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

[Forsyth Jones]

mv1986

I'd love to see my Portuguese brothers win a World Cup, a hard-working player like CR7 would certainly deserve it, although it is a very big challenge for him at the moment, but not impossible, as long as he plays in the 2026 World Cup, I'd say that his chances of winning are around 5%.

A list of the TOP10 best players in history was released according to FourFourTwo magazine. Despite being considered the King of Football, especially in Brazil, Pelé came in 4th place. Do you agree with this list or do you have different personal preferences?

[mv1986]

mv1986

I'd love to see my Portuguese brothers win a World Cup, a hard-working player like CR7 would certainly deserve it, although it is a very big challenge for him at the moment, but not impossible, as long as he plays in the 2026 World Cup, I'd say that his chances of winning are around 5%.

A list of the TOP10 best players in history was released according to FourFourTwo magazine. Despite being considered the King of Football, especially in Brazil, Pelé came in 4th place. Do you agree with this list or do you have different personal preferences?

~

Hm yes he did deserve it, but he had his chances more than many others. He played five World Cups already and has another one to go I guess. I would be surprised if he doesn't push it and go for the next one as well. I like how you quantified his chances. Some people have no clue what it means to win that trophy, but I think 5% nails it pretty much. You could argue 7% maybe But it is pretty slim and we have all seen how close it was for Messi two times actually. 2014 Argentina could and should habe beaten Germany when Germany made a huge mistake in the defense and Higuain messed it up I think. In 2022 it was again unbelievably close and of course luck has to be on your side on that day. Otherwise you are not gonna win the World Cup.

I wonder if Messi calls it a day or if he goes for it in 2026. I have this feeling that he quits before as he may feel he can only lose if he performs not very well. Though he rarely is bad during a game, it is just that he is measured by his own standards.

As for the ranking you posted, Messi on no.1 is certain for me. The rest could be debatable. But in my opinion the way Messi is using the pitch, his eyes to interpret the game, his precision in passing and finishing both during the game and from free kick positions, his dribblings and the fact that he never dives, never dives! Actually, there are probably 1000 situations in his career where he should have fallen, but he doesn't. It is something I like a lot about him and Ronaldo is a little diver. Always showing off his big fat leg muscles and then dives like a pussy. That's not very superstar like.

[AmoreJaz]

A loss for Saudi Arabia. In terms of FIFA ranking, they are better. From their meeting record, they are also more favored. But a draw at home is not good for them. Rumors in the media say that Mancini's players are not getting much playing time in the main squad when at the club. Especially their defenders. Is this the impact of competition with players from outside Saudi Arabia in the last few seasons?

These FIFA dates have been very tough and could have turned out favourable for those who prepared better, that doesn't mean they're doing badly , this is for anyone, we all know the impact of Saudi football now that its league is taking a very competitive turn, what happened is that in the 90 minutes Anything can happen, we remember what Saudi Arabia did to Argentina in Qatar , it showed what they are capable of , there is Still a long way to go and I think this will help them open their Eyes and realise that things can go wrong at any moment and move Forward.

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

[Slow death]

Argentina beat Chile in a tough match. Argentina was able to score the first goal only in the first half, and then at the end Chile went on the attack to get back, but conceded 2 more goals, so despite the score 3-0 victory was not easy for Argentina.

A funny fact about this game is that the Argentina coach finally put Paulo Dybala to play. The Argentina coach has been calling up Paulo Dybala for a long time but doesn't put him to play, even though he is in good health and is shining at AS Roma. I never understood why the Argentina coach does this with Paulo Dybala. To give you an idea of ​​what I'm talking about. Paulo Dybala only played 4 games in the 2019 Copa America. In this recent Copa America he didn't play any games. He also only played 2 games in the last World Cup, and now in the World Cup qualifiers he only played 1 game but has already scored 1 goal. But I highly doubt that this 1 goal will be of any use. The Argentina coach will continue not to put Paulo Dybala

In my opinion the game was very easy for Argentina, even some news channels considered this game as being very easy for Argentina:

The Copa America champion looked dominant and untroubled by the absence of talismans Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, who received a tribute at the Monumental Stadium after his international retirement.

source: https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/argentina-vs-chile-score-highlights-goals-lionel-messi-mac-allister-alvarez-dybala-arg-v-chi-fifa-world-cup-2026-qualifier-news/article68612383.ece

[Zigabel]

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

Saudi is improving in their games now, before now they were very poor in their performance, I think their league improvement is now helping them play football better than they had done before now. Indonesia isn't know for the game of football, they do more of Olympics competition than they do with football. Teams victory is always independent of big names even if big names are advantages but not the reason for which a team myst win.

[Volgastallion]

Cristiano over Pele is very strange to see on that list....

Anyways yesterday i see some stages of the game between Argentina and Chile and Argentina do quite a good job without Messi and Di Maria who make the decision of no longer play for the national team, and if you ask me as far as i can see they play super football Dybala and Garnacho taking part in the second half was also a super improvement,so..... is Argentina again the favorite to win the next world cup after what we see today from France?

[Docnaster]

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

Historically, Saudi Arabia is a better football nation than Indonesia but one thing you can't take away from football is surprising and shocking results and that's why I don't think it was abnormal to see Indonesia get a draw in their FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia will definitely feel disappointed with that draw but if you ask them, they're very much aware that they're the better team but couldn't just find a win against Indonesia. People don't just root for teams because of favoritism but most times, it's usually because of their footballing strength and that's why you saw many people including bookmakers back Saudi Arabia to defeat Indonesia

[Rockstarguy]

https://dailypost.ng/2024/09/06/ive-won-two-trophies-with-portugal-dont-need-world-cup-cristiano-ronaldo/

After scoring his 900th career goal in the UEFA Nations League yesterday, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo insisted that he is not desperate to win the World Cup. The 39-year-old legend claimed that he is playing to enjoy the game of football. Furthermore, he believes that winning the Euros is equivalent to winning the world and has already won two trophies. The Portuguese side beat Croatia by two goals to one and Ronaldo scored the second goal.

Maybe he has given up hope of winning the World Cup and is no longer interested in competing with his arch-rival Lionel Messi. It is also possible that he might be retiring before the next World Cup.

For me I believe Christiano Ronaldo has really done best for himself  whether he wins the world cup or not. Christiano Ronaldo is such a great player and I see him as a player that has so much passion for football.  Some people believe the reason why he still plays football is because of to win the world cup but I don't think that is the reason. Ronaldo is player that will never be forgotten because of how he made football so entertaining. With what he had achieved it is enough for him to be called an hero.
There so many good players like Ronaldo that are great they never won the world cup. Being a great players is not about winning the world cup but to be consistent over a longtime.

[Hanadawa]

-snip-

I agree to put Messi in the first position. He has the number one talent in the history of football. His body balance is absolutely insane. He almost never dives and that is helped by his physical balance and his incredible dribbling ability. Don't forget also his vision and IQ of the game which is very genius. Messi is like someone who plays his character on Playstation because he can see and predict the movement in almost the entire field.

And in the second position I think CR7 is very worthy. He is a human being with many fantastic records. Currently CR7 is the first footballer to get 900 goals officially. Ronaldo is an icon of hard work to achieve success. His discipline and healthy life principles have made him an inspiration to many people. I think Messi is an alien with natural talent and CR7 is a machine with hard work and dedication.

[Pandu Geddon]

I agree to put Messi in the first position. He has the number one talent in the history of football. His body balance is absolutely insane. He almost never dives and that is helped by his physical balance and his incredible dribbling ability. Don't forget also his vision and IQ of the game which is very genius. Messi is like someone who plays his character on Playstation because he can see and predict the movement in almost the entire field.

And in the second position I think CR7 is very worthy. He is a human being with many fantastic records. Currently CR7 is the first footballer to get 900 goals officially. Ronaldo is an icon of hard work to achieve success. His discipline and healthy life principles have made him an inspiration to many people. I think Messi is an alien with natural talent and CR7 is a machine with hard work and dedication.

Ronaldo's performance is indeed not as good as when he was young. but he still has the ability to play if trusted by the coach for the World Cup. not many players can still be productive in scoring goals at Ronaldo's age. even if he is not played and is only on the bench or is part of the national team coaching team, I think he can still be a source of encouragement for the Portuguese national team.
we have not seen an extraordinary talent like Ronal born in the Portuguese National Team. he is an extraordinary player, and maybe Portugal still can't afford to lose him in the team. a world cup without Messi and Ronaldo, damn, we haven't seen a competition like that again at this time. they make football very interesting to continue watching.

[bering]

Brazil has successfully to gets the winning result from Ecuador 1-0 i have to says the match is not easy because Ecuador also very discipline and Rodrygo can be considered as man of the match because he scored the only goal in this match and this is positive result from Brazil before facing Paraguay on September 10

However i just realize that seems Brazil has facing crisis for striker position because since qualification stages started the manager only playing Rodrygo, Vinicius and Edrick for different matches on that position which actually their real position is not centre striker but i can see the manager has no choice because Brazil currently have no world class striker

[Sim_card]

I agree to put Messi in the first position. He has the number one talent in the history of football. His body balance is absolutely insane. He almost never dives and that is helped by his physical balance and his incredible dribbling ability. Don't forget also his vision and IQ of the game which is very genius. Messi is like someone who plays his character on Playstation because he can see and predict the movement in almost the entire field.

And in the second position I think CR7 is very worthy. He is a human being with many fantastic records. Currently CR7 is the first footballer to get 900 goals officially. Ronaldo is an icon of hard work to achieve success. His discipline and healthy life principles have made him an inspiration to many people. I think Messi is an alien with natural talent and CR7 is a machine with hard work and dedication.

Ronaldo's performance is indeed not as good as when he was young. but he still has the ability to play if trusted by the coach for the World Cup. not many players can still be productive in scoring goals at Ronaldo's age. even if he is not played and is only on the bench or is part of the national team coaching team, I think he can still be a source of encouragement for the Portuguese national team.
we have not seen an extraordinary talent like Ronal born in the Portuguese National Team. he is an extraordinary player, and maybe Portugal still can't afford to lose him in the team. a world cup without Messi and Ronaldo, damn, we haven't seen a competition like that again at this time. they make football very interesting to continue watching.

Majority of people would have more interest on the world cup when both players Ronaldo and Messi are in attendance because they are extraordinary players and can change the game anytime to be in their favor. We have seen them done it many times from their youthful age till now and it is still possible for them to do it in 2026. I also hope to see Ronaldo as part of Portuguese national team in the forthcoming world cup because his present will be a big motivation to the players and a threat to the forum opponents on the pitch.

[Alpha Marine]

Two years after the World Cup, Argentina is still looking like the best national team in the world. If they continue with this form for the next two years, they might win the World Cup again because, compared to the other big teams, there have been no big improvements since the World Cup except for Spain.
Even without Messi this team still plays incredible football and they dominate teams as well. there is so much confidence among the squad and the unity that has been created is very strong. They might go ahead to win a back to back world cup at this rate.

9 from 11 players are from Holland, they're not a great player, so they can't play for Netherlands. Instead they're playing for Indonesia since their parents or grandparents were from Indonesia.

If Indonesia play without Dutch people, Saudi Arabia should have scored 3-5 goals.

I wonder if you say the same thing about France. Majority of the players that play for France are from other countries, mostly African countries but the whole world gets upset when people point that out.

[nullama]

~snip~
A list of the TOP10 best players in history was released according to FourFourTwo magazine. Despite being considered the King of Football, especially in Brazil, Pelé came in 4th place. Do you agree with this list or do you have different personal preferences?

These kinds of things are very dependent on personal opinion.

Also I think it is because of the time passing...

Most people today have never seen Pele playing. So it is hard to compare that player with say, Maradona, or even Messi, which you can see multiple videos today.

In any case, the game itself has changed a lot from Pele times. It's almost a different sport, much more competitive today.

[tsaroz]

~snip~
A list of the TOP10 best players in history was released according to FourFourTwo magazine. Despite being considered the King of Football, especially in Brazil, Pelé came in 4th place. Do you agree with this list or do you have different personal preferences?

These kinds of things are very dependent on personal opinion.

Also I think it is because of the time passing...

Most people today have never seen Pele playing. So it is hard to compare that player with say, Maradona, or even Messi, which you can see multiple videos today.

In any case, the game itself has changed a lot from Pele times. It's almost a different sport, much more competitive today.

The gameplay too have changed a lot in past and at present.  The rules are different. The technology have opened up newer approach.
The health and fitness are different. Players are being able to play for longer time with better fitness. Pele retired at the age of 31 while Ronaldo and Messi seem to be playing till their 40s.
The exposure too is much higher. Players back in time played very few games. The traveling time was greater. The competition and tournaments were less often.
So, it would be difficult to determine the best overall players and it would be better to break down the time period at least to a quarter of century to compare players.

[Zlantann]

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

Saudi is improving in their games now, before now they were very poor in their performance, I think their league improvement is now helping them play football better than they had done before now. Indonesia isn't know for the game of football, they do more of Olympics competition than they do with football. Teams victory is always independent of big names even if big names are advantages but not the reason for which a team myst win.

In the last World Cup, Saudi Arabia surprised the world when they won Argentina. However, the improvement in the local league has not really impacted the national team. The Arabian Falcons have not had an impressive international game recently. In the last three games, they drew giant Indonesia, lost against Jordan and had a convincing win over Pakistan. The local league have not started raising quality Indigenous players. They are still investing in experienced players that will help the SPL to develop. Maybe in the next ten years, we will start having Saudi players nominated for Ballon d'Or. Their next game will be against China which is an important game.     

[samuraijin]

A loss for Saudi Arabia. In terms of FIFA ranking, they are better. From their meeting record, they are also more favored. But a draw at home is not good for them. Rumors in the media say that Mancini's players are not getting much playing time in the main squad when at the club. Especially their defenders. Is this the impact of competition with players from outside Saudi Arabia in the last few seasons?

These FIFA dates have been very tough and could have turned out favourable for those who prepared better, that doesn't mean they're doing badly , this is for anyone, we all know the impact of Saudi football now that its league is taking a very competitive turn, what happened is that in the 90 minutes Anything can happen, we remember what Saudi Arabia did to Argentina in Qatar , it showed what they are capable of , there is Still a long way to go and I think this will help them open their Eyes and realise that things can go wrong at any moment and move Forward.

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

Maybe it is assumed that Indonesia will be the target in Group C of the Asian Zone, but I was surprised to see Indonesia's improvement in this qualification, they really troubled Saudi Arabia which is known to be superior in this Group, it seems that Mancini looked nervous in this match and full of anxiety in hosting Indonesia, and Mancini's feelings were right that Indonesia actually played well in defending attacks from Saudi Arabia, actually Saudi Arabia could have won the match if Salem Al Dawsari's penalty kick was saved by Marten Paes who had just started his debut with Indonesia.

[alegotardo]

In this preparation for the World Cup, has anyone here watched Brazil's victory over Ecuador in a World Cup qualifying match?

I watched it and despite the victory, I honestly say that I didn't like the game because it seemed like they did just enough to secure the victory and secure the still "bitter" fourth place in the standings, with 10 points.

Despite being technically qualified, much more is expected from a team like this that is still eight points behind leader Argentina.

It was a game with little performance in which despite having dominated possession of the ball, they were unable to create clear chances to score throughout the match... they misplaced many passes again and had a lot of difficulty in linking up in the attacking half and little creativity to overcome Ecuador's strong defensive block.

The second half was also worrying when Ecuador applied aggressive physical pressure with three hard-working forwards and left Brazil with no space to play.

Anyway... it was a victory, but even if they qualify for the World Cup, this is not the Brazil I want to see playing in 2026.

[Lidger]

https://dailypost.ng/2024/09/06/ive-won-two-trophies-with-portugal-dont-need-world-cup-cristiano-ronaldo/

After scoring his 900th career goal in the UEFA Nations League yesterday, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo insisted that he is not desperate to win the World Cup. The 39-year-old legend claimed that he is playing to enjoy the game of football. Furthermore, he believes that winning the Euros is equivalent to winning the world and has already won two trophies. The Portuguese side beat Croatia by two goals to one and Ronaldo scored the second goal.

Maybe he has given up hope of winning the World Cup and is no longer interested in competing with his arch-rival Lionel Messi. It is also possible that he might be retiring before the next World Cup.

Well, well... I guess he has let the world known all too often that he is in it to win it. He is not the kind of guy who plays football for recreational purposes and only wants to enjoy and doesn't care whether he wins the title. Of course he wants to win the title as that is the one thing that is missing for him. I bet if he were to win the World Cup 2026 in Mexico + USA, we would see him crying for half an hour straight on the pitch. Which is ok, I have no issues with that, but playing it down like that now is atypical for him. It doesn't fit into the picture he has been drawing for so many years and for good reasons. Surely he wants to win the title, but I guess there is a sense of realism and he knows that it takes an awful lot to really hold that trophy in his hands. Winning the World Cup is brutally hard and nothing that can ever be planned even if your team is the huge favorite.

As long as Ronaldo wears the Portugal jersey, he will try to lead the team to a respectable position. Every player's dream is to win the World Cup. If any player is asked if you want to win the World Cup or you want to be the best player then I think every player will answer without thinking that he wants to win the World Cup for his country. Cristiano Ronaldo has tried throughout his long career to bring the team to the World Cup but his single effort did not achieve such an achievement but he has not given up yet, he will wait until the 2026 World Cup. Maybe even in the 2026 World Cup, there will be no shortage of his efforts but still it will be seen that he has to end the World Cup journey with failure. Perhaps after the 2026 World Cup, Ronaldo may be seen retiring from all forms of football.

[slapper]

A loss for Saudi Arabia. In terms of FIFA ranking, they are better. From their meeting record, they are also more favored. But a draw at home is not good for them. Rumors in the media say that Mancini's players are not getting much playing time in the main squad when at the club. Especially their defenders. Is this the impact of competition with players from outside Saudi Arabia in the last few seasons?

These FIFA dates have been very tough and could have turned out favourable for those who prepared better, that doesn't mean they're doing badly , this is for anyone, we all know the impact of Saudi football now that its league is taking a very competitive turn, what happened is that in the 90 minutes Anything can happen, we remember what Saudi Arabia did to Argentina in Qatar , it showed what they are capable of , there is Still a long way to go and I think this will help them open their Eyes and realise that things can go wrong at any moment and move Forward.

In the field, we really can't tell their actual performance or the final scores. Just look at Saudi vs Indonesia. I guess, a lot were rooting for Saudi to really win their match and not get a draw. So they understand now that even with big names in the team, it doesn't guarantee the winning chance of the team.

Saudi Arabia needs some major work. Sure, they beat Argentina in the last World Cup. That was an absolute hell of a moment. But a dynasty cannot be built on one win. They're drawing against Indonesia, losing to Jordan. That isn't going to be enough. I'll give them that the Saudi league is improving. They are investing heavily in famous players, but it is just part of the picture

You cannot simply purchase a team and hope they will gel over night. It takes time, it takes chemistry. Saudi Arabia's got talent, but they need to figure out how to play as a unit. 2026 World Cup? They still have a great distance to go. Against China offers an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness. No more excuses, no more relying on individual stars