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

[woez]

Another surprise from last night was Kosovo beating Sweden 2-0.
Sweden has some of the most expensive players from the Premier League, yet they couldn’t even score a single goal against Kosovo.

It's funny, considering their track record. Last year, Sweden defeated Kosovo in Group B in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. But this year, it seems like a revenge match Yes, Kosovo defeated Sweden 2-0, as you said above. This year, it seems like there will be a lot of changes, from what we considered to be a great team to a decline in performance at this stage.

[Jostern]

Kosovo was the surprise of the day. They scored twice in the first half to win the match 2-0. Sweden dominated possession, while Kosovo made the most effective attacks.

Sweden never lose against Kosovo, there must be something happen with them.

Sweden players are mostly playing in England and German, yet they got beaten by unknown players who played in unknown leagues too.

Another key match was the 4-5 draw between Israel and Italy.

I don't remember Italy conceding so many goals recently.

The biggest factor, of course, was that both goals were own goals. Locatelli and Bastoni were a surprise 😂

This is very important match for both of them, since Italy won in this match, the chance they will qualify become high because they still have 4 match and 2 of them are against weak teams. While Israel, only have 3 match and only one match is weak team.

If Israel want to qualify, they need to win rest of the match and hoping Italy to lose one match, not to mention point margin do matters.

I’m very surprised with Sweden results, it’s quite unbelievable that Sweden lost to Kosovo who I don’t even know if they are a footballing nation, I don’t even know any of their players, but they still beat Sweden I must say kudos to them for beating Sweden it’s a deserved win, When I watch the Sweden team they have big players who plays in Europe for the big clubs so I don’t really know why they’re not doing very well in this World Cup qualifiers, if they continue this way they might end up not going to the World Cup. The way Sweden are playing they might end up not qualifying for the World Cup unless they improve.

Israel I must say played very well, they showed a real fight against the Italian, they are unlucky not to have gotten the win or a draw, and they deserved at least a point against Italy, but it’s football sometimes you offer everything and it would end up not going your way, and now they have to win their teaming games if they are to qualify for the World Cup, which I think it wouldn’t be easy, and it might as well be easy for them, so let see how there next game goes.

[joniboini]

I don't know who noticed that Italy is conceeding alot of goals these days which is unlike them. Italy is known for a long time as a club that is very difficult to be scored. Now I am surprised how a non footballing Nation was able to score them upto 4 goals.

Slight correction, you mean "nation". I don't think Italy is a club. Anyway, joking aside, a team can't perform at its best forever. Player changes, coach changes, even football philosophy changes. I think the day when a team is known for its defense or playstyle is long gone. A team, whether they're a club or a national team, needs to adapt and improve their playstyle depending on their opponent. If they're stronger on paper, they'll likely be the one who attacks consistently. Luck is also involved in a game like this. How often do you see 2 goals scored as an own goal in a match. I'm sure those worries will be gone if a team win trophies in the end. CMIIW.

[verdinio]

Israel 4 Vs Italy 5 FT
This has got to be one of the insane games in this world cup qualifiers. Israel took the lead twice before falling off the ladder and Italy equalised and to make it 2 - 2, the same Italy went ahead to score 2 more goals to make it 4 - 2 before 80 minutes and that's when Israel craziness started as they responded with 2 goals of their own in the 87th and 89th minutes to make it 4 - 4 on the night, just as we thought it was going to end in stalemate, Italy struck again to make it 5 - 4 which eventually won the match for them.

Italy has shown that it is a team that resists, fights and wins. It is clear that the coach has done a great job of motivating the boys, but it must be said that they also showed their character, demonstrating that they are Italy. They were put to the test but they managed to get by.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Israel 4 Vs Italy 5 FT
This has got to be one of the insane games in this world cup qualifiers. Israel took the lead twice before falling off the ladder and Italy equalised and to make it 2 - 2, the same Italy went ahead to score 2 more goals to make it 4 - 2 before 80 minutes and that's when Israel craziness started as they responded with 2 goals of their own in the 87th and 89th minutes to make it 4 - 4 on the night, just as we thought it was going to end in stalemate, Italy struck again to make it 5 - 4 which eventually won the match for them.

It could be 5-5 if one of Israel's goal was not disallowed by the referee. Seeing a team that being called one of best team in the world struggled again one of a weak team such as Israel is kinda weird. They good in attack, but their defense is worthy enough to be used as meme. Their performance overall still a mess.
They must have fixed their defense before they fight a stronger opponent such as Spain or Englang. Otherwise, they will out from the WC early.

They at least saved Gattuso's face. I dunno how many blame will be received by Gattuso if they lost to the Israel.

[silpersurfer]

Italy has shown that it is a team that resists, fights and wins. It is clear that the coach has done a great job of motivating the boys, but it must be said that they also showed their character, demonstrating that they are Italy. They were put to the test but they managed to get by.

This match should have been relatively easy for the Italian national team, but has the quality of the Israeli players improved or declined? The match was quite dramatic, with the Italian national team scoring numerous goals against Israel, but it seemed to be for naught as they also conceded even more goals in this match, with five goals conceded and one goal disallowed. Worse still, of the four legitimate goals Israel scored in this match, two were own goals, goals created by the Italian national team's defensive errors.

There is still much to evaluate about the Italian national team. They are a team known for their strong defense, but this time the Italian national team is not showing any of that.

[Lillominato89]

Israel 4 Vs Italy 5 FT
This has got to be one of the insane games in this world cup qualifiers. Israel took the lead twice before falling off the ladder and Italy equalised and to make it 2 - 2, the same Italy went ahead to score 2 more goals to make it 4 - 2 before 80 minutes and that's when Israel craziness started as they responded with 2 goals of their own in the 87th and 89th minutes to make it 4 - 4 on the night, just as we thought it was going to end in stalemate, Italy struck again to make it 5 - 4 which eventually won the match for them.

In addition to being one of the craziest matches of this World Cup qualifier, I would also say that it is the match where Italy really hit rock bottom.
My goodness, what a terrible match, but above all, what a terrible Italy.
If we struggle to win against a low-ranking national team, it means that we don't deserve to go to the World Cup for the third time in a row! Perhaps someone will wake up and change things in Italy and try to make better use of our talents.

[cande86]

Israel 4 Vs Italy 5 FT
This has got to be one of the insane games in this world cup qualifiers. Israel took the lead twice before falling off the ladder and Italy equalised and to make it 2 - 2, the same Italy went ahead to score 2 more goals to make it 4 - 2 before 80 minutes and that's when Israel craziness started as they responded with 2 goals of their own in the 87th and 89th minutes to make it 4 - 4 on the night, just as we thought it was going to end in stalemate, Italy struck again to make it 5 - 4 which eventually won the match for them.

I don't know who noticed that Italy is conceeding alot of goals these days which is unlike them. Italy is known for a long time as a club that is very difficult to be scored. Now I am surprised how a non footballing Nation was able to score them upto 4 goals.
I miss the real Italian Machine I used to know growing up

They are playing really well, Gattuso's arrival has made these guys reinvigorate and return to very high levels, they have conceded many goals but have also scored many and they are all very good, congratulations to Italy who have really performed well

[pewboy]

Spain beat Turkey too easily, but Turkey can play well against average teams, and it is difficult for them to play against favorites. Although I do not remember the last time they lost with such a crushing score in official games. They need to pay attention to defense, because conceding so many is unacceptable even against such a strong opponent. As for Spain, they showed that they are in excellent shape, and if the opponent allows them, they are ready to score as much as they want.

Let's say that Turkey is not a fearsome team and it is not even a big one so in Spain he found a team where he could do what he wanted and the formation was clearly superior to that of Turkey and the players had free rein to play excellent football. this is the future and it is today

[W Jr.]

Spain beat Turkey too easily, but Turkey can play well against average teams, and it is difficult for them to play against favorites. Although I do not remember the last time they lost with such a crushing score in official games. They need to pay attention to defense, because conceding so many is unacceptable even against such a strong opponent. As for Spain, they showed that they are in excellent shape, and if the opponent allows them, they are ready to score as much as they want.

Let's say that Turkey is not a fearsome team and it is not even a big one so in Spain he found a team where he could do what he wanted and the formation was clearly superior to that of Turkey and the players had free rein to play excellent football. this is the future and it is today

Turkey isn't a weak football team like San Marino or Malta. Therefore, conceding six goals caused a major problem. The players' unrest became evident after the match. As the Turkish national team, we will unfortunately never forget this defeat against Spain. We hope the match in Spain goes better.

[retreat]

The Spanish national team is truly fortunate at the moment. They have an exceptional young squad that will keep them strong for the long term. They'll even become stronger as they gain experience in football. And yes, they're dominating the game, and we can see no signs of this team weakening. In fact, this team seems to be getting more solid over time. The strong attacking partnership in the Spanish national team is also balanced by the excellent cooperation of the midfield and defense, which are equally impressive. This creates a solid team. In the previous World Cup, Spain only advanced to the round of 16. But I'm confident that in the next World Cup, they will go even further and even become title contenders.

The Spanish national team is currently at an advantage because they have a squad filled with a majority of talented young players, such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Pedri, Dean Huijsen, Gonzalo García, and others. This makes them a highly promising national team with a strong foundation.

The focus now is how Luis De la Fuente can manage the egos of these players, as this national team is filled with young players who are still in the process of proving themselves and full of ambition. This is particularly evident with the dominance of Barcelona players in the squad, who often clash with their Real Madrid counterparts. A clear example is Dean Huijsen, who reportedly faced mockery from Barca players during national team duty simply because of his move to Madrid.

However, the Spanish national team does have a significant advantage in terms of experience, creativity, and speed. This makes Spain a strong contender to win the World Cup.

[SmartCharpa]

Italy conceding 4 goals against Israel really surprised me.
The match was almost going to end in a draw with Israel.
Unfortunately, Italy is in a period of decline, as the new generation is not showing the expected performance.

Italy is playing good football with the players they have in terms of creating opportunities and scoring goals, they score goals against any opponent they face, however, Israel is also doing well, in their last two games, they scored four goals against Moldova, I expected Italy to struggle to win the game, but I did not expect them to concede four goals. The most important thing is that they were able to get three points, putting them three points behind Noway.

Another surprise from last night was Kosovo beating Sweden 2-0.
Sweden has some of the most expensive players from the Premier League, yet they couldn’t even score a single goal against Kosovo.

It was another unexpected World Cup qualifying result, Kosovo scored two goals in the first half, I didn't recognize any of their top players, but Sweden has great players who are performing well in the Premier League, so I expected many changes in the second half. Gyokeres and Elanga started at the front, but there was no goal in the first half, and Isak was still brought on in the second half, but they couldn't score. Sweden's chances of qualifying for the World Cup are quite small.

[Oluwa-btc]

Israel 4 Vs Italy 5 FT
This has got to be one of the insane games in this world cup qualifiers. Israel took the lead twice before falling off the ladder and Italy equalised and to make it 2 - 2, the same Italy went ahead to score 2 more goals to make it 4 - 2 before 80 minutes and that's when Israel craziness started as they responded with 2 goals of their own in the 87th and 89th minutes to make it 4 - 4 on the night, just as we thought it was going to end in stalemate, Italy struck again to make it 5 - 4 which eventually won the match for them.

It breaks my heart to see that a middle eastern country plays European qualifications, commits genocide and they're yet to be banned completely. Well, Thanks to Gattuso and the Italian national team players who made sure they didn't just win the game but also won on behalf of other countries rooting and fighting for the sake of humanity. FREE PALESTINE!!

[ashmodeus]

Another surprise from last night was Kosovo beating Sweden 2-0.
Sweden has some of the most expensive players from the Premier League, yet they couldn’t even score a single goal against Kosovo.

It's funny, considering their track record. Last year, Sweden defeated Kosovo in Group B in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. But this year, it seems like a revenge match Yes, Kosovo defeated Sweden 2-0, as you said above. This year, it seems like there will be a lot of changes, from what we considered to be a great team to a decline in performance at this stage.

What I saw was that Sweden was too weak in defending deep, they were too comfortable dominating until they forgot the gaps they left. This was a bad defeat that they could have avoided. In contrast, Kosovo was effective in maximizing their chances to score. In Group B, only Switzerland had a smooth journey with two wins. I feel that if Sweden shows a performance like this without improvement, they will end badly.

[yenerbatmaz]

Spain beat Turkey too easily, but Turkey can play well against average teams, and it is difficult for them to play against favorites. Although I do not remember the last time they lost with such a crushing score in official games. They need to pay attention to defense, because conceding so many is unacceptable even against such a strong opponent. As for Spain, they showed that they are in excellent shape, and if the opponent allows them, they are ready to score as much as they want.

Let's say that Turkey is not a fearsome team and it is not even a big one so in Spain he found a team where he could do what he wanted and the formation was clearly superior to that of Turkey and the players had free rein to play excellent football. this is the future and it is today

Turkey isn't a weak football team like San Marino or Malta. Therefore, conceding six goals caused a major problem. The players' unrest became evident after the match. As the Turkish national team, we will unfortunately never forget this defeat against Spain. We hope the match in Spain goes better.

I think Montella, who focuses on attacking, is the biggest problem.
Spain didn't see us as San Marino, but Turkey mistook Spain for Georgia or Bulgaria. Turkey clearly saw that Spain wasn't like that, and the ending was very bitter.
Spain was already going to top the group. Now the real question is, who will be second? Georgia beat Bulgaria 3-0 and improved their goal difference. Türkiye is now down to -3.

[Shadiq]

The Spanish national team is currently at an advantage because they have a squad filled with a majority of talented young players, such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Pedri, Dean Huijsen, Gonzalo García, and others. This makes them a highly promising national team with a strong foundation.

I want to see the Spanish national team play well for a long time, because they have some talented young players who are going to do well in international football for a long time. Especially in the Spanish team I see a shadow of Barcelona where young players dominate and the teams depend on young players. Especially the games become more interesting and exciting when they play in big matches against strong teams. Their determination and fight to win makes the game more exciting, especially the efforts of young players to win in big matches fascinates me. As we saw in the Barcelona vs. Inter Milan and Spain vs. Portugal matches.

[Lannakosa]

They are playing really well, Gattuso's arrival has made these guys reinvigorate and return to very high levels, they have conceded many goals but have also scored many and they are all very good, congratulations to Italy who have really performed well

Italy with Gattuzzo started scoring more, more spectacular football, but I got used to the fact that Italy is a team that can play reliably in defense and they need one or two goals to win. The most important thing is that Italy wins, but it is also worth thinking about defense, otherwise stronger opponents may not forgive this.

Today I will watch the match between Ukraine and Azerbaijan, I think that Ukraine should get 3 points in this match, after the first difficult match with France they need a victory. Iceland is also not an easy team, but they can also be beaten, so it is too early to give up now, Ukraine needs a victory today.

[Jatiluhung]

Italy has shown that it is a team that resists, fights and wins. It is clear that the coach has done a great job of motivating the boys, but it must be said that they also showed their character, demonstrating that they are Italy. They were put to the test but they managed to get by.

In that match, Italy demonstrated that they are a team that doesn't give up easily and also has a strong mentality. And in terms of gameplay, Italy clearly had the upper hand in that match. However, one thing that worries me about Italy is their rather open back line. I think if Italy can strengthen their defense, this team will be difficult to beat and even have the potential to continue winning if combined with their improved attack line. Their new coach, Gattuso, seems a little more reliable than Spalletti. Although Spalletti was also a great coach when he was in charge of Napoli, when he decided to coach the Italian national team, he seemed to struggle there. This means that Spalletti is not yet suited to being a national team coach, but as a regular club coach, I'm sure he would still be an extraordinary coach. Congratulations to Italy on their victory.

[Arenga pinnata]

Let's say that Turkey is not a fearsome team and it is not even a big one so in Spain he found a team where he could do what he wanted and the formation was clearly superior to that of Turkey and the players had free rein to play excellent football. this is the future and it is today

Perhaps, in terms of squad depth, Turkey isn't a particularly fearsome team. It's just that this team is usually quite good and can't be defeated easily. Even in the Nations League, we've seen how strong Turkey is, and it's truly not to be underestimated. However, compared to Spain, Turkey's squad depth seems mediocre. In fact, Spain seemed to win very comfortably in yesterday's match. And honestly, it was quite surprising to see Spain beat Turkey by such a large score. While it's certainly understandable to see Spain win, a 0-6 scoreline was still beyond anyone's expectations. I'm sure of that.

Today's match, which I think will be quite exciting, is Hungary vs. Portugal. Portugal will certainly be the favorite in this match. And I'm also favoring Portugal. I'm curious to see whether Cristiano Ronaldo will score again alongside Felix or not.

[TelolettOm]

In addition to being one of the craziest matches of this World Cup qualifier, I would also say that it is the match where Italy really hit rock bottom.
My goodness, what a terrible match, but above all, what a terrible Italy

And what was even more terrible was the fatal overwhelm of the Italian players, who gave Israel a free goal. Just imagine, a top-tier national team like Italy gave Israel two OGs, and the first OG occurred in the 16th minute. Was Italy's defense that bad? Or something wrong? hahaha

And this was actually a pretty ridiculous number of goals conceded for Italy, even Gattuso admitted it. 4 goals conceded, and 2 of them were from OG. And Italy scored 5 goals. Wow, 9 goals in one match, that's pretty crazy.

Source: Gattuso: ‘Italy cannot concede ridiculous goals