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

[CLS63]

I don't have much expectation from Gennaro Gattuso to be honest. He doesn't have a successful history with any team as far as I'm concerned. He got sacked most of the time because of not meeting the expectations.

I wonder whether they tried to convince a better coach instead of him. For example I would have liked to see Mancini. He is without team since October 2024. He won a Euro championship with Italy earlier as you know.

[Ale88]

Italy football team played last match against Moldova football team. That was match in the side of Italy team because that team did 2 goals in this match. No double, team of Italy is not impressive but they still won the match against Moldova football team. The players of Italy football team performed very well and they gave hundred percent to win this match. The shots of Italy football team were more in number and these were 28 and 7 shots were on target and that team was dominant in this match because opponent team could not do any goal in this match.The possession percentage of that team was very excellent in this match and that was 66 percent in this match and passes of that team were also more in this match.

The truth is it's a very good thing, because I hadn't seen the Italian team in its first, in fact for me the Italians have had problems in their football lately, I want to see Italy in the World Cup, there are already 2 World Cups that they haven't gone to, and well it's not the same, the Italian team always fills you with hope and is a clear candidate to always win the World Cup, they have to continue with that level, now football is much tougher, but they are capable of doing such a thing.

Well gone are good old days when you get to see the likes of Andrea pirlo, Francesco totti. Del peiro and so many great Italian players fill up that team squad and deliver an exquisite performance for you. The Italian national team have since not being able to deliver that top notch game and have struggled over the years to build up such team which is the key to a nation retaining it's dominance in world football and it's not only them as the Germans, Brazilians and so many more all are suffering from this.

I agree. On one side we must admit that many national teams grew a lot compared to the past because I remember that growing up results like 6-0, 7-0 or even 8-0 would happen quite often during the qualification phase; nowadays even a match against a smaller team is tough. At the same time the quality of many countries with a lot of history dramatically plummeted: there are no more players like Pirlo, Totti, Zidane, Henry, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ballack, Lahm, etc. Football is changing, and not in a positive way.

[Abu-Naim]

I don't have much expectation from Gennaro Gattuso to be honest. He doesn't have a successful history with any team as far as I'm concerned. He got sacked most of the time because of not meeting the expectations.

I wonder whether they tried to convince a better coach instead of him. For example I would have liked to see Mancini. He is without team since October 2024. He won a Euro championship with Italy earlier as you know.

I don’t also have confidence in him, but since it is a national team and he knows most of the good players because he has coached in the Italian Serie A, he can do better to help regain the Italian National team. Let’s forget his past record and some he has learned better to become a better coach, because I think national team success depend on the available players the coach will call to represent his team in any competition.

[Franctoshi]

I agree. On one side we must admit that many national teams grew a lot compared to the past because I remember that growing up results like 6-0, 7-0 or even 8-0 would happen quite often during the qualification phase; nowadays even a match against a smaller team is tough. At the same time the quality of many countries with a lot of history dramatically plummeted: there are no more players like Pirlo, Totti, Zidane, Henry, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ballack, Lahm, etc. Football is changing, and not in a positive way.

I thought I'm the only one that has observed this recent trend in football history, even recently I had some discussions with fellow football enthusiasts and I raised this issue of declining rate of world class players we used to have in the past, and that very discussion was specifically on the issue of Champions league, where all the big teams/clubs we used to know as of 2015 backwards used to have at least 5 world class players in a particular team, ranging from defenders ,midfielders to classic strikers. BARCELONA for instance,  Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Eto, Puyol etc, in the same team,  but today hardly you see this kind of players in one club, and same thing when it comes national or country Football. Football seems to have reached its highest level in the era of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

[Joca97]

I don't have much expectation from Gennaro Gattuso to be honest. He doesn't have a successful history with any team as far as I'm concerned. He got sacked most of the time because of not meeting the expectations.

I wonder whether they tried to convince a better coach instead of him. For example I would have liked to see Mancini. He is without team since October 2024. He won a Euro championship with Italy earlier as you know.

Well from what i followed Gattuso in last couple of seasons with teams he coached,he was really solid. But i think that Italy just dosent have enough quality players. Italy isnt like it was a couple of years ago and there arent any big superstars that can carry the team. I honestly dont see Italy getting better no matter who is coaching them.

[baeva]

I don't have much expectation from Gennaro Gattuso to be honest. He doesn't have a successful history with any team as far as I'm concerned. He got sacked most of the time because of not meeting the expectations.

I wonder whether they tried to convince a better coach instead of him. For example I would have liked to see Mancini. He is without team since October 2024. He won a Euro championship with Italy earlier as you know.

If they hadn't tried - it's unlikely they would have gone straight to Gattuso. I agree, it's not the best option, but whether it was a mistake will only be realised after the team's official performances, not before. Moreover, it will be very difficult to judge on one match, and the result is expected as a rule immediately, fans are not patient

[joniboini]

Moreover, it will be very difficult to judge on one match, and the result is expected as a rule immediately, fans are not patient

True. Fans are the worst judges there are. That being said, judging a national team coach is quite difficult because the number of games is limited, unlike a club where they can see the progress every week or every transfer window. A national team needs to produce results befitting their image in most competitions. Then again, that's the job of a functioning sports association. The bad news is we don't even know if the guys running the association are competent or not, most of the time (at least in my country).

[Sithara007]

Anyone still following the AFC qualifiers? So far 6 teams have qualified from this confederation: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia. Two more teams will qualify from the fourth round, while one additional team will gain entry to the Inter-confederation play-offs. 6 teams have progressed to the fourth round. They are United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. IMO, out of these six teams, the ones with brightest chances are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

[retreat]

Anyone still following the AFC qualifiers? So far 6 teams have qualified from this confederation: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia. Two more teams will qualify from the fourth round, while one additional team will gain entry to the Inter-confederation play-offs. 6 teams have progressed to the fourth round. They are United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. IMO, out of these six teams, the ones with brightest chances are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

For Saudi Arabia not only do they have a pretty good performance, but also they have the advantage of playing at home since they are the host, so that increases their chances of winning the group and qualifying directly for the World Cup. As for the other team that has the opportunity to win the group is Qatar, in terms of their performance it is also as good as Saudi Arabia and again they have the advantage of being the host in this round 4. So I think Saudi Arabia and Qatar will qualify for the world cup. But this is still just a prediction, Indonesia or Iraq could come out as the group winners (only if Saudi Arabia and Qatar can play more fairly).

[Cryptmuster]

True. Fans are the worst judges there are. That being said, judging a national team coach is quite difficult because the number of games is limited, unlike a club where they can see the progress every week or every transfer window. A national team needs to produce results befitting their image in most competitions. Then again, that's the job of a functioning sports association. The bad news is we don't even know if the guys running the association are competent or not, most of the time (at least in my country).

I think that a national team should be managed by a more experienced coach, especially one who has already proved the ability to win titles at club level. But if you look at Gattuso's rather modest coaching career, there is nothing remarkable about it. So I can easily assume that the national team under Gattuso could be even worse than the one under Spalletti. Of course, these are just my assumptions. I have always supported the Italy national team. I have always liked them as a team, but lately they have been going through tough times, and I do not think it will end with Gattuso.

[Sithara007]

For Saudi Arabia not only do they have a pretty good performance, but also they have the advantage of playing at home since they are the host, so that increases their chances of winning the group and qualifying directly for the World Cup. As for the other team that has the opportunity to win the group is Qatar, in terms of their performance it is also as good as Saudi Arabia and again they have the advantage of being the host in this round 4. So I think Saudi Arabia and Qatar will qualify for the world cup. But this is still just a prediction, Indonesia or Iraq could come out as the group winners (only if Saudi Arabia and Qatar can play more fairly).

Yes.. I almost forgot that. The fourth round matches will be hosted by both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But I don't expect a lot from Qatar. They were pathetic during the third round, and lost matches against teams like United Arab Emirates (and that too by a margin of 0-5). Also, Qatar is still dependent on "imported" players, such as Lucas Mendes (Brazil), Almoez Ali (Sudan) and Mohammed Muntari (Ghana). Anyway, the fact that they are one of the hosts may give them some advantage.

[cande86]

Anyone still following the AFC qualifiers? So far 6 teams have qualified from this confederation: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia. Two more teams will qualify from the fourth round, while one additional team will gain entry to the Inter-confederation play-offs. 6 teams have progressed to the fourth round. They are United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. IMO, out of these six teams, the ones with brightest chances are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

there are too many teams from this Asian federation or whatever it is, teams like these are teams that come to make an appearance, this thing then puts in difficulty much stronger championships like the European ones, I'm not following them but I think there are really too many of them, this is just my opinion, I don't have anything against those states personally

[Lida93]

I don't have much expectation from Gennaro Gattuso to be honest. He doesn't have a successful history with any team as far as I'm concerned. He got sacked most of the time because of not meeting the expectations.

I wonder whether they tried to convince a better coach instead of him. For example I would have liked to see Mancini. He is without team since October 2024. He won a Euro championship with Italy earlier as you know.

It still baffles my imagination that the Italian male national team is in the hands of no better manager but Gattuso. Is that Italy doesn't care about his coaching history or there are not other viable options to give the job to but Gattuso.

Mancini could have been a beacon of hope that Italian team would secure a qualifying spot to the world cup considering the tight corner the team is in not Gattuso who has not particularly strategy that has ever worked for him as a coach.

[hyudien]

I think that a national team should be managed by a more experienced coach, especially one who has already proved the ability to win titles at club level. But if you look at Gattuso's rather modest coaching career, there is nothing remarkable about it. So I can easily assume that the national team under Gattuso could be even worse than the one under Spalletti. Of course, these are just my assumptions. I have always supported the Italy national team. I have always liked them as a team, but lately they have been going through tough times, and I do not think it will end with Gattuso.

I myself am also confused on what basis and consideration they appointed Gattuso as a coach because as explained his ability and experience cannot be said to be sufficient to manage a national team and again the quality of the Italian team players is currently mediocre compared to previous years which makes it necessary to have a great coach there who I believe is not Gattuso. I think there are still many great coaches from Italy if they really want the one who handles their national team to come from the same country.

[Fuso.hp]

A team will not always perform the same, but big teams always keep substitute players in their pipeline. Let's say a certain team in a generation has many good quality players but those players will not always play for that team, many may be dropped from the team due to injury problems, many may be dropped from the team for some other reason, and some players may retire from football due to age, so the team's performance will not stop.
Italy has done less work on their team, which they are getting the results of now. If they had kept many substitute players with the team from the beginning, they could have appointed a worthy player in his position instead of one, however, there is no point in discussing what has not happened. If Italy tries hard from now on, maybe in a few more years they will become a well-performing team again, so they should not be given up.

[Black Mbaye]

True. Fans are the worst judges there are. That being said, judging a national team coach is quite difficult because the number of games is limited, unlike a club where they can see the progress every week or every transfer window. A national team needs to produce results befitting their image in most competitions. Then again, that's the job of a functioning sports association. The bad news is we don't even know if the guys running the association are competent or not, most of the time (at least in my country).

I think that a national team should be managed by a more experienced coach, especially one who has already proved the ability to win titles at club level. But if you look at Gattuso's rather modest coaching career, there is nothing remarkable about it. So I can easily assume that the national team under Gattuso could be even worse than the one under Spalletti. Of course, these are just my assumptions. I have always supported the Italy national team. I have always liked them as a team, but lately they have been going through tough times, and I do not think it will end with Gattuso.

In my opinion, when he left Real Madrid, the Italian national team had to work for Ancelotti. Because Ancelotti is a quality coach who can bring Italy back to its old days, but the current coach Gattuso does not have a bright career. The Italian national team is also a national team that has always made a habit of being one of the best teams in the world. That is why they have to finish the matches with the best choices and the best scores. However, they unfortunately lost Ancelotti to Brazil. Maybe they can consider another more experienced coach instead of Gattuso.

[doomloop]

I think that a national team should be managed by a more experienced coach, especially one who has already proved the ability to win titles at club level. But if you look at Gattuso's rather modest coaching career, there is nothing remarkable about it. So I can easily assume that the national team under Gattuso could be even worse than the one under Spalletti. Of course, these are just my assumptions. I have always supported the Italy national team. I have always liked them as a team, but lately they have been going through tough times, and I do not think it will end with Gattuso.

I myself am also confused on what basis and consideration they appointed Gattuso as a coach because as explained his ability and experience cannot be said to be sufficient to manage a national team and again the quality of the Italian team players is currently mediocre compared to previous years which makes it necessary to have a great coach there who I believe is not Gattuso. I think there are still many great coaches from Italy if they really want the one who handles their national team to come from the same country.

This is surely huge disappointing announcement from the Italian soccer federation but here few more things which encourage them to have Gattuso as coach their first choice many big names already rejected this offer then federation have no other choice to bring him as coach.

Firstly they contact with veteran Claudio Ranieri, but his response was not positive after this second was Stefano Pioli who also rejected this offer after three rejections they bring this unwanted choice for this spot at this challenging time became now it's make-or-break situation for the Italian soccer which is looking for having spot into top 48 teams for FIFA World Cup from where they were absence for last two occasions. With this choice mostly soccer fans are not expecting any positive development in Italian soccer even mostly are feeling they are going to lose another chance of going into world cup.

[Webetcoins]

For Saudi Arabia not only do they have a pretty good performance, but also they have the advantage of playing at home since they are the host, so that increases their chances of winning the group and qualifying directly for the World Cup. As for the other team that has the opportunity to win the group is Qatar, in terms of their performance it is also as good as Saudi Arabia and again they have the advantage of being the host in this round 4. So I think Saudi Arabia and Qatar will qualify for the world cup. But this is still just a prediction, Indonesia or Iraq could come out as the group winners (only if Saudi Arabia and Qatar can play more fairly).

Yes.. I almost forgot that. The fourth round matches will be hosted by both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But I don't expect a lot from Qatar. They were pathetic during the third round, and lost matches against teams like United Arab Emirates (and that too by a margin of 0-5). Also, Qatar is still dependent on "imported" players, such as Lucas Mendes (Brazil), Almoez Ali (Sudan) and Mohammed Muntari (Ghana). Anyway, the fact that they are one of the hosts may give them some advantage.

Saudi Arab is one of the best teams in this list with the UAE, Qatar and Iraq can make things interesting because these done good job in early rounds and have good chance of staying in touch for promotion I am not expecting Indonesia will be make any mark because all matches are going to be played away for them.

Qatar is having few players those are imported but UAE and Iraq are teams which can make life difficult for any team in these qualifiers because they are having few skilled and talented players conditions will be suitable for host teams while visitors needs to be had some adjustment. Saudi Arab is having good development in soccer which is giving them good advantage still it's long way for few teams to have consistency and better results which make them good for long run because mostly these teams are unpredictable and inconsistent.

[baeva]

Moreover, it will be very difficult to judge on one match, and the result is expected as a rule immediately, fans are not patient

True. Fans are the worst judges there are. That being said, judging a national team coach is quite difficult because the number of games is limited, unlike a club where they can see the progress every week or every transfer window. A national team needs to produce results befitting their image in most competitions. Then again, that's the job of a functioning sports association. The bad news is we don't even know if the guys running the association are competent or not, most of the time (at least in my country).

Yes, here we need either a whole tour of friendly matches so that the coach can build a normal tactics of the game, or a few games at the official level within some tournament. Honestly it's hard for me to imagine what a new coach should do when he is expected to produce results in the first game, considering that the players are assembled a week before the national team game. What should he teach them? This is not the national championship, this is the national team level, there is too little training.

[tiCeR]

Moreover, it will be very difficult to judge on one match, and the result is expected as a rule immediately, fans are not patient

True. Fans are the worst judges there are. That being said, judging a national team coach is quite difficult because the number of games is limited, unlike a club where they can see the progress every week or every transfer window. A national team needs to produce results befitting their image in most competitions. Then again, that's the job of a functioning sports association. The bad news is we don't even know if the guys running the association are competent or not, most of the time (at least in my country).

Yes, here we need either a whole tour of friendly matches so that the coach can build a normal tactics of the game, or a few games at the official level within some tournament. Honestly it's hard for me to imagine what a new coach should do when he is expected to produce results in the first game, considering that the players are assembled a week before the national team game. What should he teach them? This is not the national championship, this is the national team level, there is too little training.

The issue about friendly matches is that you can never create the same tension and atmosphere for the players. It is either because your own players don't take it seriously enough or because the opponent doesn't play their best game. If you really want to know whether a certain strategy or formation works well against good teams, the only way is to find out to test it during at least the qualification games for the big international events. In friendly games you can see weird things happening that do not very well reflect what should be expected in important games.