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

[Ale88]

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.

How can you call the qualification process fair when there are federation like the CONMEBOL with up to 70% of the teams that qualify at the World Cup? How could countries like Argentina and Brazil miss the qualification? It's impossible. Then we have Oceania where New Zealand are so superior to all the rest of the teams who are a bunch of islands. And what about Europe? They wanted to push so much the Nations Cup that thanks to that Sweden, after collecting 2 points during the qualification games, took part at the playoffs thanks to the Nations Cup. And then we have teams who didn't qualify despite having 15-18 points. It's ridiculous.

[Zlantann]

How can you call the qualification process fair when there are federation like the CONMEBOL with up to 70% of the teams that qualify at the World Cup? How could countries like Argentina and Brazil miss the qualification? It's impossible. Then we have Oceania where New Zealand are so superior to all the rest of the teams who are a bunch of islands. And what about Europe? They wanted to push so much the Nations Cup that thanks to that Sweden, after collecting 2 points during the qualification games, took part at the playoffs thanks to the Nations Cup. And then we have teams who didn't qualify despite having 15-18 points. It's ridiculous.

FIFA made some complicated rules in the qualification to the World Cup. Let me assume that this was because it was the first time they implemented the expansion of the competition. Hopefully adjustment will be made in the future because this current system is unjust. I don't see any reason why Italy would have to play in the playoff after gathering eighteen points with Sweden, which got just two points. This is unjust, but Italy have themselves to blame.

[Sithara007]

How can you call the qualification process fair when there are federation like the CONMEBOL with up to 70% of the teams that qualify at the World Cup? How could countries like Argentina and Brazil miss the qualification? It's impossible. Then we have Oceania where New Zealand are so superior to all the rest of the teams who are a bunch of islands. And what about Europe? They wanted to push so much the Nations Cup that thanks to that Sweden, after collecting 2 points during the qualification games, took part at the playoffs thanks to the Nations Cup. And then we have teams who didn't qualify despite having 15-18 points. It's ridiculous.

That's not the way of looking into this. CONMEBOL has so few teams, because in the South American continent we have big countries such as Brazil and Colombia, whose population is greater than the most populous country in Europe. On the other hand, there are a number of European countries such as Andorra, San Marino and Monaco, where the population is not even 100k. In terms of total population, South America has roughly the same numbers as Europe. Given this, I don't find anything wrong with 6 teams qualifying from CONMEBOL and 16 qualifying from UEFA.

[m4r1o]

Have you even heard that Italy was playing with one man down from the 40th minute? Or are you just reading the headlines?
I'm happy for Bosnia, sad for Italy. And I'm really sad that such a, um... trash team (I mean results, not players, although Isak is a rat) like Sweden got to the World Cup. It is clear that the qualifying system was known in advance, but it seems unfair when teams like Poland, Italy and others which performed well in the qualifying tournament do not qualify for the tournament, while Sweden with ZERO wins and a negative goal difference does.

The sad truth that Italy hasn't had a national team for years now, the results speak for themselves, you have to be realistic and accept the situation.
Maybe Italy as a team can participate in other competitions, but football at the moment and we see it in clubs too is poor.
It's not unfair if they play badly they don't deserve to win, that's how it works, regardless of who you play with. The quality of play changes the lot.

[satscraper]

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.

Agreed. Turkey seems to be the clear favorite in this group, so it shouldn’t be the problem for them to stay on top throughout the qualification matches. The only team that could challenge them in Group D is Paraguay, so the June 19^th match between the two will reveal who truly has the upper hand. Still, I believe Turkey’s intensity and quick tempo will allow them to overcome the tough South American side.

[Ruttoshi]

Don't use the idea that Turkey struggled their way to the world cup through a qualification playoff and think that they will find it difficult to move to the next stages. Turkey team has a squad depth and they have quite some impressive players such as Arda Güler who plays at Real Madrid, Deniz Gül who plays for FC Porto and Yunus Akgün who plays at the Turkish team Galatasaray. Don't underrate Turkey because i see them as the favorites among the countries you listed. Paraguay being a CONMEBOL team doesn't make them special, am even seeing USA and Turkey as the teams that will take the first and the second positions in their group.

No one should underestimate any country that qualifies through the playoffs because it doesn't mean that they're weak. I agree with you that Turkiye is one of the favorite in their group that will qualify to the round of 16.

USA is another team that should be able to qualify to the round of 16 because they have good players and don't easily accept defeats. It was back days that Paraguay looks strong but they can still surprise us.

[8rch7]

How can you call the qualification process fair when there are federation like the CONMEBOL with up to 70% of the teams that qualify at the World Cup? How could countries like Argentina and Brazil miss the qualification? It's impossible. Then we have Oceania where New Zealand are so superior to all the rest of the teams who are a bunch of islands. And what about Europe? They wanted to push so much the Nations Cup that thanks to that Sweden, after collecting 2 points during the qualification games, took part at the playoffs thanks to the Nations Cup. And then we have teams who didn't qualify despite having 15-18 points. It's ridiculous.

I think the CONMEBOL zone most easily comparison with Asian or Europe zone for qualifying to the World Cup, the CONMEBOL zone have 10 teams participants with the top 6th standings directly qualifying and the 7th position will play at the playoff round. I don't think difficult for Argentina or Brazil absent at World Cup because they face the weakness teams in qualifying match than if you can see how difficult opponent team at Europe qualifier to World Cup.

Argentina finish at top standings of CONMEBOL qualifier and likely not difficult yet every season will qualify, the same with Brazil although has bad performance but success finish at 5th position and its not problem because secure the spot at World Cup 2026.

[bastisisca]

That's not the way of looking into this. CONMEBOL has so few teams, because in the South American continent we have big countries such as Brazil and Colombia, whose population is greater than the most populous country in Europe. On the other hand, there are a number of European countries such as Andorra, San Marino and Monaco, where the population is not even 100k. In terms of total population, South America has roughly the same numbers as Europe. Given this, I don't find anything wrong with 6 teams qualifying from CONMEBOL and 16 qualifying from UEFA.

Whoever is stronger qualifies.
Guys, this is not a question of politics, but of sport. The deserving teams qualify, the shitty teams, sorry I have to say.. like Italy. They're outside.

There's no way that because you're from a continent you necessarily have to qualify.

[banana33]

The sad truth that Italy hasn't had a national team for years now, the results speak for themselves, you have to be realistic and accept the situation.
Maybe Italy as a team can participate in other competitions, but football at the moment and we see it in clubs too is poor.
It's not unfair if they play badly they don't deserve to win, that's how it works, regardless of who you play with. The quality of play changes the lot.

Italy would also have important players to make a serious competition but unfortunately with so many foreigners populating Italian football there is no longer much chance of having other interesting players to include in the national team and we must always rely on the usual ones.

[7juju]

How can you call the qualification process fair when there are federation like the CONMEBOL with up to 70% of the teams that qualify at the World Cup? How could countries like Argentina and Brazil miss the qualification? It's impossible. Then we have Oceania where New Zealand are so superior to all the rest of the teams who are a bunch of islands. And what about Europe? They wanted to push so much the Nations Cup that thanks to that Sweden, after collecting 2 points during the qualification games, took part at the playoffs thanks to the Nations Cup. And then we have teams who didn't qualify despite having 15-18 points. It's ridiculous.

FIFA made some complicated rules in the qualification to the World Cup. Let me assume that this was because it was the first time they implemented the expansion of the competition. Hopefully adjustment will be made in the future because this current system is unjust. I don't see any reason why Italy would have to play in the playoff after gathering eighteen points with Sweden, which got just two points. This is unjust, but Italy have themselves to blame.

This has nothing to do with FIFA, it is the UEFA that has to bring up modalities on how to distribute their allocated spots at the World Cup. FIFA gives each federation certain number of slots that will represent each continents at the World Cup. UEFA has a system on ground that determines how countries from their block qualify to the World Cup. It has nothing to do with FIFA. If there’s a call for reform it will be within the UEFA block, FIFA won’t decide for them. If you don’t qualify directly from the group stage, you go to the playoffs. Your numbers of points gathered during group stages doesn’t matter. Italy didn’t make it through the group stage, same thing with Sweden. Number of points gathered is irrelevant after group stages.

[Sithara007]

I think the CONMEBOL zone most easily comparison with Asian or Europe zone for qualifying to the World Cup, the CONMEBOL zone have 10 teams participants with the top 6th standings directly qualifying and the 7th position will play at the playoff round. I don't think difficult for Argentina or Brazil absent at World Cup because they face the weakness teams in qualifying match than if you can see how difficult opponent team at Europe qualifier to World Cup.

Argentina finish at top standings of CONMEBOL qualifier and likely not difficult yet every season will qualify, the same with Brazil although has bad performance but success finish at 5th position and its not problem because secure the spot at World Cup 2026.

What do you mean by easy competition in CONMEBOL?

That confederation has some of the strongest teams in international football, such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay. There are a total of 10 teams in CONMEBOL and not a single one is weak. On the other hand, you will find dozens of weaker teams in UEFA (such as Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Malta and Andorra) and CONCACAF (Grenada, Cayman Islands.etc). Even the teams that failed to qualify directly from the CONMEBOL, such as Chile and Venezuela are extremely strong teams. 

[Rikafip]

CONMEBOL has so few teams, because in the South American continent we have big countries such as Brazil and Colombia, whose population is greater than the most populous country in Europe.

Lol, you are joking, right? Brazil does has more people than any other country that is part of UEFA, while there are 6 UEFA countries that have bigger population Colombia.

In terms of total population, South America has roughly the same numbers as Europe.

Another nonsense, check again.

Given this, I don't find anything wrong with 6 teams qualifying from CONMEBOL and 16 qualifying from UEFA.

Using that flawed logic, Asia should have by far the most countreis at WC. Luckily, FIFA is not that crazy. Number of countries sent should be determined by quality, and if that was the case, UEFA would have at leats 3-4 more spots than it has now.

[Sithara007]

In terms of total population, South America has roughly the same numbers as Europe.

Another nonsense, check again.

Population of European Union is 450 million, while that of South America is 440 million. Who is talking nonsense here? Only populated country in Europe outside the EU is Russia (with a population of 145-150 million), but they are no longer part of UEFA and may move to AFC soon. Given this, I find nothing wrong in FIFA awarding 6 slots to CONMEBOL. Actually the 16 slots for UEFA seems a bit too high for me. But it will work, since the quality is not too bad. AFC and CAF also have single digit slots (but still higher than CONMEBOL) and I don't understand this selective outrage aimed at CONMEBOL.

[Pumared]

Don't use the idea that Turkey struggled their way to the world cup through a qualification playoff and think that they will find it difficult to move to the next stages. Turkey team has a squad depth and they have quite some impressive players such as Arda Güler who plays at Real Madrid, Deniz Gül who plays for FC Porto and Yunus Akgün who plays at the Turkish team Galatasaray. Don't underrate Turkey because i see them as the favorites among the countries you listed. Paraguay being a CONMEBOL team doesn't make them special, am even seeing USA and Turkey as the teams that will take the first and the second positions in their group.

No one should underestimate any country that qualifies through the playoffs because it doesn't mean that they're weak. I agree with you that Turkiye is one of the favorite in their group that will qualify to the round of 16.

USA is another team that should be able to qualify to the round of 16 because they have good players and don't easily accept defeats. It was back days that Paraguay looks strong but they can still surprise us.

I agree. The team might have a rocky start to qualifying, but everything changes in the World Cup. A great example is Morocco in the last World Cup, which became a major threat out of nowhere. You can't underestimate any team, whether weak or strong.

[Rikafip]

Population of European Union is 450 million, while that of South America is 440 million. Who is talking nonsense here?

You of course are talking nonsense, because UEFA consist of many other countries that are not the part of EU (there are 27 countries in EU while UEFA consists of 55 members). So yeah, better do math again.

Only populated country in Europe outside the EU is Russia (with a population of 145-150 million), but they are no longer part of UEFA and may move to AFC soon.

Russia is still part of UEFA and won't move to AFC. And no, its not the only very populated country that is part of UEFA, unless you consider Turkey, Germany, France, Italy, England and Spain low populated countries.

[Not your key not your BTC]

Sweden beat Poland 3:2 to get their world cup ticket, this is the same Swedish team that failed to win a single match during the world cup qualifying rounds. With two draws and six losses they are in the world cup. Twelve goals conceded and four goals scored, bottom of the group but they are in the world cup today. I really don't understand how they qualified for the world play offs with just two points. I'm suspecting it's through the Nations league because that's the only logical explanation as to why they qualified for the play offs.

In my opinion, Sweden's success in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is inextricably linked to Graham Potter's role as coach.  Sweden previously finished bottom of the World Cup qualifying round and qualified for the play-offs thanks to their performance in the Nations League. However, after replacing Jon Dahl Tomasson as coach, Potter led Sweden to two playoff wins over hosts Ukraine and Poland, leading them to qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

[paco92x]

FIFA made some complicated rules in the qualification to the World Cup. Let me assume that this was because it was the first time they implemented the expansion of the competition. Hopefully adjustment will be made in the future because this current system is unjust. I don't see any reason why Italy would have to play in the playoff after gathering eighteen points with Sweden, which got just two points. This is unjust, but Italy have themselves to blame.

I think that this format of 48 nations will be a complete parody. A 32-team tournament was the bedrock of a good World Cup, and now you have 12 more nations and who knows how many more games will be played in total. I really love the World Cup and always watch all the games from start to finish, but it will be difficult to watch some of the smaller matches at 3 p.m. in my local time.

And not to mention that it’s probably the worst time to have a World Cup in the USA. Personally, I think that, aside from the format, it could be one of the worst World Cups in many years—possibly even the worst of all time.

[Sithara007]

Population of European Union is 450 million, while that of South America is 440 million. Who is talking nonsense here?

You of course are talking nonsense, because UEFA consist of many other countries that are not the part of EU (there are 27 countries in EU while UEFA consists of 55 members). So yeah, better do math again.

Even then, CONMEBOL has only 6 slots, while UEFA has 16.

Only populated country in Europe outside the EU is Russia (with a population of 145-150 million), but they are no longer part of UEFA and may move to AFC soon.

Russia is still part of UEFA and won't move to AFC. And no, its not the only very populated country that is part of UEFA, unless you consider Turkey, Germany, France, Italy, England and Spain low populated countries.

Russia already made a request during Olympic qualifiers to move to Asian region, but IOC rejected that request. They may follow this trend for the other sports as well. Out of the list that you provided, only Türkiye is not an EU member. All the other countries are founding members of the European Union.

Also, you misunderstood my statement. What I said is that Russia is the only populated country in Europe outside the EU. I was not talking about Germany or France, as they are included in the EU. But yes, I missed Türkiye.

[allfriends88]

I agree. The team might have a rocky start to qualifying, but everything changes in the World Cup. A great example is Morocco in the last World Cup, which became a major threat out of nowhere. You can't underestimate any team, whether weak or strong.

Yes, all the teams that have qualified so far cannot be underestimated. Regardless of continent or FIFA ranking, they still play with 11 men and have the potential to cause problems for the favorites or even surprise us all, just as Morocco did. I hope that with the addition of participating countries in this World Cup, there will be many surprises from underdog countries.

[Rikafip]

Even then, CONMEBOL has only 6 slots, while UEFA has 16.

CONMEBOL has 10 members, out of which 6!! are guaranteed to go to WC, while 7th can still qualify. UEFA has 55 members and only 16 spots, with no potential extra chance for WC like all other federations have, while at the same time they regularly perform the best. And that's the part that is not fair, as this expansion is done at the Europe's expense.

Also, you misunderstood my statement. What I said is that Russia is the only populated country in Europe outside the EU. I was not talking about Germany or France, as they are included in the EU. But yes, I missed Türkiye.

European Union is completely irrelevant for this discussion. You wrongly thought that UEFA consist only from EU countries, while in fact its far from truth.