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

[davis196]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.
Making conclusions about strong the Turkish defense was seems kinda funny to me. Why wasn't the Turkish defense so strong when Spain defeated Turkey by scoring six goals? Bulgaria won against Georgia in a pointless match, but they didn't deserve the victory and didn't have any control over the game.
What the hell did Wales do against North Macedonia? 7-1 seems too much. Why the Macedonians were so humiliated?
Great performance by Scotland beating Denmark 4-2. It seems that Norway is the strongest team from Scandinavia right now. Denmark and Sweden are mediocre.

[MK-74]

The standings in Group J have been finalized.
Belgium and Wales both secured very comfortable victories.
Belgium will qualify directly for the World Cup, while Wales will go to the play-offs.
Wales prepared extremely well for the match against North Macedonia and completely dominated their opponents, winning 7–1.

Austria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina match ended in a draw, and Austria will qualify directly for the World Cup.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play in the play-offs.

Scotland defeated Denmark 3–2 with a late goal and will also qualify directly for the World Cup.

[AprilioMP]

Great performance by Scotland beating Denmark 4-2. It seems that Norway is the strongest team from Scandinavia right now. Denmark and Sweden are mediocre.

From the start of the match, Scotland was very enthusiastic about beating Denmark. McTominay's goal in the 3rd minute convinced the Scottish public at Hampden Park that their support team would win the match and go to the World Cup.
Denmark is also a strong team from Scandinavia, they were less fortunate in qualifying for the World Cup this time.

Norway also may not be able to go far in the World Cup even though this is their first World Cup after not participating in a long time.
We can only see what surprises will happen later.

[cygan]

that night, two more newcomers qualified for the world cup!
haiti (2-0 vs. nicaragua) and curacao (0-0 vs. jamaica) secured their places in the north and central american qualifiers on their own power for the very first time in the history of their associations.

[maknyos]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.
Making conclusions about strong the Turkish defense was seems kinda funny to me. Why wasn't the Turkish defense so strong when Spain defeated Turkey by scoring six goals? Bulgaria won against Georgia in a pointless match, but they didn't deserve the victory and didn't have any control over the game.

Yes, they've already secured their qualification, so they have no motivation in the final match, as their result won't change anything, except for their head-to-head record.
I agree with you that with Spain already assured of qualification, they probably have no ambition to repeat the same mistake they made in their previous match against Turkey. They were one of the few countries to qualify without a hitch, and they were able to secure that even before they played any matches.

[Sexylizzy2813]

that night, two more newcomers qualified for the world cup!
haiti (2-0 vs. nicaragua) and curacao (0-0 vs. jamaica) secured their places in the north and central american qualifiers on their own power for the very first time in the history of their associations.

That's to tell you that things are gradually changing, Haiti qualify for the world cup? Hmm, that surprising honestly because the last they played was since 1974 till date, congratulations to them. Let's face the fact about these first timers to the World Cup, they are the type that if they play any big and experience country in the World Cup it will be very hard to beat them because they are ready to play with their mind to prove many wrong about themselves, to also make a statement and the highest that can happen is either a draw or a 1 nil win against them, can't wait for the play off to begin then next the World Cup.

[banana33]

Spain and Turkey drew 2-2 in a match where both teams fielded mostly substitutes.
Spain conceded their first goal in this group against Türkiye.
The Spanish fans showed little interest in the match. There was a lot of emptiness in the stands.
Goalkeeper Altay was the best player in Türkiye. He made some excellent saves, but a huge mistake in the final minute resulted in a goal, but the goal was disallowed because he was called offside.
Goalkeepers have the same situation. You can play well throughout the match, but if a mistake in the final moments changes the score, you're the worst player in the match. Altay had luck on his side yesterday.

Spain had already qualified and there was no interest in winning it or risking players getting injured, but it was certainly a spectacular match and this benefited from the spectacle that the players put on on the pitch. i was pleasantly surprised by all of this.

[minairia3]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

It was not an important match for Spain. Spain qualified for the World Cup first. So it is already assumed that they will not give much importance in the last match. Still I would say Spain played very well and managed to draw the match. More importantly, we saw the dominance of Spain in the match. But there is no denying that the performance of Turkiye's players was also good enough. Turkiye players managed to make a total of 10 shots, 7 of which were on target. Group E is topped by Spain and Turkey in second place.

[Son Of Blockchain (SOB)]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

It was not an important match for Spain. Spain qualified for the World Cup first. So it is already assumed that they will not give much importance in the last match. Still I would say Spain played very well and managed to draw the match. More importantly, we saw the dominance of Spain in the match. But there is no denying that the performance of Turkiye's players was also good enough. Turkiye players managed to make a total of 10 shots, 7 of which were on target. Group E is topped by Spain and Turkey in second place.

Asides that most of the players won't give their best cause they'll be scared of sustaining an injury moreover the match is not very important since they've already qualified, the focus of most players who's country have qualified for the tournament already is on their various leagues and the major European league tournaments for those who's teams are participating in them, remember that several Spanish and Turkish players are playing for clubs participating in those tournaments.
 Some are playing for clubs who are serious contenders in various leagues so they can't risk being injured. Well Turkiye has good players although Spain would always be favourites when they meet but the last thing they'll do is to overlook Turkiye's strength, finishing second in their group is enough to tell you how good they're.

[execijutiere]

Both matches played in Group B ended 1-1. Slovenia and Sweden had no chance of advancing from the group before their final matches, so it was essentially a meaningless formality, but the same cannot be said for the other match.
Kosovo failed to secure a victory against Switzerland and finished the group in second place. Neither team created many scoring opportunities during the match, and frankly, it was a rather dull encounter.

[YUriy1991]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

It was not an important match for Spain. Spain qualified for the World Cup first. So it is already assumed that they will not give much importance in the last match. Still I would say Spain played very well and managed to draw the match. More importantly, we saw the dominance of Spain in the match. But there is no denying that the performance of Turkiye's players was also good enough. Turkiye players managed to make a total of 10 shots, 7 of which were on target. Group E is topped by Spain and Turkey in second place.

Although the draw has ensured Spain's qualification for the world cup, last night's match was a good event for both teams as a warm-up match for the FIFA World Cup next year, both countries can try to set strategies to test the tactics that will be applied for the match in the world cup which will take place in Mexico, Canada, and the US. the coaches can evaluate the players, for the Spanish team Dani Olmo played very well and managed to score one goal, as well as defenders Marc Cucurella and Aymeric Laporte played very well despite conceding 2 goals scored by Deniz Gul and Salih Oskan forwards from the Turkish national team. if last night Lamine Yamal played and recovered from Pulbagia's injury I think the score would not have been a draw but Spain would have won last night.

[MArsland]

From the start of the match, Scotland was very enthusiastic about beating Denmark. McTominay's goal in the 3rd minute convinced the Scottish public at Hampden Park that their support team would win the match and go to the World Cup.
Denmark is also a strong team from Scandinavia, they were less fortunate in qualifying for the World Cup this time.

Denmark had more chances to score, but once again I was amazed by Scotland fight to the end to qualify. McTominay performance has truly changed drastically, he's in his best form this season, not only for his club but also for the national team, showing an extraordinary mentality. Denmark suffered a bitter pill, especially after losing a player. Although Dorgu gave them hope, who knows where the Scottish players mentality came from, they managed to create a nightmare in the 90+3 minute and a final goal to cap it off beautifully. It was a very difficult match to forget, and I have to admit Scotland deserved to advance.

[satscraper]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

You are right. This was exactly my thought when I was pondering whether to bet on either of the two in this match. After much doubt, I decided to sit out the bets. It turned out that  BTTS bet could have been the best option this time, but who knows that before the match? ^{I thought  0-0 result was possible}. Anyway, the chance for Turkey to qualify remains high.

[Velvet78]

Scotland and Denmark both showed a solid character last night. Scotland had to win to directly qualify for the World Cup. 1 point was enough for Denmark on the other hand.

A red card changed the fate of the game completely... Denmark still did their best after it but couldn't resist in the stoppage time. Scotland absolutely deserved that World Cup ticket honestly. 

By the way what a goal that was by McTominay man!

[verdinio]

I think these matches once again showed us how unpredictable football can be. Even teams that look like clear favorites on paper can struggle.

We saw the same thing in the Spain?Turkey match. Spain may have the stronger squad, but Turkey held on well, especially thanks to Altay?s performance.

The Cape Verde situation is also being discussed; some people say their qualification was only possible because of the new format and that it?s not entirely fair. But football is constantly evolving, and even the smaller African teams can pull off surprises now.
I don?t think it?s a bad thing to see countries like Cape Verde at the World Cup ? they might even gain some fans if they put in a couple of good performances.

Ok indeed football is always so unpredictable and so crazy, I like it and I follow it for that, speaking of national teams, I would say that Italy now risks being left out of the playoffs once again, when all the others have already qualified, what an absurd thing football is

[shield132]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.
Making conclusions about strong the Turkish defense was seems kinda funny to me. Why wasn't the Turkish defense so strong when Spain defeated Turkey by scoring six goals? Bulgaria won against Georgia in a pointless match, but they didn't deserve the victory and didn't have any control over the game.
What the hell did Wales do against North Macedonia? 7-1 seems too much. Why the Macedonians were so humiliated?
Great performance by Scotland beating Denmark 4-2. It seems that Norway is the strongest team from Scandinavia right now. Denmark and Sweden are mediocre.

Spain has an amazing team and I would love to see Spain VS Argentina in the final but Cristiano Ronaldo visited Trump today, so he might be trying to somehow make Portugal reach the final. I'm kidding of course  

Georgia lost miserably against Bulgaria. We should have won it but our players played terribly. We lost 0:4 against Spain, 4:1 against Turkey. We only won one match against Bulgaria in the 7 World Cup qualifier matches. We had the best result in our career in EURO 2024, we even beat Portugal and I had high hopes that we would play in World Cup 2026 but we failed.

Wales - North Macedonia reminded me of Brazil VS Germany 2014.

[dollyamo]

I don't even know the criteria they use in hiring Gattuso, that guy has had a terrible career, imagine winning just one trophy (copa itallia) in his 12 years of managerial career, Italy side could have done better.

Friend Gattuso will certainly have his own questionable way of acting, but who would you have put in his place?
Surely like everyone else he is doing wrong in internal and external management and to what he says publicly, but on our part it is always easy to criticize.
He's not doing a good job and that's clear to everyone, but what should he say?
Should it say guys I suck as a coach? The players have their faults too, it's not all the coach's responsibility.

[Frankolala]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

I disagree with you on this because I saw how Spain struggled and fight with their last breath to make sure that Turkiye didn't win them and make history. If you say that Spain underestimated Turkiye, I will understand that. Assuming, Spain met with Turkiye before now, the outcome of th36 game wouldn't change. Spain cannot win every team that they play with because no team is perfect.

[Iranus]

Denmark had more chances to score, but once again I was amazed by Scotland fight to the end to qualify. McTominay performance has truly changed drastically, he's in his best form this season, not only for his club but also for the national team, showing an extraordinary mentality. Denmark suffered a bitter pill, especially after losing a player. Although Dorgu gave them hope, who knows where the Scottish players mentality came from, they managed to create a nightmare in the 90+3 minute and a final goal to cap it off beautifully. It was a very difficult match to forget, and I have to admit Scotland deserved to advance.

To be honest, I thought I would see denmark win. But Scotland secured the victory in this match with a margin of 4- 2. Scotland won by  performing very well. But it cannot be denied that Scotland was quite lucky. Firstly , Denmark played with 10 players in the second half. The referee showed Kristensen a red card in the 61 st minute. Also, Denmark equalized the  match in the 81st minute with a goal by Dorgu. But after 90 minutes, Scotland secured the victory by  scoring two goals in extra time. Tierney and Mclean scored both goals after 90 minutes.

[Stavri]

The Spanish team wasn't motivated to defeat Turkey because Spain had already qualifies for the World Cup finals after five wins in a row.

I disagree with you on this because I saw how Spain struggled and fight with their last breath to make sure that Turkiye didn't win them and make history. If you say that Spain underestimated Turkiye, I will understand that. Assuming, Spain met with Turkiye before now, the outcome of th36 game wouldn't change. Spain cannot win every team that they play with because no team is perfect.

When it was 1-0 in the 3rd minute, I thought Spain would win by a big margin tbh. but it didn’t turn out that way. Turkey played really well. Baris Alper’s performance was fantastic. If his bicycle kick hadn’t gone straight to the keeper, it would have been a beautiful goal. bad luck.