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

[pewboy]

Brazil's national team head coach Carlo Ancelotti have announced squad team for upcoming two qualifying matches against Chile and Bolivia, little interested there are not any players from Real Madrid from Rorygo, Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao. Seems its first time for Vinicius Jr or Rodrygo not get national team calling, I think Ancelotti want to make rotation for two qualifying matches left because Brazil have been qualified to FIFA World Cup 2026 not matter the result from two matches left.

Upcoming qualifying match, Brazil will face Chile at Friday 5th September and last qualifying match against Bolivia, its not really important match for Brazil but securing six points of two games will secure the top 2nd standings position finish.

Here Brazil's squad list

source

exactly, I think Carlo Ancelotti is trying to understand what to do to best manage all the talents he has at his disposal, he certainly won't need them all and he's trying to rotate and understand some things that aren't working, now he'll think about managing the players in the best way possible

[m4r1o]

Get ready because Brazil will return to being a really great team that will cause havoc this year, I am really confident in Ancelotti, I have seen him coach several teams and I am sure he will do a good job with the guys he already knows, let him work and you will see what satisfaction he will give

Yes, Ancelotti, besides being a serious person, is also a person who knows the players very well and can allow himself to change them and manage them in the best way, something that other coaches cannot do. It is not a chaos for everyone and the Brazilians are very lucky to have him in the team.

[banana33]

As i said before i really support the idea of Neymar being again in the "convocacao" list, but come on i heard in some media outlets from brazil they were furious about Ancelotti not calling him for this last two matches for qualyfication.

But what they have in their heads? He is playing pretty bad right now.

I don't agree with leaving Neymar at home, it seems like a very stupid choice, but at this point I think it's just a management thing even if Neymar didn't do much to earn the call-up, even if let's say that working with Brazilians is never easy, you will see that the order will be restored

[bastisisca]

The names on the list are simply dreadful, I don't know how else describe them. Of course it's not Ancelotti's fault, those are the players Brazil is currently producing. Once they had Roberto Carlos and then Marcelo, now there is Alex Sandro. They used to have defenders like Lucio and Thiago Silva and now the best one is Marquinhos, which is very good, but not as good the the others I mentioned. Midfielders? Players like Juninho Pernambucano often times weren't even called because they had better players, now he would be by far the best midfielder. And maybe it's better not to talk about the strikers: the fact that a 33 year old Neymar is the best attacking player they have speaks volume. Let's see if Raphinha keeps playing like he did last season.

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

[Sithara007]

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Managing a national team is not as easy as managing a club side. Real Madrid has quality players from every nook and corner of the world. Brazil national team is not like that. So he need to adjust with whatever resources that he get. On top of that, he need to deal with egoistic and eccentric players such as Neymar. Bringing discipline in a team that has no sense of team bonding is going to be his first challenge. Anyway, they have only two matches remaining, and that too against weak teams (Chile and Bolivia).

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Managing a national team is not as easy as managing a club side. Real Madrid has quality players from every nook and corner of the world. Brazil national team is not like that. So he need to adjust with whatever resources that he get. On top of that, he need to deal with egoistic and eccentric players such as Neymar. Bringing discipline in a team that has no sense of team bonding is going to be his first challenge. Anyway, they have only two matches remaining, and that too against weak teams (Chile and Bolivia).

Yeah, what you said is the absolute truth, managing and or coaching a national team is completely different and way more difficult than coaching a club, and the reason you gave is very valid, finding good players for a club is easy because there is no such bound or limitedness in the sense that a player from Nigeria( for example) can not play for Brazil and a Brazilian player as well can not play for the Nigerian super eagles, and it is exactly like this for every other countries as well, so theres is a limit and every country has to make do with their own players and not get a player elsewhere outside the country.

And speaking of Brazil in particular now, the coach will simply learn to deal personally with all the players, learn them and now how to treat each one of the based on their individual attitudes, this is one way of becoming a good and successful coach.

[m4r1o]

Yeah, what you said is the absolute truth, managing and or coaching a national team is completely different and way more difficult than coaching a club, and the reason you gave is very valid, finding good players for a club is easy because there is no such bound or limitedness in the sense that a player from Nigeria( for example) can not play for Brazil and a Brazilian player as well can not play for the Nigerian super eagles, and it is exactly like this for every other countries as well, so theres is a limit and every country has to make do with their own players and not get a player elsewhere outside the country.

And speaking of Brazil in particular now, the coach will simply learn to deal personally with all the players, learn them and now how to treat each one of the based on their individual attitudes, this is one way of becoming a good and successful coach.

Let's say that there are regions and countries where it is easier to select players for your national team, like Brazil, which doesn't have any difficulty selecting players but rather has difficulty doing so because there are too many of them, while Arab teams have a hard time because nobody plays football and they have to force the players to naturalise.

[verdinio]

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Managing a national team is not as easy as managing a club side. Real Madrid has quality players from every nook and corner of the world. Brazil national team is not like that. So he need to adjust with whatever resources that he get. On top of that, he need to deal with egoistic and eccentric players such as Neymar. Bringing discipline in a team that has no sense of team bonding is going to be his first challenge. Anyway, they have only two matches remaining, and that too against weak teams (Chile and Bolivia).

Yeah, what you said is the absolute truth, managing and or coaching a national team is completely different and way more difficult than coaching a club, and the reason you gave is very valid, finding good players for a club is easy because there is no such bound or limitedness in the sense that a player from Nigeria( for example) can not play for Brazil and a Brazilian player as well can not play for the Nigerian super eagles, and it is exactly like this for every other countries as well, so theres is a limit and every country has to make do with their own players and not get a player elsewhere outside the country.

And speaking of Brazil in particular now, the coach will simply learn to deal personally with all the players, learn them and now how to treat each one of the based on their individual attitudes, this is one way of becoming a good and successful coach.

They have a great advantage, Ancelotti has much more feeling with these players because he has seen them grow up in the clubs and he has launched many of them himself, so it will not be a problem for him to select them and make them play well in the national team, in addition to the fact that he is a great coach and personally he can give a lot to the team.

[bastisisca]

Managing a national team is not as easy as managing a club side. Real Madrid has quality players from every nook and corner of the world. Brazil national team is not like that. So he need to adjust with whatever resources that he get. On top of that, he need to deal with egoistic and eccentric players such as Neymar. Bringing discipline in a team that has no sense of team bonding is going to be his first challenge. Anyway, they have only two matches remaining, and that too against weak teams (Chile and Bolivia).

It's true that it's not easy to manage national teams that often have exhausted players following them. Selecting them and understanding how to make them play together is a difficult task but also a very entertaining intellectual challenge for top-level managers like Ancelotti.

[Ale88]

The names on the list are simply dreadful, I don't know how else describe them. Of course it's not Ancelotti's fault, those are the players Brazil is currently producing. Once they had Roberto Carlos and then Marcelo, now there is Alex Sandro. They used to have defenders like Lucio and Thiago Silva and now the best one is Marquinhos, which is very good, but not as good the the others I mentioned. Midfielders? Players like Juninho Pernambucano often times weren't even called because they had better players, now he would be by far the best midfielder. And maybe it's better not to talk about the strikers: the fact that a 33 year old Neymar is the best attacking player they have speaks volume. Let's see if Raphinha keeps playing like he did last season.

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Clearly Ancelotti wants to experiment because Brazil will qualify at the World Cup, so he's calling up several different players to test them. It makes sense since he is a new manager and he also has to get to know the players, creating a personal relationship with them without feeling anyone already excluded from the project. What I was pointing out was the low level of these names, that is not Ancelotti's fault of course, those are the players he has available right now, it simply shows how bad the Brazilian national team is right now.

[Alex077]

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Managing a national team is not as easy as managing a club side. Real Madrid has quality players from every nook and corner of the world. Brazil national team is not like that. So he need to adjust with whatever resources that he get. On top of that, he need to deal with egoistic and eccentric players such as Neymar. Bringing discipline in a team that has no sense of team bonding is going to be his first challenge. Anyway, they have only two matches remaining, and that too against weak teams (Chile and Bolivia).

The best i could say, Ancelottis move to Brazil is a heroic shift from club to country, ask me why.. cause it is  fraught with difficulties & serious challenges.

You may know Ancelotti is the first manager who came as foreign coach in 80 years history and abruptly takes over a team that lacks discipline & tactical identity.. Whatever, leave it come to the point you know he already making wise decisions such as benching Neymar & depending on Casemiro for club.


Source: ESPN
Look at this, he really admits that less time for prep is the true difference in international management, so he emphasizes striking a balance rather than merely using flair. so imo Brazil might rediscover their winning formula if he masters that.

[Cryptoprincess101]

During his career as a manager Gattuso never last long in the particular clubs even the latest is he was messed up in Marseille which caused this team not qualified to the champion league and now surprisingly football federation of Italy has been choose him as Italy manager which this move is very risky
As far as i know Italy not qualified to the world cup 2 times in a row 2018 and 2022 so Italy people are expect this time their country can playing again at the world cup and Italian fans has high expectation to Gatusso

I'm Italian and let me tell you that nobody, I repeat, nobody, has high expectations with Gattuso. The problem is that the national team, right now, is so bad that nobody wants to be manager when usually managing your own country should be an honor. Experienced managers like Ranieri and Pioli declined, many others are not available because they just changed team or signed new contracts, Ancelotti gave his word to Brazil, at the end there were Gattuso, Cannavaro and a few other names. Bad names. The only hope is that Gattuso can somehow motivate the players but, as I was saying, the players are pretty bad so if we don't qualify again I wouldn't blame Gattuso, I would blame the whole Italian football federation because they had years and years to change something and they didn't.

The Italian National team is really in a great mess and it will take time to build the team like they used to be, what you should know is that it's not as if some professional coaches are actually afraid of managing the Italian National team but it's just that when they don't achieve the expectations of fans within the shortest time they always carry the blame, that is why some managers are moving away from the job. I think we shouldn't blame Ranieri for declining to manage the Italian National team because he is already old, he is probably considering his age and he may not be as vibrant as he used to be. Gattuso may not bring the Italian National team out of their web but if he can manage to fix the team in such a way that they can withstand upcoming competitions it will really be a great achievement for Italy.

[Ale88]

During his career as a manager Gattuso never last long in the particular clubs even the latest is he was messed up in Marseille which caused this team not qualified to the champion league and now surprisingly football federation of Italy has been choose him as Italy manager which this move is very risky
As far as i know Italy not qualified to the world cup 2 times in a row 2018 and 2022 so Italy people are expect this time their country can playing again at the world cup and Italian fans has high expectation to Gatusso

I'm Italian and let me tell you that nobody, I repeat, nobody, has high expectations with Gattuso. The problem is that the national team, right now, is so bad that nobody wants to be manager when usually managing your own country should be an honor. Experienced managers like Ranieri and Pioli declined, many others are not available because they just changed team or signed new contracts, Ancelotti gave his word to Brazil, at the end there were Gattuso, Cannavaro and a few other names. Bad names. The only hope is that Gattuso can somehow motivate the players but, as I was saying, the players are pretty bad so if we don't qualify again I wouldn't blame Gattuso, I would blame the whole Italian football federation because they had years and years to change something and they didn't.

The Italian National team is really in a great mess and it will take time to build the team like they used to be, what you should know is that it's not as if some professional coaches are actually afraid of managing the Italian National team but it's just that when they don't achieve the expectations of fans within the shortest time they always carry the blame, that is why some managers are moving away from the job. I think we shouldn't blame Ranieri for declining to manage the Italian National team because he is already old, he is probably considering his age and he may not be as vibrant as he used to be. Gattuso may not bring the Italian National team out of their web but if he can manage to fix the team in such a way that they can withstand upcoming competitions it will really be a great achievement for Italy.

Many Italian coaches don't want to manage the Italian team simply because they know it would be extremely difficult to achieve something. Then there are others who like impossibile challenges because Antonio Conte, back in 2016, did almost a miracle in the Euro Cup because he managed to beat Spain and lose against Germany (World Cup winner) only at penalties with one of the worst Italian teams I've ever seen in my life. On paper Spain had to easily win, and Germany was supposed to score several goals, and yet they didn't.
Ranieri declined because he had already retired and had a contract with Roma, and he loves Roma, so he chose to respect the contract he signed.

[retreat]

India has been investing a lot of money in cricket for a long time, but they do not invest that much money in football, which is why every generation of Indians dreams of becoming a cricketer when they grow up. I think if 10 young people in India are asked about their future plans, then maybe eight out of these ten will say that they want to be cricketers, and out of these 10, maybe not even one will say that they want to be a footballer. The situation of India's football ranking is not good, due to which the youth do not see a good future here, that is why they try to take cricket as their career instead of football. Even if India invests a lot of money to form a good football team in their country from now on, it will still take many more years for India to build a good team. So I think that for a good footballer to come out of a country, that country needs to have a good football background.

It's more realistic to dream of becoming a cricketer in India than a footballer, as cricket is far more popular there, and the future of a career in it is clearer than in football. Even cricketers who don't make the national team can make a very good living with contracts from the IPL and other leagues, which only explains why more people are interested in pursuing a career in cricket. While football has grown, it is still less popular, and many players continue to lack opportunities. Furthermore, infrastructure and scouting systems remain unequal, which discourages more people from pursuing a career in football. This is one of the main reasons why Indian football has not developed as much.

[verdinio]

India has been investing a lot of money in cricket for a long time, but they do not invest that much money in football, which is why every generation of Indians dreams of becoming a cricketer when they grow up. I think if 10 young people in India are asked about their future plans, then maybe eight out of these ten will say that they want to be cricketers, and out of these 10, maybe not even one will say that they want to be a footballer. The situation of India's football ranking is not good, due to which the youth do not see a good future here, that is why they try to take cricket as their career instead of football. Even if India invests a lot of money to form a good football team in their country from now on, it will still take many more years for India to build a good team. So I think that for a good footballer to come out of a country, that country needs to have a good football background.

It's more realistic to dream of becoming a cricketer in India than a footballer, as cricket is far more popular there, and the future of a career in it is clearer than in football. Even cricketers who don't make the national team can make a very good living with contracts from the IPL and other leagues, which only explains why more people are interested in pursuing a career in cricket. While football has grown, it is still less popular, and many players continue to lack opportunities. Furthermore, infrastructure and scouting systems remain unequal, which discourages more people from pursuing a career in football. This is one of the main reasons why Indian football has not developed as much.

That's right, every nation has its own national sport, and in Europe it's football, there's nothing you can do about that. What's strange to me is that even though cricket is a popular sport in India, the team is a bit weak and the others always win, even though everyone plays it. So this whole thing about the strongest teams having always played that sport at a national level is a lie. In any case, sport is beautiful because it unites everyone.

[banana33]

The Italian National team is really in a great mess and it will take time to build the team like they used to be, what you should know is that it's not as if some professional coaches are actually afraid of managing the Italian National team but it's just that when they don't achieve the expectations of fans within the shortest time they always carry the blame, that is why some managers are moving away from the job. I think we shouldn't blame Ranieri for declining to manage the Italian National team because he is already old, he is probably considering his age and he may not be as vibrant as he used to be. Gattuso may not bring the Italian National team out of their web but if he can manage to fix the team in such a way that they can withstand upcoming competitions it will really be a great achievement for Italy.

Ranieri wouldn't be able to manage the chaos that has been created in the last few years, the only one who managed to somewhat restore the fortunes of the Italian national team was Mancini who behaved truly professionally and made Italy win a European Championship, but it was spoken too soon and these are the results

[m4r1o]

Many Italian coaches don't want to manage the Italian team simply because they know it would be extremely difficult to achieve something. Then there are others who like impossibile challenges because Antonio Conte, back in 2016, did almost a miracle in the Euro Cup because he managed to beat Spain and lose against Germany (World Cup winner) only at penalties with one of the worst Italian teams I've ever seen in my life. On paper Spain had to easily win, and Germany was supposed to score several goals, and yet they didn't.
Ranieri declined because he had already retired and had a contract with Roma, and he loves Roma, so he chose to respect the contract he signed.

I think it's not even because of the contract he had in Rome, because now he's no longer a coach of Rome, but because he's old and wouldn't be able to manage everything, let's say that even Mancini didn't behave badly, but Conte did really a lot, he managed to win with a mediocre team.

[Yudhisthir]

It’s quite interesting that Ancelotti decided to leave out names like Vinícius Jr, Rodrygo, and Militão, especially since they’ve been almost untouchable starters for Brazil in recent years. But considering the circumstances, his decision makes sense. Brazil has already secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup, so these last two games are more about testing options than grinding out results. By resting his Real Madrid trio, Ancelotti can both protect them from unnecessary fatigue and injuries while also giving opportunities to players who normally don’t get many minutes.

[Franctoshi]

The names on the list are simply dreadful, I don't know how else describe them. Of course it's not Ancelotti's fault, those are the players Brazil is currently producing. Once they had Roberto Carlos and then Marcelo, now there is Alex Sandro. They used to have defenders like Lucio and Thiago Silva and now the best one is Marquinhos, which is very good, but not as good the the others I mentioned. Midfielders? Players like Juninho Pernambucano often times weren't even called because they had better players, now he would be by far the best midfielder. And maybe it's better not to talk about the strikers: the fact that a 33 year old Neymar is the best attacking player they have speaks volume. Let's see if Raphinha keeps playing like he did last season.

Carlo Ancelotti has what it takes to do well, we don't understand some of his choices but he certainly had his reasons.
He has successfully coached teams of the calibre of Real Madrid for many years, and i think he will be able to do well with Brazil too.
I am very sure of it.

Clearly Ancelotti wants to experiment because Brazil will qualify at the World Cup, so he's calling up several different players to test them. It makes sense since he is a new manager and he also has to get to know the players, creating a personal relationship with them without feeling anyone already excluded from the project. What I was pointing out was the low level of these names, that is not Ancelotti's fault of course, those are the players he has available right now, it simply shows how bad the Brazilian national team is right now.

That's interesting perspective, and It is a wise thing to do if he's experimenting with this players to know which player he will be using in the upcoming world cup competition in US, Canada and Mexico because the current state of the Brazilian national team really looks concerning with the list of the players called up which has sparked debate.

[Bitcoin Smith]

What's strange to me is that even though cricket is a popular sport in India, the team is a bit weak and the others always win, even though everyone plays it. So this whole thing about the strongest teams having always played that sport at a national level is a lie. In any case, sport is beautiful because it unites everyone.

So you watch cricket regularly?

India won the T20 World cup recently and before that they went to WC final undefeated in league and semi final but they messed up in the final losing to the another strong team so in cricket India is the strongest but probably their performance drops when they play out of India and only in test matches but imagine other countries playing in India whether it's AUS or SA, India will win for sure.

BTW, National sport of India is hockey.