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

[banana33]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new team like Wildcard in the European Champions League soon. Saudi Arabia truly values football and spends a lot of money on it. They'll want to play in the European Champions League to gain more visibility.

I really hope this will never happen. The day a Saudi Arabian team plays in the European Champions League is the day I will stop watching football because it would be ridiculous. Saudi Arabia is in Asia, they can't buy their participation in a competition played in another continent.

Considering that Israel also qualifies for and plays in the Champions League qualifiers in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia isn't far behind geographically. Perhaps, as I mentioned, we can even track them in European competitions through an app. However, regarding the World Cup, it's still unclear which teams will qualify after the qualifiers. More teams will be playing in this World Cup, and some may be making their debut in the World Cup.

Israeli teams (and the national team) play in Europe because they have problems with everyone in the Middle East. And considering what they keep doing they are having more and more problems also in Europe so Israel, both as a national team and clubs, shouldn't be playing in any competition: not for Asia and for sure not for Europe. They have nothing to share with Europe, they are there just because of politics. I'm European and I don't agree with Israel playing amongst us.

It's something that FIFA and UEFA will surely allow them to do, given that they're selling European football to the Arabs, but then it will lose value and everything that was so popular in Europe will lose its flavour and it will all end. obviously in the worst case scenario

[LUCKMCFLY]

Footballers from almost every country are doing well in European clubs, but very few players from this country are doing well in other countries' leagues. Instead of Italian players in the Italian league, most of the players are from abroad, meaning they are relying more on foreign players for their clubs. At one time, our hopes for the Italian team were completely dashed because we were not seeing any strong players in the pipeline that we could rely on to fill the gaps that the current players would fill when they retire. Now Italy may be working on their football again, but they will have to work a lot harder if they want to regain their former position.

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

[Ale88]

Hahahaha guys, if we see it from an historycal view even Iran can be considered WESTERN and EUROPEAN since all of his history were based on each other and they fight against each other for centuries.

So dont talk without any knowledge, i know geographically it can seem weird, but its not that weird at all.

MIDEAST is more WESTERN than EASTERN

The football federations are mainly based on geography, not history or culture otherwise countries like USA or Canada should be playing the European qualifications and competitions. And of course it wouldn't make any sense. Iran has nothing to do with Europe (just like Israel). And I'm pretty sure that many European federations focus on the current state of things and, unfortunately, there always something going on in the Middle East for I don't think they'd be very happy to play in certain countries.

[Slow death]

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

Unfortunately, the Italian national team doesn't have a squad with the same high quality as the national teams of France, England, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Portugal. Take Portugal for example; the Portuguese league is inferior to the Italian league (Serie A), but even so, the Portuguese national team's squad is far superior to Italy's.

This happens because the great Serie A teams don't have many Italian players, and Italy hasn't exported many players to other leagues. So, that generation of good players from the past has died, and no more good players have emerged in the present. I sincerely don't expect Italy to achieve great things, especially with the coach they have.

[Dump3er]

Footballers from almost every country are doing well in European clubs, but very few players from this country are doing well in other countries' leagues. Instead of Italian players in the Italian league, most of the players are from abroad, meaning they are relying more on foreign players for their clubs. At one time, our hopes for the Italian team were completely dashed because we were not seeing any strong players in the pipeline that we could rely on to fill the gaps that the current players would fill when they retire. Now Italy may be working on their football again, but they will have to work a lot harder if they want to regain their former position.

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

It could be bad timing for this post after Inter Milan got destroyed by PSG in the Champions League final. Italian teams haven't been doing well internationally and as it's right that this doesn't count too much, there are not really that many Italian stars out there. Italy has played convincingly strong football because of their high degree of team organization through stressful game periods. I doubt that as of today they have the players and the level to take a shot at the title. It is still one year to go, but taking everything from recent months into account, I wouldn't consider them to be among the top favorites.

[Ale88]

Footballers from almost every country are doing well in European clubs, but very few players from this country are doing well in other countries' leagues. Instead of Italian players in the Italian league, most of the players are from abroad, meaning they are relying more on foreign players for their clubs. At one time, our hopes for the Italian team were completely dashed because we were not seeing any strong players in the pipeline that we could rely on to fill the gaps that the current players would fill when they retire. Now Italy may be working on their football again, but they will have to work a lot harder if they want to regain their former position.

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

It could be bad timing for this post after Inter Milan got destroyed by PSG in the Champions League final. Italian teams haven't been doing well internationally and as it's right that this doesn't count too much, there are not really that many Italian stars out there. Italy has played convincingly strong football because of their high degree of team organization through stressful game periods. I doubt that as of today they have the players and the level to take a shot at the title. It is still one year to go, but taking everything from recent months into account, I wouldn't consider them to be among the top favorites.

If we take a look at the European results of Italian teams they are not too bad, especially considering that Italian teams spend for players and salaries only a fraction of what English teams do, and of course Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG. You can't expect Italian teams to win the Champions League when a random English team spends more money on the market than the Serie A winner.

Regarding the national team there are 0% chances for Italy to even think about winning the World Cup. And I'm Italian.

[bastisisca]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new team like Wildcard in the European Champions League soon. Saudi Arabia truly values football and spends a lot of money on it. They'll want to play in the European Champions League to gain more visibility. Considering that Israel also qualifies for and plays in the Champions League qualifiers in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia isn't far behind geographically. Perhaps, as I mentioned, we can even track them in European competitions through an app. However, regarding the World Cup, it's still unclear which teams will qualify after the qualifiers. More teams will be playing in this World Cup, and some may be making their debut in the World Cup.

There are significant shifts in weight, with famous national teams in sharp decline, such as Brazil and Italy. Consequently, other new countries are growing a lot. We saw some nice surprises in the European Championships, and i think the same trend will also occur in the World Cup.

[verdinio]

Footballers from almost every country are doing well in European clubs, but very few players from this country are doing well in other countries' leagues. Instead of Italian players in the Italian league, most of the players are from abroad, meaning they are relying more on foreign players for their clubs. At one time, our hopes for the Italian team were completely dashed because we were not seeing any strong players in the pipeline that we could rely on to fill the gaps that the current players would fill when they retire. Now Italy may be working on their football again, but they will have to work a lot harder if they want to regain their former position.

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

It could be bad timing for this post after Inter Milan got destroyed by PSG in the Champions League final. Italian teams haven't been doing well internationally and as it's right that this doesn't count too much, there are not really that many Italian stars out there. Italy has played convincingly strong football because of their high degree of team organization through stressful game periods. I doubt that as of today they have the players and the level to take a shot at the title. It is still one year to go, but taking everything from recent months into account, I wouldn't consider them to be among the top favorites.

If we take a look at the European results of Italian teams they are not too bad, especially considering that Italian teams spend for players and salaries only a fraction of what English teams do, and of course Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG. You can't expect Italian teams to win the Champions League when a random English team spends more money on the market than the Serie A winner.

Regarding the national team there are 0% chances for Italy to even think about winning the World Cup. And I'm Italian.

Yes, it's true, simply because Italy hasn't been supplied with Italian players for years now. There's been a dramatic decline in the last decade, which has caused the situation to degenerate and we've increasingly resorted to foreigners to get them to play in our league. The result is that we no longer have strong players.

[retreat]

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

Unfortunately, the current situation of the Italian national team is very bad and quite worrying. In fact, I worry that they will not qualify for the World Cup qualifying phase, considering the pressure they are currently facing and their mental state, which was hit hard after the defeat to Norway. The change of coach to Gattuso also seems unlikely to have any impact, since the Italian national team's problems are so complex. Furthermore, the lack of world-class players in the Italian squad makes it difficult for them to compete with other major national teams that currently have much better squad depth and individual quality.

[Volgastallion]

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

Unfortunately, the current situation of the Italian national team is very bad and quite worrying. In fact, I worry that they will not qualify for the World Cup qualifying phase, considering the pressure they are currently facing and their mental state, which was hit hard after the defeat to Norway. The change of coach to Gattuso also seems unlikely to have any impact, since the Italian national team's problems are so complex. Furthermore, the lack of world-class players in the Italian squad makes it difficult for them to compete with other major national teams that currently have much better squad depth and individual quality.

The only i can think right now is how bad is the new distribution of places for the national teams, seein Italy out of the world cup but seeing teams like Jordan and a few other going to the world cup in a ultra easy way is a shame. That so called "diversity" is a shit.

Most of the asian teams cant play at medium level, not even at high.

[BigBos]

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

Unfortunately, the current situation of the Italian national team is very bad and quite worrying. In fact, I worry that they will not qualify for the World Cup qualifying phase, considering the pressure they are currently facing and their mental state, which was hit hard after the defeat to Norway. The change of coach to Gattuso also seems unlikely to have any impact, since the Italian national team's problems are so complex. Furthermore, the lack of world-class players in the Italian squad makes it difficult for them to compete with other major national teams that currently have much better squad depth and individual quality.

It's truly worrying that a country with a top-five league status is struggling to qualify for the World Cup, and this isn't the first time, as they've also failed to qualify for the World Cup.

I believe the federation needs to change. They need to seriously prepare something that can improve their national team and make it competitive again, as before, for the World Cup. It's never too late; the most important thing is to focus on improvement.

[Ale88]

I think Italy should go to the World Cup right now They have a very good team, good forwards, and strategies that draw attention, Especially when watching their games, they have a much more attacking nature, and that's essential They'll face very tough teams, and what they need now is to secure their place, It's all up to them. I think one of the things they need to work on the most is their physicality, especially their endurance, and for them to play a little faster.

Unfortunately, the current situation of the Italian national team is very bad and quite worrying. In fact, I worry that they will not qualify for the World Cup qualifying phase, considering the pressure they are currently facing and their mental state, which was hit hard after the defeat to Norway. The change of coach to Gattuso also seems unlikely to have any impact, since the Italian national team's problems are so complex. Furthermore, the lack of world-class players in the Italian squad makes it difficult for them to compete with other major national teams that currently have much better squad depth and individual quality.

The only i can think right now is how bad is the new distribution of places for the national teams, seein Italy out of the world cup but seeing teams like Jordan and a few other going to the world cup in a ultra easy way is a shame. That so called "diversity" is a shit.

Most of the asian teams cant play at medium level, not even at high.

I don't want to make up excuses because the Italian team is bad but clearly the qualification system in Europe is way tougher than the rest of the world. I was saying in another thread that, for example, back in 2018 Italy didn't qualify because the group was won by Spain: it's ridiculous that only one team qualifies directly to the World Cup; in South America there are 10 teams and 6 qualify directly, for teams like Brazil and Argentina it's impossible to miss the qualification when you can los a ton of matches and it doesn't affect you; in Europe you lose a match and pretty much you're out, you can't make mistakes.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Today's football favors team-oriented players over Brazil's individually talented players. I actually enjoyed the old game more. We were watching a fantastic recital with Ronaldinho. I also think everyone in the world knows how high-quality Brazilian and Argentinian players are. In South America, the best way to escape a bad life is to become a footballer. Therefore, I can say that modern football has destroyed the quality in these cities that once loved football. Still, it's a real pleasure to watch these countries at the World Cup.

Currently, Brazil's case is settling in They invested in a coach like Ancelotti, and if they did, it's because they're looking to win the World Cup No one will have it easy, For me this World Cup will be very good I expect a lot from the South American countries, The good thing is that the South American qualifiers are almost starting, so we can see the best of Brazil and the Ancelotti effect.

[Donneski]

Today's football favors team-oriented players over Brazil's individually talented players. I actually enjoyed the old game more. We were watching a fantastic recital with Ronaldinho. I also think everyone in the world knows how high-quality Brazilian and Argentinian players are. In South America, the best way to escape a bad life is to become a footballer. Therefore, I can say that modern football has destroyed the quality in these cities that once loved football. Still, it's a real pleasure to watch these countries at the World Cup.

Currently, Brazil's case is settling in They invested in a coach like Ancelotti, and if they did, it's because they're looking to win the World Cup No one will have it easy, For me this World Cup will be very good I expect a lot from the South American countries, The good thing is that the South American qualifiers are almost starting, so we can see the best of Brazil and the Ancelotti effect.

Brazil like I always say parades the most talented squad it the world as far as men's international football is concerned. Brazil's second team can even challenge for a major international tournament like the FIFA World Cup talk more of their first XI but their problem in recent years have always been lack of experienced manager — a problem I think they've finally solved with the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as the national team manager.
In next year FIFA World Cup tournament, I expect the Italian manager to combine both team football and individual brilliance of the quality players at his disposal to go all out for the biggest trophy in world football. Brazil I think will be the country to beat and if the players can leave the hunt for personal glory and play like more like a team, I think Brazil should go all the way and win the competition.

[Ale88]

Today's football favors team-oriented players over Brazil's individually talented players. I actually enjoyed the old game more. We were watching a fantastic recital with Ronaldinho. I also think everyone in the world knows how high-quality Brazilian and Argentinian players are. In South America, the best way to escape a bad life is to become a footballer. Therefore, I can say that modern football has destroyed the quality in these cities that once loved football. Still, it's a real pleasure to watch these countries at the World Cup.

Currently, Brazil's case is settling in They invested in a coach like Ancelotti, and if they did, it's because they're looking to win the World Cup No one will have it easy, For me this World Cup will be very good I expect a lot from the South American countries, The good thing is that the South American qualifiers are almost starting, so we can see the best of Brazil and the Ancelotti effect.

What do you mean that they hired Ancelotti because they want to win the World Cup? For the Brazilian mentality they take part to the competition in order to win, no matter how bad the team is, the people always expect to win. Ancelotti has nothing to do with that, they hired Ancelotti because, right now, Brazilian managers are quite bad, and so is the team, so they hope that Ancelotti will somehow make a miracle.

[Agbamoni]

Currently, Brazil's case is settling in They invested in a coach like Ancelotti, and if they did, it's because they're looking to win the World Cup No one will have it easy, For me this World Cup will be very good I expect a lot from the South American countries, The good thing is that the South American qualifiers are almost starting, so we can see the best of Brazil and the Ancelotti effect.

The current Brazil team are in good form now, I am pretty sure they will go far in the competition after qualifying for the World Cup. With the likes of Vinicius, Neymar, Rodrygo Goes, Raphina, Casemeri, Gabriel Martineli and Gabriel Jesus, and so on. And Alisson Becker at their goal, the team might be unstoppable. Only the Spanish team and Portugal team can beat this squad I mentioned. Anyway, it will be inappropriate to start judging the teams when the tournament is yet to begin.

[Plaguedeath]

The current Brazil team are in good form now, I am pretty sure they will go far in the competition after qualifying for the World Cup. With the likes of Vinicius, Neymar, Rodrygo Goes, Raphina, Casemeri, Gabriel Martineli and Gabriel Jesus, and so on. And Alisson Becker at their goal, the team might be unstoppable. Only the Spanish team and Portugal team can beat this squad I mentioned. Anyway, it will be inappropriate to start judging the teams when the tournament is yet to begin.

Are you serious? what's the difference with 2022, 2023, and 2024? in the last three years, we already see all of them playing for Brazil, yet Brazil was still like a clown in World Cup. Brazil is no longer a favorite, it also happen to Germany and Italy.

Argentine, Spain, France and Portugal are the favorites.

We can judge their perform based on their performance in qualification for World Cup, Brazil was still struggling in CONMEBOL.

[retreat]

What do you mean that they hired Ancelotti because they want to win the World Cup? For the Brazilian mentality they take part to the competition in order to win, no matter how bad the team is, the people always expect to win. Ancelotti has nothing to do with that, they hired Ancelotti because, right now, Brazilian managers are quite bad, and so is the team, so they hope that Ancelotti will somehow make a miracle.

I feel that Brazil's problems are also very complex, so Ancelotti becoming the coach of the Brazilian national team may not have such a significant impact. Maybe they can qualify for the World Cup, but beyond that, I doubt they will be able to compete against other big teams. Even against Paraguay, they struggled to score, despite having 74% possession according to the statistics. Not to mention that facing strong European teams will likely be even more difficult. So at this point, it is not just about who is coaching, but more about the basic structure of their game, which is still quite chaotic.

[GigaBit]

Israeli teams (and the national team) play in Europe because they have problems with everyone in the Middle East. And considering what they keep doing they are having more and more problems also in Europe so Israel, both as a national team and clubs, shouldn't be playing in any competition: not for Asia and for sure not for Europe. They have nothing to share with Europe, they are there just because of politics. I'm European and I don't agree with Israel playing amongst us.

It's something that FIFA and UEFA will surely allow them to do, given that they're selling European football to the Arabs, but then it will lose value and everything that was so popular in Europe will lose its flavour and it will all end. obviously in the worst case scenario

One of the big problems with Israelis is that they create problems wherever they go. I don't know how much they are and will improve their game by going to Europe, but Europe have to be careful in advance so that they don't cause any problems. Israelis understand politics very well, so it's definitely better to be careful. In the past, sports organizations used to take good decisions, but now big organizations are considering sports as an economic tool that should definitely be avoided.

[Ale88]

What do you mean that they hired Ancelotti because they want to win the World Cup? For the Brazilian mentality they take part to the competition in order to win, no matter how bad the team is, the people always expect to win. Ancelotti has nothing to do with that, they hired Ancelotti because, right now, Brazilian managers are quite bad, and so is the team, so they hope that Ancelotti will somehow make a miracle.

I feel that Brazil's problems are also very complex, so Ancelotti becoming the coach of the Brazilian national team may not have such a significant impact. Maybe they can qualify for the World Cup, but beyond that, I doubt they will be able to compete against other big teams. Even against Paraguay, they struggled to score, despite having 74% possession according to the statistics. Not to mention that facing strong European teams will likely be even more difficult. So at this point, it is not just about who is coaching, but more about the basic structure of their game, which is still quite chaotic.

Brazil right now have decent players but no real stars like in the past. Let's take the team that won the last World Cup in 2002: their attack had Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. Now who do they have? Vinicius, Rodrygo and Raphinha? The difference is clear, and it's huge.

Israeli teams (and the national team) play in Europe because they have problems with everyone in the Middle East. And considering what they keep doing they are having more and more problems also in Europe so Israel, both as a national team and clubs, shouldn't be playing in any competition: not for Asia and for sure not for Europe. They have nothing to share with Europe, they are there just because of politics. I'm European and I don't agree with Israel playing amongst us.

It's something that FIFA and UEFA will surely allow them to do, given that they're selling European football to the Arabs, but then it will lose value and everything that was so popular in Europe will lose its flavour and it will all end. obviously in the worst case scenario

One of the big problems with Israelis is that they create problems wherever they go. I don't know how much they are and will improve their game by going to Europe, but Europe have to be careful in advance so that they don't cause any problems. Israelis understand politics very well, so it's definitely better to be careful. In the past, sports organizations used to take good decisions, but now big organizations are considering sports as an economic tool that should definitely be avoided.

The problem is that football and politics are becoming one thing, there is too much involvement from politicians. Just like Russia can't play the same should happen with Israel.