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

[Mindyspace]

The various teams that have qualified for the World Cup 2026, so far the group that looks tough it terms of similar strength, is Group F with Japan, Netherlands and Sweden being the biggest contenders, but I really can't underestimate Tunisia too.

I agree that this group seems well-balanced; Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden really have strong and competitive teams, but Tunisia can't be ignored either. In the World Cup, surprises always happen, and sometimes a team considered an underdog ends up making things difficult for the favorites. I think it's going to be a very competitive group right up until the last round.

[Juicyhome]

England should not bother spending so much in this world cup I don't see them scaling through the ground stage, they have good players but they don't have a team, they played like a strangers on the pitch no connection. I watched their two friendly games and it was a total mess, losing to games in a roll with a world super squad. If you're a bettor avid England at the world cup excerpt you want to waste your money.

Italy is not participating in the world cup for the third time in a roll, they are not fit to be at the world, they not good enough to change in the world cup, yesterday game against Bosnia on penalties, Gatuso should be sacked, he made so much noise without results. Italy deserves better.

[X-ray]

The various teams that have qualified for the World Cup 2026, so far the group that looks tough it terms of similar strength, is Group F with Japan, Netherlands and Sweden being the biggest contenders, but I really can't underestimate Tunisia too.

It's not. The group with the pretty similar strength must be group I. You can imagine seeing Mbappe, Haaland and the winner of Afcon are playing in the same group. These nations being known as strong nations. So i guess this has to be one of hardest group in the current WC.

However, i fee a bit sad caused by no more death group, which gave us entertaining games to watch.

[IceLincoln]

I watched italy match and I have to say it was truly embarrassing; they were afraid of bosnia and at times were completely pinned back on the defensive. In the end, the statistics showed that Bosnia had 30 (!!!) shots on goal and Italy 9; if you let teams like germany, france or brazil have 30 shots on goal, it’s going to end very badly.

I agree. The most annoying part about this elimination is how it happened: we scored a random goal thanks to the Bosnian goalkeeper's mistake; then Bastoni made a huge mistake because you can't get a red card with more than a half time to play, let the player end the play and see what happens, worst case scenario he scores but at least we can still play 11 vs 11. There was no passion, no interest, I don't even understand how they can represent the national team, it's been a total shame. And the worst thing is that the president of the Italian Federation is refusing to leave: he and his friends literally destroyed Italian football and, once again, he refuses to leave his spot. Unbelievable. If he really stays we can say goodbye to the next World Cup too, nothing will ever change.

Sorry Ale88… the Italian players for all their qualities could not show it on the pitch, could it be that they’re now past glory and the players selected aren’t quality enough. I feel your pain as a Nigerian this is what we go through most times, we have the players to do the damage but when it comes to the National team they don’t live up to expectations. Italy aren’t supposed to be in the playoffs in the first place just like Nigeria and they both finally lost the playoffs qualification.
What can we do as fans and patriotic citizens?

[Jewan420]

Does playing at home really favours and work for teams in the World Cup? They will have the fans advantage but as long as they’re not playing optimally to the best, they can be defeated by any team. Remember in the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, they were only able to play in the group stage and got eliminated. They had the game played in their home stadiums, they had the fans and still they failed to book a spot in the round of 16. So USA shouldn’t be so confident because they hosted the competition, anything can happen if they don’t play to their best.

When the top teams get the opportunity to host the World Cup on their home turf and play at home, they have a bit of an advantage. But a team like the United States may not be able to go very far with home advantage. If this advantage is given to a team like Argentina, Spain, Brazil or France, then their chances of winning the title increase. Because they are already strong teams and will become even stronger with home advantage. If you don't have real talent, then no advantage can take you ahead. Especially in tournament-based tournaments, there is no home advantage, in season-based tournaments (Champions League) this advantage can be magnified.

[Rruchi man]

England should not bother spending so much in this world cup I don't see them scaling through the ground stage,

Why? England should be able to scale through the group stage of the World Cup. They are drawn against Croatia, Ghana, and Panama.

Croatia is the likely team to give them problems, then likely Ghana, if they have improved by then.

they have good players but they don't have a team, they played like a strangers on the pitch no connection. I watched their two friendly games and it was a total mess, losing to games in a roll with a world super squad. If you're a bettor avid England at the world cup excerpt you want to waste your money.

The two games that England played in this international break, I believe, were used to try out some new players in the field and the new positions as well. We will see a better English team in the World Cup.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Looking at the flags of the participating countries in the coming 2026 world up and not seeing Nigeria flag on the list is very disappointing to say the least, it's very very disappointing much more to find countries that the Nigerian super eagles are much more better than; going for the 2026 world cup while our players sit behind and watch the matches.

Osimhen promised Nigerians the Afcon cup as a compensation for their inability to qualify for the world cup, but today and unfortunately, they super eagles didn't win the Afcon as promised, though personally, I understand that this season's afcon was filled with lots of irregularities and this may have lead to the super eagles not being able to make it to finals, but all the same, as it's commonly said that he who fights and run away lives to fight another day, I believe our season will definitely come..

[GxSTxV]

Sorry Ale88… the Italian players for all their qualities could not show it on the pitch, could it be that they’re now past glory and the players selected aren’t quality enough. I feel your pain as a Nigerian this is what we go through most times, we have the players to do the damage but when it comes to the National team they don’t live up to expectations. Italy aren’t supposed to be in the playoffs in the first place just like Nigeria and they both finally lost the playoffs qualification.
What can we do as fans and patriotic citizens?

I am not from Italy or Nigeria but I really enjoy watching these two teams in World Cups because of their performances in previous editions. It’s so unfortunate that we won’t get to see their special talents this time. The same goes for Italy.

But this is football, in the end what really matters is the final score. We have seen many teams perform good with beautiful football yet finish without any titles or trophies. Sometimes, all that remains is the impression and memories they leave with the fans.

I also feel that it’s less enjoyable with the edition where your national team is already eliminated. On top of that, I have a small feeling that this World Cup may not be as exciting as the previous ones, mainly because of the time differences and about the quality of the pitches in the US mainly built for a different sport.

[Ale88]

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.  

The FIFA ranking is one of the most useless things ever. Just to make a simple example, Belgium, for years, were always in the top-three places. What did Belgium win in the last 10, 20, 30, 50 years? Absolutely nothing. But hey, they win all their friendly matches, and that's important for the ranking.

Bolivia play in South America, they face tougher teams than Iraq, so their spot is lower because of that. Swap the two national teams and let's see what happens if Bolivia would play all the time against Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia etc instead of facing Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay...

[Sithara007]

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I also feel that it’s less enjoyable with the edition where your national team is already eliminated. On top of that, I have a small feeling that this World Cup may not be as exciting as the previous ones, mainly because of the time differences and about the quality of the pitches in the US mainly built for a different sport.

I am not sure what you meant by this. The time zone difference can be actually a good thing. If the matches overlap with office timings, then most of us will not be able to watch the matches on live streaming. And also, some of the grounds were previously used for baseball and NFL. But that doesn't mean much, as they got completely revamped. Anyway, we have only a few months to go for the start of the tournament. And it is going to be exciting, due to the large number of participants. At least for me, I want to see teams such as Haiti and Curaçao competing against the giants such as France and Argentina.

[Joca97]

Looking at the flags of the participating countries in the coming 2026 world up and not seeing Nigeria flag on the list is very disappointing to say the least, it's very very disappointing much more to find countries that the Nigerian super eagles are much more better than; going for the 2026 world cup while our players sit behind and watch the matches.

Osimhen promised Nigerians the Afcon cup as a compensation for their inability to qualify for the world cup, but today and unfortunately, they super eagles didn't win the Afcon as promised, though personally, I understand that this season's afcon was filled with lots of irregularities and this may have lead to the super eagles not being able to make it to finals, but all the same, as it's commonly said that he who fights and run away lives to fight another day, I believe our season will definitely come..

Its pretty dissapointing that we dont see Nigeria in the World cup but some big other teams also have not qualified like Italy and this is the third time in a row they didnt qualify and they are one of the biggest football countries. On the other hand you see teams like cape verde or curucao qualifing and then i start questioning myself what is happening with the teams that qualify.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

I am not from Italy or Nigeria but I really enjoy watching these two teams in World Cups because of their performances in previous editions. It’s so unfortunate that we won’t get to see their special talents this time. The same goes for Italy.

But this is football, in the end what really matters is the final score. We have seen many teams perform good with beautiful football yet finish without any titles or trophies. Sometimes, all that remains is the impression and memories they leave with the fans.

I also feel that it’s less enjoyable with the edition where your national team is already eliminated. On top of that, I have a small feeling that this World Cup may not be as exciting as the previous ones, mainly because of the time differences and about the quality of the pitches in the US mainly built for a different sport.

Italian players are no longer as world class quality like previous generations but they are still good enough. They're responsible for failures in getting a ticket to World Cup 2018, 2022 and 2026 which are three consecutive World Cups they have to stay at home and watch it on televisions.

However the current organization is hilarious that Sweden got a chance to join playoff matches when their national team ended with a bottom position in their group, and eventually they won two playoff matches and will participate in World Cup 2026. Comparing Sweden to Italy is like they are not at a same level and Italy is better than Sweden. This result is not only disappointed but somewhat unfair with Italy with their performances in all matches for World Cup 2026 qualification.

[Ale88]

I watched italy match and I have to say it was truly embarrassing; they were afraid of bosnia and at times were completely pinned back on the defensive. In the end, the statistics showed that Bosnia had 30 (!!!) shots on goal and Italy 9; if you let teams like germany, france or brazil have 30 shots on goal, it’s going to end very badly.

I agree. The most annoying part about this elimination is how it happened: we scored a random goal thanks to the Bosnian goalkeeper's mistake; then Bastoni made a huge mistake because you can't get a red card with more than a half time to play, let the player end the play and see what happens, worst case scenario he scores but at least we can still play 11 vs 11. There was no passion, no interest, I don't even understand how they can represent the national team, it's been a total shame. And the worst thing is that the president of the Italian Federation is refusing to leave: he and his friends literally destroyed Italian football and, once again, he refuses to leave his spot. Unbelievable. If he really stays we can say goodbye to the next World Cup too, nothing will ever change.

Sorry Ale88… the Italian players for all their qualities could not show it on the pitch, could it be that they’re now past glory and the players selected aren’t quality enough. I feel your pain as a Nigerian this is what we go through most times, we have the players to do the damage but when it comes to the National team they don’t live up to expectations. Italy aren’t supposed to be in the playoffs in the first place just like Nigeria and they both finally lost the playoffs qualification.
What can we do as fans and patriotic citizens?

It's not that "the players selected aren’t quality enough", at the end those are the players we currently have, you can change a couple of names in the squad but it won't make a big difference. And I understand that, football goes in circles, right now we are at one of the lowest point in our history. What I can't accept is the attitude: I don't know whether they were scared, felt too much the pressure, or what else, but they were playing against Bosnia, not Spain, they didn't even try to play, I just don't get it, it doesn't make any sense.

I feel bad for you too, when I grew up some of my favorite players were Okocha and Babangida, now we can just hope some day we'll see similar players again, who knows...

[YUriy1991]

Looking at the flags of the participating countries in the coming 2026 world up and not seeing Nigeria flag on the list is very disappointing to say the least, it's very very disappointing much more to find countries that the Nigerian super eagles are much more better than; going for the 2026 world cup while our players sit behind and watch the matches.

Osimhen promised Nigerians the Afcon cup as a compensation for their inability to qualify for the world cup, but today and unfortunately, they super eagles didn't win the Afcon as promised, though personally, I understand that this season's afcon was filled with lots of irregularities and this may have lead to the super eagles not being able to make it to finals, but all the same, as it's commonly said that he who fights and run away lives to fight another day, I believe our season will definitely come..

As a fan, I can understand your feelings, but I believe FIFA has conducted the qualifying process fairly by adding several countries to the World Cup through a regional competition system. Many of the countries that qualified this time may not be as good as the Nigerian national team in terms of player composition, but they came in as the best in their region. The World Cup is always exciting and exciting, full of surprises every year. A national team as big as Italy failed to qualify this time due to a dramatic loss to Bosnia, despite having one of the best competitions in the world, yet they failed to qualify. I think this FIFA World Cup will be one of the best, because many countries will make the tournament famous, despite their small stature. For our national teams that failed to qualify, we can still support other countries.

[satscraper]

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.

Agreed. Bosnia’s win is not exactly the feather in their cap, but rather the result of the Italian players’ lack of vigilance, who ^{despite being the superior team} carelessly underestimated their opponents. I still blame Gattuso for this mistake, for not toughening his team before the match or at least abandoning the long‑ball tactics after the red card. But what happened cannot be undone.

[bastisisca]

Alessandro Bastoni would be the most hated player in Italy. He might consider leaving the country because his red card contributed to this disappointment.  

Unfortunately, as I said, this depends on the poor quality of Italian football, or rather, football played by Italians.
Nobody cares about spring anymore, that is, about raising champions.
They buy them elsewhere, so obviously our football becomes poorer.

[Italian Panic]

The various teams that have qualified for the World Cup 2026, so far the group that looks tough it terms of similar strength, is Group F with Japan, Netherlands and Sweden being the biggest contenders, but I really can't underestimate Tunisia too.

I think the swiss are celebrating italy elimination right now because Bosnia has been drawn in their group. That group is now an easy one for them.
I can see some difficulties in group I too, there are two top teams in France and Norway, but senegal can hold their own because they have got physicality, pace and a few strong players. Belgium have a very easy group.

[karabiber]

Turkey's group in the World Cup consists of:

• USA
• Paraguay
• Australia

Our only tough fixture is against USA here. We should be able to handle the other 2 teams by benefiting from the serious quality gap.

USA are the hosts at the same time. This makes it even harder!    They are currently shown a little bit more favourite for finishing as group leader in odds.

Türkiye has the best squad quality and the most expensive roster in the group. I don’t think they’ll struggle in this group and i think will easily advance from it. I don’t think the mistakes made in the qualifiers will be repeated in the tournament. Because during the qualifiers, the players were competing under the weight and stress of having been unable to participate in the tournament for years, but now the situation has changed. After many years, Türkiye is back in the World Cup, and just as it did in the 2002 World Cup, it will make a name for itself in the 2026 World Cup as well.

[sana54210]

If the whole situation came down to a single player getting a red card causing them to lose the world cup chance, then the problem is much bigger than that. Italy should have been already gone, and easily be winning. Bosnia is not at the level of Italy, they do not have the financials to do what Italians do and yet they have looked better, and we are blaming just luck or something?

Italy should have been at the world cup, no Italy in 2018 no Italy in 2022 and now no Italy in 2026 that is just shameful. They should be considering how this could change for the long term and they need to make sure they could do a lot better. Otherwise this is not going to work well for them at all, we are talking about much worse situation.

[Merit.s]

I agree that this group seems well-balanced; Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden really have strong and competitive teams, but Tunisia can't be ignored either. In the World Cup, surprises always happen, and sometimes a team considered an underdog ends up making things difficult for the favorites. I think it's going to be a very competitive group right up until the last round.

Of course, football is full of surprises which is why the underdogs still have the chance to win the favorite. I think that will only happen in the group stage and not in the knockout stage.

Tunisia looks weak in the group though, I shouldn't underestimate them because the competition hasn't started yet. I can't wait for the world cup to start.