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

[bastisisca]

Turkiye reached the final and will face Kosovo.
On Tuesday night, we will travel to Kosovo and it won?t be an easy match for us.
We haven?t participated in the World Cup for a long time, so this is a huge opportunity for us.
Turkiye are the favorites against Kosovo and I believe we will win this match as well.

The opponent, Kosovo, is certainly not up to par with Montella's Türkiye, that's for sure.
I am happy that Montella's team manages to qualify, it is very nice to see a compatriot who takes on the role of coach succeed in this undertaking.
I hope the best for him.

[Inwestour]

Italy won, but can I say I wasn’t impressed by their performance? At times they looked very nervous and kept losing possession. Luckily, Northern Ireland don’t have a good striker; otherwise, they would certainly have scored. Teams like Germany or France would have scored 4/5 goals in match like that. I hope they will play more aggressively and with less fear against Bosnia

This is a familiar game for Italy, they rely on their defense and score when they find a good attacking opportunity. Scoring five goals yesterday was pointless because they have another important match in a few days, for which they'll need more strength. I'm glad Kosovo beat Slovakia, I've noticed they've been playing better in recent matches. Now they have one more step left, an equally difficult one against Turkey.

[Unsoldier]

World Cup 2026 Playoff Finals are officially set!

We now know the final matchups that will decide which teams will secure their spot in the FIFA World Cup 2026

I was lucky enough to watch the Czech Republic's game and it was a beautiful story they made. They started by losing 2-0 and then came back to win and qualify.

Who do you think is making it through? Any dark horses or are the favorites going to deliver?

Sweden, Turkey, Denmark and Italy will make it. I'm backing all of them caused by they looked even better than they did during the league nation. I saw some improvements happened to them. So i think those clubs have greatest chance to get tickets to go to the World Cup.
I think what i have mentioned are the best nations that deserve to play in the world cup. I'm 100% they will likely pass the next round easily unless a magical thing happen that eliminated them.

Sweden, Italy, Denmark and Turkey are the most likely teams as they played well in the play-off matches and will definitely qualify for the World Cup. The performance of these countries is very good and they have brought good results which will qualify them for the World Cup. Italy though will try hard to maintain their performance and every team played their best to qualify. They will definitely enter the play-off matches but anyway these teams played very well and they will improve their chances of qualifying for the next round.

Turkey and Italy have a great chance of advancing to the main stage of the World Cup, as they are playing against opponents who aren't the strongest. In the other matchups, Czech Republic vs Denmark and Sweden vs Poland, there is no clear favorite in my opinion. The most interesting match is likely to be Sweden vs Poland, featuring a showdown between Europe's most prominent forwards, Gyökeres and Lewandowski. I believe Poland could very well come out on top in this tie.

[davis196]

There's no doubt that Italy and Turkey are going to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Bosna and Kosovo are no match for Italy and Turkey.
I wonder why Slovakia collapsed at the second half versus Kosovo and got three consecutive goals. It seemed as if the Slovakian defenders stopped playing right when the player from Kosovo scored the 4th goal for the Balkan team. Denmark and Chechia seem to be totally equal, but I would put my bet on Denmark. Sweden destroyed Ukraine and I can bet that they would do the same against Poland. The Polish national team is pretty much at the same level as Ukraine.

[boltz]

There's no doubt that Italy and Turkey are going to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Bosna and Kosovo are no match for Italy and Turkey.
I wonder why Slovakia collapsed at the second half versus Kosovo and got three consecutive goals. It seemed as if the Slovakian defenders stopped playing right when the player from Kosovo scored the 4th goal for the Balkan team. Denmark and Chechia seem to be totally equal, but I would put my bet on Denmark. Sweden destroyed Ukraine and I can bet that they would do the same against Poland. The Polish national team is pretty much at the same level as Ukraine.

Well yea...but to be honest I had high hopes from my national team Romania to make a good impression in Turkey and at least score once and push the game into extra time or even penalties but in the end , I had to agree with myself that my national team has no skills , no great players and there is no coincidence that we've missed WC fore more than 2 decades and probably another decade will pass without Romania being able to qualify for a WC.

[7juju]

World Cup 2026 Playoff Finals are officially set!

We now know the final matchups that will decide which teams will secure their spot in the FIFA World Cup 2026

I was lucky enough to watch the Czech Republic's game and it was a beautiful story they made. They started by losing 2-0 and then came back to win and qualify.

Who do you think is making it through? Any dark horses or are the favorites going to deliver?

Turkey is one of the favorites to qualify their opponent looks very easy to beat. This is not the match that one will say don’t underrate your opponent. In this particular match I’m underrating Kosovo. As for Italy it’s already a shame that they didn’t qualify directly from the group stage, so I’m expecting them to pick up this opportunity and qualify by beating Bosnia Herzegovina. Sweden and Poland have no clear favorite to qualify. Both are strong nations and any of them can go through. So I don’t have any favorite there. Same thing with Denmark and Chech republic. The strength of both teams are the same, so I can’t predict who will go through.

[Sithara007]

Well yea...but to be honest I had high hopes from my national team Romania to make a good impression in Turkey and at least score once and push the game into extra time or even penalties but in the end , I had to agree with myself that my national team has no skills , no great players and there is no coincidence that we've missed WC fore more than 2 decades and probably another decade will pass without Romania being able to qualify for a WC.

Ferdi Kadıoğlu's goal sank Romania. Tough luck for them. But Türkiye is has not yet qualified for the World Cup. They need to get past Kosovo in the Path C final. The match will be played on 31st March 2026, at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina. BTW, I am happy for Italy. They had a relatively easy win over Northern Ireland. Now they need to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Path A final on 31st March. In Path B, the final will be played between Poland and Sweden, while in Path D it will be played between Czech Republic and Danmark. It will be good if Czechia can qualify, but Danmark is a strong team.

[Ahli38]

BTW, I am happy for Italy. They had a relatively easy win over Northern Ireland. Now they need to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Path A final on 31st March.

Italy’s victory over Northern Ireland was thanks to excellent teamwork. And that victory was the result of the hard work of the team and even the Italian coach. Gattuso had previously considered the World Cup playoff match to be very important to him. And he realized that Italy must not underestimate Northern Ireland (Source). I personally feel that’s what allowed them to win so easily. But if they had underestimated Northern Ireland they might have struggled to win or even suffered a defeat. Italy statistically dominated the match with 63% ball possession. As for Northern Ireland had very low ball possession compared to Italy. Italy’s solid defense meant they faced few serious threats. And the excellent performance of their front line allowed them to score two goals and even secure the victory. Next Italy will face Bosnia and Herzegovina. And I’m confident Italy can also win easily in this upcoming match. But they must not underestimate their opponents if they want to win just like before.

[m4r1o]

Apparently the Turkish side is being viewed as the favourites because of their ratings, the Romanians are nowhere near the Turkish side when it comes to class and player to player ratings too, the Romanian league can't even be compared to the Turkish Super League so therefore it is already perceived that the Turkish side is ahead of Romania but am still convinced that Romania won't let go easily without putting in a fight, because they also want to play in the World Cup and this is the only shot they have.

Montella's Turkey surprised everyone, in my opinion they shouldn't even have gone to the playoffs, they are a very strong team and i think it is very important for them to be in the World Cup this year, there are many players who deserve to be highlighted, they deserve it for everything they are doing with the clubs

[Sithara007]

Italy’s victory over Northern Ireland was thanks to excellent teamwork. And that victory was the result of the hard work of the team and even the Italian coach. Gattuso had previously considered the World Cup playoff match to be very important to him. And he realized that Italy must not underestimate Northern Ireland (Source). I personally feel that’s what allowed them to win so easily. But if they had underestimated Northern Ireland they might have struggled to win or even suffered a defeat. Italy statistically dominated the match with 63% ball possession. As for Northern Ireland had very low ball possession compared to Italy. Italy’s solid defense meant they faced few serious threats. And the excellent performance of their front line allowed them to score two goals and even secure the victory. Next Italy will face Bosnia and Herzegovina. And I’m confident Italy can also win easily in this upcoming match. But they must not underestimate their opponents if they want to win just like before.

Winning against Bosnia-Herzegovina might not be too difficult. But the problem is that the 40-year old Edin Džeko is still playing like a teenager. And the Path A final is scheduled to take place at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Bosnia. The Bosnians will get the home advantage, and that might make things complicated for the Italians. That said, young players such as Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean are in great form for Italy, while Bosnians are a bit overdependent on Džeko. I would say Italy has a more balanced team. All they need to do is to isolate Džeko, and to keep an eye on Haris Tabaković. 

[Pumared]

Today there will be a friendly match between Brazil and France. Brazilian fans have many doubts about what Ancelotti will present, as the Brazilian players don't have much star power, and there's also uncertainty about whether Neymar will be officially called up.

Considering the team, it seemed that France would be ahead of the Brazilian team and that France would play well on the field and that is what happened. In the friendly match between Brazil and France, Brazil lost to France by a score of 2-1. Considering the performance on the field, it must be said that France played clean football compared to Brazil and their attacking style was also quite organized. Even though the Brazilian team has good quality stars, why can't these stars do well for the Brazilian team because they are always seen doing well for different clubs. The absence of Neymar in the team that was announced for the friendly match surprised me because the Brazilian team definitely needs a playmaker like Neymar.

I am not sure if Brazil needs Neymar this time, but I do hope to see Neymar’s last dance in the World Cup. Neymar’s Brazil national team version and Neymar's club team version are different. He’s better with the Brazil national team. More iconic and heroic.

Speaking of France, based on oddschecker.com [1], Spain is the most favored team to win the World Cup, followed by England, France, and Brazil. I don’t know why France is not first. Their list of players is so rich. I mean, they have a very very good selection of players from back to front. Easy for me to put them at #1, not #3 on that list.

Source:
[1] https://www.oddschecker.com/football/world-cup/winner

Brazil didn't play well at all, Vinicius Jr., who should have been the star player, didn't play at all. I'm seeing fans saying he couldn't play as well as he does at Real Madrid, and I completely agree with that. If it were Neymar playing in his place, everyone would be criticizing him today, but since it's not him, we're not seeing anyone saying that.

[Uhde]

Turkiye reached the final and will face Kosovo.
On Tuesday night, we will travel to Kosovo and it won?t be an easy match for us.
We haven?t participated in the World Cup for a long time, so this is a huge opportunity for us.
Turkiye are the favorites against Kosovo and I believe we will win this match as well.

The opponent, Kosovo, is certainly not up to par with Montella's Türkiye, that's for sure.
I am happy that Montella's team manages to qualify, it is very nice to see a compatriot who takes on the role of coach succeed in this undertaking.
I hope the best for him.

Turkey has star players but Kosovo is more of a team's team. They move the ball much faster than Turkey and make far fewer passing errors.
They also have a true center forward, which is something Turkey completely lacks. It's going to be a tough match for both sides.

[harapan]

Italy won their home match against Northern Ireland 2-0. They have performed quite well. But it will be very difficult for them to win against Bosnia in the next match.

Bosnia's team's performance is inconsistent but this team is strong in home matches. On the other hand, Italy's performance is not stable. We often see their very bad performance. So the road to victory in the playoffs final will be very difficult for Italy. I will not be surprised at all if Italy loses this match.

Must be a joke of you think that italy will be losing that spot to Bosnia. Sandro Tonali recently linked to Man United has been recently doing too well, I do not know if it is a result of being linked to United but he has done well over the last few games for both club and country. Gattuso was excited with the win. They are the best side to win between them and Bosnia. They will make it to the world cup and most likely be the winners of the competition.

[Volgastallion]

The only i want is to see Italy reaching the world cup, i hope they made it i dont want to see another world cup without them and having in the world cup shit tier teams instead of them.

For the other games for me is the same who goes into the world cup, maybe i dont want to see Kosovo in the world cup since they are not gonna bring something new.

[KTChampions]

The only i want is to see Italy reaching the world cup, i hope they made it i dont want to see another world cup without them and having in the world cup shit tier teams instead of them.

For the other games for me is the same who goes into the world cup, maybe i dont want to see Kosovo in the world cup since they are not gonna bring something new.

A third consecutive World Cup without Italy would certainly be a funny event, especially given the sharp increase in the number of teams competing in the World Cup. As for Kosovo, I also don’t want to see them because I want more representatives of traditional Europe, but I don’t understand what new you can expect from any team at the World Cup. Everyone plays more or less the same football. The difference is literally only in the performing skills, in fact, everyone plays European football.

[Agbe]

Brazil, Argentina demand multi-million fees for friendlies with South Africa
Will South Africa meet up the demand for the friendly matches of the two countries? Though negotiation is on going but since it is friendly, the price is kind of high. And why they are asking of such amount because those two teams are high profile teams in the World Football and when country like SA inviting them to come and play in their country, people looks at it as a tough Match and neighboring countries fans would like to go to SA to watch the Match and that can provide some commercial purpose.

[Altryist]

Turkey and Italy have a great chance of advancing to the main stage of the World Cup, as they are playing against opponents who aren't the strongest. In the other matchups, Czech Republic vs Denmark and Sweden vs Poland, there is no clear favorite in my opinion. The most interesting match is likely to be Sweden vs Poland, featuring a showdown between Europe's most prominent forwards, Gyökeres and Lewandowski. I believe Poland could very well come out on top in this tie.

I think the toughest match will be Denmark - Czech Republic, both teams are very strong, but only one of them will make it to the World Cup. What makes this match even more balanced is that it will be played in Prague. I consider Denmark slightly stronger, but since they will be playing away, the chances here are definitely equal. The easiest match should be Italy’s game, although Bosnia is an uncomfortable opponent, I think Italy should beat them. And for Poland, by the way, the difficulty also lies in the fact that it will be an away game for them. But both Sweden and Poland are not in their best form right now, although if you look at their recent matches, Poland actually looks better.

[8rch7]

A third consecutive World Cup without Italy would certainly be a funny event, especially given the sharp increase in the number of teams competing in the World Cup. As for Kosovo, I also don’t want to see them because I want more representatives of traditional Europe, but I don’t understand what new you can expect from any team at the World Cup. Everyone plays more or less the same football. The difference is literally only in the performing skills, in fact, everyone plays European football.

One step closer for Italy national team comeback to World Cup after missing in last several edition get eliminating at the playoff round match, upcoming match Italy will face Bosnia and Herzegovina as the final of life and die match if want to qualify to World Cup 2026.
Last match,  Bosnia and Herzegovina success defeating Wales trough penalty kick and its moment for them by defeating Italy if want to participants at World Cup have been absent for several edition. I think many people predicting Italy has bigger opportunity will beat  Bosnia and Herzegovina and get back to play at World Cup missing last two edition in a row at World Cup 2018 Russia and World Cup 2022 Qatar.

[Minor Miner]

Must be a joke of you think that italy will be losing that spot to Bosnia. Sandro Tonali recently linked to Man United has been recently doing too well, I do not know if it is a result of being linked to United but he has done well over the last few games for both club and country. Gattuso was excited with the win. They are the best side to win between them and Bosnia. They will make it to the world cup and most likely be the winners of the competition.

I believe Italy will win. But I am not interested in betting on italy's match. Because Italy has disappointed me many times in the last  few years. I have no doubt that Italy's squad is strong enough. But they are not  consistent enough or even  stable enough. Italy should definitely win easily against  a team like bosnia. But let's not forget that the match will be held at bosnia's home ground. Bosnia will try its best to  take home advantage. The road to victory for Italy today will not be easy. The match is likely  to be competitive.

[paco92x]

Montella's Turkey surprised everyone, in my opinion they shouldn't even have gone to the playoffs, they are a very strong team and i think it is very important for them to be in the World Cup this year, there are many players who deserve to be highlighted, they deserve it for everything they are doing with the clubs

I saw the game; it was a tough one to watch. None risked big, and at the end, I would say that Turkey was a goal better. So, the result is fair to me, but Romania had a chance at the end to equalize, and the post saved Turkey from extra time. I hoped that Romania would attack harder at the end, but they simply don't have the players to change the game. The better team is going to play against Kosovo in an away game, and it won't be easy. Kosovo will prove itself a much tougher nut than Romania.