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

[nullama]

~snip~
I can easily say that Neymar could be compared to Ronaldo, but not Ronaldinho. The difference is that Ronaldo played at a great time of Brazil, but he was consistently injured too, but won some stuff with his team as well. I believe that Neymar is a great player too, but he is constantly injured as well.

Ronaldo could have been one of the best players in history if he didn't get injured this much, and Neymar could have been the best of his time as well if he didn't get this many injuries. Ronaldinho is a different type of player, he was a great player but he was also a showman as well, he just enjoyed playing football, it was fun for him, it wasn't being the best that he cared about, it was being loved and enjoyed.

There are many great players that never achieved stardom levels like Pele of Maradona. For example, in Brazil there was Rivaldo, one of the best players of that squad, but he never got the same recognition of Pele.

I think everyone remembers the bicycle kick goal of Rivaldo in the final though...

[freedomgo]

~snip~
I can easily say that Neymar could be compared to Ronaldo, but not Ronaldinho. The difference is that Ronaldo played at a great time of Brazil, but he was consistently injured too, but won some stuff with his team as well. I believe that Neymar is a great player too, but he is constantly injured as well.

Ronaldo could have been one of the best players in history if he didn't get injured this much, and Neymar could have been the best of his time as well if he didn't get this many injuries. Ronaldinho is a different type of player, he was a great player but he was also a showman as well, he just enjoyed playing football, it was fun for him, it wasn't being the best that he cared about, it was being loved and enjoyed.

There are many great players that never achieved stardom levels like Pele of Maradona. For example, in Brazil there was Rivaldo, one of the best players of that squad, but he never got the same recognition of Pele.

I think everyone remembers the bicycle kick goal of Rivaldo in the final though...

We should just accept the reality that in every era, there will be a star and we cannot really compare which is the best because even if we say it honestly, it's already biased as we already have our own preferences before we even get the chance to speak what we think. Sure, those players are good and will not be forgotten but the thing is, they are all a history now and the football will be revolving around the new players anymore and will give the limelight to the new ones. Those stars that we've mentioned, their time was already over, they were the best but only on their era as we cannot really tell what would happen if they had the chance to play in one single era.

[Jody.Drummer]

Speaking of players in Brazil, they're never short of players who have excellent individual skills, and one of them is the player you mentioned above. As for Neymar, he is unstable because he is a player who is prone to injuries and that is one of the obstacles he often faces. It's not just one or two times he's been sidelined due to injury in a season and whether he likes it or not it affects his performance. And I think he's quite lucky because with his repeated injuries it doesn't significantly reduce his performance, it's just that he can't develop better in his golden years.

There are many players who eventually have to sink because of their injuries, and only a few of them can survive.

What they (Brazil) have experienced in recent years has indeed seen a significant decline, at the same time other countries have managed to develop quickly, even countries from the Asian continent can now compete with the big European countries. And one recent example of this was when Germany suffered a crushing defeat to Japan. It proves that now a lot has changed, countries that were previously considered weak are now starting to show that they can also improve.

Most players who have individual skills above the average of other players often experience injuries, one of which is Neymar. When his skills are too prominent and displayed in a match, he will automatically receive a tackle from the opponent, this is one of the reasons why Neymar is often injured. It's true that few players recovering from injury score goals straight away, and Neymar makes it seem like an easy thing to do.

Over time, many Asian players have played in the top European leagues, so as you said, it was not surprising when Germany lost to Japan. The 2026 edition of the World Cup will again be a moment for countries, especially Asia, to show their quality.

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

[Leviathan.007]

Speaking of players in Brazil, they're never short of players who have excellent individual skills, and one of them is the player you mentioned above. As for Neymar, he is unstable because he is a player who is prone to injuries and that is one of the obstacles he often faces. It's not just one or two times he's been sidelined due to injury in a season and whether he likes it or not it affects his performance. And I think he's quite lucky because with his repeated injuries it doesn't significantly reduce his performance, it's just that he can't develop better in his golden years.

There are many players who eventually have to sink because of their injuries, and only a few of them can survive.

What they (Brazil) have experienced in recent years has indeed seen a significant decline, at the same time other countries have managed to develop quickly, even countries from the Asian continent can now compete with the big European countries. And one recent example of this was when Germany suffered a crushing defeat to Japan. It proves that now a lot has changed, countries that were previously considered weak are now starting to show that they can also improve.

Most players who have individual skills above the average of other players often experience injuries, one of which is Neymar. When his skills are too prominent and displayed in a match, he will automatically receive a tackle from the opponent, this is one of the reasons why Neymar is often injured. It's true that few players recovering from injury score goals straight away, and Neymar makes it seem like an easy thing to do.

Over time, many Asian players have played in the top European leagues, so as you said, it was not surprising when Germany lost to Japan. The 2026 edition of the World Cup will again be a moment for countries, especially Asia, to show their quality.

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I can see here some people think Europe and teams like Germany are in danger because other teams in Asia like Japan are getting better and they are having better performance time after time, mostly because of the previous results we saw from them in the game against Germany. I still think Asian teams can't be strong enough to take the World Cup title and even in the game between Japan and Germany, the Germans were in bad form.

[Rampagoe004]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

[Strongkored]

I can see here some people think Europe and teams like Germany are in danger because other teams in Asia like Japan are getting better and they are having better performance time after time, mostly because of the previous results we saw from them in the game against Germany. I still think Asian teams can't be strong enough to take the World Cup title and even in the game between Japan and Germany, the Germans were in bad form.

There are many things about football competition in Asia that still need better development and maybe a decade from now it won't be enough to make Asia even better in competing in the World Cup, in fact, I think Africa is still much better and has a greater chance of becoming champion. World Cup compared to Asia. More African football players play in Europe or other leagues on other continents, while there are still very few in Asia.
If Asia wants to compete better then the players must have the courage to leave their local league and experience tighter and more difficult competition like in Europe even though they only play in the second division.

However, Japan's victory over Germany is still an achievement and that's because Germany not only played badly but slightly underestimated their opponent. I saw the match and how the German defenders made movements that seemed to tease the Japanese players who they might see were shorter but one or two Japanese attacks were enough to destroy Germany at that time. Maybe that's a wrong assessment but currently Germany is not a strong team for a big competition unless there are big changes they make with their new coach later.

[marcous]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

I remember the name Nakata, who first played at the highest level of European competition, in Serie A and the World Cup he was very familiar. After that, many clubs recruited players from the Asian region, and of course that was very profitable from both sides. The football fan base in Asia is actually quite large, but only a few players can consistently play in Europe. Although in some cases, differences in gaming culture, weather and body posture are always the main obstacles. Of course, European leagues have always been a reference for the best players, and many people admit this.

On the other hand, holding the World Cup in Korean-Japan is a very good start for Asian players. Many Asian players after this event went to European clubs. In terms of talent, Asian players are actually no less than players from other regions.

[Hirose UK]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

It is clear that the way of coaching European teams is very different from Asian teams and we can prove it in an easy way, namely by looking at the course of the matches played by European teams and Asian teams we can already tell that the European game is much better in terms of speed and ball control so that when If a national team from Asia qualifies for the World Cup it will not last long and will definitely be eliminated or even fail in the qualifying round.

Learning how to play strategy from European teams might help but it still won't work optimally because each coach has special strategies and methods to enable the players to play well and in addition for European teams they have very important supporting factors namely star players with above average skill quality.

[Jody.Drummer]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

And I think we would agree with this, talking about football we will talk about all aspects related to this, individual ability may be something that has more value, but if that ability is not honed in the right way then I think it will not be useful at all. We'll definitely talk about technique, timing and mentality as well. European coaching has achieved that, and it has to be said that they are the parameters for world football.
Some countries may be regressing now, and it's a transition of regeneration. But when they already have a strong foundation with their coaching, then they will be able to quickly return to their proper performance.

[Leviathan.007]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

I remember the name Nakata, who first played at the highest level of European competition, in Serie A and the World Cup he was very familiar. After that, many clubs recruited players from the Asian region, and of course that was very profitable from both sides. The football fan base in Asia is actually quite large, but only a few players can consistently play in Europe. Although in some cases, differences in gaming culture, weather and body posture are always the main obstacles. Of course, European leagues have always been a reference for the best players, and many people admit this.

On the other hand, holding the World Cup in Korean-Japan is a very good start for Asian players. Many Asian players after this event went to European clubs. In terms of talent, Asian players are actually no less than players from other regions.

Talking about Asia and Asian teams in the World Cup maybe a team like Japan can have a good performance because of the players they have on good and top-level teams in Europe, but still, the fact about these teams is you can judge Germany or Japan just because of a single game and we know during the history of the world cup the Asian teams never achieved any title before. I think still there is no chance even for a team like Japan or South Korea to achieve anything.

[shogun47]

Whereas before Asian countries might not have been considered, now they are starting to get a lot of attention, and you're right that it's because of the players who are carving out careers by joining big clubs in Europe. It's understandable, because it must be recognized that the quality of coaching in Europe is much better than in Asia that makes players develop faster when they are there than joining local clubs that are still in the Asian region. I don't mean to underestimate the quality in Asia at all, but that's what I see at least for now.

I'm from Asia. And I admit that this is true. I have seen several interviews from national team players in my country who said that coaching in Europe is much better in terms of technical and theoretical aspects. And the good news is that things like this can be applied to other national team players who don't play in Europe. They can get a little advice on tactics and style of play based on their time training in Europe.

I remember the name Nakata, who first played at the highest level of European competition, in Serie A and the World Cup he was very familiar. After that, many clubs recruited players from the Asian region, and of course that was very profitable from both sides. The football fan base in Asia is actually quite large, but only a few players can consistently play in Europe. Although in some cases, differences in gaming culture, weather and body posture are always the main obstacles. Of course, European leagues have always been a reference for the best players, and many people admit this.

On the other hand, holding the World Cup in Korean-Japan is a very good start for Asian players. Many Asian players after this event went to European clubs. In terms of talent, Asian players are actually no less than players from other regions.

Talking about Asia and Asian teams in the World Cup maybe a team like Japan can have a good performance because of the players they have on good and top-level teams in Europe, but still, the fact about these teams is you can judge Germany or Japan just because of a single game and we know during the history of the world cup the Asian teams never achieved any title before. I think still there is no chance even for a team like Japan or South Korea to achieve anything.

Japan or South Korea may not win a title at a World Cup anytime soon, but may I remind you that these times are certainly capable of kicking out renowned nations like Germany? Japan has beaten Germany and Spain in their group in Qatar and they finished the group as 1st in front of Spain and Germany, thereby sending Germany home.

South Korea tied their game against Uruguay and beat Portugal to then finish the group 2nd and send Uruguay home. Uruguay is not some amateur group from nowhere.

Of course they are not title favorites or anything like that, but they have to be taken seriously as teams that can give any other other team a hard time.

[Bobrox]

Talking about Asia and Asian teams in the World Cup maybe a team like Japan can have a good performance because of the players they have on good and top-level teams in Europe, but still, the fact about these teams is you can judge Germany or Japan just because of a single game and we know during the history of the world cup the Asian teams never achieved any title before. I think still there is no chance even for a team like Japan or South Korea to achieve anything.

No doubt for Japan national team they are teams participants never absent in edition of World Cup, Japan have many players in top European teams and easily always favorite national teams from Asia for FIFA World Cup 2026. Since many time participating in FIFA World Cup, Japan hasn't impressive performance and always stuck in 16th round, I don't know what happen with Japan and they have top player but difficult lead to quarter final until semifinal stage in edition of World Cup.
I hope next edition has any Asian national teams can lead to semifinal stage after last time did by South Korea when becoming host in FIFA World Cup 2002 and success finish on 3rd position although many controversial thing happening.

[beerlover]

There are many things about football competition in Asia that still need better development and maybe a decade from now it won't be enough to make Asia even better in competing in the World Cup, in fact, I think Africa is still much better and has a greater chance of becoming champion. World Cup compared to Asia. More African football players play in Europe or other leagues on other continents, while there are still very few in Asia.
If Asia wants to compete better then the players must have the courage to leave their local league and experience tighter and more difficult competition like in Europe even though they only play in the second division.

However, Japan's victory over Germany is still an achievement and that's because Germany not only played badly but slightly underestimated their opponent. I saw the match and how the German defenders made movements that seemed to tease the Japanese players who they might see were shorter but one or two Japanese attacks were enough to destroy Germany at that time. Maybe that's a wrong assessment but currently Germany is not a strong team for a big competition unless there are big changes they make with their new coach later.

I would say that neither Asia nor Africa has a chance to win the world cup, considering teams from Europe and Latin America still end up being a lot better. Those nations have a football culture that dates back nearly hundred years, which means that they have a lot more chances to improve during that time.

Whereas if we are talking about Africa, that is a bit earlier than Asia, so they did their time and they are getting better, they have been getting better for a while now and I am assuming that the money football brings to them must be a good feeling. I feel like it is going to end up with Asia being the last one out there, it is going to take a while, but with more time, they will get better without a doubt.

[swogerino]

There are many things about football competition in Asia that still need better development and maybe a decade from now it won't be enough to make Asia even better in competing in the World Cup, in fact, I think Africa is still much better and has a greater chance of becoming champion. World Cup compared to Asia. More African football players play in Europe or other leagues on other continents, while there are still very few in Asia.
If Asia wants to compete better then the players must have the courage to leave their local league and experience tighter and more difficult competition like in Europe even though they only play in the second division.

However, Japan's victory over Germany is still an achievement and that's because Germany not only played badly but slightly underestimated their opponent. I saw the match and how the German defenders made movements that seemed to tease the Japanese players who they might see were shorter but one or two Japanese attacks were enough to destroy Germany at that time. Maybe that's a wrong assessment but currently Germany is not a strong team for a big competition unless there are big changes they make with their new coach later.

I would say that neither Asia nor Africa has a chance to win the world cup, considering teams from Europe and Latin America still end up being a lot better. Those nations have a football culture that dates back nearly hundred years, which means that they have a lot more chances to improve during that time.

Whereas if we are talking about Africa, that is a bit earlier than Asia, so they did their time and they are getting better, they have been getting better for a while now and I am assuming that the money football brings to them must be a good feeling. I feel like it is going to end up with Asia being the last one out there, it is going to take a while, but with more time, they will get better without a doubt.

Senegal is the team that has gone the most far in the World Cup together with Ghana I think from Africa and they have done it much differently than Asian teams like Korea in 2002 which was helped by the referees against Italy.Of course these teams from these continents need a lot more improvement in order to be able to fight against European and Latin America teams although the level from these teams has lately only been in the increase.

No one knows when a team from such continents will be able to win the World Cup but I am pretty confident that it would take at least a couple of decades,may be after 2050 we will have one such winner as before that year I doubt it very much.

[Docnaster]

There are many things about football competition in Asia that still need better development and maybe a decade from now it won't be enough to make Asia even better in competing in the World Cup, in fact, I think Africa is still much better and has a greater chance of becoming champion. World Cup compared to Asia. More African football players play in Europe or other leagues on other continents, while there are still very few in Asia.
If Asia wants to compete better then the players must have the courage to leave their local league and experience tighter and more difficult competition like in Europe even though they only play in the second division.

However, Japan's victory over Germany is still an achievement and that's because Germany not only played badly but slightly underestimated their opponent. I saw the match and how the German defenders made movements that seemed to tease the Japanese players who they might see were shorter but one or two Japanese attacks were enough to destroy Germany at that time. Maybe that's a wrong assessment but currently Germany is not a strong team for a big competition unless there are big changes they make with their new coach later.

I would say that neither Asia nor Africa has a chance to win the world cup, considering teams from Europe and Latin America still end up being a lot better. Those nations have a football culture that dates back nearly hundred years, which means that they have a lot more chances to improve during that time.

Whereas if we are talking about Africa, that is a bit earlier than Asia, so they did their time and they are getting better, they have been getting better for a while now and I am assuming that the money football brings to them must be a good feeling. I feel like it is going to end up with Asia being the last one out there, it is going to take a while, but with more time, they will get better without a doubt.

I don't know much about the possibility of Asian teams winning the FIFA World Cup in future time but I know that if African countries can manage the footballing talents in Africa and develop them to professional level, they have all it takes to win the FIFA World Cup.
France has played in the final of the world cup for the last two editions and were the champions in the 2018 world cup that was hosted in Russia. The majority number of France national team players are of African decent but chose to represent the France national team because football isn't valued in their respective African countries.

[nullama]

~snip~
We should just accept the reality that in every era, there will be a star and we cannot really compare which is the best because even if we say it honestly, it's already biased as we already have our own preferences before we even get the chance to speak what we think. Sure, those players are good and will not be forgotten but the thing is, they are all a history now and the football will be revolving around the new players anymore and will give the limelight to the new ones. Those stars that we've mentioned, their time was already over, they were the best but only on their era as we cannot really tell what would happen if they had the chance to play in one single era.

Yeah, it's crazy to think about the fact that Maradona and Pele are both dead already. Most young people now will maybe only have heard about them, but never seen them play live.

Pele stopped playing a long time ago, but Maradona was still playing in the late 90s/early 00s... I guess that's a long time ago as well...

This thought made me feel so old  

[Jody.Drummer]

Talking about Asia and Asian teams in the World Cup maybe a team like Japan can have a good performance because of the players they have on good and top-level teams in Europe, but still, the fact about these teams is you can judge Germany or Japan just because of a single game and we know during the history of the world cup the Asian teams never achieved any title before. I think still there is no chance even for a team like Japan or South Korea to achieve anything.

We have to take a holistic view of this, Asian countries have yet to win a World Cup title, but we also have to see that they are progressing in that direction as Asian football continues to grow. If we go back 10 or 20 years, we wouldn't have seen the strength of Asia, but now they are better than ever.
Okay, so let's put aside Germany's crushing defeat to Japan in the last match, but we must also remember how many Asian countries can beat a powerhouse like Germany even in a friendly match?

snip

Japan or South Korea may not win a title at a World Cup anytime soon, but may I remind you that these times are certainly capable of kicking out renowned nations like Germany? Japan has beaten Germany and Spain in their group in Qatar and they finished the group as 1st in front of Spain and Germany, thereby sending Germany home.

South Korea tied their game against Uruguay and beat Portugal to then finish the group 2nd and send Uruguay home. Uruguay is not some amateur group from nowhere.

Of course they are not title favorites or anything like that, but they have to be taken seriously as teams that can give any other other team a hard time.

Now I agree with you, that maybe they won't be able to win a World Cup title in the near future, but I believe that it will happen in the future, as to when I can't say for sure.
I'm also not going to say that Asian countries like Japan have surpassed European countries in football, but again I'm saying that their progress is in that direction. I'm going to talk about distance now, if before the difference between Asian and European countries was rarely 10 for example, I think that difference has narrowed down and could be 6 to 8.

[jaberwock]

There are many great players that never achieved stardom levels like Pele of Maradona. For example, in Brazil there was Rivaldo, one of the best players of that squad, but he never got the same recognition of Pele.

I think everyone remembers the bicycle kick goal of Rivaldo in the final though...

Rivaldo was a decent player there is no argument there, he was great when he played there but even when he played there people talked about Ronaldo a lot more, not Rivaldo, even though Ronaldo was far more frequently injured. Rivaldo was good, but he wasn't "I made this team win thanks to me" levels of good, he wasn't the type of player that would be good enough to decide the game or get them a cup all by his own talents.

Players like Neymar, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luiz Nazario Ronaldo, Zidane, all these players were great enough that they could win something if you just put a bit of a decent squad next to them. This is why I believe that it has to be something that worths a lot for Rivaldo to get the same recognition.

[Leviathan.007]

~snip~
I can easily say that Neymar could be compared to Ronaldo, but not Ronaldinho. The difference is that Ronaldo played at a great time of Brazil, but he was consistently injured too, but won some stuff with his team as well. I believe that Neymar is a great player too, but he is constantly injured as well.

Ronaldo could have been one of the best players in history if he didn't get injured this much, and Neymar could have been the best of his time as well if he didn't get this many injuries. Ronaldinho is a different type of player, he was a great player but he was also a showman as well, he just enjoyed playing football, it was fun for him, it wasn't being the best that he cared about, it was being loved and enjoyed.

There are many great players that never achieved stardom levels like Pele of Maradona. For example, in Brazil there was Rivaldo, one of the best players of that squad, but he never got the same recognition of Pele.

I think everyone remembers the bicycle kick goal of Rivaldo in the final though...

We should just accept the reality that in every era, there will be a star and we cannot really compare which is the best because even if we say it honestly, it's already biased as we already have our own preferences before we even get the chance to speak what we think. Sure, those players are good and will not be forgotten but the thing is, they are all a history now and the football will be revolving around the new players anymore and will give the limelight to the new ones. Those stars that we've mentioned, their time was already over, they were the best but only on their era as we cannot really tell what would happen if they had the chance to play in one single era.

Years ago the whole football playing style was different and it was never the same as what we can currently see, that's why some plays like Maradona or Pele became popular because they saved a team by themselves. In fact, even if the whole team didn't perform well, they still could change the results.
But these days many teams have good strategies to control these players even if they are legendary players.

[nullama]

~snip~
Years ago the whole football playing style was different and it was never the same as what we can currently see, that's why some plays like Maradona or Pele became popular because they saved a team by themselves. In fact, even if the whole team didn't perform well, they still could change the results.
But these days many teams have good strategies to control these players even if they are legendary players.

Yeah, and today Pele and Maradona are no longer with us. Most younger fans would have never seen them play, or in an interview, etc...

Maradona played his last games in the late 90s or early 00s, which is when some of the new fans were just born basically.

We are living in a new era of football. Maradona and Pele are ancient history. Not sure who will take over though, I think it's impossible to have someone at that level these days. It's all more competitive, and we have many great players instead of a few incredible ones.