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

[Ale88]

I agree with your comment. Brazil are never among top favourites right now. But the interesting thing is bookmakers don't even have a single idea about it as they see him as the 2nd big favourite with 7.00 odds. 

Brazil lost to Croatia in the quarter finals in the last World Cup. That's all I'll say... And a few words on Ancelotti, I don't think he's doing good at all right now. They still don't look promising and I doubt this will change unless we see some real progress.

It's strange that Brazil isn't among the favorites. I think Ancelotti is doing a good job, but it must be said that Brazil is in a somewhat awkward position.
He definitely took a Barcelona player who is a bit of a disaster and is putting him back in peuidi and that's not easy.

Football has changed so much that Brazil is now looking like a mediocre team and yet they still fall deep into the problem that they have because I don't think this Brazil team playing like this will go any far in the world cup because the rate at which even the lesser teams are now active and playing I doubt if this Brazilian team and ancelloti will find it easy playing some of the games although there is time for them to do something about the form because they really need to step up the game.

I wouldn't call Brazil "a mediocre team" but at the same time it's pretty clear that, on paper, Brazil are not as good as Argentina, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to name a few other national teams. There is no way they can somehow be considered among the favorites for the next World Cup, we know the players and we know their results.

[Fuso.hp]

Even if Brazil fails to win the 2026 World Cup, the hope is that they will at least qualify for the semi-finals. Brazil is a big name in football, but they have not been able to do justice to their name in the last few tournaments. I still remember the mistake of the 22nd World Cup, when Brazil took the lead against Croatia with Neymar's goal towards the end of the match, but at that time the manager changed several players and the team tried to play attacking football again, as a result of which Croatia scored a goal towards the end of the game and regained parity, and later, when there was a tiebreaker, Croatia won against Brazil. If Brazil had played defensively and not attacked towards the end of the match in the 22nd World Cup, they would not have regretted qualifying for the semi-finals.

I think the expectations on this Brazil national team needs to actually drop or be reduced because let’s be sincere to ourselves this Brazilian team are not match for the previous Brazil teams that we know and I think people still do not want to actually get the reality, this is a new Brazilian team, so reducing the expectations placed on them might even help them to focus more, because we have past that era where this Brazilian team like the Italians or the Germans were fearsome.

In the game you discussed I think you shouldn’t put blame on the manager just like that, Brazil had no great defenders on the bench then and if he had risked it to play those players and then the game still turn around it will still be the same old story if not worse, one thing though that the manager would have done differently that day was playing more central midfielders after the goal because that was where Croatia strength had lied

In that match, Vinicius Junior was taken off by the manager, but Vinicius Junior performed brilliantly in that match and had the energy to play the whole time. Since there were no good players on the bench, the manager should not have put running players on the field and hoped for the players on the bench. If they had relied on those players for five to six minutes and if the players had played defensively, maybe Brazil would not have lost that match. However, this is completely in the past now so it will be out of the question, now we can only hope that such mistakes do not come from Brazil again. Now that a great manager is in charge of Brazil, he will definitely use the right players in the right places and make the right substitutions at the right time. If Brazil fails in this World Cup, it will be even more difficult for them to do well in their next World Cup tournaments.

[Oneandpure]

I wouldn't call Brazil "a mediocre team" but at the same time it's pretty clear that, on paper, Brazil are not as good as Argentina, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to name a few other national teams. There is no way they can somehow be considered among the favorites for the next World Cup, we know the players and we know their results.

Brazil can't call the mediocre teams but have bad achievement in World Cup last several edition, after winning FIFA World Cup 2002 almost five World Cup edition Brazil never reach higher round or final round although with great opportunity when becoming host at World Cup 2014. Brazil likely loss the mentality winning in World Cup after last several edition they have many top players but difficult perform as well as and higher round raise at World Cup 2014 after qualifying until semifinal round with disappointed result defeating by German 1-7.

Have many top favorite team exactly from Europe teams always dominance for winning World Cup without underestimate Brazil for next edition I think the winner from Europe teams. Argentina as defending champion likely have over after several key player last world cup edition have downtrend performance after over age, France and England are my favorite winner team in World Cup 2026.

[Sithara007]

Brazil can't call the mediocre teams but have bad achievement in World Cup last several edition, after winning FIFA World Cup 2002 almost five World Cup edition Brazil never reach higher round or final round although with great opportunity when becoming host at World Cup 2014. Brazil likely loss the mentality winning in World Cup after last several edition they have many top players but difficult perform as well as and higher round raise at World Cup 2014 after qualifying until semifinal round with disappointed result defeating by German 1-7.

Have many top favorite team exactly from Europe teams always dominance for winning World Cup without underestimate Brazil for next edition I think the winner from Europe teams. Argentina as defending champion likely have over after several key player last world cup edition have downtrend performance after over age, France and England are my favorite winner team in World Cup 2026.

Surprised with your take on Argentina. Messi may still play in the 2026 edition. And they have a healthy mix of young and experienced players. Players such as Julián Alvarez, Nicolás González, José Manuel López, Lautaro Martínez and Alexis Mac Allister are all in their 20s. I would rather rate Argentina as the favorites to win the 2026 tournament, ahead of European teams such as England and France. Brazil on the other hand, is likely to perform poorly (with or without Neymar).

[BigBos]

Ancelotti shouldn't listen to what fans say, because believe me, it will also be a burden on him whether he plays him or not. The coach should have full control over which players he calls up for the national team.

Not all fans want that; Neymar's best is over. Perhaps those who want him back hope he can be like Kroos in Germany, who can have a positive impact. However, not everything goes according to plan. So, it's better to move forward without listening to what outsiders say.

Agree with you, Carlo Ancelotti shouldn't listen what fans expectation to call Neymar return back to national team if can see how many youth players right now playing with many top Europe team. Neymar nowadays have been over and he plays with Brazil domestic league huge difference level with youth player playing for many top europe team, have injury problem make difficult calling back to Brazil national teams.

Better for Carlo Ancelotti calling youth playing have playing with top Europe team with high intentation games, if have option many top player better leaving Neymar although many fans expected for calling him back to Brazil team. I think era or best performance of Neymar have been over right now and many young player can replace better for his position such as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.

Brazil announced their 25-man squad, but Neymar's name wasn't on it. This means Ancelotti didn't heed fans' suggestions to recall Neymar to strengthen the squad. In my opinion, it was a good decision, for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

They're ready for two FIFA World Cup matches this month against Senegal and Tunisia. Last time out, they lost 3-2 to Japan. That was quite a surprising defeat. Japan has improved a lot, and I think they'll be able to do a lot in the upcoming World Cup.

[SuperBitMan]

Brazil can't call the mediocre teams but have bad achievement in World Cup last several edition, after winning FIFA World Cup 2002 almost five World Cup edition Brazil never reach higher round or final round although with great opportunity when becoming host at World Cup 2014. Brazil likely loss the mentality winning in World Cup after last several edition they have many top players but difficult perform as well as and higher round raise at World Cup 2014 after qualifying until semifinal round with disappointed result defeating by German 1-7.

Have many top favorite team exactly from Europe teams always dominance for winning World Cup without underestimate Brazil for next edition I think the winner from Europe teams. Argentina as defending champion likely have over after several key player last world cup edition have downtrend performance after over age, France and England are my favorite winner team in World Cup 2026.

Surprised with your take on Argentina. Messi may still play in the 2026 edition. And they have a healthy mix of young and experienced players. Players such as Julián Alvarez, Nicolás González, José Manuel López, Lautaro Martínez and Alexis Mac Allister are all in their 20s. I would rather rate Argentina as the favorites to win the 2026 tournament, ahead of European teams such as England and France. Brazil on the other hand, is likely to perform poorly (with or without Neymar).

You are right Argentina has a lot of young players who are very good at playing and also very inform, and again one thing about players and football is that the younger you are the more stronger and inform you will be, Argentina has young and strong players that I believe we help them win the world cup again however it won't be an easy one because we have other countries that have young players for example Spain, one thing we should understand when it comes to world cup those countries you think wiy lift the world cup may end up going home early so let's just wait till then and see.
England and France has a lot of good players and they have a chance to lift the world cup next year but for me I really can't say the country that can lift the world cup because it is usually unpredictable.

[Iamgoat]

Brazil announced their 25-man squad, but Neymar's name wasn't on it. This means Ancelotti didn't heed fans' suggestions to recall Neymar to strengthen the squad. In my opinion, it was a good decision, for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

They're ready for two FIFA World Cup matches this month against Senegal and Tunisia. Last time out, they lost 3-2 to Japan. That was quite a surprising defeat. Japan has improved a lot, and I think they'll be able to do a lot in the upcoming World Cup.

I had this same thought Ancelotti might not pick Neymar considering his unstable situation in his career at this point. It makes sense that Neymar isn’t in the squad. Brazil has so many talented young players in the club now and sometimes it is just better for you to let the team grow with fresh legs rather than rely on one star like Neymar, their loss to Japan shows that even big teams can be caught off guard and it is also a reminder that Japan and other nations are improving rapidly on their own side. The matches to be played against Senegal and Tunisia will be a good test for Brazil to see how the new squad performs under pressure and they need to tighten up their defence and find consistency in attack because as for me this approach of Ancelotti had used could make the team even stronger and more unpredictable going into the World. I know the fans club are not happy right now because they always want to see big names like Neymar but sometimes letting new players step up is exactly what a team needs to succeed on the biggest stage.

[EL MOHA]

In that match, Vinicius Junior was taken off by the manager, but Vinicius Junior performed brilliantly in that match and had the energy to play the whole time. Since there were no good players on the bench, the manager should not have put running players on the field and hoped for the players on the bench. If they had relied on those players for five to six minutes and if the players had played defensively, maybe Brazil would not have lost that match. However, this is completely in the past now so it will be out of the question, now we can only hope that such mistakes do not come from Brazil again. Now that a great manager is in charge of Brazil, he will definitely use the right players in the right places and make the right substitutions at the right time. If Brazil fails in this World Cup, it will be even more difficult for them to do well in their next World Cup tournaments.

The thing is we always fall back at certain things after the game has ended and give analysis but I tell you this things wouldn’t have counted in they had eventually gone through, even the manager wouldn’t have made the decision if there is a way he knows it will back fire, the two substitutions he made then were like for like substitutions with Rodrigo coming in for Vinicius, Anthony for Raphinha then and Fred for a midfielder. This was probably done not to break the formation that was working for him already. But in the end football happened

Seriously I don’t rate this current Brazil squad and I don’t see them as even Top three favourites at the moment, because they seem to be off that level now, but the major difference in a World Cup is most at times it doesn’t rate your individual players quality and rather the entire team Cohesion. The current world champions Argentina had a more better team than this winning squad and failed to win it, so if they can actually get bonded then anything can happen

[Lida93]

Football has changed so much that Brazil is now looking like a mediocre team and yet they still fall deep into the problem that they have because I don't think this Brazil team playing like this will go any far in the world cup because the rate at which even the lesser teams are now active and playing I doubt if this Brazilian team and ancelloti will find it easy playing some of the games although there is time for them to do something about the form because they really need to step up the game.

I wouldn't call Brazil "a mediocre team" but at the same time it's pretty clear that, on paper, Brazil are not as good as Argentina, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to name a few other national teams. There is no way they can somehow be considered among the favorites for the next World Cup, we know the players and we know their results.

it's not  like exactly the way it seems, Brazil is not a mediocre team per say, it's just that the coach hasn't really utilized the potentials of the payers that are there in the squad, perhaps there haven't been enough motivation to spur the team, Brazil is blessed with uncountable number of world class player in every position and it's very hard to believe that they performing below expectations despite having such enormous talents within the team, they have, Vinicius Jnr, Raphinha, marquinhos, parquetta, and lots of very interesting players, I do not any reason why they are not doing well at the moment.

[ShowOff]

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I wouldn't call Brazil "a mediocre team" but at the same time it's pretty clear that, on paper, Brazil are not as good as Argentina, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to name a few other national teams. There is no way they can somehow be considered among the favorites for the next World Cup, we know the players and we know their results.

it's not  like exactly the way it seems, Brazil is not a mediocre team per say, it's just that the coach hasn't really utilized the potentials of the payers that are there in the squad, perhaps there haven't been enough motivation to spur the team, Brazil is blessed with uncountable number of world class player in every position and it's very hard to believe that they performing below expectations despite having such enormous talents within the team, they have, Vinicius Jnr, Raphinha, marquinhos, parquetta, and lots of very interesting players, I do not any reason why they are not doing well at the moment.

Ancelotti is still relatively new in his role as the manager of the Brazil national team, so I think everything will take time to develop. In terms of squad depth, Brazil certainly have plenty of reliable players, and Ancelotti is highly experienced in recognizing each player talent. As time goes on, I think Ancelotti will be able to meet the expectations of many people.

In recent years, Brazil national team performance has indeed declined, and one of the reasons may be the internal turmoil within their football association, rather than a lack of player or managerial quality. However, things now seem to be under control, and I think Ancelotti can gradually turn Brazil into a title contender for the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

[Ale88]

Football has changed so much that Brazil is now looking like a mediocre team and yet they still fall deep into the problem that they have because I don't think this Brazil team playing like this will go any far in the world cup because the rate at which even the lesser teams are now active and playing I doubt if this Brazilian team and ancelloti will find it easy playing some of the games although there is time for them to do something about the form because they really need to step up the game.

I wouldn't call Brazil "a mediocre team" but at the same time it's pretty clear that, on paper, Brazil are not as good as Argentina, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to name a few other national teams. There is no way they can somehow be considered among the favorites for the next World Cup, we know the players and we know their results.

it's not  like exactly the way it seems, Brazil is not a mediocre team per say, it's just that the coach hasn't really utilized the potentials of the payers that are there in the squad, perhaps there haven't been enough motivation to spur the team, Brazil is blessed with uncountable number of world class player in every position and it's very hard to believe that they performing below expectations despite having such enormous talents within the team, they have, Vinicius Jnr, Raphinha, marquinhos, parquetta, and lots of very interesting players, I do not any reason why they are not doing well at the moment.

So now one user says that Brazil is a mediocre team and now you say that "is blessed with uncountable number of world class player in every position", can't we find some middle ground? Brazil has some above average players, Vinicius is a very good player but, in my opinion, he is not at the same level as other players such as Mbappé, Haaland, etc. Vinicius is probably the best Brazilian player right now, that says a lot about the current level.