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

[Strongkored]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

For the Copa America, Neymar Jr cannot play due to injury, and once again this is quite a long break for Neymar due to injury, but for the 2026 World Cup there is a big chance that we will still see him playing for the Brazilian national team, because his role in the Brazilian team is important and several injuries suffered by Neymar caused Brazil to fail to perform well.
However, injuries might be another obstacle for Neymar because he is known as a player who is quite close to injury, in fact the biggest obstacle to his career is injury because in terms of skill he is one of the players with the best skills but cannot perform optimally, hopefully the injury does not force him to retire early from his football career because we see there are players who experience this, such as what happened to Dutch striker Marco Van Basten.
Source

[SATWAT]

Saudi Arabia atmosphere and culture vey difference such as usually for European players or their family, but I don't think its an acceptable reason behind Cristiano Ronaldo and some top or European players adapt well how difference culture in Saudi Arabia and Ronaldo have been three season there without any problem yet.
I think Lionel Messi accepted MLS League team offer behind more interested offering than Saudi Arabia club and he won't get more compete with Cristiano Ronaldo behind both players still be more excited rivalry right now. Keep respect between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo decision although playing with difference competition but has good rumor with Inter Miami owner David Bekham has dreaming to sign Ronaldo and joining Inter Miami after his contract over.

Ronaldo doesn't have any issues with staying in Saudi Arabia, but his girlfriend may not be that happy. Saudi laws are more restrictive towards the females. But a lot has changed over the years, ever since Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud came to power. He has envisioned Saudi Arabia transitioning to a modern society, compatible with Islamic values. Movie theatres and shopping malls are opening all over the country. Also the crown price wants to transform Saudi Arabia to a global sports hub.

I read about this, they are very interested in being a powerhouse in football and are investing heavily in this, and there are several famous players competing in the Saudi league, I think this is very good, the more competitive leagues the better for us who like football .

Usually, whenever a country hosts the World Cup they will earn too much money this is enough for any country to try to be the end host of the World Cup. That's why Saudi Arabia is trying hard for it. They saw Qatar hosted the World Cup and this made them even more interested than before in hosting the World Cup.
They tried to do that by attracting too much attention to their country. They hired Ronaldo and some other superstar players like Neymar and Benzema, this is an investment for Saudi Arabia to earn more if they host the next World Cup. even in the 2026 World Cup, they wanted to try hosting this tournament.

Hosting of World Cup is not only sources of having money but with this many other benefits are also happened like tourism and industry also having big boost even we all know Saudi Arab is rich country and also having enough oil reserves but now in last one decade we are having too many changes in different regions and new generation leaders are bringing new rules and regulations which are helping them for having good development and image of their country.
Gulf is now having good intention of the world after Qatar World Cup with Saudi Arab which is the biggest country in this region jumping for more success in sports and culture events which are creating new image of this country, and they are going to have new identity of this country as well which was as one of the radical countries in this all region due to have Muslim holy places.

[Rampagoe004]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

I've seen Brazil's list of players for the Copa America. And to be honest, I see the quality of Brazilian players decreasing. There are a lot of names that I don't think are very well known. I know everyone misses the old Brazil where the players were superstars at their respective clubs.

Apart from Neymar, I read the news which stated that Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison and Manchester United player Casemiro were also not called up due to injury. Yes everyone also misses Neymar and I hope he can play in the 2026 world cup because maybe it will be his last world cup.

[Leviathan.007]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

The way Neymar got injured was so hard when he was playing for Brazil. Neymar was injured when he was playing for PSG and he was not in good form at all. but after he recovered he just injured just again after that. That's why Neymar is very far from his good form and even if he comes back and starts playing for his team still there is no guarantee that Neymar to have a good performance as he had before because he was out on the field for a long time and this definitely affected this player. Maybe even Brazil should not count on Neymar for the 2026 World Cup anymore.

  

[Patrol69]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

For the Copa America, Neymar Jr cannot play due to injury, and once again this is quite a long break for Neymar due to injury, but for the 2026 World Cup there is a big chance that we will still see him playing for the Brazilian national team, because his role in the Brazilian team is important and several injuries suffered by Neymar caused Brazil to fail to perform well.
However, injuries might be another obstacle for Neymar because he is known as a player who is quite close to injury, in fact the biggest obstacle to his career is injury because in terms of skill he is one of the players with the best skills but cannot perform optimally, hopefully the injury does not force him to retire early from his football career because we see there are players who experience this, such as what happened to Dutch striker Marco Van Basten.
Source

Probably Neymar's ligament injury and this injury is so serious as it has ruined the careers of many players. Neymar has always been seen to struggle with injuries and has come back from injury every time Neymar has been injured.  Perhaps the team management did not want to take any additional risk with him so that Neymar can be fully fit for the 2026 World Cup and can play the World Cup for the national team from full fitness. Neymar has suffered serious injuries in the past and has been sidelined for long periods of time and has worked on his injuries and come back from them, so maybe this time will be no different. The hope is that Neymar will return to the team more formidable and achieve his dream of winning the World Cup.

[Hirose UK]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

The way Neymar got injured was so hard when he was playing for Brazil. Neymar was injured when he was playing for PSG and he was not in good form at all. but after he recovered he just injured just again after that. That's why Neymar is very far from his good form and even if he comes back and starts playing for his team still there is no guarantee that Neymar to have a good performance as he had before because he was out on the field for a long time and this definitely affected this player. Maybe even Brazil should not count on Neymar for the 2026 World Cup anymore.

Previously, Neymar was very great player, he was agile, skilled at dribbling the ball and breaking through the opponent defense, he was even very sharp goal machine.
But everything changed after Neymar became part of PSG, he suffered series of injuries and from there Neymar went to Saudi with Al Hilal but the previous injury he got when he was still a PSG player made him get injured more often.
We can see again how Neymar previously suffered very serious injury while defending Brazil in the Uruguay vs Brazil match in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and this is where he had to be absent for quite long time.
But for the 2026 World Cup, I quite sure that Brazil will be able to have good performance. Moreover, I also sure that Neymar will be able to participate in defending Brazil in this most prestigious big competition.

[criptoevangelista]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

I've seen Brazil's list of players for the Copa America. And to be honest, I see the quality of Brazilian players decreasing. There are a lot of names that I don't think are very well known. I know everyone misses the old Brazil where the players were superstars at their respective clubs.

Apart from Neymar, I read the news which stated that Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison and Manchester United player Casemiro were also not called up due to injury. Yes everyone also misses Neymar and I hope he can play in the 2026 world cup because maybe it will be his last world cup.

The quality is far below what the Brazilian team was in the past, today we no longer have differentiated players like we used to, we only have good players and nothing more. Neymar could be one of the greats, but he chose to be a celebrity instead of a professional player, today he is over 30 years old, so the best phase is over. There's Vinicius JR, who I think may be more prominent in the future, but nothing compared to Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and so many others.

[SATWAT]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

I've seen Brazil's list of players for the Copa America. And to be honest, I see the quality of Brazilian players decreasing. There are a lot of names that I don't think are very well known. I know everyone misses the old Brazil where the players were superstars at their respective clubs.

Apart from Neymar, I read the news which stated that Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison and Manchester United player Casemiro were also not called up due to injury. Yes everyone also misses Neymar and I hope he can play in the 2026 world cup because maybe it will be his last world cup.

The quality is far below what the Brazilian team was in the past, today we no longer have differentiated players like we used to, we only have good players and nothing more. Neymar could be one of the greats, but he chose to be a celebrity instead of a professional player, today he is over 30 years old, so the best phase is over. There's Vinicius JR, who I think may be more prominent in the future, but nothing compared to Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and so many others.

South American soccer quality is having huge decline in last few years specially Brazil is going badly down which is surely huge concern for them with things are not positive while they are having huge challenges in front of them Neymar Jr era is now almost ended with new generation players are having no quality like we have few years back so if someone looking for the quality of Ronaldo, Romário and Rivaldo then it's available on YouTube instead of having any chance in soccer ground.
Brazilian soccer is needed an overhaul which can bring their golden era back, but it's never been easy with things are going the worst day by day and quality is also not improving which is not good for them.

[Albarq]

I think a well-structured team tactically is much more dangerous than a team with a star who can unbalance the match. Today, tactical obedience and good coaches make much more of a difference on the field.

In the youth categories the fundamentals gave way to tactical training, we don't see as many young and extremely skilled boys emerging as in the past.

I look at it from a sports perspective, nowadays many tactical training methods are used, where in the training process athletes have to master special techniques in ever-changing game situations, even though every football player must know these techniques, it's different from players who have special skills, such as kicking with their feet Left is one of the innate talents compared to ready-made star players, so basically special players are really needed in the game because they have more value than stars.

[Hispo]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

I've seen Brazil's list of players for the Copa America. And to be honest, I see the quality of Brazilian players decreasing. There are a lot of names that I don't think are very well known. I know everyone misses the old Brazil where the players were superstars at their respective clubs.

Apart from Neymar, I read the news which stated that Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison and Manchester United player Casemiro were also not called up due to injury. Yes everyone also misses Neymar and I hope he can play in the 2026 world cup because maybe it will be his last world cup.

I have got a hunch Neymar is going to take the last chance and go to the World Cup, he is probably keeping special attention to his recovery so he can unleash all his potential in such important tournament.
Also, on the quality and prestige of the Brazilian selection: I have got the impression people had grown accustomed the the golden era of Brazilian excellence within this sport with famous names which could make all the difference in a match, and when time passes by and those stars are forced to retire by their own human capabilities and their age, then we start to witness a drought of talents. Sure, there are very people who can offer much to the team, there is no doubt about it, but when one get used to seeing Brazil in his best era, it is difficult to feel enthusiastic again with players who are unlikely to reach the same level in action.
It would be as if Messi suddenly retired and people expected to see someone as revelant and good as him, but never comes.

I as Venezuelan, I dream someday we can have our own version of Messi or Cristiano, so we can enjoy our turn as a revelant country within the world of soccer/football, at least for a decade, before going back to slumber.

[Sithara007]

I as Venezuelan, I dream someday we can have our own version of Messi or Cristiano, so we can enjoy our turn as a revelant country within the world of soccer/football, at least for a decade, before going back to slumber.

I have said this before in this forum. I really feel bad for you guys. If you were in any other confederation other than CONMEBOL, then you guys would have been regular participants in the world cup. But then, only 4.5 slots are allotted for CONMEBOL out of 10 participants. Two of them are almost reserved for Brazil and Argentina. That means that the remaining 2.5 needs to be shared between extremely talented teams such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. Anyway, the good news is that from this time onwards the number of slots available have been increased to 6.5.

[nullama]

~snip~
I have said this before in this forum. I really feel bad for you guys. If you were in any other confederation other than CONMEBOL, then you guys would have been regular participants in the world cup. But then, only 4.5 slots are allotted for CONMEBOL out of 10 participants. Two of them are almost reserved for Brazil and Argentina. That means that the remaining 2.5 needs to be shared between extremely talented teams such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. Anyway, the good news is that from this time onwards the number of slots available have been increased to 6.5.

Yeah, CONMEBOL is probably the most difficult qualifier.

That's why it's a great thing to have 6.5 spots now there. More than half of the teams will be able to qualify now, which will bring more talented teams to the world cup.

[Hispo]

~snip~
I have said this before in this forum. I really feel bad for you guys. If you were in any other confederation other than CONMEBOL, then you guys would have been regular participants in the world cup. But then, only 4.5 slots are allotted for CONMEBOL out of 10 participants. Two of them are almost reserved for Brazil and Argentina. That means that the remaining 2.5 needs to be shared between extremely talented teams such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. Anyway, the good news is that from this time onwards the number of slots available have been increased to 6.5.

Yeah, CONMEBOL is probably the most difficult qualifier.

That's why it's a great thing to have 6.5 spots now there. More than half of the teams will be able to qualify now, which will bring more talented teams to the world cup.

It has centainly played against us in the long term, because our selection of players has never been as talented or professional as those in other countries, like Colombia, Chile, Peru, etc. Besides, because of the economical situation of our country and the crisis we are still going through, it has been difficult to prioritize sports over other things, like food, medical attention, and jobs.  Though, considering how this government is, I know they would like to use football as a mean to distract people from problems... Anyways, that is rather a political topic.
Perhaps, in one of these years, we will be able to reach the world cup and hopefully get to quarters of finals. It would bring much hope and joy to people who is pretty passionate on football here.

[criptoevangelista]

Brazil have announced their squad ahead of the Copa America and everything in the team is fine, except for one person we may miss a lot and that is Neymar Jr. Basically, Neymar Jr. did not get a place in the team due to injury.  Personally, I like Neymar's game and I like Neymar a lot, the performance of Neymar against Argentina in the last Copa America final must be remembered by everyone. I will definitely miss Neymar a lot this Copa America season.  Brazil have always announced their team with their best players and this time was no exception but only Neymar would have been complete.

I've seen Brazil's list of players for the Copa America. And to be honest, I see the quality of Brazilian players decreasing. There are a lot of names that I don't think are very well known. I know everyone misses the old Brazil where the players were superstars at their respective clubs.

Apart from Neymar, I read the news which stated that Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison and Manchester United player Casemiro were also not called up due to injury. Yes everyone also misses Neymar and I hope he can play in the 2026 world cup because maybe it will be his last world cup.

The quality is far below what the Brazilian team was in the past, today we no longer have differentiated players like we used to, we only have good players and nothing more. Neymar could be one of the greats, but he chose to be a celebrity instead of a professional player, today he is over 30 years old, so the best phase is over. There's Vinicius JR, who I think may be more prominent in the future, but nothing compared to Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and so many others.

South American soccer quality is having huge decline in last few years specially Brazil is going badly down which is surely huge concern for them with things are not positive while they are having huge challenges in front of them Neymar Jr era is now almost ended with new generation players are having no quality like we have few years back so if someone looking for the quality of Ronaldo, Romário and Rivaldo then it's available on YouTube instead of having any chance in soccer ground.
Brazilian soccer is needed an overhaul which can bring their golden era back, but it's never been easy with things are going the worst day by day and quality is also not improving which is not good for them.

I believe that this decline is not just in Brazil, it is a problem on a global scale, in the past you would see children playing football in the street, today children only worry about their cell phones...

Another thing that catches my attention is that during training to develop professional players, most coaches focus only on tactics and not on the freedom to develop skills... Many skilled players in the past also came from indoor football... this sport today it does not have its due value... The declining situation will get worse and worse. . I hope this changes over time..

[wiss19]

South American soccer quality is having huge decline in last few years specially Brazil is going badly down which is surely huge concern for them with things are not positive while they are having huge challenges in front of them Neymar Jr era is now almost ended with new generation players are having no quality like we have few years back so if someone looking for the quality of Ronaldo, Romário and Rivaldo then it's available on YouTube instead of having any chance in soccer ground.
Brazilian soccer is needed an overhaul which can bring their golden era back, but it's never been easy with things are going the worst day by day and quality is also not improving which is not good for them.

I believe that this decline is not just in Brazil, it is a problem on a global scale, in the past you would see children playing football in the street, today children only worry about their cell phones...

Another thing that catches my attention is that during training to develop professional players, most coaches focus only on tactics and not on the freedom to develop skills... Many skilled players in the past also came from indoor football... this sport today it does not have its due value... The declining situation will get worse and worse. . I hope this changes over time..

Technology having both good and bad aspect in our lives with if we are having too many better things around us and also now we are having many developments which were not possible few years back for us, but this is also having bad aspects as well which are killing badly to new generation kids specially now their outdoor activity is ending, and they are facing things which are not helpful for them just because of this now we are facing decline in quality of sports as kids are not interested to have hours of practice which were important for their development now usually things are happening due to techniques instead of having practice and doing better until result achieved.

As things are running out we are not losing beauty of the sports as well which was doing amazingly for decades all new setup is appearing and this will be brought massive changes in few years which will be surely not as we have.

[joniboini]

I believe that this decline is not just in Brazil, it is a problem on a global scale, in the past you would see children playing football in the street, today children only worry about their cell phones...

I'm pretty sure FIFA will try to push countries to improve their football academy if the World Cup becomes a boring thing to watch. They don't want to lose a great source of money. That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean they will help countries who are popular with their football heritage directly. On the other hand, my national football team has become better in the last few years or so, while the national league quality is still not great. Qualifying for the World Cup is still a long-term target though.

[SATWAT]

I believe that this decline is not just in Brazil, it is a problem on a global scale, in the past you would see children playing football in the street, today children only worry about their cell phones...

I'm pretty sure FIFA will try to push countries to improve their football academy if the World Cup becomes a boring thing to watch. They don't want to lose a great source of money. That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean they will help countries who are popular with their football heritage directly. On the other hand, my national football team has become better in the last few years or so, while the national league quality is still not great. Qualifying for the World Cup is still a long-term target though.

FIFA is already working on this with many projects are already completed and many are under construction with things are taking good change for the development of this game soccer in nearly 200 countries which is good sign because we all now soccer is one of the most popular game which is bringing world close, and we are achieving many highs I was watching few weeks back we have few goal projects with the help of FIFA in our country and many youngsters are giving trials for the participation which is good sign even we need nearly one decade for having anything positive but still things are going good, and we will have good improvement in quality.
Now we are having 48 countries in Soccer World Cup which is also good development because with this now many countries are able to have their first participation in this mega event which was looking not possible few years back.

[criptoevangelista]

I believe that this decline is not just in Brazil, it is a problem on a global scale, in the past you would see children playing football in the street, today children only worry about their cell phones...

I'm pretty sure FIFA will try to push countries to improve their football academy if the World Cup becomes a boring thing to watch. They don't want to lose a great source of money. That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean they will help countries who are popular with their football heritage directly. On the other hand, my national football team has become better in the last few years or so, while the national league quality is still not great. Qualifying for the World Cup is still a long-term target though.

The problem is in the youth categories, if the coach has two options of boys: one with good skills and the other with tactical awareness... he will always prioritize the one who has tactical notions, since this player thinks about the whole team and not just in individual plays.

Skill is taking a backseat, they think it's easier to teach a tactician how to behave on the pitch than to teach a skilled player how to play for the team... as a result, football is becoming less incredible and more robotic.

[Rampagoe004]

The quality is far below what the Brazilian team was in the past, today we no longer have differentiated players like we used to, we only have good players and nothing more. Neymar could be one of the greats, but he chose to be a celebrity instead of a professional player, today he is over 30 years old, so the best phase is over. There's Vinicius JR, who I think may be more prominent in the future, but nothing compared to Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and so many others.

Yes you are right and I agree with you. Brazil's best era is over. This is very sad because Brazil is famous for its many star players from the 70s to the 2000s. Many names of Brazilian players have become legends in the history of world football. But at the moment to be honest, I don't even know most of Brazil's current squad. Maybe I don't follow football news regularly, but currently only Vinicius Jr. in my opinion has the level of Brazilian players of old. Although Vini will be great but without the support of the other brazilian players I think it will be difficult for brazil to even try to progress from the group stages.

[criptoevangelista]

The quality is far below what the Brazilian team was in the past, today we no longer have differentiated players like we used to, we only have good players and nothing more. Neymar could be one of the greats, but he chose to be a celebrity instead of a professional player, today he is over 30 years old, so the best phase is over. There's Vinicius JR, who I think may be more prominent in the future, but nothing compared to Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and so many others.

Yes you are right and I agree with you. Brazil's best era is over. This is very sad because Brazil is famous for its many star players from the 70s to the 2000s. Many names of Brazilian players have become legends in the history of world football. But at the moment to be honest, I don't even know most of Brazil's current squad. Maybe I don't follow football news regularly, but currently only Vinicius Jr. in my opinion has the level of Brazilian players of old. Although Vini will be great but without the support of the other brazilian players I think it will be difficult for brazil to even try to progress from the group stages.

If Brazil passes the group stage it will be with great difficulty or if they fall into a group with weak teams...

I also don't know several players from the Brazilian team, and that means that if they were good enough we would naturally know them... The Brazilian team is very bad and has serious problems: in terms of skill and prominence, only Neymar (injured) and Vini Jr... but other than that there are no stars or players with good tactical consistency.