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

[Alpha Marine]

Almost everyone was shocked by Italy defeat with a score of 1-4 but we really don't know what scenario is being planned. Football analysts say Italy is under mental pressure, but I personally a bit doubtful because Italy managed to win 6 matches and only lost 2 times against Norway well here I think Norway is a great team at least for group I.

I wasn't surprised by the defeat. Italy have not been good, don't let the matches they won fool you. They have not won a match against any formidable team in Europe for a while. Out of the six matches they won in the World Cup qualification round, two were against Estonia, two were against Israel, and two were against Moldova. These are teams they should ordinarily win. In the two games they played against Norway, which is the only team that is good at football to a certain level, they scored only one goal in both legs. Italy are not good presently. People still look at them with a historical eye, but they are a very average team right now.

I don't know who they will play in the playoffs, but if they pair them against any serious team, they will lose and get knocked off. The only chance they have is to play another team like Moldova and Estonia. Looking at the team that will be in the playoffs, Turkey and Scotland are likely to be the major teams that can knock them out if they meet.

[asriloni]

Another shameful result came from Nigeria. They failed in the Afcon last season, yet they're now officially out from WC 2026. They lost to the Conge through pen. They had Osimhen and Lookman on their side, but that's not enough to help them to get into the WC 2026.

This results makes them officially failed to qualify for the WC two times in a row. Their golden generation is not enough to carry them to the WC.

It seems the mismanagement by their federation is one of reason why they don't qualify. What do you guys think about what kind of factor that makes them unable to qualify for WC again?

[jaberwock]

To be honest, I don't understand how the Ukrainian goalkeeper saved the shot in the 75th minute when the Icelandic player was heading the ball. It seemed to me that it was 100% going to be a goal, but the Ukrainian goalkeeper somehow touched the ball with his hand and deflected it for a corner, even though it was an excellent shot, hitting the ball downwards with his head from a couple of meters away so that it would bounce off the turf and be more difficult for the goalkeeper to catch.
Then, when Ukraine scored their first goal, it seemed to me that Iceland had already given up mentally and was not ready to fight, although this is almost the only time in two years that the Icelandic national team has failed to score at least one goal in an official match.

The save of Icelandic goalkeeper from that Yaremchuk header and then volley was also great at 80th minute. Both goalkeepers tried their best but Ukraine was the better team here. There are many "smaller" teams that normally we do not expect to do great doing great these days.

Biggest example is Norway, they were nowhere to be found for many years, even with Haaland missed a chance to do anything in either world cup nor in europo cup as well but now? Now they are playing like the best team ever and that is a shocker. It's going to be tough of course for them when they go to world cup, because no matter how great they look, they are not going to be the best team and they are going to be an underdog team.

[Richbased]

What the fuck we just witness yesterday, Nigeria make a shit performance and they are not gonna be in the next world cup, and not only that, what the fuck his coach did yesterday, i mean how in the hell you can took out Osimen Chukweze and Lookman out in the half time? What are you thinking? He gift the game to Congo.

Any team can make a shit performance in a match but sincerely, the match between Nigeria and Congo yesterday really turned out in opposite of what many thought of the outcome. Congo outsmart Nigeria and knocked them out, Osimhen's substitution came as a surprise to many and am having the feelings that he voluntarily asked to be substituted, though am just guessing, it could also be that the coach actually substituted him. For Chukweze and Ademola Lookman, both players were very awful in the first half so the coach had to substitute them but yet it still didn't remedy the situation. It's sad to see that Nigeria won't be a part in the upcoming world cup. I feel so much for Victor Osimhen because he really wanted to play at the world cup but got disappointed.

[Velvet78]

Norway have been just incredible until finishing all their group games. That was a huge ending to them by a 4-1 win over Italy as well.    It is so difficult to stop a beast like Haaland in the first place.

Italy also found many opportunities actually but they were quite clumsy with the finishing... They are once again facing the threat of not qualifying for a World Cup. Will they make it through playoffs you think?

Honestly I'm not positive about them again but let's see their next opponent first.

[LTU_btc]

Almost everyone was shocked by Italy defeat with a score of 1-4 but we really don't know what scenario is being planned. Football analysts say Italy is under mental pressure, but I personally a bit doubtful because Italy managed to win 6 matches and only lost 2 times against Norway well here I think Norway is a great team at least for group I. We can also see this from their match statistics scored 37 goals and only conceded 5 goals, I can call Norway the underdog team. I think Italy still has a chance to qualify through the Play-off round but yeah the situation will be more difficult because they have to compete with 16 other teams and only 4 tickets available.

Italy's performance surprised everyone. We know  that Norway is a strong team. The team is at the top of the table. But if Italy had been able to win this match, then probably the top spot of  the table would have been occupied by Italy. The match was  important for both teams. Norway's players performed well and  secured the victory.

At the end of the first half, we saw Italy leading 1 - 0. But in the second half, we only saw the  dominance of norway's players. Norway's players were desperate to score goals in the second half. They  were able to make a lot of powerful  attacks. They made a total of  12 shots in the second  half. 5 of them were on target. Italy has confirmed its qualification for the playoffs. It is still not certain whether we will  see Italy in the World Cup.

Don't know what isso surprising about Italy if you follow football and Italy for more than few years. Look at their squad - it's full of mediacore players, they don't have stars, Gattusso probably isn't best coach for this team too.
While Norway now is one of the most interesting team to follow. I think they can make same noice in Wolrd Cup too.
Though, anyway such Italy performance at home is still shameful.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Norways qualification is a true testament that the Manchester City striker is no joke and he means business, he has made so much impact and contribution in that team and it has gotten them a qualification to the world cup, a really big kudos to them and most especially haaland who has continued scoring so many goals and have made the team looked stronger in appearance, I don't know how far their journey would be in the world cup but with the way they are playing now they would for sure cause some major upset in the tournament.

Congratulations to Haaland and his team for their qualification to the world cup it was a superb performance from Haaland who was instrumental in the win that took them that far he proved that he is not just good for his club but also good for his country and his goal contribution in the game says it all and every one can now believe that he is unstoppable anywhere he plays. They will face strong nations in the world cup they are not a weak them so no one should expect them to be defeated in the group stage because the team is in good condition they can go far in the competition hence they have Haaland and the rest of the players in good form.

[Lillominato89]

France beat Azerbaijan 3–1, finished the group in first place, and will qualify directly for the World Cup.
Ukraine defeated Iceland 2–0 and secured a spot in the play-offs.

Portugal beat Armenia by a huge margin, 9–1, and will qualify directly for the World Cup.

Hungary conceded a last-minute goal against Ireland, finished 3rd, and will not be able to qualify for the World Cup.

Norway beat Italy 4–1 away and finished the group as leaders. They will qualify directly for the World Cup.
Italy continues to play terribly.

What a disgrace Italy is! We'd be better off not qualifying for the World Cup for the third time in a row. Maybe then the FIGC would get off its arse and get the big clubs to invest in young Italian players!
It was supposed to be an easy group for Italy, but instead we've lost two matches, albeit against an excellent Norway team, but personally I don't think they're unbeatable.

A world football giant like Italy should have finished this group in first place.
No matter how good Norway are this year, Italy is on a completely different level.
Italy absolutely must invest in their young talents.
Some of the players in the squad are so poor that it’s shocking they can even make the team.
If Italy continue like this and end up in a slightly tougher group, they might not even qualify for the next World Cup.

I am Italian and I am very disappointed with the choices made in recent years by the FIGC (Italian Football Federation).
It is unacceptable that they have done absolutely nothing to improve the national team, no investment or incentives for club teams to focus on young talent!
Last night, there were five Italians from Inter on the pitch, which means that only one team is focusing on Italian talent, while the others are just standing by and watching. It is really embarrassing, as there is no competition within the dressing room. At this rate, we will not be going to the World Cup for many years to come.

[doomloop]

Don't know what isso surprising about Italy if you follow football and Italy for more than few years. Look at their squad - it's full of mediacore players, they don't have stars, Gattusso probably isn't best coach for this team too.
While Norway now is one of the most interesting team to follow. I think they can make same noice in Wolrd Cup too.
Though, anyway such Italy performance at home is still shameful.

Too many big teams are facing troubling time, but Italy is one off which have the worst time and things are not going favourable for them in last few years yesterday in first half they were doing impressive job and have good time for keeping things on balance for win.

Second half completely gone in favour of Norway which destroy Italy four goals were enough for destroying them and securing their spot into World Cup now Italy going for another round of qualification which is going to be challenging for them and this can bring worst for them as well. Gattusso is not bad, but timing is not good for him because he brings decent results, but now his task is going to be more troubling in case if he wants to go for world cup, it's going to be not easy after having this kind of thrashing defeat.

[LGD2Business]

Some players are born losers. Take Mbappe, for example. He scores three goals in the World Cup final but still can't win the trophy. Osimhen is just like Mbappe, a born loser. No matter how many goals he scores, he's a balloon who couldn't even get his team to the World Cup. Real superstars carry their teams under any circumstances. They manage to do this even if their teams are bad. Born-losers, however, no matter what they do, don't benefit their teams. Nigeria can't make it to the World Cup. I congratulate Congo for their incredible effort. They played a great game. They couldn't do it in regular time, but they beat Nigeria in penalties.

[$anounimus$]

Don't know what isso surprising about Italy if you follow football and Italy for more than few years. Look at their squad - it's full of mediacore players, they don't have stars, Gattusso probably isn't best coach for this team too.
While Norway now is one of the most interesting team to follow. I think they can make same noice in Wolrd Cup too.
Though, anyway such Italy performance at home is still shameful.

Too many big teams are facing troubling time, but Italy is one off which have the worst time and things are not going favourable for them in last few years yesterday in first half they were doing impressive job and have good time for keeping things on balance for win.

Second half completely gone in favour of Norway which destroy Italy four goals were enough for destroying them and securing their spot into World Cup now Italy going for another round of qualification which is going to be challenging for them and this can bring worst for them as well. Gattusso is not bad, but timing is not good for him because he brings decent results, but now his task is going to be more troubling in case if he wants to go for world cup, it's going to be not easy after having this kind of thrashing defeat.

Italy once again faces a playoff for the final World Cup spot, a situation similar to what they experienced in the previous two World Cups, when the Azzurri failed to qualify for the official stage. Italy seems to have failed to achieve a brilliant revival, despite having ample reason to do so. After winning the 2006 World Cup, they seemed to have lost their soul. Now, under Gattuso's leadership, Italy must return to the World Cup, even if only through the playoffs. There's no other reason than to prepare a more mature team. Now is the time for the 2006 World Cup champions to return to their dream stage.

[el kaka22]

World cup is always the most important for the teams that want to have at least one chance because let's face it most of the nations that went to world cup never won it and have nearly no chance to win it neither. So for some of these teams, even going to world cup is a big deal, I do not mean like win or anything, for example for a team like France, going to world cup is nothing, it's a given, it is not something to celebrate, they only feel happy if they win it, two finals and one cup in the last two, and won many more before.

However, for a team like Norway for example it is something to celebrate even when they finally can go, that is a great feeling, if they do end up losing at the group stage, would be sad, but at least they went, so would be happy right now.

[KTChampions]

I am impressed with Norway because, to date, Norway has never lost or drawn in Group I. Norway is now at the top of the table with 24 points, so Norwegians must be very happy to see Norway's excellent performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In their last match against Italy, Norway won 1-4. The Norwegian players performed exceptionally well in that match, ultimately defeating Italy. Norway has now qualified for the 2026 World Cup, and I am thrilled to see Norway secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup because it has been a long time since Norway last participated in the World Cup.

~

What a crazy result for Norway! Who would have thought that they would win a group with Italy in such style? Norway joined Spain and England, who also won their groups with a 100% record, but England and Spain had much easier opponents. The goal difference is noteworthy: England 22-0 (in 6 games), Spain 19-0 (in 5 games), and Norway 37-5 (in 6 games)   It's absolutely insane to score 7 goals against Italy, haha. I can predict that Norway will also be spectacular at the group stage of the World Cup.

[virasog]

Another shameful result came from Nigeria. They failed in the Afcon last season, yet they're now officially out from WC 2026. They lost to the Conge through pen. They had Osimhen and Lookman on their side, but that's not enough to help them to get into the WC 2026.

This results makes them officially failed to qualify for the WC two times in a row. Their golden generation is not enough to carry them to the WC.

It seems the mismanagement by their federation is one of reason why they don't qualify. What do you guys think about what kind of factor that makes them unable to qualify for WC again?

There are many factors that resulted in this unfortunate end that Nigeria isn't able to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is not only about the players' bad performances but also it is a combination of deep rooted administrative issues and also some of the immediate sporting failures. The damage has been done and now maybe it's no use to blame the players or the team's structure and planning. We used to see Nigeria represents the Fifa from the African World in the past but now they won't be there in the next WC too. 

[imamusma]

I am Italian and I am very disappointed with the choices made in recent years by the FIGC (Italian Football Federation).
It is unacceptable that they have done absolutely nothing to improve the national team, no investment or incentives for club teams to focus on young talent!
Last night, there were five Italians from Inter on the pitch, which means that only one team is focusing on Italian talent, while the others are just standing by and watching. It is really embarrassing, as there is no competition within the dressing room. At this rate, we will not be going to the World Cup for many years to come.

The FIGC seems to need to take this issue very seriously so that the existence of the Italian National Team remains taken into account in every competition. It is indeed embarrassing to see Italy fail to finish as group winners, especially when they clearly deserved to finish first. I think to change the situation FIGC must start from appointing a better and more experienced manager, someone who can identify talented young players and is willing to take risks by giving them more playing time. In the past, AC Milan, Napoli, Juventus, AS Roma, and Inter Milan were the clubs that produced the best players for the Italian national team.

[Solodoski]

It seems the mismanagement by their federation is one of reason why they don't qualify. What do you guys think about what kind of factor that makes them unable to qualify for WC again?

To be sincere I really don't care about the mismanagement of their federation, its true that they also have their fault in the Super Eagles not qualifying for the world cup, but I think the team were very poor yesterday and they don't deserve to be in the world cup. I watched the game yesterday and Congo outplayed Nigeria and we were lucky to even take the game to the penalties. Nigeria played like nothing is at stake, but the Congolese wanted it more and they got it. I wish them all the best and I hope they finally qualify and I can watch them in the world cup.

[SatoPrincess]

The world cup is the highest level of football were only the best of the best converge to showcase what they have, Portugal winning a weak team like Armania should not make any one think that they have a good chance of winning the world cup next year. The Truth is that Ronaldo has passed his prime as a player to play competitively at that level so I don't think that Ronaldo is going to win the world come next year because, looking at the quality of teams that are coming there are really good teams with Young players.

I doubt anyone is really expecting Portugal to win the World Cup. They couldn’t win it when Ronaldo was in his prime, they surely cannot do it now that he is 40 years old. Like Ronaldo said in his recent interview with Piers Morgan, it doesn’t matter if he wins the World Cup or not. It won’t affect his career or his legacy in the world of football and sports in general.

[Ruttoshi]

Some players are born losers. Take Mbappe, for example. He scores three goals in the World Cup final but still can't win the trophy.

No one is a born loser and your examples proved you wrong. Mbappe cannot be a born loser because he lifted up the world at a very young age of 18. Despite that he scored three goals and couldn't win the cup for the second time does not mean he is a loser. Did you know what it means to score three goals in a world cup finals.

Osimhen is just like Mbappe, a born loser. No matter how many goals he scores, he's a balloon who couldn't even get his team to the World Cup. Real superstars carry their teams under any circumstances. They manage to do this even if their teams are bad. Born-losers, however, no matter what they do, don't benefit their teams. Nigeria can't make it to the World Cup.

A tree cannot make a forest no matter how professional you are because football is a team work and only Osimhen cannot play all the positions in order for Nigeria to qualify to the world cup. Football is a game of surprises.

[Smartprofit]

Don't know what isso surprising about Italy if you follow football and Italy for more than few years. Look at their squad - it's full of mediacore players, they don't have stars, Gattusso probably isn't best coach for this team too.
While Norway now is one of the most interesting team to follow. I think they can make same noice in Wolrd Cup too.
Though, anyway such Italy performance at home is still shameful.

Too many big teams are facing troubling time, but Italy is one off which have the worst time and things are not going favourable for them in last few years yesterday in first half they were doing impressive job and have good time for keeping things on balance for win.

Second half completely gone in favour of Norway which destroy Italy four goals were enough for destroying them and securing their spot into World Cup now Italy going for another round of qualification which is going to be challenging for them and this can bring worst for them as well. Gattusso is not bad, but timing is not good for him because he brings decent results, but now his task is going to be more troubling in case if he wants to go for world cup, it's going to be not easy after having this kind of thrashing defeat.

Italy once again faces a playoff for the final World Cup spot, a situation similar to what they experienced in the previous two World Cups, when the Azzurri failed to qualify for the official stage. Italy seems to have failed to achieve a brilliant revival, despite having ample reason to do so. After winning the 2006 World Cup, they seemed to have lost their soul. Now, under Gattuso's leadership, Italy must return to the World Cup, even if only through the playoffs. There's no other reason than to prepare a more mature team. Now is the time for the 2006 World Cup champions to return to their dream stage.

I was rooting for Italy, not Norway (because I've been to Italy, and it's the most beautiful country in the world!). I also really appreciate Italian football, so I was confident the Italian team would win. What a disappointment! 🤷

The Norwegian team has very few truly strong players (I'd single out Haaland, as well as Nus and Sørloth, although I wouldn't call the latter greats). The Italian team had many strong players, and Italians are renowned for their teamwork. I was sure the final score would be 3-0 in favor of the Italian football team. However, this time, everything was terribly bad! I was very disappointed with Li Lorenzo—in fact, it was his fault that the Italian defense couldn't withstand Haaland's onslaught. However, the rest of the Italians also played much worse than they should have...

[Unsoldier]

Some players are born losers. Take Mbappe, for example. He scores three goals in the World Cup final but still can't win the trophy. Osimhen is just like Mbappe, a born loser. No matter how many goals he scores, he's a balloon who couldn't even get his team to the World Cup. Real superstars carry their teams under any circumstances. They manage to do this even if their teams are bad. Born-losers, however, no matter what they do, don't benefit their teams. Nigeria can't make it to the World Cup. I congratulate Congo for their incredible effort. They played a great game. They couldn't do it in regular time, but they beat Nigeria in penalties.

I wouldn't call Mbappé a failure. Kylian already has a World Cup winner's medal in his collection — he won that title with the French national team back in 2018 in Russia. Sure, it's disappointing to carry your team to a World Cup final and then lose on penalties. If France had won that match, Mbappé would have been a two-time world champion. It was unfortunate for the French side, but I still wouldn't consider Mbappé a failure because of that.