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

[Hirose UK]

There are still 4 match and of course every team that previously made mistakes can definitely learn to perform better and not repeat all their mistakes again, from the remaining match it will make them more enthusiastic to be able to add as many points as possible.
Indonesia will still face Australia, Bahrain, China and Japan but only 3 match still allow Indonesia to have the opportunity to add points because of the four team, only Japan is the most difficult to beat.
I sure Indonesia can still occupy second place later.

Just like you think, of course against Japan is a difficult match for Indonesia to win in the second leg later, but Indonesia must at least be able to appear solid, disciplined and maximum in the  match to at least be able to get one point, they must learn from the defeat they got from Japan in the previous match where Indonesia must be able to minimize the slightest mistake in the next match,  Against Bahrain and China, I think it is their chance to win 3 points if we look at their actual performance better than Bahrain and China although in the first leg they failed to get full points over that the two teams, while the match that I think will be very balanced will of course when face Australia later, although Australia current ranking is higher than Indonesia, but I think they will still be able to keep up with the fast game and long passes from Australia later.

For the match against Japan in the last meeting, it seems that getting 1 point with draw will also be difficult unless Japan deliberately lets all that happen, just look at the previous match which took place at the GBK stadium showing Indonesia lost 0 - 4 to Japan and in the upcoming match Indonesia plays away so it is clear that there will be no chance for them to match Japan.
There is nothing to hope for when their opponent is Japan, this are not China or Bahrain who can be defeated by Indonesia, but we will see what the results will be like because there is of several months for them to prepare.

[dezoel]

The 2026 World Cup has created a good opportunity for new teams. Teams that didn't come very close to qualifying for the main stage in every World Cup tournament have a chance to play in the main stage in this World Cup. However, there are still some doubts about whether they can qualify for the main stage of the World Cup. Australia is trying although there is no guarantee yet that Australia will qualify for the main stage of the World Cup. However, some other countries including Iran, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan have a good chance of qualifying for the main stage of the 2026 World Cup. We will see more competition in the 2026 World Cup than what we saw in the 2022 World Cup and undoubtedly the 2026 World Cup will be remembered for a long time.

Yeah I agree, the more teams we put into world cup, the more fun we are going to have and the more people who will watch it. Obviously the whole world watches it, it's one of the most aired thing in the world, but lately we are seeing a drop with Z generation, with all the reels and tiktoks and what not, their attention span isn't ready for 2+ hour match and consider that as "fun" anymore, we the older generation end up liking it, because when we were kids it was the most fun thing we could do for free, it's on tv, it doesn't cost a dime, and you watch the superstars from all around the world.

Let's see the new generation join by making them interested once more, and the best way to do that would be putting them in the world cup, if your team is not at the world cup then watching it is a bit less fun, but if they are in it, then you are going to watch it and have more fun because you are not watching two different nations, you are watching your own nation, and of course if your nation is in there, then you watch other games too.

So a way to make sure newer generations participate into this, adding more countries is a good way, in fact, we should include even more, 48 teams isn't that impossible and 64 would make even more sense.

[Leviathan.007]

There are still 4 match and of course every team that previously made mistakes can definitely learn to perform better and not repeat all their mistakes again, from the remaining match it will make them more enthusiastic to be able to add as many points as possible.
Indonesia will still face Australia, Bahrain, China and Japan but only 3 match still allow Indonesia to have the opportunity to add points because of the four team, only Japan is the most difficult to beat.
I sure Indonesia can still occupy second place later.

Just like you think, of course against Japan is a difficult match for Indonesia to win in the second leg later, but Indonesia must at least be able to appear solid, disciplined and maximum in the  match to at least be able to get one point, they must learn from the defeat they got from Japan in the previous match where Indonesia must be able to minimize the slightest mistake in the next match,  Against Bahrain and China, I think it is their chance to win 3 points if we look at their actual performance better than Bahrain and China although in the first leg they failed to get full points over that the two teams, while the match that I think will be very balanced will of course when face Australia later, although Australia current ranking is higher than Indonesia, but I think they will still be able to keep up with the fast game and long passes from Australia later.

For the match against Japan in the last meeting, it seems that getting 1 point with draw will also be difficult unless Japan deliberately lets all that happen, just look at the previous match which took place at the GBK stadium showing Indonesia lost 0 - 4 to Japan and in the upcoming match Indonesia plays away so it is clear that there will be no chance for them to match Japan.
There is nothing to hope for when their opponent is Japan, this are not China or Bahrain who can be defeated by Indonesia, but we will see what the results will be like because there is of several months for them to prepare.

One good thing about Japan is they care about the younger player and they try to use the younger talents they have to develop their team. Japan is a team in Asia and there you cannot find many strong teams. Usually, the team in Asia fails to even have good performance in the World Cup and that's why we cannot expect to see good performance from these Asian teams in the 2026 World Cup too.
But it seems Japan is trying to act better than this and after a few years when their younger players get more experienced, we can hope to see Japan perform well in the World Cups.

[Publictalk792]

One good thing about Japan is they care about the younger player and they try to use the younger talents they have to develop their team. Japan is a team in Asia and there you cannot find many strong teams. Usually, the team in Asia fails to even have good performance in the World Cup and that's why we cannot expect to see good performance from these Asian teams in the 2026 World Cup too.
But it seems Japan is trying to act better than this and after a few years when their younger players get more experienced, we can hope to see Japan perform well in the World Cups.

Yes that is right Japan approach to building their team. They are helping young players get better which is good for future. It is true that teams from Asia usually do not do well in World Cup but Japan is trying to change that by focusing on young players. As you said it might take few years for these young players to get more experience but they have a lot of potential. If Japan keeps helping their young players they could become strong team in international football. It will be exciting to see how they do and if they can make big impact in 2026 World Cup and after that.

[mammusu]

One good thing about Japan is they care about the younger player and they try to use the younger talents they have to develop their team. Japan is a team in Asia and there you cannot find many strong teams. Usually, the team in Asia fails to even have good performance in the World Cup and that's why we cannot expect to see good performance from these Asian teams in the 2026 World Cup too.
But it seems Japan is trying to act better than this and after a few years when their younger players get more experienced, we can hope to see Japan perform well in the World Cups.

Yes that is right Japan approach to building their team. They are helping young players get better which is good for future. It is true that teams from Asia usually do not do well in World Cup but Japan is trying to change that by focusing on young players. As you said it might take few years for these young players to get more experience but they have a lot of potential. If Japan keeps helping their young players they could become strong team in international football. It will be exciting to see how they do and if they can make big impact in 2026 World Cup and after that.

The World Cup in 2002 then became the starting point of Japan's revival in football, previously we only saw the Asian team only being a complement in the World Cup, but what Korea and Japan are doing today is indeed very extraordinary and makes them the strong team in Asia, the development of young talent and the availability of adequate infrastructure are of course the main reason they can be as they are today, we can see a lot of their players playing in European club clubs and this shows that Japan and korean has managed to create an extraordinary squad, if we talk about world cup 2026, I think so far maybe only Japan and Korea are asian countries whose football strength is starting to be on par with European teams today.

[nullama]

~snip~
The World Cup in 2002 then became the starting point of Japan's revival in football, previously we only saw the Asian team only being a complement in the World Cup, but what Korea and Japan are doing today is indeed very extraordinary and makes them the strong team in Asia, the development of young talent and the availability of adequate infrastructure are of course the main reason they can be as they are today, we can see a lot of their players playing in European club clubs and this shows that Japan and korean has managed to create an extraordinary squad, if we talk about world cup 2026, I think so far maybe only Japan and Korea are asian countries whose football strength is starting to be on par with European teams today.

That 2002 World Cup was also the first one being done in more than a single country.

I think moving forward we will never again see the world cup hosted in a single country, it is getting too big for a single host.

Not sure how that will end up being, next one will be the first one with the new format, we'll see how it goes.

[Jody.Drummer]

That 2002 World Cup was also the first one being done in more than a single country.

I think moving forward we will never again see the world cup hosted in a single country, it is getting too big for a single host.

Not sure how that will end up being, next one will be the first one with the new format, we'll see how it goes.

I don't think it will be much different from the new format that we now see in the Champions League and Europa League. Basically everything is the same, but now there are more countries participating than usual. I don't know if this will be an advantage or a disadvantage, because the chances of countries that are difficult to get through to the World Cup are now greater and that could be something that makes the competition less competitive because there are countries that are entering the World Cup for the first time, for example, and other things.

[Pandu Geddon]

That 2002 World Cup was also the first one being done in more than a single country.

I think moving forward we will never again see the world cup hosted in a single country, it is getting too big for a single host.

Not sure how that will end up being, next one will be the first one with the new format, we'll see how it goes.

I don't think it will be much different from the new format that we now see in the Champions League and Europa League. Basically everything is the same, but now there are more countries participating than usual. I don't know if this will be an advantage or a disadvantage, because the chances of countries that are difficult to get through to the World Cup are now greater and that could be something that makes the competition less competitive because there are countries that are entering the World Cup for the first time, for example, and other things.

The ones who will benefit are the countries as organizers, because with more participants, more tourists will visit them to join in the excitement of the World Cup.
While for the teams from the competing countries, of course, the additional quota given will help the competing teams quite a bit. I remain convinced that only the strong teams from each federation will qualify. Regardless of whether they can compete with the teams from the favored countries, we will see their preparations.

[virasog]

One good thing about Japan is they care about the younger player and they try to use the younger talents they have to develop their team. Japan is a team in Asia and there you cannot find many strong teams. Usually, the team in Asia fails to even have good performance in the World Cup and that's why we cannot expect to see good performance from these Asian teams in the 2026 World Cup too.
But it seems Japan is trying to act better than this and after a few years when their younger players get more experienced, we can hope to see Japan perform well in the World Cups.

Yes that is right Japan approach to building their team. They are helping young players get better which is good for future. It is true that teams from Asia usually do not do well in World Cup but Japan is trying to change that by focusing on young players. As you said it might take few years for these young players to get more experience but they have a lot of potential. If Japan keeps helping their young players they could become strong team in international football. It will be exciting to see how they do and if they can make big impact in 2026 World Cup and after that.

I was just wondering why we don't see more countries from the Asia region competing and qualifying for the World Cup. It is always limited to Japan, Korea and Saudia Arabia. Iran also have a good football team but there are so many other countries including China and India that do not have any name in the Football World. I don't know if there is no talent in this part of the world but surely it is not about the facilities. China is the biggest sports hub but not much fame in football.

Qatar hosted the World Cup and therefore they were included in it, they won't be able to qualify otherwise. Maybe football isn't very much popular in the Asia region as compared to the American and European regions.

[temple]

I was just wondering why we don't see more countries from the Asia region competing and qualifying for the World Cup. It is always limited to Japan, Korea and Saudia Arabia. Iran also have a good football team but there are so many other countries including China and India that do not have any name in the Football World. I don't know if there is no talent in this part of the world but surely it is not about the facilities. China is the biggest sports hub but not much fame in football.

Qatar hosted the World Cup and therefore they were included in it, they won't be able to qualify otherwise. Maybe football isn't very much popular in the Asia region as compared to the American and European regions.

World Cup qualification is set in stone in terms of the number of teams that is allowed to participate per region. It is not only Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The participants in 2022 were Qatar as the host, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia as they count into the region. As far as I know Asia receives four spots as fixed and they can win a fifth spot depending on their group performance I think. It's a question of quotas and not of the quality of national football teams.

[AirtelBuzz]

One good thing about Japan is they care about the younger player and they try to use the younger talents they have to develop their team. Japan is a team in Asia and there you cannot find many strong teams. Usually, the team in Asia fails to even have good performance in the World Cup and that's why we cannot expect to see good performance from these Asian teams in the 2026 World Cup too.
But it seems Japan is trying to act better than this and after a few years when their younger players get more experienced, we can hope to see Japan perform well in the World Cups.

It is true that teams from Asia usually do not do well in World Cup but Japan is trying to change that by focusing on young players. As you said it might take few years for these young players to get more experience but they have a lot of potential. If Japan keeps helping their young players they could become strong team in international football. It will be exciting to see how they do and if they can make big impact in 2026 World Cup and after that.

You are wrong. Saudi Arabia and Australia also participated in the FIFA World Cup as Asian teams even though they performed well against most of the teams in the FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia has performed very well in several FIFA World Cup tournaments. As you mentioned that Japan gives the most opportunities to young players, maybe they aim to make these young players more experienced so that they can take the team further. Although the Japan football team has many young players, they are constantly winning matches from Group C of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. In this group, Japan is also ahead of strong teams like Australia and Saudi Arabia.

[Zlantann]

I was just wondering why we don't see more countries from the Asia region competing and qualifying for the World Cup. It is always limited to Japan, Korea and Saudia Arabia. Iran also have a good football team but there are so many other countries including China and India that do not have any name in the Football World. I don't know if there is no talent in this part of the world but surely it is not about the facilities. China is the biggest sports hub but not much fame in football.

Qatar hosted the World Cup and therefore they were included in it, they won't be able to qualify otherwise. Maybe football isn't very much popular in the Asia region as compared to the American and European regions.

Asian countries' FIFA World Cup appearances
11 – Korea Republic
7 – Japan
6 – Australia
6 – Iran
6 – Saudi Arabia
2 – Korea DPR
1 – Indonesia
1 – Kuwait
1 – Iraq
1 – United Arab Emirates
1 – China PR
1 – Qatar

Source fifa.com

Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have featured in the World Cup six times each. While most of them have just come to the biggest football show in the World just once. It is surprising that a highly populated country like China is finding it difficult to qualify for the World Cup. One would have also expected Saudi Arabia to have a smooth sail in the qualifying stage considering the big investment the government is making in the Saudi Professional League. They are in fourth position in Group C. It was predicted that the signing of top-class players would improve the performance of local players, but this seems not to be the case.    

[hyudien]

It is true that teams from Asia usually do not do well in World Cup but Japan is trying to change that by focusing on young players. As you said it might take few years for these young players to get more experience but they have a lot of potential. If Japan keeps helping their young players they could become strong team in international football. It will be exciting to see how they do and if they can make big impact in 2026 World Cup and after that.

You are wrong. Saudi Arabia and Australia also participated in the FIFA World Cup as Asian teams even though they performed well against most of the teams in the FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia has performed very well in several FIFA World Cup tournaments. As you mentioned that Japan gives the most opportunities to young players, maybe they aim to make these young players more experienced so that they can take the team further. Although the Japan football team has many young players, they are constantly winning matches from Group C of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. In this group, Japan is also ahead of strong teams like Australia and Saudi Arabia.

Another advantage that Japan has is because many of their players have careers in the world's top leagues and they are part of big teams. It cannot be denied that this is one of the factors why Japan is a country from Asia that can speak a lot in the World Cup. However, I want to talk more about Asian countries today. In my opinion, Asia has now shown a very big improvement and is worthy of being considered in the World Cup. Indeed, I still can't compare it with European countries, because we know that European football is still very strong. But at least now Asia is no longer underestimated.

[bering]

Recently i have checked about Group A standing and interested about Qatar because on 2022 they can playing at the world cup for the first time because at that time Qatar as a host of this tournament but for qualification stages recently Qatar has been displayed poor performance because they only able to occupy 4th place with only collect 7 points from 6 matches and 3 times lost even Qatar defensive lines is very weak because they are as the team with the most conceded in Group A and with 6 difference points with Uzbekistan i highly doubt Qatar can qualified to world cup or finish at top 2  so i think Qatar highest achievement is only top 4 or qualified to round 4

[Webetcoins]

Recently i have checked about Group A standing and interested about Qatar because on 2022 they can playing at the world cup for the first time because at that time Qatar as a host of this tournament but for qualification stages recently Qatar has been displayed poor performance because they only able to occupy 4th place with only collect 7 points from 6 matches and 3 times lost even Qatar defensive lines is very weak because they are as the team with the most conceded in Group A and with 6 difference points with Uzbekistan i highly doubt Qatar can qualified to world cup or finish at top 2  so i think Qatar highest achievement is only top 4 or qualified to round 4

Without any doubt Qatar have not good quality and consistency I am sure we will be not had them in coming world cup because we have few better countries which can go for automatic selection or after having spots into Fourth Stage they needed more work on their domestic level if they want to have better chances.

Asian countries are now working on soccer which is positive change specially we have few countries like Saudi Arab, Indonesia and China which will surely boost quality and consistency in this region but sadly still few countries are not near their best even they can do good like India and Bangladesh with Uzbekistan surely have good chance of qualification for the first time which could be huge success for them.

[doomloop]

World Cup qualification is set in stone in terms of the number of teams that is allowed to participate per region. It is not only Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The participants in 2022 were Qatar as the host, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia as they count into the region. As far as I know Asia receives four spots as fixed and they can win a fifth spot depending on their group performance I think. It's a question of quotas and not of the quality of national football teams.

Now with the increase number of participants in world cup Asian region having 8 spots which are good enough for them because we have still lack of quality and consistency many countries are not capable of staying at the good level which is big problem because they are having no good domestic setup which is important and AFC is also not working for the development of game as we have some conflicts at the top level as well.

But, here I also need to mention few countries are doing good work for the development of game as they are spending huge funds and things are having good changes as well we will be having to have good results in coming years, but AFC needs to be stricter about their policies because this is important for the development of the game.

[moneystery]

That 2002 World Cup was also the first one being done in more than a single country.

I think moving forward we will never again see the world cup hosted in a single country, it is getting too big for a single host.

Not sure how that will end up being, next one will be the first one with the new format, we'll see how it goes.

making the world cup in one country can not only burden the country, but also financial pressure, and heavy infrastructure burden, for example, the Qatar world cup yesterday left several problems because it was forced on one country only. in the future, holding the world cup in more than one country can be the best option, besides being able to share the burden, it can also increase cooperation between the two countries, and increase the efficiency and cost effectiveness of organizing the world cup, there are more advantages to holding the world cup in 2 countries and it should be like that in the future.

[temple]

Now with the increase number of participants in world cup Asian region having 8 spots which are good enough for them because we have still lack of quality and consistency many countries are not capable of staying at the good level which is big problem because they are having no good domestic setup which is important and AFC is also not working for the development of game as we have some conflicts at the top level as well.

But, here I also need to mention few countries are doing good work for the development of game as they are spending huge funds and things are having good changes as well we will be having to have good results in coming years, but AFC needs to be stricter about their policies because this is important for the development of the game.

Yes this is something I haven't been looking into as it seems. They got 4 - 5 spots in 2022 and will now have 8 spots guaranteed in the upcoming 2026 World Cup. That is huge, it is a serious upgrade for the region and is also incentivizes the country to take football more seriously and invest in infrastructure and players because now there is something to play for for them. This could help thrive the sport in that are far more than it already did. I had the feeling it was somehow stalling recently, but now this is the right signal that FIFA sent out. Not to forget that there are so many huge countries, which means they had been underrepresented for a long time.

Africa got +4 on top of the 5 they already had, which makes it 9 now. It is going to be far more even in regards to overall starter distribution.

CONMEBOL is a real outlier as they have only 10 countries playing the qualification and 6 will qualify, which is a 60% participation rate of that association. Next is UEFA with 29%.

[Akbarkoe]

Recently i have checked about Group A standing and interested about Qatar because on 2022 they can playing at the world cup for the first time because at that time Qatar as a host of this tournament but for qualification stages recently Qatar has been displayed poor performance because they only able to occupy 4th place with only collect 7 points from 6 matches and 3 times lost even Qatar defensive lines is very weak because they are as the team with the most conceded in Group A and with 6 difference points with Uzbekistan i highly doubt Qatar can qualified to world cup or finish at top 2  so i think Qatar highest achievement is only top 4 or qualified to round 4

Without any doubt Qatar have not good quality and consistency I am sure we will be not had them in coming world cup because we have few better countries which can go for automatic selection or after having spots into Fourth Stage they needed more work on their domestic level if they want to have better chances.

Asian countries are now working on soccer which is positive change specially we have few countries like Saudi Arab, Indonesia and China which will surely boost quality and consistency in this region but sadly still few countries are not near their best even they can do good like India and Bangladesh with Uzbekistan surely have good chance of qualification for the first time which could be huge success for them.

Without host status and a little helping hand, Qatar would have to surmount a very hard mountain to qualify for the World Cup to be held in 2026. And with many rapidly developing, extremely competitive Asian countries throwing down plenty, Qatar's standing on the Asian scene is increasingly under threat.

Nonetheless, the biggest problem in the AFC often relates to the integrity of the competition. Several reports and allegations prove political influence and controversial decisions over most matters that favor some countries, including those from the Middle East region. The likes of Qatar and Bahrain have over and over appeared on these pages being accused of match-fixing and the qualification process. This surely hurts other countries that have much more potential, but there is less political support for them.

The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers will be a test for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to see if they continue to practice fair and proper competition, and if so, then at what point in the future such practices will make it increasingly difficult for the region to gain recognition as one of the truly competitive regions in world football.

[fullhdpixel]

Another advantage that Japan has is because many of their players have careers in the world's top leagues and they are part of big teams. It cannot be denied that this is one of the factors why Japan is a country from Asia that can speak a lot in the World Cup. However, I want to talk more about Asian countries today. In my opinion, Asia has now shown a very big improvement and is worthy of being considered in the World Cup. Indeed, I still can't compare it with European countries, because we know that European football is still very strong. But at least now Asia is no longer underestimated.

After Korea Republic Japan is the most consistent country in Asian region because they are well-developed, and their sporting system is also had enough depth to bring their best at the top level in last few world cups we have them regular at the top level and their top players are also making their mark at the top leagues of UEFA which is another good advantage four countries are doing good work, and we can expect them to have keep things on this level but still as Asia is most populated region they needed to work on for game which can bring good results and funds as well Gulf region is surely leading with available sources but sadly their system is not helpful for bringing domestic talent.