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

[gunhell16]

Winning two more matches seems very difficult for Italy given the situation of the players.
We are very strong in defense and quite good in midfield.
In goal we have one of the strongest goalkeepers in the world.

But in attack? We're in bad shape, we don't have any good attackers.

Italy doesn't need the perfect team to defeat someone like Northern Ireland. This is what I was hinting in my previous post. Northern Ireland only managed to qualify for the second round through the Nations League route. They finished at the third place (out of a total of 4 teams) in Group A, behind Germany and Slovakia. BTW, the fourth team in the group was Luxembourg. Now compared to this, Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina may sound like stronger teams. But Wales no longer has Gareth Bale, and Edin Džeko of Bosnia-Herzegovina is now close to 40 years old.

In my opinion, Italy is considered a favorite in this round to qualify for the World Cup. This is because their squad quality and players are superior to the others. They have a large roster, and each player is much better than those in other teams. Italy has the best players in every position among these four teams. Therefore, I believe Italy will be one of the European teams to qualify for the World Cup in this playoff round.

Italy indeed has the capacity to enter the World Cup as they have a strong chance, but it won't be easy for them to achieve, because their opponents won't be a walk in the park, and Italy knows this well.

Also, remember the system they used in 2024 didn't help Italy because they lost, so it's likely they'll try a new system for the upcoming game battles in 2026, and that's the challenge

[Ale88]

Winning two more matches seems very difficult for Italy given the situation of the players.
We are very strong in defense and quite good in midfield.
In goal we have one of the strongest goalkeepers in the world.

But in attack? We're in bad shape, we don't have any good attackers.

Italy doesn't need the perfect team to defeat someone like Northern Ireland. This is what I was hinting in my previous post. Northern Ireland only managed to qualify for the second round through the Nations League route. They finished at the third place (out of a total of 4 teams) in Group A, behind Germany and Slovakia. BTW, the fourth team in the group was Luxembourg. Now compared to this, Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina may sound like stronger teams. But Wales no longer has Gareth Bale, and Edin Džeko of Bosnia-Herzegovina is now close to 40 years old.

In my opinion, Italy is considered a favorite in this round to qualify for the World Cup. This is because their squad quality and players are superior to the others. They have a large roster, and each player is much better than those in other teams. Italy has the best players in every position among these four teams. Therefore, I believe Italy will be one of the European teams to qualify for the World Cup in this playoff round.

I still doubt that Italy can qualify for the World Cup because Italy's performance is very bad. Indeed, if you look at their opponents in the play-off round, Italy's player material is superior, but because the coach is Gattuso, I doubt that Italy can qualify for the World Cup because Gattuso does not have a good history as a coach, in fact he was often fired when coaching a club.

I don't have a great consideration of Gattuso as a manager because, as you pointed out, he career has been very mediocre until now. But since he start managing the Italian national team he won almost every single match and scored more goals than usual. And let's not forget that when we had some famous manager they failed to qualify.

[BITCOIN4X]

I don't have a great consideration of Gattuso as a manager because, as you pointed out, he career has been very mediocre until now. But since he start managing the Italian national team he won almost every single match and scored more goals than usual. And let's not forget that when we had some famous manager they failed to qualify.

Gattuso still needs to prove himself to gain more recognition, and I think this is his best opportunity. If Gattuso can lead the Italian national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, I think many will respect him. Given the depth of their squad, and considering their play-off opponents, the Italian national team should be able to overcome them easily. Gattuso may need to be bolder in rotating most of his key players and building his starting XI based on their recent performances to achieve the desired results.

[dollyamo]

Gattuso still needs to prove himself to gain more recognition, and I think this is his best opportunity. If Gattuso can lead the Italian national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, I think many will respect him. Given the depth of their squad, and considering their play-off opponents, the Italian national team should be able to overcome them easily. Gattuso may need to be bolder in rotating most of his key players and building his starting XI based on their recent performances to achieve the desired results.

He wants to climb the coaching ladder, and honestly, he's doing it as a way to advance his career, using his results as elements of his CV.
I think he has what it takes, in my opinion he was just unlucky, in the end he's not a bad coach, there are definitely worse people, look at Pioli who led Fiorentina to relegation

[banana33]

I don't have a great consideration of Gattuso as a manager because, as you pointed out, he career has been very mediocre until now. But since he start managing the Italian national team he won almost every single match and scored more goals than usual. And let's not forget that when we had some famous manager they failed to qualify.

Why don't you like Rino Gattuso?

I like him; he's aggressive and feisty, but at least he doesn't lie. You can tell he's a good, honest person who says what he thinks. Maybe a little naive in some ways, but he seems like a genuine person to me.
And then i repeat, push the players in the right way.

[Roseline492]

I wouldn't say there was no world Cup as beautiful as the Qatar but actually it was how a world Cup was supposed to look, I wonder what could have been the reason why he said Qatar world cup was not good, if it was about the middle summer they didn't started it wrong because the rainy season is the worst in football competition and could affect the match holding pitch because if there is a lot of water in the pitch they wouldn't play, so the summer are the time for matches. They had two break on Qatar world cup, one is for cooling and second is for half time so is enough because Qatar kept everything in place. It was safe for everyone and there country, the people were not mean to there visitors so it was perfectly a good country that held the world cup.

The world cup that was played in Qatar was interesting and good I didn't see anything wrong in what they did in Qatar the country accepted everyone peacefully and that is how a country that is hosting a world cup should act, and again I think the payment for ticket was much cheaper than it is now so I really don't see anything bad in the World Cup that was played in Qatar everything went very well.

Yes the country must be certified by the FIFA before they can allowed the country to host world Cup, that is why a lot of country who could have also host the world Cup have not been able to because they did not meet the certification of FIFA, aside from having a nice stadium the security is also 100% matters because the safety of everybody cannot be traded for the competition. However in Qatar they are rich nation who has a lot of resources and also good security both inside the stadium and outside the stadium, if it was left with me alone and is allowed I would say they should host more world cup in Qatar.

[IceLincoln]

Gattuso still needs to prove himself to gain more recognition, and I think this is his best opportunity. If Gattuso can lead the Italian national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, I think many will respect him. Given the depth of their squad, and considering their play-off opponents, the Italian national team should be able to overcome them easily. Gattuso may need to be bolder in rotating most of his key players and building his starting XI based on their recent performances to achieve the desired results.

He wants to climb the coaching ladder, and honestly, he's doing it as a way to advance his career, using his results as elements of his CV.
I think he has what it takes, in my opinion he was just unlucky, in the end he's not a bad coach, there are definitely worse people, look at Pioli who led Fiorentina to relegation

I think Italy still has a big chance to the World Cup, it’s unfortunate that they’re in this mess right now a four time World Cup winner it’s a big let down for them. I thought the former Napoli boss would have led them to great victories like he did with Napoli but he didn’t but he tried maybe they would have still kept him. Now they have to struggle with Genaro Gattuso to qualify for this World Cup first of its kind. They have to do everything to qualify.
Gattuso still a lot to improve but hopefully he’ll succeed where his predecessors failed.

[changaa]

Italy indeed has the capacity to enter the World Cup as they have a strong chance, but it won't be easy for them to achieve, because their opponents won't be a walk in the park, and Italy knows this well.

Also, remember the system they used in 2024 didn't help Italy because they lost, so it's likely they'll try a new system for the upcoming game battles in 2026, and that's the challenge

I also think we have a better chance of making it this World Cup. The two matches we have to face aren't too difficult, and Rino Gattuso is fueling the team with his grit and desire to succeed.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but it is within our reach as a national football team that has won 4 World Cups.

[martinom]

He wants to climb the coaching ladder, and honestly, he's doing it as a way to advance his career, using his results as elements of his CV.
I think he has what it takes, in my opinion he was just unlucky, in the end he's not a bad coach, there are definitely worse people, look at Pioli who led Fiorentina to relegation

Of course it makes sense, I'd even say it's the right thing to do. I, like Ale88, don't like him as a coach, but i have to say something in his favor.
He accepted a very difficult mission while other coaches said no.

It's easy to be a coach when the mission is easy, but difficult to say yes when it's extremely difficult.
He had courage

[KTChampions]

I also think we have a better chance of making it this World Cup. The two matches we have to face aren't too difficult, and Rino Gattuso is fueling the team with his grit and desire to succeed.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but it is within our reach as a national football team that has won 4 World Cups.

Defeating Northern Ireland and then Wales certainly seems doable, but Italy, having lost twice to Norway with an aggregate score of 7-1, doesn't look like a team that's sure to win. I wouldn't be surprised if even Northern Ireland beat them, let alone Wales, whшcp picked up 16 points from eight group stage games. And overall, Italy is very lucky that their path looks much easier than, for example, Path B or Path D. And overall, Italy is very lucky that their path looks much easier than, for example, Path B or Path D. Only Albania looks like a clear underdog there.

[retreat]

I also think we have a better chance of making it this World Cup. The two matches we have to face aren't too difficult, and Rino Gattuso is fueling the team with his grit and desire to succeed.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but it is within our reach as a national football team that has won 4 World Cups.

Under Gatuso, the Italian national team recorded quite good progress with several matches wins, but it's just that we can't lie about the depth of the squad and the lack of key and experienced players, making them play less than impressively. I think they might win this match against Northern Ireland, but in the tougher games, I don't think that they could hold that back and come out as a winner. So it is possible that Italy could be eliminated in the early rounds. I could be wrong because this is just my view, and hopefully they can do better than expected even if it's so hard.

[Ale88]

I don't have a great consideration of Gattuso as a manager because, as you pointed out, he career has been very mediocre until now. But since he start managing the Italian national team he won almost every single match and scored more goals than usual. And let's not forget that when we had some famous manager they failed to qualify.

Why don't you like Rino Gattuso?

I like him; he's aggressive and feisty, but at least he doesn't lie. You can tell he's a good, honest person who says what he thinks. Maybe a little naive in some ways, but he seems like a genuine person to me.
And then i repeat, push the players in the right way.

I like him as a person person he is honest, he tells you exactly what he thinks, and he's also a great guy because he managed several teams with bad finances and he always told the board to pay the players and his staff first, and sometimes I think he even paid out of his pocket. So, as a human being, he is great. The problem is the manager part because he is clearly under qualified to be Italy's manager, his coach career has been quite poor and disappointing until now. He lacks the tactical knowledge. Pushing the players is good but there is way more than that. I understand the choices were extremely limited but this doesn't change the fact that 10 years ago someone like Gattuso wouldn't even be in charge of the Sub-18 Italian National team, let alone the first team.

[Agbe]

Snip

It's tru and they are always there despite everything they always have the team that can win the championship, now there are new players who can really make the difference supported by the old players who are always present, they can do well and can also think about winning a championship that has been missing for a very long time.

England has always been one of the favorite teams going into any major tournament whether the Europa championship or even the World cup. Because England always has one of the best players and and teams but the problem of England has always been that, these players always play individual game rather than playing as a team collectively as a team and they have not been able to get a coach that will make the team play as a unit. England needs a coach that will be result oriented rather than playing more of an individual play. Let see how they will perform in the United States of America come next year.

[jaberwock]

Gattuso wasn't really that great anywhere he was in, Milan, Napoli, nowhere he managed he was that great and yet he still got the Italian nation job somehow, no idea how that happened but it happened so now it's time to see if he is good or not. World cup should be possible for him, not have that many tough teams against them, they can make it work.

But the reality is that, even if they do that, that's not good for Gattuso because it is not enough, this is Italy, going to world cup should be given. He should also beat the teams on group stages and go further, then I would say it's good. Like a quarter finals at world cup would be more than enough to say that he did good, anything less and I would say others could have done it too.

[katanic97]

Snip

It's tru and they are always there despite everything they always have the team that can win the championship, now there are new players who can really make the difference supported by the old players who are always present, they can do well and can also think about winning a championship that has been missing for a very long time.

England has always been one of the favorite teams going into any major tournament whether the Europa championship or even the World cup. Because England always has one of the best players and and teams but the problem of England has always been that, these players always play individual game rather than playing as a team collectively as a team and they have not been able to get a coach that will make the team play as a unit. England needs a coach that will be result oriented rather than playing more of an individual play. Let see how they will perform in the United States of America come next year.

Their group isn’t that tough, let’s be honest. Of course, no one should be underestimated, but England and Croatia are the favorites to advance from that group. England has always had an issue with players focusing more on individual play to showcase themselves, and there’s a lack of chemistry in the team,at least that’s how it looks on the pitch. Now they have brought in a lot of younger players, like Saka, Bellingham, and others, with captain Kane leading the attack. They always seem capable of reaching the final, and then a drop in form happens,both in their play and within the team,and they end up achieving nothing.

[imamusma]

Gattuso wasn't really that great anywhere he was in, Milan, Napoli, nowhere he managed he was that great and yet he still got the Italian nation job somehow, no idea how that happened but it happened so now it's time to see if he is good or not. World cup should be possible for him, not have that many tough teams against them, they can make it work.

But the reality is that, even if they do that, that's not good for Gattuso because it is not enough, this is Italy, going to world cup should be given. He should also beat the teams on group stages and go further, then I would say it's good. Like a quarter finals at world cup would be more than enough to say that he did good, anything less and I would say others could have done it too.

As far as I remember, Gattuso was not the first choice. The FIGC had previously approached Claudio Ranieri, but the former AS Roma manager declined. With limited time and under pressure, the FIGC may not have had many other options.
Indeed, Gattuso is not a great or highly decorated manager, but so far he has managed to keep Italy chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive. I think that if Gattuso succeeds in leading the Italian national team to qualification for the 2026 World Cup, he should already be considered a great manager, because that is not an easy task.

[Sithara007]

As far as I remember, Gattuso was not the first choice. The FIGC had previously approached Claudio Ranieri, but the former AS Roma manager declined. With limited time and under pressure, the FIGC may not have had many other options.
Indeed, Gattuso is not a great or highly decorated manager, but so far he has managed to keep Italy chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive. I think that if Gattuso succeeds in leading the Italian national team to qualification for the 2026 World Cup, he should already be considered a great manager, because that is not an easy task.

I checked the odds in some of the online sportsbooks. Italy is being given odds of 33.00 to win the FIFA World Cup 2026. I would say that this is pretty decent, considering the fact that they failed to qualify in both 2018 and 2022 editions. Also, even now there is a chance that they might not qualify. When I check the odds, they are at the 9th place. Among the European teams, they are 7th. And that makes me ask a question. If they are the 7th strongest team in UEFA, why they are struggling so much to qualify? Either the odds doesn't look right, or they were unfairly placed in a very tough qualification group.

[Ale88]

Gattuso wasn't really that great anywhere he was in, Milan, Napoli, nowhere he managed he was that great and yet he still got the Italian nation job somehow, no idea how that happened but it happened so now it's time to see if he is good or not. World cup should be possible for him, not have that many tough teams against them, they can make it work.

But the reality is that, even if they do that, that's not good for Gattuso because it is not enough, this is Italy, going to world cup should be given. He should also beat the teams on group stages and go further, then I would say it's good. Like a quarter finals at world cup would be more than enough to say that he did good, anything less and I would say others could have done it too.

As far as I remember, Gattuso was not the first choice. The FIGC had previously approached Claudio Ranieri, but the former AS Roma manager declined. With limited time and under pressure, the FIGC may not have had many other options.
Indeed, Gattuso is not a great or highly decorated manager, but so far he has managed to keep Italy chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive. I think that if Gattuso succeeds in leading the Italian national team to qualification for the 2026 World Cup, he should already be considered a great manager, because that is not an easy task.

You remember correctly. Let's say that Ranieri had already retired from managing teams and he was (is) working for Roma, his favorite team, and he chose to respect the contract he sign with Roma. And after him there were no real managers available on the market: Allegri, Ancelotti, Pioli, Conte, Gasperini, they were all already under contract with another team so they had to come up with some name that knew the national team environment, someone with at least some experience, and it was either Gattuso or Cannavaro.

[cozytrade]

Gattuso wasn't really that great anywhere he was in, Milan, Napoli, nowhere he managed he was that great and yet he still got the Italian nation job somehow, no idea how that happened but it happened so now it's time to see if he is good or not. World cup should be possible for him, not have that many tough teams against them, they can make it work.

But the reality is that, even if they do that, that's not good for Gattuso because it is not enough, this is Italy, going to world cup should be given. He should also beat the teams on group stages and go further, then I would say it's good. Like a quarter finals at world cup would be more than enough to say that he did good, anything less and I would say others could have done it too.

As far as I remember, Gattuso was not the first choice. The FIGC had previously approached Claudio Ranieri, but the former AS Roma manager declined. With limited time and under pressure, the FIGC may not have had many other options.
Indeed, Gattuso is not a great or highly decorated manager, but so far he has managed to keep Italy chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive. I think that if Gattuso succeeds in leading the Italian national team to qualification for the 2026 World Cup, he should already be considered a great manager, because that is not an easy task.

His managerial record at the club has not been phenomenal, but at the national team level, it is a whole new ball game. The expectations are always high in Italy and thus, mere qualification in the World Cup was not sufficient to make the fans impressed. That being said, it is remarkable that Italy is still in the competition to have 2026 when they have minimum time to prepare. It would be unfair to judge him out of context, he was not the first to be nominated, and the FIGC was under tremendous time pressure to get him hired. There are several reasons why I would call that a success as long as Gattuso is able to get Italy through the group stages and at least to the quarterfinals. It is not an easy task, yet.

[8rch7]

I checked the odds in some of the online sportsbooks. Italy is being given odds of 33.00 to win the FIFA World Cup 2026. I would say that this is pretty decent, considering the fact that they failed to qualify in both 2018 and 2022 editions. Also, even now there is a chance that they might not qualify. When I check the odds, they are at the 9th place. Among the European teams, they are 7th. And that makes me ask a question. If they are the 7th strongest team in UEFA, why they are struggling so much to qualify? Either the odds doesn't look right, or they were unfairly placed in a very tough qualification group.

Italy team still not qualified to World Cup 2026 and must remember well, how possibility get odd @33.00 to win because still not playing yet at the playoff round matches and can't predicting will qualify easily or not? I think giving odd for the team still not qualifying yet bad ideas although the optimistic of Italy fans their national teams will back to play at World Cup after absent three time in a row.

For awhile I am not interested to talking about Italy teams opportunity at World Cup 2027 before qualifying yet, still play many round left for Italy national if want to qualify and start by facing Northern Ireland firstly, many fans know about the difficulty of Italy teams after several failure moment at the playoff round and make them failed to participants at World Cup 2018 and World Cup 2022.