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

[Mate2237]

Snip

The Italians having a score to settle from the US 1994(FIFA World Cup), is it how the Brazilians defeated them in the finals by 3-2 in a penalty shootout or is there any score to settle you have in mind, not the one I talked about that Italians have to avenge?

However, I don't think Italy will reach the position of reaching the finals of the World Cup with what I have seen them play, if peradventure the qualify for the World Cup this year. They might be kicked out in the group stage or the round of 16, unfailing.

Even if Italy makes it to the world cup group stage, the plan will be how they can make it out of the group. Italy at this point in time can't be thinking about winning any thing not even the Euros, so Italy will not be going far in the world cup. The plan is to make it to the world cup as it's been a while since Italy made it to the world cup. Qualifying for the world cup will be a big deal for Italy because as they needs a world cup ticket badly.


Italy is currently on a rebuilding process so it it take time before, Italy can compete favorably in a major tournament like the world cup were the best of the best teams across all continents gathers to play.

[Taricoins]

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.

I think the same way; it's almost an obligation for Italy to win and qualify. It would be strange if they didn't participate in the World Cup; the big countries with a tradition of winning World Cups should be in every one to make it a great show.

Playing the World Cup without Italy seems like it isn't the World Cup, Italy has placed themselves as one of the stake holders in previous World Cup and It would be sad to see them leave. Plus looking at there starting lineup, it doesn't look that encouraging  especially with Retegui as a striker there.

[CLS63]

Turkey's opponent in the final match is Kosovo. I feel like this will be harder than it looks. Because firstly we are going to be away from home.

Secondly Kosovo looked really tough against Slovakia. Technically we are a much stronger team than both but I hope we don't let them take advantage of playing at home.

Even if Italy makes it to the world cup group stage, the plan will be how they can make it out of the group. Italy at this point in time can't be thinking about winning any thing not even the Euros, so Italy will not be going far in the world cup. The plan is to make it to the world cup as it's been a while since Italy made it to the world cup. Qualifying for the world cup will be a big deal for Italy because as they needs a world cup ticket badly.


Italy is currently on a rebuilding process so it it take time before, Italy can compete favorably in a major tournament like the world cup were the best of the best teams across all continents gathers to play.

Italy's group is going to include Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in case of managing to qualify for the World Cup group stage. Technically it is a favourable one for them but now they have to secure their ticket first by beating BiH.

[Lillominato89]

Wow, Italy had a brilliant win last night! I never would have expected it.
With our 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland, we’ve made it through to the final round. Now we’re up against Bosnia and Herzegovina – let’s hope for the best! It would really upset me to see Italy miss out on the World Cup for the third time in a row.
We’ve got a score to settle from USA ’94

The Italians having a score to settle from the US 1994(FIFA World Cup), is it how the Brazilians defeated them in the finals by 3-2 in a penalty shootout or is there any score to settle you have in mind, not the one I talked about that Italians have to avenge?

However, I don't think Italy will reach the position of reaching the finals of the World Cup with what I have seen them play, if peradventure the qualify for the World Cup this year. They might be kicked out in the group stage or the round of 16, unfailing.

Exactly! That’s exactly the event I was referring to – it happened in 1994, right here in the US.
Obviously, the defeat was deserved; both teams in that final were formidable.
Nowadays, we Italians are light years away from what we once were, but that doesn’t mean a bit of luck couldn’t bring us some joy.
It costs nothing to dream

[Richbased]

Playing the World Cup without Italy seems like it isn't the World Cup, Italy has placed themselves as one of the stake holders in previous World Cup and It would be sad to see them leave. Plus looking at there starting lineup, it doesn't look that encouraging  especially with Retegui as a striker there.

Over the years that the world cup was played, there have been many famous countries that didn't qualify for all the world cup so why would it be a problem if Italy ends up not qualifying for the world cup. Though it may be disturbing to Italy since if they don't qualify for the 2026 world cup that would be 3 consecutive times they didn't make it to the world cup because they didn't qualify in the last two edition. Italy still has an excellent squad so i don't agree that their starting lineup is not encouraging.

[Balmain]

Considering the quality of the Turkish national team, it wasn't an easy match. Romania played defensively, occasionally pushing forward and creating dangerous opportunities. Uğurcan gave them confidence, but the opponent hit the post twice, and they came very close to scoring at those moments. Although the 1-0 victory might seem limited in terms of the score, the important thing was to win. Without Arda Güler's assist, that goal wouldn't have happened it was a beautiful assist.

[LUCKMCFLY]

4. Expanded VAR capabilities:
VAR will be able to review second yellow cards that lead to a red card, as well as incorrectly awarded corner kicks.


What do you think of the new rules?

They're all very good, but the only rule I'd really change is VAR. It shouldn't just apply to cards; it should apply to everything. Referees make terrible decisions, and it shows at all levels: in La Liga, in the Champions League, even in the World Cup qualifiers, At least in South America, the refereeing is awful the corruption is obvious, you can almost smell it. So I'd say VAR should be much stricter with the referees.

[$crypto$]

Turkey's opponent in the final match is Kosovo. I feel like this will be harder than it looks. Because firstly we are going to be away from home.

Secondly Kosovo looked really tough against Slovakia. Technically we are a much stronger team than both but I hope we don't let them take advantage of playing at home.

After seeing the replay Kosovo looked tougher against Slovakia, maybe this will be a tough match for Turkey even though we know and I see from the bookies Turkey is still the favorite, but this does not guarantee anything.
Turkey must prepare mentally later when playing away, statistically the game later I believe Turkey will outperform it's just that for the conversion of goals no one ever knows --- Turkey's prediction will win narrowly again.

[Italian Panic]

Playing the World Cup without Italy seems like it isn't the World Cup, Italy has placed themselves as one of the stake holders in previous World Cup and It would be sad to see them leave. Plus looking at there starting lineup, it doesn't look that encouraging  especially with Retegui as a striker there.

I also think that a World Cup without Italy is a World Cup that’s missing something. It would be like playing without Brazil, Germany, France or Argentina honestly, something would be missing. They have now put themselves in a good position to qualify, but I feel that as a team their style of play isn’t exactly attractive. They are slow and cumbersome. The game today is much more direct and fast. We’ll see how it goes.

[snipie]

They're all very good, but the only rule I'd really change is VAR. It shouldn't just apply to cards; it should apply to everything. Referees make terrible decisions, and it shows at all levels: in La Liga, in the Champions League, even in the World Cup qualifiers, At least in South America, the refereeing is awful the corruption is obvious, you can almost smell it. So I'd say VAR should be much stricter with the referees.

I heard about the new rules that had been added by FIFA recently and will be applied in the World Cup. I really appreciated the intention to reduce the amount of time wasted by players. For your suggestion, I believe I mentioned that in the past so I totally agree with that. Such rule will reduce the fortune of some referees and for those who don't believe that just see the news in Africa or Turkey. There are many busted ones red handed.

Turkey must prepare mentally later when playing away, statistically the game later I believe Turkey will outperform it's just that for the conversion of goals no one ever knows --- Turkey's prediction will win narrowly again.

I think Turkey will pick a place in the upcoming World Cup. Kosovo is quite good but I believe the level of Turkiye players are slightly better. Good luck for them.

[Lillominato89]

Playing the World Cup without Italy seems like it isn't the World Cup, Italy has placed themselves as one of the stake holders in previous World Cup and It would be sad to see them leave. Plus looking at there starting lineup, it doesn't look that encouraging  especially with Retegui as a striker there.

I also think that a World Cup without Italy is a World Cup that’s missing something. It would be like playing without Brazil, Germany, France or Argentina honestly, something would be missing. They have now put themselves in a good position to qualify, but I feel that as a team their style of play isn’t exactly attractive. They are slow and cumbersome. The game today is much more direct and fast. We’ll see how it goes.

Yes! Something will be missing if Italy fails to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row.
Obviously, we Italians will feel this more keenly than other nations.
But what more can we say? Let’s just hope we qualify, because it would be a real tragedy not to make it to the World Cup for three consecutive times.

[el kaka22]

Romania looked a bit off, and weird. Reason is that, I understand wanting to play a defensive game, we have seen plenty of teams do that, just lay back, defend, and then counter attack with great passes, specially their ability to do good long balls.

However, when you go down 1-0, usually teams end up with something that is different, just not this bad, and usually they do something that would be a lot better. Because if you are down, you would end up with basically a way to score and you need to, you have to. But even then, Romania just defended, like they were fine with losing 1-0, that made no sense.

[Shadiq]

They're all very good, but the only rule I'd really change is VAR. It shouldn't just apply to cards; it should apply to everything. Referees make terrible decisions, and it shows at all levels: in La Liga, in the Champions League, even in the World Cup qualifiers, At least in South America, the refereeing is awful the corruption is obvious, you can almost smell it. So I'd say VAR should be much stricter with the referees.

The match was very difficult for both teams. The Turkish football team was trying their best to win the match and we saw relatively aggressive football from their side. But Romania and the main objective was to play the match defensively and create counterattacks when they got the chance. They failed to fully achieve their goal, losing the important 3 points of the match. Although their fight was certainly exciting. We saw the only goal of the match in the 53rd minute from the Turkish side, despite seeing some good chances throughout the game, they could not convert them into goals.

[Sithara007]

Romania looked a bit off, and weird. Reason is that, I understand wanting to play a defensive game, we have seen plenty of teams do that, just lay back, defend, and then counter attack with great passes, specially their ability to do good long balls.

However, when you go down 1-0, usually teams end up with something that is different, just not this bad, and usually they do something that would be a lot better. Because if you are down, you would end up with basically a way to score and you need to, you have to. But even then, Romania just defended, like they were fine with losing 1-0, that made no sense.

Bad luck for Romania, but in the end the stronger and more deserving team won. Türkiye need to win another match against Kosovo in order to qualify for the FIFA World Cup of 2026. Kosovo has also performed well so far, and they can offer tough challenge to Türkiye. Apart from Romania, a number of other teams failed to progress during the UEFA second round. Wales, Ukraine, Slovakia and North Macedonia are some of the teams that lost their matches in second round. Also, the final during second round will see a few more good teams failing to qualify. 

[Ale88]

Italy's group is going to include Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in case of managing to qualify for the World Cup group stage. Technically it is a favourable one for them but now they have to secure their ticket first by beating BiH.

Do you guys see when I say the European qualifications are tough? Getting to the World Cup is actually more difficult than getting through the World Cup group stage. Playing against teams like Northern Ireland and Bosnia Herzegovina is going to be more difficult than facing Canada and Qatar. If Italy manage to qualify they will almost certainly make it through.

[AprilioMP]

Italy’s next match will also be exciting after their win over Northern Ireland. Bosnia will be the team Italy faces.
If Italy advances, all speculation about Gattuso will be put to rest.

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.

I don’t think facing Bosnia will be difficult in the decisive World Cup qualifier.
The win over Northern Ireland makes me think that Tonali and his teammates will try to step up their game even more against Bosnia.

If you say Bosnia is inconsistent, you should be able to see that Italy can win and qualify.
But here’s the thing: even though Bosnia is inconsistent, Italy needs to be careful and avoid making mistakes that could lead to a loss. If it comes down to a penalty shootout, it’s 50:50, and I’m confident Donnarumma will be sharper in that situation.

[Zlantann]

Bad luck for Romania, but in the end the stronger and more deserving team won. Türkiye need to win another match against Kosovo in order to qualify for the FIFA World Cup of 2026. Kosovo has also performed well so far, and they can offer tough challenge to Türkiye. Apart from Romania, a number of other teams failed to progress during the UEFA second round. Wales, Ukraine, Slovakia and North Macedonia are some of the teams that lost their matches in second round. Also, the final during second round will see a few more good teams failing to qualify. 

Congratulations to Türkiye as they are one match away from winning a World Cup ticket. One goal was enough for them to win a hard-fighting Romania. Türkiye came out to play the game while their opponents were hoping to play defensively and using counter attacks to get goals. Romania was close to achieving it but they were unlucky when Vlad Dragomir and Nicolae Stanciu's shots hit the post.

Türkiye next game will not e an easy one. Kosovo is a good attacking side but their defence is has some lapses. Türkiye should be ready for an attacking football as Kosovo beat thier last opponent Slovakia by scoring four goals.

[KTChampions]

Turkey's opponent in the final match is Kosovo. I feel like this will be harder than it looks. Because firstly we are going to be away from home.

Secondly Kosovo looked really tough against Slovakia. Technically we are a much stronger team than both but I hope we don't let them take advantage of playing at home.
~

Yes, Kosovo showed an incredible game - first they came back from 0-1 down, then with the score 2-2 they were able to score 2 goals at once, essentially deciding the outcome of the game. 4 goals against Slovakia means something. Bookmakers are currently pricing the upcoming game with Turkey as follows:

3.90 - 3.50 - 1.98

I could be wrong, but Türkiye is overrated, they play significantly weaker away from home than at home. If Kosovo are as good as they were in the game against Slovakia, the game will be more equal than the bookmakers think.

[Adiljutt156]

Türkiye secured an important victory against a very tough and compact team. In this match, Ferdi, Arda, İsmail, and Kenan were the standout players. However, Turkish football urgently needs to produce a quality center forward. Although Türkiye has alternatives in various attacking positions, there isn’t a single “No. 9” in what’s been dubbed the “golden generation.”

As a result, especially against tight defenses, the burden falls on Kerem and Barış, whose finishing is ineffective. We saw in this match that Türkiye played as if it had no right wing. What I’m saying is that Montella did a great job, as you can see, there’s no team here worth exaggerating about. Montella cannot be the one to criticize—he’s doing his job exceptionally well—the one that needs criticism is the country’s football.

Türkiye national football team played well against Romania national football team and they won match. The shots of that team were more in number and these were 15 in this match and 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 64 percent in this match and fouls of that team were 6 in this match. The shots of Romania national football team were 8 in this match and 1 shot was on target and possession percentage of that team was 36 percent in this match and fouls of that team were 12 in this match. Kadıoğlu was a person who did one and only goal of this match and he did this goal at 53 minutes of the match.Romania national football team should learn from their mistakes because they could not do brilliant in this match and they lose at the end.

[Catenaccio]

I could be wrong, but Türkiye is overrated, they play significantly weaker away from home than at home. If Kosovo are as good as they were in the game against Slovakia, the game will be more equal than the bookmakers think.

They are overrated because they have two young promising attacking players, Yildiz and Guler, who have amazing skills and huge potential to become super star players but at this time, they still have many things to learn and improve.

Türkiye national football team played well against Romania national football team and they won match. The shots of that team were more in number and these were 15 in this match and 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 64 percent in this match and fouls of that team were 6 in this match.

Türkiye team still have one more match to take a ticket to World Cup 2026 and their next opponent will be Kosovo. Kosovo did not have experience with such playoff matches for World Cup qualifications as well as did not play in World Cup in the past. They can not compare with Türkiye in quality but Türkiye must be careful as sometimes in football shocks can happen. 4 years ago, Italy lost a ticket to World Cup 2022 with a defeat by North Macedonia and Türkiye must play carefully and avoid such shock for themselves.