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

[Litzki1990]

Photo collection from Google.
2026 World Cup Qualifier match Brazil vs Bolivia, Brazil lead 1 goal in the first half and scored 4 goals in the second half. Brazil won by a huge margin of 5-1. Neymar scored 2 goals, Rodrygo scored 2 goals, Raphinha scored 1 goal. Brazil showed surprise in today's game, I enjoyed today's game very well. Congratulations to the Brazil team.

Brazil's World Cup qualifier against Bolivia was fantastic. Brazil won by a huge margin of 5-1 against Bolivia. This match against Bolivia gave Neymar the opportunity to touch one of the biggest milestones.  
Neymar and Pele had 78 goals before entering this match, that is, if Neymar could have scored a goal today, Neymar would have surpassed everyone else in the history of Brazilian football. With such an equation in front of Neymar, Neymar had several opportunities to score in the first half but failed to capitalize on them. Neymar's biggest chance came early in the match. Early on Neymar got a penalty and I thought maybe Neymar was going to outplay Pele but Neymar missed the penalty kick.

After missing the penalty kick, Neymar scored two goals and finally became the top scorer in Brazil football history. Congratulations Neymar and congratulations Brazil.

One of the most prominent player of Brazil. But he did not play again after the loss against Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the Brazilian team. Due to which no goals are associated with his name. So he could not overcome the king of football according to the goal count.

Finally, his desired moment came in front of everyone on the field against Bolivia. Although the start of the match performance was very poor but from that position he again shined. The team got a goal from him in the 61 minute and Neymar surpassed the goal of football king Pele. Both his performances and records have moved his fans.

When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

[1715655573]

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[1715655573]

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[1715655573]

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[nullama]

~snip~
When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

There will always be reasons (aka excuses) for someone to not achieve something.

Pele and Maradona will always be the superstars of football. They were extraordinary players at the time.

The only thing that matters is how extraordinary you are, potential is just a promise. The only thing that matters is what you deliver.

Same with Michael Jordan for example. He is the GOAT because even when he was sick he was playing extraordinarily well.

[Hirose UK]

There will always be reasons (aka excuses) for someone to not achieve something.

It's not some kind of reason but that what hinders Neymar performance from being able to achieve big achievements or new records in football history and become a player who can make history in Brazilian football like Pele and Maradona did in Argentina.
I think what Neymar experienced is more like an obstacle that must be overcome if he wants to be the only superstar to set a new record.

Pele and Maradona will always be the superstars of football. They were extraordinary players at the time.

During their time Pele and Maradona had quite difficult obstacles but they managed to overcome them and show the world that there is no obstacle that can hinder great achievements if there is strong enthusiasm and determination.
If you think back to the time when Pele played for Brazil, it was truly extraordinary and Pele was the only player who made a big contribution to Brazil winning the World Cup for the first time.

[TopTort777]

What is wrong with co-hosting such world events? I am not much experienced with football, but ice hockey experience was great. Not a single nation got a free qualification spot in tournament, because they co-host an event. For fans, I see only benefits from such system. For countries - tourists are always a plus into budget. Hosting or co-hosting was always a matter of money. Tournaments are not co-hosted because some have better or worse stadium, or low number of stadiums for example. This happens because countries make huge payments to FIFA imo, in a matter of trading hosting spots.

Once again, there is nothing wrong with co-hosting. My problem is not with co-hosting as such, but with providing automatic entry to the teams that co-host the tournament. IMO, automatic entry should be given only to two teams - defending champions and one team from the hosts. If there are multiple hosts, then the weaker teams should be asked to participate in the qualifier tournament. I understand the budget concerns. In some cases, a country may not have enough quality stadiums and all. But that is an entirely different topic from giving automatic entry.

But again, it sounds that co-hosting is still a problem for you. Because I have never seen a country, that got an automatic entry, performed bad. Often these countries are on top places on previous tournaments or have qualified to previous year tournament. It was never in history, that a non sport nation host any cup. As we are in football topic, then your idea is that it will be unfair to give an automatic entry for, lets say Madagascar, because they arent good at football and will never qualify? But Madagascar will never host a World Cup. Imho, in one day 10 countries gonna co-host a cup, I will have nothing against it, because I am 1000% sure these countries (that get auto entry) gonna perform well in the tournament.

[un_rank]

...then your idea is that it will be unfair to give an automatic entry for, lets say Madagascar, because they arent good at football and will never qualify? But Madagascar will never host a World Cup.

Madagascar are as much a footballing nation like Qatar and they hosted a world cup just recently. Any club that has a footballing national team and have the budget can bid to host a world cup, FIFA does not pick by which country is better at playing football, but which they stand to gain financially from.

Co hosting has happened only once before in the 2002 World Cup, so we do not have enough data to know its effect on the tournament when those teams get automatic entry. In this case the United States and Mexico, with Mexico appearing in all World cups since 1994 consecutively. The odds will be in their favor to qualify without the automatic entry.
Canada is the team which has not frequented the competition, only appearing twice before now, but it still does not pose a problem yet.

...Imho, in one day 10 countries gonna co-host a cup, I will have nothing against it, because I am 1000% sure these countries (that get auto entry) gonna perform well in the tournament.

That will be a very problematic situation.

- Jay -

[Leviathan.007]

Photo collection from Google.
2026 World Cup Qualifier match Brazil vs Bolivia, Brazil lead 1 goal in the first half and scored 4 goals in the second half. Brazil won by a huge margin of 5-1. Neymar scored 2 goals, Rodrygo scored 2 goals, Raphinha scored 1 goal. Brazil showed surprise in today's game, I enjoyed today's game very well. Congratulations to the Brazil team.

Brazil's World Cup qualifier against Bolivia was fantastic. Brazil won by a huge margin of 5-1 against Bolivia. This match against Bolivia gave Neymar the opportunity to touch one of the biggest milestones.  
Neymar and Pele had 78 goals before entering this match, that is, if Neymar could have scored a goal today, Neymar would have surpassed everyone else in the history of Brazilian football. With such an equation in front of Neymar, Neymar had several opportunities to score in the first half but failed to capitalize on them. Neymar's biggest chance came early in the match. Early on Neymar got a penalty and I thought maybe Neymar was going to outplay Pele but Neymar missed the penalty kick.

After missing the penalty kick, Neymar scored two goals and finally became the top scorer in Brazil football history. Congratulations Neymar and congratulations Brazil.

One of the most prominent player of Brazil. But he did not play again after the loss against Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the Brazilian team. Due to which no goals are associated with his name. So he could not overcome the king of football according to the goal count.

Finally, his desired moment came in front of everyone on the field against Bolivia. Although the start of the match performance was very poor but from that position he again shined. The team got a goal from him in the 61 minute and Neymar surpassed the goal of football king Pele. Both his performances and records have moved his fans.

When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

I can't compare a palyer like Neymar with Pele and other famous players in Brazil, We know Brazil had many famous players like Ronaldo and some other players in the past but still, some of these players were not stable for example, we know Neymar is currently is not in the good form and was injured until past a few days but playing against a team like Bolivia and their defender into hard at all.

[KTChampions]

~snip~
When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

There will always be reasons (aka excuses) for someone to not achieve something.

Pele and Maradona will always be the superstars of football. They were extraordinary players at the time.

The only thing that matters is how extraordinary you are, potential is just a promise. The only thing that matters is what you deliver.

Same with Michael Jordan for example. He is the GOAT because even when he was sick he was playing extraordinarily well.

Absolutely right. Only the end result matters. In fact, every year many talents appear that can become geniuses, but it’s one thing to shine for one or two or three years, and another thing to be able to do this for 20 years. Now we see Haaland and Mbappe, they are undoubtedly great players, but to become legendary they need to show results throughout their careers. If for one reason or another they don’t succeed, then they will be in the crowd of the same great players who tried but failed. Neymar is a great player, but still he remained one of many, although he could have risen one step higher.

[Strongkored]

When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

Comparing a player's career with other players in a different generation with very different competitions in my opinion is not appropriate, and however Pele is still better than any Brazilian player, even all Brazilian players admit this because he has given at least 3 World Cup titles for Brazil. but Neymar hasn't managed to do it until now, and maybe he will never be able to do it and the only chance he can give Brazil a title is the 2026 World Cup, failing to do that then in 2030 it will be impossible for him to still play for Brazil.
Neymar will be recorded as the Brazilian player with the most goals for his country but that is not complete because apart from the 2016 Olympic gold medal and the 2013 Confederation Cup there is no prestigious title that he can give to his country.
https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neymar

[Jody.Drummer]

I think a little when what Germany has experienced lately, the article from 5 matches they suffered 4 defeats and 1 draw, and most recently they had to recognize the superiority of Japan with a score of 4-1. Germany is one of the countries that are highly considered in the World Cup, and they managed to become champions in 2014, but after that their performance continued to decline, one of the causes is that their players who are always a mainstay are no longer in the squad and their regeneration players do not seem to be fully ready to be the successor to success in 2014 ago.
What do you think of them in the upcoming World Cup?

I'm thinking and waiting to see how they are going to make their team improve and get ready for the next World because the Germany we knew could easily be one of the top teams in the world and they could even win the World Cup. Still, recently the 1-4 loss against a team like Japan proved it they were not in excellent form and that's why Germany fired their coach.
I think the new coach of Germany will have enough time to rebuild the team for the 2026 World Cup.
     

After losing their players due to age, they seem to have declined in performance despite still having good players. That proves that their mentality may still be untested.
There are a lot of good young players from Germany and the problem seems to be their coach. There's still time for them to put things right and go for the title. But it will certainly be a long process to create a dream team that will bring back the success they had at the 20
14 Wrld Cup. It's unfortunate when a big country like them that has good players can't show and find their identity that a few years ago became a team that was feared by their opponents. And now they have to rebuild it so as not to be humiliated on the prestigious stage.

[nullama]

~snip~
Absolutely right. Only the end result matters. In fact, every year many talents appear that can become geniuses, but it’s one thing to shine for one or two or three years, and another thing to be able to do this for 20 years. Now we see Haaland and Mbappe, they are undoubtedly great players, but to become legendary they need to show results throughout their careers. If for one reason or another they don’t succeed, then they will be in the crowd of the same great players who tried but failed. Neymar is a great player, but still he remained one of many, although he could have risen one step higher.

Yes, 100%.

Mbappe for example as you mentioned. He is a great player, and there's a lot of potential there. He has already started his way to become a superstar, but there is much still to be done to become one.

For starters, he was playing really well in the final against Argentina, but lost. That already is a big difference with Maradona, for example against England where he scored the 2 goals to beat them, including one with his hand, the hand of god, D10S. That's how you become an iconic player, not by losing the match while playing a great game.

Still much to do for Mbappe, but there's some great potential there.

[Sithara007]

Everyone knows that Germany (similar to the case with many other UEFA nations such as Netherlands, Danmark, Belgium.etc) is a team that is on the decline. But no one actually expected them to go down against a team like Japan by a margin of 1-4. And this is the team that is favored as one of the top teams in Euro 2024 by the sportsbooks. I am not underestimating Japan. They proved their mettle during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when they managed to defeat Germany and Spain in Group E. Even then, AFC teams defeating top UEFA teams is a scenario that was unimaginable a few years ago.

[Die_empty]

Everyone knows that Germany (similar to the case with many other UEFA nations such as Netherlands, Danmark, Belgium.etc) is a team that is on the decline. But no one actually expected them to go down against a team like Japan by a margin of 1-4. And this is the team that is favored as one of the top teams in Euro 2024 by the sportsbooks. I am not underestimating Japan. They proved their mettle during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when they managed to defeat Germany and Spain in Group E. Even then, AFC teams defeating top UEFA teams is a scenario that was unimaginable a few years ago.

I was also surprised to see the scoreline after all the big names that Germany featured in the game. The German team controlled the ball better than the Japanese side but the former created fewer chances. Japan was better in the attack and forced the German goalkeeper ter Stegen to make close to seven saves. Apart from Kimmich, almost all the German defenders including Rudiger were not in good shape. The Japanese defense was solid and I have some praise for Tomiyasu for his uncommon defensive display. The Japanese side maximized their speed and fitness to outsmart the German machines. This win is another proof that Asian football is developing fast, while some European countries need to work on their teams. 

[Silberman]

Everyone knows that Germany (similar to the case with many other UEFA nations such as Netherlands, Danmark, Belgium.etc) is a team that is on the decline. But no one actually expected them to go down against a team like Japan by a margin of 1-4. And this is the team that is favored as one of the top teams in Euro 2024 by the sportsbooks. I am not underestimating Japan. They proved their mettle during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when they managed to defeat Germany and Spain in Group E. Even then, AFC teams defeating top UEFA teams is a scenario that was unimaginable a few years ago.

I was also surprised to see the scoreline after all the big names that Germany featured in the game. The German team controlled the ball better than the Japanese side but the former created fewer chances. Japan was better in the attack and forced the German goalkeeper ter Stegen to make close to seven saves. Apart from Kimmich, almost all the German defenders including Rudiger were not in good shape. The Japanese defense was solid and I have some praise for Tomiyasu for his uncommon defensive display. The Japanese side maximized their speed and fitness to outsmart the German machines. This win is another proof that Asian football is developing fast, while some European countries need to work on their teams. 

European soccer in general is suffering the same problem the UK has been suffering for a long time, they are importing so many players and most of them are playing at key positions that this is hindering the development of their local players, now for a private league this is not a problem as they do not care about this at all, but when it comes to their national team, the qualifiers and the world cup this is very problematic, as this has lead us to a rise on the soccer level of many nations around the world, while the traditional European powers are declining.

[Litzki1990]

~snip~
When Neymar started his football career for the national team, many legendary Brazilian footballers said that this boy would break all records in Brazilian history and become one of the best players in the world. There was potential and a lot of talent but his injuries stood in the way between his potential and talent. The achievements that he could not do in his career are completely due to injuries. I have never seen Neymar play a full season for any club. If a player is out for most of a season, no matter how good he is, he will never be able to shine in his career. Although Neymar has overcome so many obstacles, in the end Pele, the king of football, has overcome him. No Brazilian player has ever scored as many goals as Neymar has scored for the national team. Maybe he would have surpassed Pele's goal tally long ago if not for injuries.

There will always be reasons (aka excuses) for someone to not achieve something.

Pele and Maradona will always be the superstars of football. They were extraordinary players at the time.

The only thing that matters is how extraordinary you are, potential is just a promise. The only thing that matters is what you deliver.

Same with Michael Jordan for example. He is the GOAT because even when he was sick he was playing extraordinarily well.

You may dislike Neymar because of his personal life or other reasons but if you are a football lover you can never dislike his football skills. It's no excuse that you have to believe Neymar hasn't achieved anything good in life because of injuries. No other player wants to get injured, maybe other stars can defend themselves but Neymar fails there. When Neymar was at Barcelona, everyone thought that Neymar would win the world someday, but whenever he won the PSG his career began to downfall. I don't want to compare any current players with the king of football Pele or Maradona because they are legends. But whatever anyone says, Neymar is the best star in my eyes.

[beerlover]

There will always be reasons (aka excuses) for someone to not achieve something.

It's not some kind of reason but that what hinders Neymar performance from being able to achieve big achievements or new records in football history and become a player who can make history in Brazilian football like Pele and Maradona did in Argentina.
I think what Neymar experienced is more like an obstacle that must be overcome if he wants to be the only superstar to set a new record.

Considering his age, I am not entirely sure if Neymar will achieve anything anymore, I feel like it is just not going to happen and he is not the one to make it happen. It is obvious that he is going to face some tough situations here and there, abut because of his injury history we could easily say that he missed his chances and not going to do any good anytime soon.

Obviously we are going to end up with a situation that will be a bit different and the result will not be that same, but it is definitely a situation we have to come to accept. Neymar is not a player that had any impact on Brazil that much, didn't win that much with them, and didn't impacted the team that well for a long period of time neither for sure.

[synchronym]

Before the match against Puchka Bolivia at home, Neymar Jr. was making history. To top the legendary former footballer Pele in the record book. After waiting for 61 minutes of the match, the moment finally came. Neymar overtook Pele to become the highest goalscorer in Brazil's football history by knocking a goal into Bolivia's net. Neymar's number of goals in Brazil's jersey is currently 78. Neymar could write his name in the history pages at the beginning of the match. Neymar had the opportunity to beat Pele by scoring from the penalty shootout in the 17th minute of the match.  After seeing the shot, Neymar took it along with the goalkeeper. As if he was being trained to stop goals. By blocking that shot, the Bolivian goalkeeper prolonged Neymar's wait to add his name to the record book. But the Brazilian star did not miss the opportunity in the 61st minute of the match. Rodrigo's foot in the tangle in the D-box, the ball comes in front of Neymar. From there, in addition to putting the ball in the net, he made his name in the record book as the highest goalscorer in Brazil, surpassing Pele.

[Leviathan.007]

Everyone knows that Germany (similar to the case with many other UEFA nations such as Netherlands, Danmark, Belgium.etc) is a team that is on the decline. But no one actually expected them to go down against a team like Japan by a margin of 1-4. And this is the team that is favored as one of the top teams in Euro 2024 by the sportsbooks. I am not underestimating Japan. They proved their mettle during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when they managed to defeat Germany and Spain in Group E. Even then, AFC teams defeating top UEFA teams is a scenario that was unimaginable a few years ago.

I was also surprised to see the scoreline after all the big names that Germany featured in the game. The German team controlled the ball better than the Japanese side but the former created fewer chances. Japan was better in the attack and forced the German goalkeeper ter Stegen to make close to seven saves. Apart from Kimmich, almost all the German defenders including Rudiger were not in good shape. The Japanese defense was solid and I have some praise for Tomiyasu for his uncommon defensive display. The Japanese side maximized their speed and fitness to outsmart the German machines. This win is another proof that Asian football is developing fast, while some European countries need to work on their teams. 

I could never predict to see this bad performance from Germany because they were performing much better in the past and in the other hand Japan is not a strong team compared to Germany.
Obviously, the German fans were unhappy and that's why Germany fired their coach after that game they had against Japan.
Now Rudi Völler is coaching Germany temporarily but we can see this team had a much better performance so far after firing their coach.
In the friendly game, they have against France they are winning the game until now at 90+1'.
Also, Gündoğan had an effective performance in this game.

[nullama]

~snip~
You may dislike Neymar because of his personal life or other reasons but if you are a football lover you can never dislike his football skills. It's no excuse that you have to believe Neymar hasn't achieved anything good in life because of injuries. No other player wants to get injured, maybe other stars can defend themselves but Neymar fails there. When Neymar was at Barcelona, everyone thought that Neymar would win the world someday, but whenever he won the PSG his career began to downfall. I don't want to compare any current players with the king of football Pele or Maradona because they are legends. But whatever anyone says, Neymar is the best star in my eyes.

I actually quite enjoy watching Neymar, and I think he is one of the best players in the world.

The point that I'm saying is that he is still not at the level of Maradona or Pele. If, for example in the next world cup Neymar scores 3 goals in the final and Brazil ends up winning 3-2, that would move him closer to Pele and Maradona.

If he continues to do things like that, eventually he will be recognized as one of them. But he is just not there at the moment.

[Sithara007]

I actually quite enjoy watching Neymar, and I think he is one of the best players in the world.

The point that I'm saying is that he is still not at the level of Maradona or Pele. If, for example in the next world cup Neymar scores 3 goals in the final and Brazil ends up winning 3-2, that would move him closer to Pele and Maradona.

If he continues to do things like that, eventually he will be recognized as one of them. But he is just not there at the moment.

I don't care much about individual performances. Neymar as a player hasn't been able to win a FIFA World Cup for Brazil, despite having some of the best players in the world in his squad. During Qatar 2022, they suffered a shock defeat against Croatia during the Quarter-final stage and got kicked out of the tournament. For the 2018 tournament also, they lost during the quarter-final stage (defeated by Belgium). On the other hand, players like Messi and Mbappe have been able to take their team to new heights. 

[onecall123]

I actually quite enjoy watching Neymar, and I think he is one of the best players in the world.

The point that I'm saying is that he is still not at the level of Maradona or Pele. If, for example in the next world cup Neymar scores 3 goals in the final and Brazil ends up winning 3-2, that would move him closer to Pele and Maradona.

If he continues to do things like that, eventually he will be recognized as one of them. But he is just not there at the moment.

I don't care much about individual performances. Neymar as a player hasn't been able to win a FIFA World Cup for Brazil, despite having some of the best players in the world in his squad. During Qatar 2022, they suffered a shock defeat against Croatia during the Quarter-final stage and got kicked out of the tournament. For the 2018 tournament also, they lost during the quarter-final stage (defeated by Belgium). On the other hand, players like Messi and Mbappe have been able to take their team to new heights. 

Neymar who can't win a thing, despite having one of the best squads. His last two World Cup journeys were quite disappointing, neither luck nor his team's performance in his favor. However, people will congratulate Neymar in the future. There's a right time and season for everything in life. I don't know for sure, but maybe his time for success is on the horizon. I hope that in the next World Cup, Neymar will emerge as the winner, and the rest of the world will congratulate him.