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

[silpersurfer]

But one thing that we need to remember is that Australia has two tough matches remaining (against Japan and the Saudis).

Saudi Arabia underperformed in the qualifier, based on what I saw. They drew 4 matches iirc, which should be unacceptable considering their opponents in the group. To be fair both Saudi and Australia started quite badly because they failed to win games they should've won comfortably. That being said, it's hard to see Saudi or Australia finishing outside of the top 4. They should focus on improving their game because in the knockout round, they have to perform much better.

When facing the Indonesian National Team, they hoped that Indonesia would be a fairly easy target to be defeated by the Saudi Arabian National Team. However, when the match went well, in the first and second meetings, Indonesia became a nightmare for Saudi Arabia, where the first match ended in a draw, and the second match Saudi Arabia had to suffer defeat.

but slowly but surely after the defeat Saudi Arabia began to make improvements in its squad, starting with changing coaches and improving team performance, and it paid off when they faced Japan they managed to bring home one point. And although the points achieved were still not enough to catch up with Australia, at least with the points achieved they strengthened their position in the 3rd row of the standings, in order to maintain Saudi Arabia's hopes of advancing to the next qualifying round.

As for Australia, it looks like they will accompany Japan to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup.

[Popkon6]

I never expected this score. My prediction was that the match would end in a draw since both teams have lots of quality players. It was all over the internet that the absence of Lionel Messi would negatively affect the performance of the Argentina national team. But I was wrong because La Albiceleste put on an extraordinary performance. Dorival Junior is now under pressure to lead this team to the World Cup.       

Actually, the Brazil we are seeing now is not as strong a squad as the previous Brazil. If I say that the current Argentina squad is better than Brazil, it is because they are much better in all stages from strikers to defenders. And this is where we expect that Brazil will win or this match will be a draw, which is where we are proven wrong by the Argentina.

In this match, I expected a draw just like you, and Brazil losing was both expected, but I was confused about these two options. However, Argentina brought me out of my confusion right at the beginning of the first half of the match and I could pretty much guess in the first half that Brazil would lose this match and that's what happened. To be honest, I don't have much expectation from Brazil for the next World Cup this time.

In the Brazilian team, except for Raphinha and Vinicius Junior, who are the only two players I consider experienced, all the players and the goalkeeper, they have performed badly and their performance is like that of a new player. It is foolish to compare this squad of the Brazilian team with a strong team like the Argentine team. The Argentine team has experienced players in the defenders and the only thing that was lacking in the attack department was Messi, I can see the lack of experienced players in the Brazilian team in the future.
Rodrigo is good as a striker but in this match he performed like a child, and the Brazilian team players could not hold the ball pass. The Brazilian team players are currently running with the reputation of the past but based on their performance I do not consider them to be experienced team players.

[PremiumcryptoHub]

In the Brazilian team, except for Raphinha and Vinicius Junior, who are the only two players I consider experienced, all the players and the goalkeeper, they have performed badly and their performance is like that of a new player. It is foolish to compare this squad of the Brazilian team with a strong team like the Argentine team. The Argentine team has experienced players in the defenders and the only thing that was lacking in the attack department was Messi, I can see the lack of experienced players in the Brazilian team in the future.
Rodrigo is good as a striker but in this match he performed like a child, and the Brazilian team players could not hold the ball pass. The Brazilian team players are currently running with the reputation of the past but based on their performance I do not consider them to be experienced team players.

I am completely surprised when I see the current players of the Brazilian team playing extremely well at club level. It is true that at one time, many football teams would start planning in advance about what format the Brazilian team would implement on the field but nowadays they don't have to do that anymore, instead, Brazil is constantly playing badly against Argentina. Brazil's performance was very erratic throughout this super match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers a few days ago, even Argentina passing accuracy was very clear, in my opinion Argentina is very experienced here.

By the way for those who still think Rodrygo is a complete striker now, I would call them completely ignorant. So it is practically proven that it is not possible for Brazil to build an experienced team in a very short time.

[Jewan420]

In the Brazilian team, except for Raphinha and Vinicius Junior, who are the only two players I consider experienced, all the players and the goalkeeper, they have performed badly and their performance is like that of a new player. It is foolish to compare this squad of the Brazilian team with a strong team like the Argentine team. The Argentine team has experienced players in the defenders and the only thing that was lacking in the attack department was Messi, I can see the lack of experienced players in the Brazilian team in the future.
Rodrigo is good as a striker but in this match he performed like a child, and the Brazilian team players could not hold the ball pass. The Brazilian team players are currently running with the reputation of the past but based on their performance I do not consider them to be experienced team players.

I am completely surprised when I see the current players of the Brazilian team playing extremely well at club level. It is true that at one time many football clubs had different plans regarding how the Brazilian team would line up its players, But nowadays, they don't have to do that anymore, instead, Brazil is constantly playing badly against Argentina. Brazil's performance was very erratic throughout this super match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers a few days ago, even Argentina passing accuracy was very clear, in my opinion Argentina is very experienced here.
By the way for those who still think Rodrygo is a complete striker now, I would call them completely ignorant. So it is practically proven that it is not possible for Brazil to build an experienced team in a very short time.

Brazil's main problem is that the players do not have a consensus or they do not play as a team. Each of their attacking players is a key player in the league teams and they have played well in the league and brought great success to the team, but they have not been able to give any significant matches to the national team so far. The three attacking players, among whom Rafinha is one of the main players of Barcelona, ​​​​depending on his performance, Barcelona is winning consistently and is in a great position in La Liga and the Champions League. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are Real Madrid players and they are an important member of Real Madrid, Real Madrid's position is after Barcelona. But they do not seem to be important players for Brazil. In the attacking team, except for Neymar Jr., no player has proven himself so far and cannot do justice to their name, only by creating conflicts among themselves or by envying each other. As long as the Brazilian team cannot play as a team, Brazil's good times will not return.

[Sithara007]

Agreed on the first part. But then, the match between Saudi Arabia and Australia will decide who will directly qualify for the main event from this Group. If the match ends in a draw, or a win for Australia, then they will qualify. On the other hand, if Saudi Arabia wins this match, and they also win the other remaining match, then they can qualify ahead of Australia. Both these teams (Saudi Arabia and Australia) performed poorly in the qualifying tournament. But then, Australia has a slight edge as of now.

Two matches each are remaining for all teams in next game Australia going to host Japan at home Saudi Arab going to visit Bahrain and Indonesia is hosting China. Most chances Saudi Arab and Indonesia will win their games with Australia vs Japan could be tense game from Australian point view because Japan is undefeated, and they are now playing with their bench power which will give some advantage to Australia but still Japan will never allow them to have any advantage so they need to give their best for keeping second spot even they are superior on goals difference.

For top spots fight are almost ended but these three teams still are clearly going to in touch for coming stage as well because other two are almost out, so all countries needs to stay at their best.

Saudis should win against Bahrain. And in case Australia lose to Japan (quite possible, given the fact that the latter are the strongest team in the group), then both Saudi Arabia and Australia will be left with 13 points each. But one thing that you need to remember here is that Australia has a net advantage of 9 goals against Saudi Arabia. So if the last match for these two teams ends up in a draw, then Australia should finish at the second place ahead of Saudi Arabia. Indonesia is also just one point behind Saudi Arabia. But to stay alive, they need to win both their remaining matches.

[AN Then]

What a beat by Argentina!    I was expecting for a win but 4-1 is just an embarrassment for Brazil. It looks like they still have a long way to go ahead. They aren't ready to face a strong club yet.

On the other hand Argentina are still strong without Messi. This is nice to see as they can't rely on him anymore. He is in his last times of his national career. By the way Scaloni used Enzo Fernandez on the front line with Alvarez interestingly but it worked a lot.

I never expected this score. My prediction was that the match would end in a draw since both teams have lots of quality players. It was all over the internet that the absence of Lionel Messi would negatively affect the performance of the Argentina national team. But I was wrong because La Albiceleste put on an extraordinary performance. Dorival Junior is now under pressure to lead this team to the World Cup.       

Yes, everyone thought the match between Argentina and Brazil would end in a draw. But no one expected Brazil to perform so poorly. They performed much worse in comparison. Judging by their performance, it seems that their chances of winning the upcoming matches are very slim. But if they cannot win their next matches with full points, they could be eliminated before reaching the main stage of the World Cup.

[AirtelBuzz]

Brazil's main problem is that the players do not have a consensus or they do not play as a team. Each of their attacking players is a key player in the league teams and they have played well in the league and brought great success to the team, but they have not been able to give any significant matches to the national team so far. The three attacking players, among whom Rafinha is one of the main players of Barcelona, ​​​​depending on his performance, Barcelona is winning consistently and is in a great position in La Liga and the Champions League. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are Real Madrid players and they are an important member of Real Madrid, Real Madrid's position is after Barcelona. But they do not seem to be important players for Brazil. In the attacking team, except for Neymar Jr., no player has proven himself so far and cannot do justice to their name, only by creating conflicts among themselves or by envying each other. As long as the Brazilian team cannot play as a team, Brazil's good times will not return.

I'm trying to say, in light of what you said, when will their team develop a consensus again, maybe this won't be the main problem for the Brazilian team. Maybe the Brazilian team is losing its pride of time, in my eyes Neymar Jr. was the only legendary player in Brazil during this era, If he had been on the field a different kind of courage would have been created for Brazil that is he would have been able to do justice to his name. Moreover as you mentioned, it may be wrong to say that Barcelona is currently winning matches consistently depending on Rafinha's performance. Rafinha was absent in Barcelona's recent match against Osasuna. Perhaps no one will be able to accurately portray Brazil's performance based on a few years of statistics.

[JeffBrad12]

Is that the Brazilian Football Confederation(CBF) is so addicted to local coaches that they find it extremely difficult to go hire very experienced coaches of different nationalities? What's their obsession in appointing Brazilians over and over again even when they're not getting the best results. I have watched their game against Argentina and to be honest, I expected a better performance than the humiliation they suffered at the hands of the Selecao.

 Carlo Ancelotti I don't think will accept leaving Real Madrid now but I think there are other known managers out there who can significantly improve this Brazilian team of given the chance. The football governing body of the country needs to look beyond Brazilian coaches of they really want to win trophies with the intimidating quality of players in the national team

It seems CBF never keen to hire abroad coach, and always appoint a local coach who is not competent in managing the club. I'm also getting puzzled with how they still defend it while there's no single good coach in brazil.

CBF is actually the root of Brazil's poor performance. They'er clowing Brazillian, and has no intention to solve it.

The terrible lost against Argentina is signalling how Dorival is not a coach who meet their standard. They have to find someone else to coach the club. They must not fucking stubborn to bring abroad coach.

I hope Dorival will be sacked asap.

[Adbitco]

Is that the Brazilian Football Confederation(CBF) is so addicted to local coaches that they find it extremely difficult to go hire very experienced coaches of different nationalities? What's their obsession in appointing Brazilians over and over again even when they're not getting the best results. I have watched their game against Argentina and to be honest, I expected a better performance than the humiliation they suffered at the hands of the Selecao.

 Carlo Ancelotti I don't think will accept leaving Real Madrid now but I think there are other known managers out there who can significantly improve this Brazilian team of given the chance. The football governing body of the country needs to look beyond Brazilian coaches of they really want to win trophies with the intimidating quality of players in the national team

I really understand as to why they prefer home based coaches to others, maybe they are practicing the popular saying, "charity begins at home" lol. In as much as that, like you you said, they should source for quality coaches from other nationality if they really want to start winning again with the kind of quality players they have in their ranks as present before they start getting old. Again about Ancelotti, I think he was approached but the thing is, he still has a contract with Real Madrid and he might still extend further or pick up the job at a national team, I'm just speculating though.

[armanda90]

It seems CBF never keen to hire abroad coach, and always appoint a local coach who is not competent in managing the club. I'm also getting puzzled with how they still defend it while there's no single good coach in brazil.

CBF is actually the root of Brazil's poor performance. They'er clowing Brazillian, and has no intention to solve it.

The terrible lost against Argentina is signalling how Dorival is not a coach who meet their standard. They have to find someone else to coach the club. They must not fucking stubborn to bring abroad coach.

I hope Dorival will be sacked asap.

Finally after several bad performance, CBF sacked Dorival Junior from Brazil national teams manager and last defeated from Argentina at FIFA World Cup qualifier become his last match. Since appointing by Dorival Junior, Brazil not have special performance yet from failure at Copa America 2024 and Brazil still difficulty break the higher standings at CONMEBOL zone qualifier.

Actually fatal mistake made by CBF when appointing Dorival Junior as local head coach and less experienced manager the top team, recently CBF almost reach agreement deal for signing Carlo Ancelotti but Madrid extend his contract last year and CBF appointing Dorival Junior recently head coach of domestic league club. Interested waiting for who will be new head coach for Brazil national team still fight for qualifying to World Cup and they have appoint most experienced manager.

[X-ray]

For a couple of days now Fabrizio Romano has been posting that the Brazil national team are strongly interested in signing Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid, and we all know that if Fabrizio posts it, it is 99.9% correct.

That said, what do you guys think, do you think Ancelotti will leave Real Madrid at the end of this season and coach a national team for the first time, it will be interesting to see such a successful coach manage a national team and he might just be successful there too.

That news doesn't even make sense. Why will Ancelotti leave from Madrid just to coach a finished club? It's impossible to happen, and most probably he gets another contract from Madrid.

Ancelotti is very loyal to the Madrid, and he will not leave unless he get sacked by Madrid. It's too good to be true.

[Adiljutt156]

a 2-2 draw against uzbekistan yesterday was enough for iran to book their ticket for the 2026 world cup
three-time world champions and defending champions argentina have also secured their ticket for the 2026 world cup in the usa, canada and mexico. the albiceleste benefited from a goalless draw from bolivia. the 4-1 win against brazil was just a matter of form

 the following nations have already qualified for the tournament: japan, iran, new zealand and argentina

Iran national football team played very well in this match but that team could not win against Uzbekistan national football team . Both teams gave all effort to win this match but result was not in the favour of anyone. Taremi was the player who did 2 goals in this match, he did his first goal at 52 minutes of the match and after this goal, we saw goal from Fayzullaev and he did goal at 53 minutes of the match and after this goal, score of Uzbekistan national football team was ahead in this match. Taremi did goal again in this match at 83 minutes of the match and now match was ended with result of 2-2 . FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers is going smoothly and we are watching impressive matches in this tournament. Iran has good rank on the table and that is at first position because that team has more points on the table and won most of the matches.

[3meek]

What a beat by Argentina!    I was expecting for a win but 4-1 is just an embarrassment for Brazil. It looks like they still have a long way to go ahead. They aren't ready to face a strong club yet.

On the other hand Argentina are still strong without Messi. This is nice to see as they can't rely on him anymore. He is in his last times of his national career. By the way Scaloni used Enzo Fernandez on the front line with Alvarez interestingly but it worked a lot.

I never expected this score. My prediction was that the match would end in a draw since both teams have lots of quality players. It was all over the internet that the absence of Lionel Messi would negatively affect the performance of the Argentina national team. But I was wrong because La Albiceleste put on an extraordinary performance. Dorival Junior is now under pressure to lead this team to the World Cup.       

Yes, everyone thought the match between Argentina and Brazil would end in a draw. But no one expected Brazil to perform so poorly. They performed much worse in comparison. Judging by their performance, it seems that their chances of winning the upcoming matches are very slim. But if they cannot win their next matches with full points, they could be eliminated before reaching the main stage of the World Cup.

I also thought that this match could have ended in a draw, but Brazil performed very, very badly... Argentina are of course deservedly in first place in the standings, but certainly nobody expected them to win so easily... Although I remember the 2014 World Cup semi-final when Germany humiliated Brazil 1-7... By the way, at the same time in the match for third place, Brazil lost to Netherland with the score 0-3... That was the last time Brazil made it to the semi-finals...

[Volgastallion]

I dont really know how USA is gonna manage the ammount of people from very diferent cultures and nations they are gonna receive in the world cup, i mean with this new administration and with a lot of threats around the world, they are gonna allow for example iranians or venezuelans people go in and out like nothing?,

I dont know how much they can control and how they are gonna allow to do.

[asyakashi]

I dont really know how USA is gonna manage the ammount of people from very diferent cultures and nations they are gonna receive in the world cup, i mean with this new administration and with a lot of threats around the world, they are gonna allow for example iranians or venezuelans people go in and out like nothing?,

I dont know how much they can control and how they are gonna allow to do.

It sounds threatening and dangerous, but of course USA has thought about it first, and what is certain is that USA will tighten the rules and increase the vigilance of their security forces, or it could also be limited, we'll just have to see how USA carries out security.

[retreat]

Yes, everyone thought the match between Argentina and Brazil would end in a draw. But no one expected Brazil to perform so poorly. They performed much worse in comparison. Judging by their performance, it seems that their chances of winning the upcoming matches are very slim. But if they cannot win their next matches with full points, they could be eliminated before reaching the main stage of the World Cup.

That already explains how bad the performance of the Brazilian national team is. Even Raphinha and Vinícius Junior who were expected by Brazil to at least put pressure on Argentina, they just couldn't do anything. And Argentina can achieve that performance without Messi and Martínez, that's quite a good thing because they can show a solid game even without Messi who is expected to give them spirit. While Brazil is like a team that has lost its way now, their game is unclear and they only rely on Vinícius Junior and Raphinha. It's just difficult if they continue to play like this and they could be eliminated quickly from the World Cup.

[JeffBrad12]

It seems CBF never keen to hire abroad coach, and always appoint a local coach who is not competent in managing the club. I'm also getting puzzled with how they still defend it while there's no single good coach in brazil.

CBF is actually the root of Brazil's poor performance. They'er clowing Brazillian, and has no intention to solve it.

The terrible lost against Argentina is signalling how Dorival is not a coach who meet their standard. They have to find someone else to coach the club. They must not fucking stubborn to bring abroad coach.

I hope Dorival will be sacked asap.

Finally after several bad performance, CBF sacked Dorival Junior from Brazil national teams manager and last defeated from Argentina at FIFA World Cup qualifier become his last match. Since appointing by Dorival Junior, Brazil not have special performance yet from failure at Copa America 2024 and Brazil still difficulty break the higher standings at CONMEBOL zone qualifier.

Actually fatal mistake made by CBF when appointing Dorival Junior as local head coach and less experienced manager the top team, recently CBF almost reach agreement deal for signing Carlo Ancelotti but Madrid extend his contract last year and CBF appointing Dorival Junior recently head coach of domestic league club. Interested waiting for who will be new head coach for Brazil national team still fight for qualifying to World Cup and they have appoint most experienced manager.

That's the news i've been waiting for. CBS is finally using their sense to sack Dorival, and his whole staff. He's not good enough to still being Brazillian coach.

I read CBF still gives no indication on what names will be a new head coach of Brazillian team. If i must be honest, i'd name Jorge Jesus as the most reliable candidate to be a new coach. I hope they will announce a new coach asap.

[Sithara007]

To get more clear idea about the teams qualifying from the AFC confederation, it looks like we need to wait until 10th June, when the final round of matches will be played. So far Japan from Group C and Iran from Group A have secured the qualification. Uzbekistan has a 90% chance of securing direct qualification, given that they have a 4-point lead over United Arab Emirates as of now. From Group B, South Korea may qualify, and the question is about the second team. Jordan and Iraq have almost equal chances. Group C is more complicated. Australia has a slight edge over Indonesia and Saudi Arabia at the moment.

[Hanadawa]

To get more clear idea about the teams qualifying from the AFC confederation, it looks like we need to wait until 10th June, when the final round of matches will be played. So far Japan from Group C and Iran from Group A have secured the qualification. Uzbekistan has a 90% chance of securing direct qualification, given that they have a 4-point lead over United Arab Emirates as of now. From Group B, South Korea may qualify, and the question is about the second team. Jordan and Iraq have almost equal chances. Group C is more complicated. Australia has a slight edge over Indonesia and Saudi Arabia at the moment.

In my personal opinion. Currently from Group A Iran and Uzbekistan have confirmed their qualification to the world cup. Uzbekistan has two remaining matches against the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. They are strong opponents but I don't see Uzbekistan losing in those matches. Even getting a draw from those 2 matches will secure Uzbekistan one remaining ticket. In group B I think only South Korea has confirmed their qualification. The competition is still ongoing between Jordan and Iraq to be ranked second and qualify for the world cup. In group C Japan is very strong and no team can beat them. And I think Australia has secured second place although this is still debatable. As an Indonesian I try to see all the possibilities from group C and indeed Australia is 80% certain to secure second place. Now 4 other teams are competing to qualify for the fourth round with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia who have a big chance to qualify.

[Sithara007]

In my personal opinion. Currently from Group A Iran and Uzbekistan have confirmed their qualification to the world cup. Uzbekistan has two remaining matches against the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. They are strong opponents but I don't see Uzbekistan losing in those matches. Even getting a draw from those 2 matches will secure Uzbekistan one remaining ticket. In group B I think only South Korea has confirmed their qualification. The competition is still ongoing between Jordan and Iraq to be ranked second and qualify for the world cup. In group C Japan is very strong and no team can beat them. And I think Australia has secured second place although this is still debatable. As an Indonesian I try to see all the possibilities from group C and indeed Australia is 80% certain to secure second place. Now 4 other teams are competing to qualify for the fourth round with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia who have a big chance to qualify.

At least theoretically, there is a chance that Uzbekistan may miss out on direct qualification (although their berth is 99% confirmed). Group C is less certain. I would disagree when you say that Australia has a 80% chance. IMO, it is more like 50%. There is a 3 point gap between Australia and Saudi Arabia. But you need to remember that Australia's last two matches are against very tough opposition - Japan and Saudi Arabia. And at the same time, Saudis have one match against a weak team (vs Bahrain on 5th June).