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

[banana33]

In the final results the match end up 1-1, but I was surprised that the Bosnia couldn’t capitalized on that advantage after the Italy was playing 10 men in the pitch i was also expecting them to use that advantages and scoring more goals but they find it difficult shall that is all about football; which is why is very hardly to predict. And if you take look at the ball possession Bosnia are the one dominating the entirely ball possession, but refuse to win 10 men on the pitch till the game end up in the penalty they later got win.

we must congratulate Bosnia who played a good level match even if it wasn't at the same level as Italy and in the end they won and will go to the World Cup while Italy will stay at home, needless to say it burns a lot and it's very sad but this is football and we're going to be 12 years without a World Cup.

[rdluffy]

I also want to share my predictions for which teams will qualify today, hehehe

Italy
Turkey
Denmark
Sweden
Jamaica
Bolivia

I wonder if Italy will disappoint us again?

You guys are forgetting the other two intercontinental matches between

Congo vs. Jamaica
Iraq vs. Bolivia

I liked the list.
These intercontinental games also attract a lot of attention because sometimes surprises happen. Jamaica and Bolivia won't have easy games, but they can still achieve something.

Regarding Italy, there's always a doubt after the recent results.

But could there be a surprise today, or should all the favorites win?

My friend Mindyspace, my guesses were wrong hehehe

6 guesses and I got only 2 right
Turkey and Sweden

Italy let everyone down again 
Denmark, I think it was a 50-50 game

Jamaica, something like 50% as well

But Bolivia could have beaten Iraq
In my opinion, Bolivia had the experience needed to secure a spot, especially since they’re always playing against strong opponents here in South America, but they let us down too

[Ahli38]

In the final results the match end up 1-1, but I was surprised that the Bosnia couldn’t capitalized on that advantage after the Italy was playing 10 men in the pitch i was also expecting them to use that advantages and scoring more goals but they find it difficult shall that is all about football; which is why is very hardly to predict. And if you take look at the ball possession Bosnia are the one dominating the entirely ball possession, but refuse to win 10 men on the pitch till the game end up in the penalty they later got win.

we must congratulate Bosnia who played a good level match even if it wasn't at the same level as Italy and in the end they won and will go to the World Cup while Italy will stay at home, needless to say it burns a lot and it's very sad but this is football and we're going to be 12 years without a World Cup.

Bosnia was actually very fortunate that Italy lost a player to a red card. Bosnia took advantage of the situation to penetrate Italy’s defense in the second half, where they managed to score the equalizer. But the Italian players also deserve praise because they did the best they could in this match. They managed to keep the score level until the end of extra time. Italy unfortunately seemed to run out of steam as they entered the penalty shootout, where two missed penalty kicks led to their defeat in this match. Gattuso stated that his players had fought with everything they had. He apologized for Italy’s elimination due to the outcome of this match. I personally witnessed the tremendous effort they put forth in this match against Bosnia. But they were unable to win because they had to play with ten men which made things very difficult for them. In the second half Bosnia had a very high ball possession rate compared to Italy. And in extra time Bosnia’s rate was even higher. However both national teams played very well in this match. And they deserve praise for putting on such a great show. But Bosnia deserves congratulations on their victory over Italy.

[Inwestour]

we must congratulate Bosnia who played a good level match even if it wasn't at the same level as Italy and in the end they won and will go to the World Cup while Italy will stay at home, needless to say it burns a lot and it's very sad but this is football and we're going to be 12 years without a World Cup.

Bosnia managed to pull off the near-impossible, but Italy allowed it to happen when Bachtoni received a red card. After that, relying solely on defense was a mistake, because penalties are always a lottery, and this time Italy was unlucky. Well, Gattuso couldn't be Italy's savior. The Czech Republic, by the way, played a very good match and deserved a place in the World Cup.

[Unsoldier]

It came as a total shock to me that Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It’s simply unbelievable that the four-time world champions have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time. I think Italian football is in for a major overhaul in the coming years. Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course, pulled off a surprise when they beat the Italians, but their victory was completely well-deserved. Italy scored early but couldn't do anything else after that, and the Bosnians took full advantage.

[9ja Amaka]

Italian footballers were overjoyed when Bosnia and Herzegovina were drawn as their opponents for the final. Yesterday, Bosnia and Herzegovina eliminated them on penalties, leaving the Italians heartbroken. At this time, scoring one goal and holding onto it until the end of the match is unacceptable. Italy learned this the hard way.

This just showed that you don't underrate any team in a football match.  I am very sure that the Italian fan must be very happy  when the realize they will be playing against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final to qualify for the world cup, but they must be very disappointed when they get knocked out by the same team. I don't really think that Italian national team deserves to be in the world cup, because I think they where very poor and they don't play to the standard we all expected.  On the other hand I think Bosnia where more courageous and determined to be in the world cup and they deserve to be in the world cup. Congratulations to them and I hope they can spring more surprises in the world cup.

[Sithara007]

It came as a total shock to me that Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It’s simply unbelievable that the four-time world champions have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time. I think Italian football is in for a major overhaul in the coming years. Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course, pulled off a surprise when they beat the Italians, but their victory was completely well-deserved. Italy scored early but couldn't do anything else after that, and the Bosnians took full advantage.

Italian curse continues for the third successive edition. Danmark also failed to qualify from UEFA. They used to be one of the strongest European teams (when Peter Schmeichel and Michael Schjønberg used to play for them). Recently they became overdependent on Yussuf Yurary Poulsen, who himself is a sub-standard player. Anyway, if these teams can't qualify for a 48-team world cup (where 16 slots come from UEFA), then I don't think that they can make any excuses. A lot of Italian supporters are pointing out in social media that Haiti and Curaçao qualified for the tournament, but Italy didn't. I don't agree with the arguments. Each and every team went through the qualifying tournaments, and no one got any walkovers.

[BitBakerr1]

It came as a total shock to me that Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It’s simply unbelievable that the four-time world champions have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time. I think Italian football is in for a major overhaul in the coming years. Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course, pulled off a surprise when they beat the Italians, but their victory was completely well-deserved. Italy scored early but couldn't do anything else after that, and the Bosnians took full advantage.

I’m sure some Italy citizens will be happy that they didn’t qualify because they don’t want Italy to go to the World Cup and disgrace them, Italy has not been informed and I’m not surprised or shocked that they couldn’t make it to the World Cup, it is only those who don’t know how Italy has been playing will be surprised about this, they are not playing like the Italy will know and hear about before, they have really dropped in performances and is because of the kind of players they have now, if i was from Italy I would be happy we didn’t qualify, when Nigeria didn’t qualify I was a bit angry but I moved on easily because i know even if they managed to qualify they will still go their and disgrace us.

[Oluwa-btc]

Bosnia managed to pull off the near-impossible, but Italy allowed it to happen when Bachtoni received a red card. After that, relying solely on defense was a mistake, because penalties are always a lottery, and this time Italy was unlucky. Well, Gattuso couldn't be Italy's savior. The Czech Republic, by the way, played a very good match and deserved a place in the World Cup.

I wanted them to be more like the dark horse of the FIFA World Cup Competition but damn, my predictions for them to beat Bosnia and get to the world cup and become the winners has gone opposite. Three successful absence from the world, I don't think the game is gone,  I do think they're not doing enough from within. Gattuso,  Bonucci and and Buffon has just recently came in, they did their best truthfully.

Graham Potter rewriting the records,  clearing his name from his past with Sweden. I'm so happy he could qualify alongside Viktor Gyökeres. Congratulations to them.

[Uhde]

As a country, we qualified for the World Cup after 24 years. Kosovo put up a very good fight. In the first half, in the 28th minute, Asllani had a superb shot, but Uğurcan made a great save. I think that was the turning point of the match.
There were attacks from both sides in the first half. Neither team could finish well.
Orkun's shot in the first half reminded me of Juninho, who once played for Lyon.

I think Orkun should be an indispensable player in the Turkish National Team's midfield.
In the second half, Kerem made the final touch on Orkun's ineffective shot, and Turkey took a 0-1 lead.
After that, Kosovo tried to attack, but Uğurcan made some excellent saves.

Turkey won 0-1 and qualified for the World Cup. Türkiye celebrated in the streets until late at night.

i agree.
actually in mu opinion, for a match with such high tension, where a whole four years of effort could go down the drain in 90 minutes and a single second’s mistake could flip everything upside down, you can’t just say they played well or they played poorly. Especially not for an away team.
in a match like this, staying that calm is an achievement in itself particularly for such a young team. In my opinion, they showed that same success in Kosovo but unfortunately, only one team could come out as the winner.

[Ryu_Ar1]

It came as a total shock to me that Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It’s simply unbelievable that the four-time world champions have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time. I think Italian football is in for a major overhaul in the coming years. Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course, pulled off a surprise when they beat the Italians, but their victory was completely well-deserved. Italy scored early but couldn't do anything else after that, and the Bosnians took full advantage.

It's unfortunate that for this period the squad is quite complex even though they are dominated by young players but in terms of the quality of the average player they are quite good but their curse still doesn't seem to be really over for now.
Bastoni's red card really changed the situation which was quite lame in this match because seeing from what they did before Bastoni left the field was very good but when the lack of players on the field with enough time remaining made them have to focus on defense which actually made them become depressed.

The mentality for penalties was bad enough that it became a nightmare and Italy failed to make it to the World Cup for the third time. It is unfortunate but this condition is normal in football where surprises when the team that is predicted to qualify must stop in the last minutes.

[Uhde]

It came as a total shock to me that Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It’s simply unbelievable that the four-time world champions have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time. I think Italian football is in for a major overhaul in the coming years. Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course, pulled off a surprise when they beat the Italians, but their victory was completely well-deserved. Italy scored early but couldn't do anything else after that, and the Bosnians took full advantage.

yeah. Bosnia and Herzegovina fully deserved to make it to the World Cup. By the way, I think I saw something on Twitter the other day about Italy unveiling their new kit for the World Cup. Well, they can wear it while watching the games from their couches this summer

[giorgione]

From the odds, it is very clear that the Italy vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match is expected to be the most one sided match, while the Sweden vs Poland maybe the closest one.

Italy was simply shameful, its an unworthy thing for these players, i was reading a price comparison of squads, Italy's average market value is 29.8 million per player called up, while that of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 5.3 million, its something i would never have expected from them, i think its truly the end of the line for Italian football.

[Die_empty]

Bosnia was actually very fortunate that Italy lost a player to a red card. Bosnia took advantage of the situation to penetrate Italy’s defense in the second half, where they managed to score the equalizer. But the Italian players also deserve praise because they did the best they could in this match. They managed to keep the score level until the end of extra time. Italy unfortunately seemed to run out of steam as they entered the penalty shootout, where two missed penalty kicks led to their defeat in this match. Gattuso stated that his players had fought with everything they had. He apologized for Italy’s elimination due to the outcome of this match. I personally witnessed the tremendous effort they put forth in this match against Bosnia. But they were unable to win because they had to play with ten men which made things very difficult for them. In the second half Bosnia had a very high ball possession rate compared to Italy. And in extra time Bosnia’s rate was even higher. However both national teams played very well in this match. And they deserve praise for putting on such a great show. But Bosnia deserves congratulations on their victory over Italy.

In my view, Alessandro Bastoni should have allowed Amar Memić to face the Italian goalkeeper. This single blunder was one of the main reasons why the Italian side lost.

I wonder what would be Gattuso's excuse after he complained of the World Cup qualification format, which he assumed favoured some continents. They played very well but didn't show much class as a four time world cup winner. Depending on the playoff for the World Cup qualification is a sign that they are not good enough.

[aylabadia05]

<snip>

I see the Turkish team as the better team to make it through. After 45 minutes of playing with no goals from them, I think we should prepare to see a goal in this match apparently in the second half of the game in favour of Turkey. I’m not seeing this match reaching the penalty shootout, Turkey has an edge and if they capitalize on it in this match with the chances they create, they’ll win the match before the end of the game. I am counting on them to reach the World Cup this time around, their performance has being impressive and they should do something impressive in this game to see them prevail over their opponent tonight.

You’re right, less than 10 minutes into the second half, Turkey scored, and that goal turned out to be the only one of the match, so there was no extra time or penalty shootout.

What I find regrettable is Italy. With this loss in the penalty shootout—if I’m not mistaken, this is the third time they’ve failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Kean’s goal seemed pointless when Bastoni received a red card just a few minutes after Italy took the lead.
After being down a man, Italy focused on playing defensively, and in my opinion, that was where the mistake lay, even though luck ultimately thwarted them in the penalty shootout.

[Lucius]

You can look for reasons and excuses as much as you want as to why Italy is not in the World Cup this year, or why it has not been in all the past World Cups - but the fact is that all that is left of them is their name and some of their old glory. BIH outplayed them in all segments of the game, and if Italy didn't have such a good goalkeeper, they would have lost the game in regular time. Congratulations BIH on a great game and good luck at the world championship.

~snip~
I wonder what would be Gattuso's excuse after he complained of the World Cup qualification format, which he assumed favoured some continents. They played very well but didn't show much class as a four time world cup winner. Depending on the playoff for the World Cup qualification is a sign that they are not good enough.

He can complain all he wants, maybe the stadium is to blame, maybe the weather is, maybe the referee is to blame - but I would say that someone who can't manage a club in a minor league like Croatia shouldn't be managing the national team. A lot of those who used to be good players think they can be good coaches, but the truth is completely different and you can see it in all the clubs where such people work.

[execijutiere]

Turkey defeated Kosovo 1-0, securing a spot in the World Cup for the first time in exactly 24 years. It was truly significant for this team—which we consider a golden generation—to qualify for this year’s World Cup, and they achieved it. We have to admit we struggled against Kosovo, but they were certainly no easy opponent either. We managed to win the match thanks to the goal scored by Kerem Aktürkoğlu’s final touch. We’ve landed in a good group. We believe we’ll advance from this group.

[Adbitco]

Iraq's win against Bolivia to qualify for the World cup shocked me even more than Italy's defeat, at least that was penalties and penalties that I know was anyone's game. Sometimes even the best doesn't qualify, Bolivia is a better footballing nation compared to Iraq, that's what I think or maybe I might be wrong as well but for now let me say I'm right. How on earth did Bolivia blow away this chance or are they only good at playing in their own home ground of 10,000 feet above sea level, lol. DR Congo escaped with a 1 - 0 win that's even AET before they scored which means, Jamaica was giving them serious headaches. I can only imagine what they had been through to get through. Well the truth is that these teams are going to dash points to the big teams in the competition.

[Volgastallion]

We finally have all the national teams whoa re gonna take part in this next world cup somehow this last stage feels like so long or close to the actual world cup and i dont fully like it.

Aside of that and taliking baout the games and teams, what a diaster for Italy and for football in general is not having Italy in the next world cup for the third time in a row, in the other matches i feel like the outputs were normal, maybe Denmark also was a fail and Bolivia.

[asriloni]

Iraq's win against Bolivia to qualify for the World cup shocked me even more than Italy's defeat, at least that was penalties and penalties that I know was anyone's game. Sometimes even the best doesn't qualify, Bolivia is a better footballing nation compared to Iraq, that's what I think or maybe I might be wrong as well but for now let me say I'm right. How on earth did Bolivia blow away this chance or are they only good at playing in their own home ground of 10,000 feet above sea level, lol. DR Congo escaped with a 1 - 0 win that's even AET before they scored which means, Jamaica was giving them serious headaches. I can only imagine what they had been through to get through. Well the truth is that these teams are going to dash points to the big teams in the competition.

IDK where you get such information said that Bolivia was a better football nation compared to Iraq. As far as i know, Iraq is ranking at 56th on FIFA football world rank. Meanwhile, Bolivia is at 76th. It clearly says that Iraq is far better in term of football compared to the Bolivia.

This result basically a common result when a strong football nation such as Iraq beat weaker nation than them. If you don't believe me, then check FIFA football world rank by yourself.