as their captain.He surely is one of the most talented players in the world and he fully deserve this title despite his young age.

Yeah. That's mbappes team. It has been since he won that first world cup for the France national team. I’m not surprised they gave it to him. I remember what he did, how he displayed a leadership quality in the dressing room during the half time when France was loosing at the just concluded world Cup. Also looking at longevity, I think Mbappe as the captain has a lengthy time to play than the others so it’s a good reason to give him the Armband.

I agree that it was already him that was the captain in theory, but it wasn't happening just yet due to his age. By 2026 dude will be 25+ years old, and he could become the captain during that time, he is going to be captain moving forward from now of course but the main idea is that he should be ready for 2026 to pick up that title. He was already there, he was their best player and he was the one who saved them so many times in a row as well, so there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The only difference is that he will be officially titled the captain, and he will have the armband but spiritually he was their captain for a few years already.

[Sithara007]

Will we see both Ronaldo and Messi at the World Cup? There is a good chance that Messi will be there at the World Cup. He wants to continue as long as possible and is, after all, also a few years younger than Ronaldo. I have confidence in that. Ronaldo makes enough playing minutes every week in Saudi Arabia, but the level of course leaves much to be desired. Playing alone is not enough, it must also be at an acceptable level. Belgium in particular seems to be the big loser of recent years. Perhaps the best Belgian team ever, but no title won and probably won't come in the coming years. Germany also has a few things to put right after the deception at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But they will aim the next arrows at the European Championship 2024, which they can organize themselves.

What makes you think that Messi want to play as long as possible? There is nothing left for him to achieve, as he has won all the major FIFA tournaments, such as World Cup and Copa America. In case of Ronaldo, I am 99% sure that he won't be playing in 2026, as for all practical purposes he has moved to Saudi Arabia and distanced himself from the Portuguese national team. I am surprised by your comments about Belgium BTW. I always considered them as an over-rated team, heavily dependent on Romelu Lukaku. Qatar 2022 showed them their right place.

[Getmon]

Will we see both Ronaldo and Messi at the World Cup? There is a good chance that Messi will be there at the World Cup. He wants to continue as long as possible and is, after all, also a few years younger than Ronaldo. I have confidence in that. Ronaldo makes enough playing minutes every week in Saudi Arabia, but the level of course leaves much to be desired. Playing alone is not enough, it must also be at an acceptable level. Belgium in particular seems to be the big loser of recent years. Perhaps the best Belgian team ever, but no title won and probably won't come in the coming years. Germany also has a few things to put right after the deception at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But they will aim the next arrows at the European Championship 2024, which they can organize themselves.

What makes you think that Messi want to play as long as possible? There is nothing left for him to achieve, as he has won all the major FIFA tournaments, such as World Cup and Copa America. In case of Ronaldo, I am 99% sure that he won't be playing in 2026, as for all practical purposes he has moved to Saudi Arabia and distanced himself from the Portuguese national team. I am surprised by your comments about Belgium BTW. I always considered them as an over-rated team, heavily dependent on Romelu Lukaku. Qatar 2022 showed them their right place.

Many talked about his last World Cup appearance before it started, but when Argentina won, that changed. Many media outlets reported that Messi wants Argentina to win the World Cup again, indicating that he would return if given the chance. Ronaldo is not only playing in a low level league; I also do not think he will be good enough to compete at the next World Cup. However, Ronaldo can join the Portuguese national team prior to the next World Cup because he can be a mentor and still possesses decent skills. Despite failing to advance past the group stage of the World Cup, Belgium remains in fourth place, behind Brazil, Argentina, and France. I have no idea how FIFA accumulates points. Anyhow, Belgium can continue to rely on Lukaku because he is younger than Messi and Ronaldo.

[Strongkored]

Germany also has a few things to put right after the deception at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But they will aim the next arrows at the European Championship 2024, which they can organize themselves.

Germany seemed to repeat the same pattern every time they won the World Cup so in the next event it became so weak, 1990 they won and in the next event they were so bad even when as hosts, they only appeared to win again in Brazil and that was when Germany was filled with great young players, the worst thing is they failed in the group stage in Qatar this is quite embarrassing for a team like Germany's.
At the European Cup later it will be a sign of whether Germany can get better results in the World Cup match 2026, if they as hosts of the European Cup fail to produce good results then it is likely that in the next world cup they will also still struggle especially when competition will tighter this time because the greater number of participants will open up opportunities for other good teams to qualify.

[shogun47]

Germany also has a few things to put right after the deception at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But they will aim the next arrows at the European Championship 2024, which they can organize themselves.

Germany seemed to repeat the same pattern every time they won the World Cup so in the next event it became so weak, 1990 they won and in the next event they were so bad even when as hosts, they only appeared to win again in Brazil and that was when Germany was filled with great young players, the worst thing is they failed in the group stage in Qatar this is quite embarrassing for a team like Germany's.
At the European Cup later it will be a sign of whether Germany can get better results in the World Cup match 2026, if they as hosts of the European Cup fail to produce good results then it is likely that in the next world cup they will also still struggle especially when competition will tighter this time because the greater number of participants will open up opportunities for other good teams to qualify.

Sometimes it looks like they lack a striker, a really strong one who can decide a game on his own. They play alright, but then don't have any solutions as soon as they get closer to the opponents' box. On some days guys like Musiala or Sane do well (Musiala actually plays always well as the only player), and sometimes they can't break through and it looks even weak I would say.

This time around they would still have the time until 2026 to find someone to fill that gap. Perhaps it isn't the solution for every game or every opponent and more creativity is better, but if you don't have a real striker at all it is problematic. They had Fullkrug for the last World Cup, but only let him play a couple of minutes here and there.

It's going to be exciting to see what changes they are about to make. They do have a great team but lack some important elements on some positions and for certain situations in a game.

[Wakate]

The passion for football never goes down, but the fitness is the one that makes things work in favour of his passion. These players will keep up the fitness level high, but age really matters when the young players enter. Ronaldo can make tricks and his technical games, but to stand level to the young ones into the team will be hard for him. This is just an assumption, we don't know how young is his mind for the upcoming World Cup. As said playing for the clubs is different from playing for the nation. The legendary ones preparing the young ones for the world cup will be more interesting than their participation.

Nowadays age is mostly a psychological thing. Medical technology has advanced so much, and trainers are able to keep players away from wear and tear for extended durations. I have watched Ronaldo playing for Al Nassr in the Saudi Professional League recently. At no point I got an impression that he is getting aged. But the Portugal national team coach, as well as those in Manchester United used this excuse to mistreat him. In the end, he got fed up and decided to pack his bags and move to somewhere he is valued more.

It's their loss and not Ronaldo's but if we look at it closely, Portugal also got themselves a vacancy to occupy another good and young player. I know Ronaldo can still make a lot of difference despite his age but in the long run, his career is already coming to an end and Al Nassr coincidentally gave him a chance to lead his own team with a good paycheck. Apart from that, Saudi with Greece and Egypt is looking forward to host the 2030 World Cup and it seems that Ronaldo will be a part of that, not for a player position but for something else.

We can just agree that Ronaldo with not be able to play the next world cup competition that is coming up soon because of his age and strength to play football. Ronaldo still have the zeal to keep playing football and I like him for that. He is such an enthusiastic player that would not mind going for more training to make sure that he get fit to add more goals to his record. Even at his age, he's ready to create more records and win medals irrespective of his age and body strength to keep playing for his club. People tend to compare Ronaldo to Messi but I wouldn't do that because they are two separate players.

[Leviathan.007]

We can just agree that Ronaldo with not be able to play the next world cup competition that is coming up soon because of his age and strength to play football. Ronaldo still have the zeal to keep playing football and I like him for that. He is such an enthusiastic player that would not mind going for more training to make sure that he get fit to add more goals to his record. Even at his age, he's ready to create more records and win medals irrespective of his age and body strength to keep playing for his club. People tend to compare Ronaldo to Messi but I wouldn't do that because they are two separate players.

We cannot sure what going to happen in the next three years to this player and there is even a chance to retire from national games or completely from football games, He got a good physical power and a good style, but still this cannot be a reason to say he will play until he gets old, however, I think the national teams should start giving chance to younger players in world cups instead of being worry about players like Ronaldo and Messi.

[Sithara007]

Los Angeles may not be hosting any matches during the FIFA World Cup of 2026. An inspection from the FIFA has found that the 70,240-seat SoFi Stadium has a very narrow pitch that is unsuitable for hosting international matches. Now the hosts face a dilemma. If they want to widen the pitch, they need to considerably reduce the seating capacity. And then the question will be asked why the matches are being hosted in a stadium with inadequate seating capacity. BTW, is there a chance that FIFA will provide them with some sort of relaxation?

[rdluffy]

Los Angeles may not be hosting any matches during the FIFA World Cup of 2026. An inspection from the FIFA has found that the 70,240-seat SoFi Stadium has a very narrow pitch that is unsuitable for hosting international matches. Now the hosts face a dilemma. If they want to widen the pitch, they need to considerably reduce the seating capacity. And then the question will be asked why the matches are being hosted in a stadium with inadequate seating capacity. BTW, is there a chance that FIFA will provide them with some sort of relaxation?

This reminds me a lot of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, most (maybe all) of which were american football stadiums adapted for "soccer".

FIFA will have to make the decision whether they can accept the final in Los Angeles, decreasing the capacity or accepting the smaller space.
But there is a lot of competition from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and that stadium has an even slightly larger capacity of 82,500 seats.
Although the Dallas stadium can also hold 80,000 seats, I believe that the lobby to have the Cup Final is really between Los Angeles or New Jersey.

A solution for Fifa: they can use the 2024 Copa America to make the necessary adjustments and tests in the stadiums and only after that make a decision.

If I have to make a prediction, I bet that the stadium chosen will be the SoFi Stadium in LA, with FIFA accepting the size but keep 80,000 seats.

[Sithara007]

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If I have to make a prediction, I bet that the stadium chosen will be the SoFi Stadium in LA, with FIFA accepting the size but keep 80,000 seats.

I am very skeptical on this. Word Cup is a high-prestige event, and I don't think that the pitch size will be outside the regulatory requirement. In that case, the participating teams will complain about it. I am wondering why the MLS stadiums are so small. Why the World Cup matches need to be played in stadiums where NLF is played? In this case, the SoFi Stadium is home to the NLF franchises Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The only instance when this stadium hosted a (normal) football match was last year, when a friendly was organized between Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas Guadalajara.

[Leviathan.007]

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If I have to make a prediction, I bet that the stadium chosen will be the SoFi Stadium in LA, with FIFA accepting the size but keep 80,000 seats.

I am very skeptical on this. Word Cup is a high-prestige event, and I don't think that the pitch size will be outside the regulatory requirement. In that case, the participating teams will complain about it. I am wondering why the MLS stadiums are so small. Why the World Cup matches need to be played in stadiums where NLF is played? In this case, the SoFi Stadium is home to the NLF franchises Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The only instance when this stadium hosted a (normal) football match was last year, when a friendly was organized between Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas Guadalajara.

In America, they do have the potential to even develop the stadiums because as far as I know America ever hosted any important football event recently, that's why that's normal to see they are not ready for the world CPU with the stadiums. These are the stadium hosting the world cup, but still they need some development:

Atlanta – Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
Dallas (Arlington) – AT&T Stadium,
Greater Boston (Foxboro) – Gillette Stadium,
Houston – NRG Stadium,
Kansas City – Arrowhead Stadium,
Los Angeles (Inglewood) – SoFi Stadium,
Miami – Hard Rock Stadium,
New York (East Rutherford) – MetLife Stadium

http://stadiumdb.com/tournaments/world_cup/2026

[shogun47]

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If I have to make a prediction, I bet that the stadium chosen will be the SoFi Stadium in LA, with FIFA accepting the size but keep 80,000 seats.

I am very skeptical on this. Word Cup is a high-prestige event, and I don't think that the pitch size will be outside the regulatory requirement. In that case, the participating teams will complain about it. I am wondering why the MLS stadiums are so small. Why the World Cup matches need to be played in stadiums where NLF is played? In this case, the SoFi Stadium is home to the NLF franchises Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The only instance when this stadium hosted a (normal) football match was last year, when a friendly was organized between Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas Guadalajara.

I don't know the specific conditions for NFL stadiums to be turned into soccer stadiums and whether any adjustments have to be made to the capacity, but in what sense do you think the stadium is small? If they can offer 80,000 seats, isn't that more than enough? Even if they had to reduce it to 70,000 for whatever reason, that is still a stadium size that is above average.

In the Premier League the biggest stadium they have is the Old Trafford with roughly 75,000 and then the numbers go down pretty quickly. That probably counts for most European countries. Spain has the Camp Nou, yes, and Santiago Bernabeu, but then it's the same thing. The numbers go down rapidly.

[bitgolden]

Sometimes it looks like they lack a striker, a really strong one who can decide a game on his own. They play alright, but then don't have any solutions as soon as they get closer to the opponents' box. On some days guys like Musiala or Sane do well (Musiala actually plays always well as the only player), and sometimes they can't break through and it looks even weak I would say.

This time around they would still have the time until 2026 to find someone to fill that gap. Perhaps it isn't the solution for every game or every opponent and more creativity is better, but if you don't have a real striker at all it is problematic. They had Fullkrug for the last World Cup, but only let him play a couple of minutes here and there.

It's going to be exciting to see what changes they are about to make. They do have a great team but lack some important elements on some positions and for certain situations in a game.

I think the main reason is that some of those players played with likes of Lewandowski and Haaland and whatever else during the club times, which means that they are so used to having strikers during their club period that they are not really used to having no striker at that level when they are playing for the nation.

That was at least the case during the world cup period, we are going to see them during the euro cup coming up next as well but until the next cups, they need to figure out how to play without a target striker, or they need to find a target striker, which is a harder thing to do of course because if there were one, they would have picked him already.

[rdluffy]

I am wondering why the MLS stadiums are so small. Why the World Cup matches need to be played in stadiums where NLF is played? In this case, the SoFi Stadium is home to the NLF franchises Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The only instance when this stadium hosted a (normal) football match was last year, when a friendly was organized between Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas Guadalajara.

It is due to demand, because soccer in the United States is not as popular as in other countries.
In USA, american football is still more popular, pays the players better, has more public, more audience...
Then there is basketball, baseball, and maybe soccer is at the same level of ice hockey.
It is interesting to note that in regions with a lot of immigrants, soccer has a little more popularity.

One of the missions of the next World Cup is to try to popularize soccer even more. Who knows, maybe Americans will become more interested after seeing the world's best players in action in their country.
After 1994 we could see that soccer in the United States evolved, yes, but it needs more support.
The MLS, which is the national championship, already has great players, but the players are going there older, almost about to retire.
Little by little this can change, I hope that after 2026 the American people will start to watch more games and participate more.

A fact that can also help: the United States is the country with the most bettors in the world, and soccer has many betting possibilities. Since sports betting is legalized there, it may generate some interest during the World Cup.

[Z-tight]

In case of Ronaldo, I am 99% sure that he won't be playing in 2026, as for all practical purposes he has moved to Saudi Arabia and distanced himself from the Portuguese national team.

Surely Ronaldo cannot play in the 2026 world cup, but he would play in the 2024 Euro tournament. Ronaldo has not distanced himself from the Portuguese national team, he was called up by their new manager Roberto Martinez, and he also started in their Euro qualifiers game tonight against Liechtenstein, and he has scored 2 goals in this game, and the match is yet to end, so i feel Ronaldo would be fit for the Euro tournament next year, and after that i expect him to retire, he can't play in 2026 world cup.

[NdaMk]

You got the point for leading a team it requires certain qualities of patience, maturity and composure and that comes with experience and age .
No one can question Mbappe performance he is exceptionally good player and his contribution for France is noticeable.  He'll definitely become good captain but with time   it's too early for this.

They have been young players that have been captained in the past the likes Fabrigas at Arsenal, Torres at Atletico Odegard at Norway and also Neymar at Brazil. Some of these players went on to great players individually but did they win any trophies with their respective club and countries? I doubt. Leadership should be giving according to succession to allow orderliness in the squad. Also been a team leader is not about just wearing the armband but controlling the dressing room and this is gotten from not just any player.

[snipie]

In case of Ronaldo, I am 99% sure that he won't be playing in 2026, as for all practical purposes he has moved to Saudi Arabia and distanced himself from the Portuguese national team.

Surely Ronaldo cannot play in the 2026 world cup, but he would play in the 2024 Euro tournament. Ronaldo has not distanced himself from the Portuguese national team, he was called up by their new manager Roberto Martinez, and he also started in their Euro qualifiers game tonight against Liechtenstein, and he has scored 2 goals in this game, and the match is yet to end, so i feel Ronaldo would be fit for the Euro tournament next year, and after that i expect him to retire, he can't play in 2026 world cup.

It depends from his performance and how far his national team could go in 2024 EURO tournament. The fact that he is playing in a lower league and getting far from European competitions will have an impact for sure in my opinion but CR7 is the kind of fighters that will stay whenever he feels there is a chance and who will quit whenever he feels things aren't going well.
I see a lot of talks about stadiums. Qatar didn't have any and they built wonderful ones. USA have already many and it should not be a big deal to improve them.

[Sithara007]

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I see a lot of talks about stadiums. Qatar didn't have any and they built wonderful ones. USA have already many and it should not be a big deal to improve them.

Qatar is a small nation of 300,000 citizens and they had one or two quality stadiums before winning the world cup hosting rights. Once they won the rights, they spent close to $300 billion in building stadiums and the associated infrastructure. On the other hand, USA has a population that is 1,000x of that of Qatar and they do have some very good stadiums existing in many of the major cities. Given the economic boost that the world cup can bring to the hosting nations, it should not be a tough task to renovate the existing stadiums.

[Leviathan.007]

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I see a lot of talks about stadiums. Qatar didn't have any and they built wonderful ones. USA have already many and it should not be a big deal to improve them.

Qatar is a small nation of 300,000 citizens and they had one or two quality stadiums before winning the world cup hosting rights. Once they won the rights, they spent close to $300 billion in building stadiums and the associated infrastructure. On the other hand, USA has a population that is 1,000x of that of Qatar and they do have some very good stadiums existing in many of the major cities. Given the economic boost that the world cup can bring to the hosting nations, it should not be a tough task to renovate the existing stadiums.

Comparing Qatar and America or Canada is not right. We know Qatar is a small country and we know they have fewer citizens but they also have a much better financial situation in their country that's why building new stadiums with the last technologies was not hard for them, But regarding America, Canada, and Mexico they have even more stadiums and they won't need to spend money like Qatar for the world cup.