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

[Sithara007]

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

How many players from Afghanistan are participating in the European leagues? Central Asian nations are good in sports because a few decades back they were part of the USSR. But due to cold war, players from the USSR were not allowed to participate in these leagues. Times have changed, and now increasingly promising players from countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are being hired by the European clubs. Russia also has a good number of promising players, but due to the embargo they are banned from playing in Europe.

[Volgastallion]

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

How many players from Afghanistan are participating in the European leagues? Central Asian nations are good in sports because a few decades back they were part of the USSR. But due to cold war, players from the USSR were not allowed to participate in these leagues. Times have changed, and now increasingly promising players from countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are being hired by the European clubs. Russia also has a good number of promising players, but due to the embargo they are banned from playing in Europe.

Georgian case is pretty strange i dont know how they manage to ahve so many player at this high level, i know maybe is a super golden generation but if they can make a solid base and they still producing good players they can start to develop a real nation of football in the region.

About being part of the URSS has nothing to do with football.

[bitgolden]

Ok missed that and thank you for clarification. Now two players playing for Manchester City and Roma is definitely fostering progress within the Uzbekistan team as a whole. While two players can't turn them into a World Cup title contender, you could see from Georgia how much impact some top players can have on the team. Mamardaschvili and Mikautadze improved Georgia's game so much that you can see two players can do something, but there are limits.

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

Despite having too many controversies and corruption and other problems I am personally feeling FIFA is doing enough for soccer just because of this now in last few years many countries are able to increase their quality and now everyone is ready for having his best in soccer and want to play into FIFA World Cup even now just 48 countries allowed.

Russian stats are also able to bring their best talent in front of world while Russia is still facing sanctions and problems due to their polices even these are nonsense from few countries, but things are working, and they are on back foot due to their aggressive policies. Ukraine facing decline in quality and performance which is also negativity of conflict but Africa and Asia are surely doing good which is big success they needed to be keep consistency and performance on good level which will increase their revenue as well.

[W Jr.]

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

How many players from Afghanistan are participating in the European leagues? Central Asian nations are good in sports because a few decades back they were part of the USSR. But due to cold war, players from the USSR were not allowed to participate in these leagues. Times have changed, and now increasingly promising players from countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are being hired by the European clubs. Russia also has a good number of promising players, but due to the embargo they are banned from playing in Europe.

Yes, we can say that Russia hasn't shown any influence on this issue. Of course, young players are still being transferred to Europe. If this ban is ever lifted, Russian teams could achieve success in Europe. The Russian national team, in particular, was strong enough to qualify for the World Cup from Europe until a few years ago. I hope the war with Ukraine ends soon, and we see them living in peace again.

[Adbitco]

Despite having too many controversies and corruption and other problems I am personally feeling FIFA is doing enough for soccer just because of this now in last few years many countries are able to increase their quality and now everyone is ready for having his best in soccer and want to play into FIFA World Cup even now just 48 countries allowed.

Russian stats are also able to bring their best talent in front of world while Russia is still facing sanctions and problems due to their polices even these are nonsense from few countries, but things are working, and they are on back foot due to their aggressive policies. Ukraine facing decline in quality and performance which is also negativity of conflict but Africa and Asia are surely doing good which is big success they needed to be keep consistency and performance on good level which will increase their revenue as well.

Well in my opinion I really don't think it's FIFA that has brought about the increased quality in football it's more about the clubs because that's were players play their trade every single season. It's mostly how players perform from their club side that will determine if they will be selected to represent their country in a FIFA organised competition. Yeah, it's true that Asian players are now trying compared to previous years. I believe Africa players has always been trying because we have been hearing of many African players names decades ago and still now.

[Ale88]

Ok missed that and thank you for clarification. Now two players playing for Manchester City and Roma is definitely fostering progress within the Uzbekistan team as a whole. While two players can't turn them into a World Cup title contender, you could see from Georgia how much impact some top players can have on the team. Mamardaschvili and Mikautadze improved Georgia's game so much that you can see two players can do something, but there are limits.

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

Despite having too many controversies and corruption and other problems I am personally feeling FIFA is doing enough for soccer just because of this now in last few years many countries are able to increase their quality and now everyone is ready for having his best in soccer and want to play into FIFA World Cup even now just 48 countries allowed.

I'm not sure FIFA has anything to do with the growth of some specific countries, for me it's just because the local government chose to invest more, and if you have a plan sooner or later you're getting some results. At the end today football means exposure, even a single player is able to put a whole country on the map because before fans used to follow a team now, especially with social media and many fans from countries with low football culture, they follow specific players. Very few people knew about Qatar before the World Cup, the exposure level they got because they hosted the competition is huge. Football became way more than sport, now it's tourism, it's power, it's influence. Of course that sad thing is that everything is only about money, now more than ever.

[retreat]

Well in my opinion I really don't think it's FIFA that has brought about the increased quality in football it's more about the clubs because that's were players play their trade every single season. It's mostly how players perform from their club side that will determine if they will be selected to represent their country in a FIFA organised competition. Yeah, it's true that Asian players are now trying compared to previous years. I believe Africa players has always been trying because we have been hearing of many African players names decades ago and still now.

Yes, FIFA hasn't done anything for the countries whose football is developing today. That's the result of clubs investing their resources in scouting or building academies, which are very helpful in developing talent. And then it's also the result of their governments constantly striving to improve the quality of their leagues and enable these players to compete better and develop their talents. As for FIFA, what they do is not much, especially since FIFA is the most bureaucratic, non-transparent, and overly political sports organization, so there's not much to expect from this organization.

[Sithara007]

Yes, FIFA hasn't done anything for the countries whose football is developing today. That's the result of clubs investing their resources in scouting or building academies, which are very helpful in developing talent. And then it's also the result of their governments constantly striving to improve the quality of their leagues and enable these players to compete better and develop their talents. As for FIFA, what they do is not much, especially since FIFA is the most bureaucratic, non-transparent, and overly political sports organization, so there's not much to expect from this organization.

No sporting body in the world right now is perfect. And I would say that FIFA is far better when compared to other sports organizations such as the ICC. In cricket, rather than trying to  expand the sport, the ICC is trying really hard to restrict the sport to the 12 "full members". 89% of the ICC revenue goes to just 12 full member nations (with 40% of all the revenues going to just one country), while the 96 remaining ICC members get just 11%. At least in FIFA, they have a very unbiased system to distribute the funds.

[tiCeR]

Ok missed that and thank you for clarification. Now two players playing for Manchester City and Roma is definitely fostering progress within the Uzbekistan team as a whole. While two players can't turn them into a World Cup title contender, you could see from Georgia how much impact some top players can have on the team. Mamardaschvili and Mikautadze improved Georgia's game so much that you can see two players can do something, but there are limits.

Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.

It is growing and what is good about it is that we will see less of these boring games that end 8-0 in important games like the World Cup or the European Cup or in other continents. Those games are not fun for anyone, not for the players winning or losing it and not for the people watching those games.

Nevertheless I don't think that any of these smaller football countries will be able to win a title anytime soon. It can happen against all expectations of course, but under normal conditions it won't happen. They would need seven or eight top players playing in the top European leagues I think. Those top national teams have 20 top players in the biggest clubs of the world. Like Spain or Italy or England.

But I agree that progress is being made and everyone benefits from it.

[Zigabel]

Well in my opinion I really don't think it's FIFA that has brought about the increased quality in football it's more about the clubs because that's were players play their trade every single season. It's mostly how players perform from their club side that will determine if they will be selected to represent their country in a FIFA organised competition. Yeah, it's true that Asian players are now trying compared to previous years. I believe Africa players has always been trying because we have been hearing of many African players names decades ago and still now.

African player have always done the best they can to the best of their abilities only that it has never been the same as the way it has been when they go to their club sides and they are given the enabling environment to thrive,  they actually perform far more differently because at that point all they need to stay efficient is provided and that is where even the countries see their performance and give them an invite to join  the national team and represent them in competitions.

Originally the Asian countries aren't known for possessing some extra ordinary football talent enough to possessing brilliant football prowess but ever since they began to move to the European sides and have been playing on some other international arenas,  their performance has improved greatly and soon they will be making waves in football like their European counterparts.

[Sithara007]

✂✂✂✂
Originally the Asian countries aren't known for possessing some extra ordinary football talent enough to possessing brilliant football prowess but ever since they began to move to the European sides and have been playing on some other international arenas,  their performance has improved greatly and soon they will be making waves in football like their European counterparts.

LOL.. the fact that African and Asian teams are performing well nowadays has nothing to do with the participation of the players from this confederation in European leagues. It is purely demographics. Asia has the fastest growing economies in the world, and both Asia and Africa has a very young demographic structure (with the exception of East Asia). On the other hand, in Europe the population is rapidly ageing and most of the teams are dependent on immigrant players to fill the vacuum.

[red4slash]

Nevertheless I don't think that any of these smaller football countries will be able to win a title anytime soon. It can happen against all expectations of course, but under normal conditions it won't happen. They would need seven or eight top players playing in the top European leagues I think. Those top national teams have 20 top players in the biggest clubs of the world. Like Spain or Italy or England.

But I agree that progress is being made and everyone benefits from it.

Developments continue to occur, especially for countries that were previously not seen now can provide a different color such as several countries in Asia such as Japan and Korea, which are now very much more developed than before but indeed to compete and become champions still need a lot of time that they have to do for further development.
They are already very good but in the end some of the big countries in soccer since the old era in Europe and Latin America of course they also always develop over time.

So that in the end when there is a big competition such as the World Cup which is always used as a benchmark, countries with far more quality players always become benchmarks or superior champions because apart from mentally, they also have good soccer blood even though not all of them are always developing because sometimes there are some moments from those who struggle and even seem to decline in terms of performance.

[Volgastallion]

✂✂✂✂
Originally the Asian countries aren't known for possessing some extra ordinary football talent enough to possessing brilliant football prowess but ever since they began to move to the European sides and have been playing on some other international arenas,  their performance has improved greatly and soon they will be making waves in football like their European counterparts.

LOL.. the fact that African and Asian teams are performing well nowadays has nothing to do with the participation of the players from this confederation in European leagues. It is purely demographics. Asia has the fastest growing economies in the world, and both Asia and Africa has a very young demographic structure (with the exception of East Asia). On the other hand, in Europe the population is rapidly ageing and most of the teams are dependent on immigrant players to fill the vacuum.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, wait a minute HAHAHAHAHA, man if i follow your path fully India has to be a superpower in football and the same for China , and that doesnt happen at all, demographics are important, but you need the knowledge from superior leagues, like in life, if was not by europeans african people are gonna still living in stone age.

You need the tactics the way of training and a lot of things more.

[Ale88]

✂✂✂✂
Originally the Asian countries aren't known for possessing some extra ordinary football talent enough to possessing brilliant football prowess but ever since they began to move to the European sides and have been playing on some other international arenas,  their performance has improved greatly and soon they will be making waves in football like their European counterparts.

LOL.. the fact that African and Asian teams are performing well nowadays has nothing to do with the participation of the players from this confederation in European leagues. It is purely demographics. Asia has the fastest growing economies in the world, and both Asia and Africa has a very young demographic structure (with the exception of East Asia). On the other hand, in Europe the population is rapidly ageing and most of the teams are dependent on immigrant players to fill the vacuum.

Exactly what African teams are performing well? I have been hearing that "African national teams will dominate the football world" since the '90s and nothing ever happened. I always liked a lot Nigeria but they got much worse now. The teams can't keep a high level for long, just if we look at the last 20 years we had great teams like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and South Africa, but they lack consistency. Maybe they play an excellent World Cup and then they fail to qualify for the next edition.

Talking about Asia the only great teams are Japan and South Korea (and maybe Iran), for all the others is valid the same thing I was saying about the African teams: one edition they could be great, then they miss the next one.

[pewboy]

LOL.. the fact that African and Asian teams are performing well nowadays has nothing to do with the participation of the players from this confederation in European leagues. It is purely demographics. Asia has the fastest growing economies in the world, and both Asia and Africa has a very young demographic structure (with the exception of East Asia). On the other hand, in Europe the population is rapidly ageing and most of the teams are dependent on immigrant players to fill the vacuum.

I honestly didn't know this, so you're saying that almond-eyed players will become the best in the near future. That's good to know, at least I know what state to look for in my next fantasy football players. I like so much fantasy football, in italy is called fantacalcio

[tiCeR]

Nevertheless I don't think that any of these smaller football countries will be able to win a title anytime soon. It can happen against all expectations of course, but under normal conditions it won't happen. They would need seven or eight top players playing in the top European leagues I think. Those top national teams have 20 top players in the biggest clubs of the world. Like Spain or Italy or England.

But I agree that progress is being made and everyone benefits from it.

Developments continue to occur, especially for countries that were previously not seen now can provide a different color such as several countries in Asia such as Japan and Korea, which are now very much more developed than before but indeed to compete and become champions still need a lot of time that they have to do for further development.
They are already very good but in the end some of the big countries in soccer since the old era in Europe and Latin America of course they also always develop over time.

So that in the end when there is a big competition such as the World Cup which is always used as a benchmark, countries with far more quality players always become benchmarks or superior champions because apart from mentally, they also have good soccer blood even though not all of them are always developing because sometimes there are some moments from those who struggle and even seem to decline in terms of performance.

I think we are seeing significant proliferation of the sport across the continents and as far as I know, some of the newer regulations ensure that World Cups will be carried out in all places of the world. I think that is one important step towards getting more people involved and give players from not so popular countries a strong incentive to put in the effort to become a great player and represent their country and their people. The stages today are huge.

Morocco is a great team that became so popular during the WC 2022 in Qatar. They fought like never before I think and made it to the game for third place, which is an impressive result for them. Nobody saw that coming and I remember watching their games because I enjoyed it.

[snipie]

Exactly what African teams are performing well? I have been hearing that "African national teams will dominate the football world" since the '90s and nothing ever happened.

It will not happen because the infrastructures for football didn't change since they took independence and maybe even worse in some African nations.

Talking about Asia the only great teams are Japan and South Korea (and maybe Iran), for all the others is valid the same thing I was saying about the African teams: one edition they could be great, then they miss the next one.

That was very accurate for the African teams especially Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon. They have good players in Europe that selected their national team to represent, they have good qualities when they play in CAF and at the early stage of the World Cup but once they advance, they just fail badly and can't resist. I say, they are playing good for once or twice at best then failure for a decade before getting on feet again.

[Ale88]

Exactly what African teams are performing well? I have been hearing that "African national teams will dominate the football world" since the '90s and nothing ever happened.

It will not happen because the infrastructures for football didn't change since they took independence and maybe even worse in some African nations.

Talking about Asia the only great teams are Japan and South Korea (and maybe Iran), for all the others is valid the same thing I was saying about the African teams: one edition they could be great, then they miss the next one.

That was very accurate for the African teams especially Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon. They have good players in Europe that selected their national team to represent, they have good qualities when they play in CAF and at the early stage of the World Cup but once they advance, they just fail badly and can't resist. I say, they are playing good for once or twice at best then failure for a decade before getting on feet again.

Probably, especially with the African teams, it has to do with the lack of federal organization and, unfortunately, corruption. Many of the countries I mentioned have a big football culture, kids love playing football, but there is a lack of infrastructures. It's a real pity because many African players are very generous with their communities, I can mention Kanté and Mané for example, thanks to their donations their villages have new schools, hospitals, clean water, etc etc, and there are many other like them. I really miss seeing teams like Nigeria and Senegal succeeding and it's even more sad to see how the growth really stopped.

[imamusma]

Talking about Asia the only great teams are Japan and South Korea (and maybe Iran), for all the others is valid the same thing I was saying about the African teams: one edition they could be great, then they miss the next one.

That was very accurate for the African teams especially Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon. They have good players in Europe that selected their national team to represent, they have good qualities when they play in CAF and at the early stage of the World Cup but once they advance, they just fail badly and can't resist. I say, they are playing good for once or twice at best then failure for a decade before getting on feet again.

It's true, many great players come from Africa, but no national team has the depth of their squad, with talented players in every position. I think that's why African countries often fail at the World Cup, especially when they reach the knockout stage. According to the FIFA rankings, Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria are currently among the top five African national teams. As we know, these teams boast star players from elite European clubs, but one or two star players aren't enough to lead a team to the World Cup trophy. Morocco journey in the last World Cup was, in my opinion, impressive.
https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men

[dezoel]

Talking about Asia the only great teams are Japan and South Korea (and maybe Iran), for all the others is valid the same thing I was saying about the African teams: one edition they could be great, then they miss the next one.

That was very accurate for the African teams especially Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon. They have good players in Europe that selected their national team to represent, they have good qualities when they play in CAF and at the early stage of the World Cup but once they advance, they just fail badly and can't resist. I say, they are playing good for once or twice at best then failure for a decade before getting on feet again.

Few African countries are dominating in soccer for years, but sadly they have never been capable of having good results at the top level due to team depth and players mentality level which feel not comfortable while they are playing against top teams of world.

If they want to have better results then surely they need to work on their structure and players development because without having strong mentality it's never been going to have changes too many players choose European countries as they feel comfortable, and their chances are also high for winning trophies. CAF is good but need more improvement with their domestic leagues also needed to be more stable in finances and have better opportunities which give them creative minds which are always important in soccer field for winning trophies.