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

[TelolettOm]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is currently 40 years old and will turn 41 in February. Messi is currently 38 and will turn 39 in June. And even though they're no longer young, and they're no longer at the world's top clubs, the two remain constant topics of conversation, and the media continues to cover them. Yes, because their great names are always hot topics that remain legendary to this day.

Well, let's put these two aside for now, because right now, they're focused on their respective matches in the World Cup Qualifiers.

Another interesting thing is the match between Messi with Argentina and Yamal with Spain. It will be a high-tension match for sure, and although it will take place in March 2026, the excitement is already there, with the plan being to play it at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, where Argentina once won the World Cup.

Source: Argentina 🆚 Spain

[Rampagoe004]

Yes, in fact, we need to give Ancelotti the chance to have a place in terms of the squad and how he should behave afterwards. i am convinced that he's making his decisions on the matter and there won't be a few of them. It's clear that this is a matter that will slowly settle down. Let's give the coach time.

This time that the coach does need is what most persons do not seem to want him to have, they do not have the patience again to wait maybe so they just want things up and running already but it does not matter how much you want to see results, the place of time cannot be substituted with your drive or push for that which you want, if Ancelotti is given the needed time, I believe even them will be glad he got the time he needed.

I also think Carlo Ancelotti needs time with the Brazilian national team to make significant changes. Without sufficient time, all of his desires won't come to fruition.
Ancelotti needs time to adapt. Although Brazil has great players, he has given his best during his time in Brazil. This could open up new hope for Ancelotti's team, a coach with a wealth of strategies for winning championships.

[Fuso.hp]

Why would you say that they can't make it to the finals ? Portugal have the team and also the experience in their team to actually do anything that's can be achieved by any of the teams you are now calling elite teams. Portugal have shown their great strength although it won't be easy and that's goes for any other team too in that competition but I won't doubt or remove Portugal as a major con for the title and moreover this is football and anything and everything can happen as no one knows for sure and that's how it is.

There is no doubt that Portugal will be the best team in the 2026 World Cup compared to other World Cups. Portugal's experienced players and young players are all currently performing well for different clubs and Portugal's results as a team are also quite good, so something good can be expected from this team. Morocco played in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, but no team considered Morocco as a favorite before the tournament started. There is nothing to doubt about the performance of the Portugal team, the only expectation from this team will be that Portugal, with a combination of young and experienced players, can do well in the World Cup and Ronaldo can finish the 2026 World Cup with good achievements.

[Sithara007]

The players follow a strict diet and do a lot of physical exercise, which makes them look young despite their age. At 41, where ordinary people wait for a doctor's visit, Cristiano Ronaldo is playing football like a young man and his speed is still the same. I thought that the 2022 World Cup would be the last World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but they are preparing to play another World Cup to surprise their fans and this may be the last World Cup for these two legendary players. When Messi and Ronaldo played their last match in the last World Cup, I regretted that we will not see these two stars in the World Cup tournament at the same time, but it is really a joy to see them perform for their respective teams in another World Cup.

Diet and exercise regimen definitely helps. And I have noticed this in other sports as well. Boxing is a sport that requires very high fitness standards. There are a number of boxers in their 40s, who have taken part in bouts recently. Gennady Golovkin is a perfect example. Manny Pacquiao is 46 years old, and recently he fought against Rukiya Anpo. So football is not an exception. Global demographics is also headed that way. We have a lot more elderly people and lot less young people compared to the situation in the 1990s.

[Ale88]

Portugal indeed has a great team right now but the fact is that they have not gotten to the point were they will play in the finals of the world cup. The world cup is the gathering of the Best footballing nations, Portugal may be good in the European continent but I don't think that they can replicate that in the world stage because that is the peak of football and in terms of the quality of play Portugal is still lacking behind, they have to develop themselves more before they can be thinking about playing in the world cup finals.

If you are good enough for Europe then you are also good enough for the World Cup. I don't understand what your saying, who are all these big teams outside Europe? Sure, there is Argentina, there is Brazil, and I would also say Uruguay, and then? Who else? Don't you think Portugal can beat Japan or Ecuador or the USA?

[Y3shot]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

It only looks like I know age is just a number, but when it comes to physical strength, as you get older and advance, your strength reduces. What you were able to do in your 20s and 30s, you won't be able to do these things at 40.

If you check the performance of Cristiano, his strength can't be compared to what it was when he was in his 20s. I know Cristiano Ronaldo is still doing well even at this age, but the truth is that in the last World Cup, he didn't really perform well; I think maybe because of his age. I think the last World Cup was one of the tournaments in his career where his performance wasn't that impressive. I'm still wondering how this very World Cup will be, if his strength is going to match.

[doomloop]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

It's not true, age is not just a number and it shows, they can't keep up with the pace of so many matches and play them all at the highest level, this is not possible, also because they are half their age, and this is clearly visible, i think that in a shorter tournament like the World Cup instead it can be done

While that is true for most players, it's about the "drop". As in, let's take it in numbers, made up numbers of course but numbers. Let's assume that your average 25 year old has 80% fitness rating, great, and I mean 80% for footballers, they are 99% better than normal people like us, but let's say 80% for footballers at age 25, if you are at 100% at age 25, and "drop" to 80% or even 75% at age 40, you have "dropped" from your previous, but you are still as fresh and fit as some of the 25 years old out there.

That is the point, sure there are a lot of players who are faster or quicker than Ronaldo, but the fact is that even at age 41, he is still playing at a high enough level to be better fit than most players how are much younger than him.

[Ale88]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

It's not true, age is not just a number and it shows, they can't keep up with the pace of so many matches and play them all at the highest level, this is not possible, also because they are half their age, and this is clearly visible, i think that in a shorter tournament like the World Cup instead it can be done

While that is true for most players, it's about the "drop". As in, let's take it in numbers, made up numbers of course but numbers. Let's assume that your average 25 year old has 80% fitness rating, great, and I mean 80% for footballers, they are 99% better than normal people like us, but let's say 80% for footballers at age 25, if you are at 100% at age 25, and "drop" to 80% or even 75% at age 40, you have "dropped" from your previous, but you are still as fresh and fit as some of the 25 years old out there.

That is the point, sure there are a lot of players who are faster or quicker than Ronaldo, but the fact is that even at age 41, he is still playing at a high enough level to be better fit than most players how are much younger than him.

Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the fittest athlete we've ever seen in the history of football, he has been a professional since he was 18 years old and he always had an incredible mentality, nobody can deny that. But reading that this 41-year-old Ronaldo "is playing as good as he was in his 20s" is just not true. It can't physically be true. Ronaldo already in his 30s changed the way he was playing compared to when he was in his 20s, so did Messi, they know their body is getting old and can't play the same way. Are they still better than the average football player? Yes, but don't say they are as good as they were in their prime.

[dezoel]

Never understood the benefit of "Finallisima"? I mean we have world cup, which brings the whole world together instead of just Europe and Latin America, and for the same logic we see the winners.

Not like Europe or Latin America is exempt from that cup, they are there and face each other, last one had Argentina and France finals for example, one from Latin America and one from Europe. Don't get me wrong, do one more game of course, one more finals, it's always fun to watch those games, but this looks like nothing but money grabbing. Fifa would make a ton of money from this, or is this UEFA game? Whatever it is, it will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people, and will make a ton of money, that's the only reason.

[Ale88]

Never understood the benefit of "Finallisima"? I mean we have world cup, which brings the whole world together instead of just Europe and Latin America, and for the same logic we see the winners.

Not like Europe or Latin America is exempt from that cup, they are there and face each other, last one had Argentina and France finals for example, one from Latin America and one from Europe. Don't get me wrong, do one more game of course, one more finals, it's always fun to watch those games, but this looks like nothing but money grabbing. Fifa would make a ton of money from this, or is this UEFA game? Whatever it is, it will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people, and will make a ton of money, that's the only reason.

The Finalissima is just another made up match just to make more money, that's it. In the past we had the Confederations Cup which was another kind of useless tournament, this is like something similar. The simple fact that FIFA wants to keep expanding the number of teams that participate to the World Cup clearly means that they don't care about the quality, only the money.

[Nahl]

Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the fittest athlete we've ever seen in the history of football, he has been a professional since he was 18 years old and he always had an incredible mentality, nobody can deny that. But reading that this 41-year-old Ronaldo "is playing as good as he was in his 20s" is just not true. It can't physically be true. Ronaldo already in his 30s changed the way he was playing compared to when he was in his 20s, so did Messi, they know their body is getting old and can't play the same way. Are they still better than the average football player? Yes, but don't say they are as good as they were in their prime.

For 40 years old usually for other football players they are retired and losing their body shape and over weight too but Ronaldo is different because he can maintain his body shape consistently although compared to few years ago Ronaldo performance is decrease but i think he still able to compete against the players who much younger than him at the club or national team for one place on starting lineup and speaking about Portugal chances to the world cup i think their chances is very wide open however, Ronaldo has one more ambition before retired that he want to see Portugal lifted up world cup trophy and i know it's hard but Ronaldo has dreaming about it and he will attempts to realize his dream

[el kaka22]

Physically you may get worse with age, but then you gain experience and wisdom which helps a lot. Ronaldo used to be a winger and he would run a lot, now he is a striker and his positioning and finishing is elite levels and he is still scoring like candy. If he was only scoring at Saudi league, people may say that league is bad, but to be fair even that league is getting great players but also Ronaldo scores with Portugal against other national teams too.

I bet that if he was still at United, he would have played better than Sesko this season. That age and wisdom he got from his experienced career is still important and still matters. I am sure he will play for Portugal in every game at world cup, who else is better?

[giorgione]

Because at quarter finals, you just never got close at all, but at finals yet losing means you were 90 minutes away from the biggest cup in the world and lost, that's even bigger heartbreak.

I also hope that Portugal will have a great World Cup, but even if i read that Cristiano Ronaldo is not interested in winning a World Cup, it is clear that this is something that perhaps he does out of superstition and it is not known if he is truly interested.

[emrecemsan]

Now we are in another international break and it's time to finish the remaining group matches...

I'm looking forward to watching Türkiye's remaining matches. First we are playing home against Bulgaria. We'd really make use of some more goal difference in the group. 

But our last match is a nightmare... We are playing away against Spain. I hope we don't get another humiliating score again. That one at our home was really unbelievable. We were literally able to do nothing.

[retreat]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

Comparing the young Ronaldo to the current Ronaldo might be a bit unfair because their physical conditions are clearly different. He may still have those skills, but when it comes to fitness and sharpness, you can't lie. Ronaldo today isn't as sharp as he used to be. He now relies solely on positioning, and avoids pushing himself too hard due to the higher risk of injury. That's a natural process, and professional players can't avoid it. But when it comes to leadership on the pitch, Ronaldo has actually become more mature and influential, and that's what will make the difference on the pitch later.

[Daniel91]

LOL.. age is just a number nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo is almost 41 years old, and he is playing as good as he was in his 20s. I guess it is same for Messi as well, but recently I haven't watched him play. Players are more fitness oriented nowadays, and on top of that medical supplements are available to sustain good fitness levels. Maybe a few decades ago, these were not available. So once again, during the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, the main battle is going to be between Messi and Ronaldo.

Comparing the young Ronaldo to the current Ronaldo might be a bit unfair because their physical conditions are clearly different. He may still have those skills, but when it comes to fitness and sharpness, you can't lie. Ronaldo today isn't as sharp as he used to be. He now relies solely on positioning, and avoids pushing himself too hard due to the higher risk of injury. That's a natural process, and professional players can't avoid it. But when it comes to leadership on the pitch, Ronaldo has actually become more mature and influential, and that's what will make the difference on the pitch later.

I partially agree with you. However, today's Ronaldo no longer makes a difference on the field and in the results like the Ronaldo from 10 or more years ago, almost as if there is one less player on the field because he avoids playing in defense. 
At the last World Cup, I had the impression that Portugal would have achieved better results if they had played without Ronaldo in the lineup. 
Of course, who dares to say that Ronaldo is too old and that it's time for football retirement?

[Fiatless]

Comparing the young Ronaldo to the current Ronaldo might be a bit unfair because their physical conditions are clearly different. He may still have those skills, but when it comes to fitness and sharpness, you can't lie. Ronaldo today isn't as sharp as he used to be. He now relies solely on positioning, and avoids pushing himself too hard due to the higher risk of injury. That's a natural process, and professional players can't avoid it. But when it comes to leadership on the pitch, Ronaldo has actually become more mature and influential, and that's what will make the difference on the pitch later.

Maybe he was just joking. Age will always reduce the performance of every sportsman. Ronaldo's pace and strength have reduced. He wouldn't have been able to play fun time in competitive leagues like the EPL, La Liga or Bundesliga. The Saudi Professional League or the US Major League Soccer is perfect for players of his age. Anyway, one has to recognise that the Portuguese captain has been consistent in his hard work, dieting and other healthy lifestyles.

[Wildwest]

Maybe he was just joking. Age will always reduce the performance of every sportsman. Ronaldo's pace and strength have reduced. He wouldn't have been able to play fun time in competitive leagues like the EPL, La Liga or Bundesliga. The Saudi Professional League or the US Major League Soccer is perfect for players of his age. Anyway, one has to recognise that the Portuguese captain has been consistent in his hard work, dieting and other healthy lifestyles.

Yes, it's true that many players in the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo have even retired. As we age, the pressure on players inevitably decreases, which leads to a decline in performance. I don't think Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the English Premier League, La Liga, or the Bundesliga.
Competition is getting fiercer from season to season, and most teams are looking for quality young players, while Ronaldo is past his prime. The Saudi Professional League highly values ​​him and would be a good place for him to retire.

[Ale88]

Comparing the young Ronaldo to the current Ronaldo might be a bit unfair because their physical conditions are clearly different. He may still have those skills, but when it comes to fitness and sharpness, you can't lie. Ronaldo today isn't as sharp as he used to be. He now relies solely on positioning, and avoids pushing himself too hard due to the higher risk of injury. That's a natural process, and professional players can't avoid it. But when it comes to leadership on the pitch, Ronaldo has actually become more mature and influential, and that's what will make the difference on the pitch later.

Maybe he was just joking. Age will always reduce the performance of every sportsman. Ronaldo's pace and strength have reduced. He wouldn't have been able to play fun time in competitive leagues like the EPL, La Liga or Bundesliga. The Saudi Professional League or the US Major League Soccer is perfect for players of his age. Anyway, one has to recognise that the Portuguese captain has been consistent in his hard work, dieting and other healthy lifestyles.

I'm pretty sure he was serious, he wasn't joking. In this section I've been reading several completely nonsense posts, sometimes I actually wonder if these users actually watch football and know what they are talking about or instead they are just posting without any knowledge. Stating that a 40-year-old Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia is still the same like when he was 25 playing for Real Madrid and winning Golden Balls is just wild.

[GbitG]

Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the fittest athlete we've ever seen in the history of football, he has been a professional since he was 18 years old and he always had an incredible mentality, nobody can deny that. But reading that this 41-year-old Ronaldo "is playing as good as he was in his 20s" is just not true. It can't physically be true. Ronaldo already in his 30s changed the way he was playing compared to when he was in his 20s, so did Messi, they know their body is getting old and can't play the same way. Are they still better than the average football player? Yes, but don't say they are as good as they were in their prime.

For 40 years old usually for other football players they are retired and losing their body shape and over weight too but Ronaldo is different because he can maintain his body shape consistently although compared to few years ago Ronaldo performance is decrease but i think he still able to compete against the players who much younger than him at the club or national team for one place on starting lineup and speaking about Portugal chances to the world cup i think their chances is very wide open however, Ronaldo has one more ambition before retired that he want to see Portugal lifted up world cup trophy and i know it's hard but Ronaldo has dreaming about it and he will attempts to realize his dream

Nah that's a lam excuse !!!!
In football we didn't see who had better biceps or triceps or six-packs...here we monitor the football, not a body symmetry, like we are football enthusiasts, not body enthusiasts. So if someone is good in football, we will give him more respect than the one who just compelled crowds towards his figure.

Anyway let's jump to the main objective. Cristiano Ronaldo is such classical player his contribution at football is phenomenal but right now his performance is now that good to compare him with his prime. His one quality which still the same is tapping goals except for this, his quality is no longer available.

Besides that, you mentioned that Ronaldo has a dream to win the world Cup. Then I think you didn't watch his podcast where he was saying to Piers Morgan that "winning the World Cup is not my dream. I don't think that   6 or 7 matches tornumant can determine that who are best or not"

https://youtu.be/KewakhYqrts?si=nbJiqEWy4FvPhGv-