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

[broccolo9]

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.

With their current squad, they should easily advance in their group, considering they're also playing Australia, the United States, and Paraguay. A win should be within their reach. It's also worth noting that they haven't qualified for the World Cup in 24 years, so from that perspective, they might find themselves in trouble.

[Lucius]

What a disgrace our Italian national football team is!! For three years running, we’ve managed the feat of failing to qualify for the World Cup…
I think this is the greatest humiliation for a national team that boasts no fewer than four World Cup titles to its name.
The recent news about the play-off at Iran’s expense makes me feel even more ashamed of the whole situation.
Truly disappointed

You and every ordinary citizen have no reason to be ashamed, because it's not your fault, it's those who didn't do their job properly. People who do a job should be competent for that job, and we know that they are often just suitable and chosen for some interest. Still, it's good for everyone responsible to step aside and give someone else a chance.

The time for European qualifiers will come soon, and Italy needs to get its ranks in order by then.

[Ale88]

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.

What does a country's population have to do with the qualification system? Is it a new qualification system? The biggest countries have more rights?

If you don't see a problem with a Federation that qualifies up to 70% of their teams... In Europe, through the years, we have seen many big teams missing the qualification: Italy, the Netherlands, France, England... In South American this doesn't happen. It can't happen with this system because you can lose 60% of your matches and yet you can qualify.

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.

So for you a team with these results deserves to qualify then:


And let's see the table:


I mean, seriously, you don't see anything wrong here? Are you for real? They lost 4 matches out of 6, they didn't win a single match, not even at home, and yet they qualified. If for you this is fair I don't know what to say.

[el kaka22]

It is 100% politics and nothing more, in fact it is so much so that we are talking about a very shitty situation. I understand it became news because of Italy not being qualified, if they won, and Bosnia did not, then we would not be hearing about this, but it has always been political.

The only reason why teams from Asia and north America ever go to world cup is because they are given a chance, and because of that they play, otherwise they would not have a single chance to beat any European qualifiers. If we are talking about putting lets say USA or Canada or Mexico for example into Europe battles and see how they do, we would see them lose out very early on, be the last place in any group they are put in.

[giorgione]

There are some teams that make me very curious and this year there are so many new ones. i like that there are some teams that are working so hard. The Democratic Republic of Congo also makes me very curious. i say that it will be a very different World Cup compared to the others.

this year there are certainly a lot of teams that are going very well, like these two you say but like Norway im very intrigued to see them, and i can't wait to see where they will end up in this World Cup, im sure they will make a great journey, with an attacker they have at their disposal they can only have a great journey

[Sithara007]

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.

Half of UEFA countries are microstates such as Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands and Andorra. Population should be the criteria, not the number of countries. Even now, very strong countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile are unable to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.  

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.

What I was trying to imply is that the population of UEFA (excluding Russia, as it is no longer in UEFA) is comparable with that of CONMEBOL.

I would still stick to my argument. Majority of the one-sided matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup will involve UEFA teams at the receiving end. Look out for matches involving teams such as Sweden, Austria and Czech Republic.

[$weetne$$]

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.

If you would want to use the FIFA ranking to judge or predict the possible performance of a team in this world cup, I doubt your precision will be good enough because the ranking is not an absolute determinant of the capability of the team in recent times but then it could give an insight into statistical analysis for predictions actually.  But there are top teams that are undoubtedly seen as good due to their squad depth as a country in the world cup.

[Ale88]

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.

Half of UEFA countries are microstates such as Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands and Andorra.

Half of UEFA countries are micro-states? What are you talking about? The only small countries are: Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, and San Marino. That is 6 countries out of 54 UEFA nations. And I'll do the math for you: that is 11.11% of the total, not 50% like you're saying.
Also, Monaco doesn't play, it doesn't even have a national team; and Faroe Islands ended up in 3rd position in their group, they could have qualified until the last game, their movement is growing a lot.

Population should be the criteria, not the number of countries.

Eh? What kind of nonsense is this? So a country should be privileged because they have a bigger population? Sure, at this point we could even skip the qualification process and play a World Cup among China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, it would be great, wouldn't it? I'm sure fans will love to see these games!

Even now, very strong countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile are unable to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

Sure, Venezuela are so strong that is the only South American nation that has never qualified to the WC. And Bolivia, another great football country, so great the last time they qualified it was back in 1994, and before that in 1950... European teams are filled with Bolivian players.

[cande86]

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.

in international competitions Italy hasn't had a decent team for years and this is clear, if you don't have the chance to have young people play in prestigious club teams these are the results, i have to say that even the young Italians are a bit too poor and not as strong as they used to be.

[Rikafip]

Population should be the criteria, not the number of countries. Even now, very strong countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile are unable to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.  

Neither population (based on your nonsense AFC should have like 30 teams at WC) or number of the countries should be criteria, but the strength of the teams in each federation, and UEFA is under represented based on that.

What I was trying to imply is that the population of UEFA (excluding Russia, as it is no longer in UEFA)

Please stop repeating that lie, Russia is still UEFA member and will continue playing once ban is lifted. Hell, you can still see them getting national UEFA coefficient on their website, even though their clubs are still banned.

[TastyChillySauce00]

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.

Paraguay is just 5 ranks below your national team. So i don't think you can underestimate them. If you saw the way Paraguy played against Moroco it will change your mind. This is why i think AU is the only weakest team, but i rate the rest in the same level teams.
US's odds for finishing at the top is only a little big higher, but i think it's ahrd to determine the winner from this kind of group when all of thems are almost in the same level.

[jakdanyel]

I wish the number of teams joining the World Cup didn't ever change from 32 to 48. Or they could have just increased the number of European countries joining it at least!

Only 16 out of 48 national teams are from Europe which is insane... This simply drops the quality of the biggest football organization in the world.

But we will never be able to tell FIFA about it I guess. They just don't care about what we think.

[Ale88]

Neither population (based on your nonsense AFC should have like 30 teams at WC) or number of the countries should be criteria, but the strength of the teams in each federation, and UEFA is under represented based on that.

I think it's unreal that we actually have to explain this concept. Also because I don't understand where his idea could come from, is there a single sport/competition in the world that privileges the country with the highest population instead of the best one? Because I don't think so.

And based on that idea, countries like yours (Croatia) and Uruguay basically shouldn't even be allowed to play.

I wish the number of teams joining the World Cup didn't ever change from 32 to 48.

In my opinion sooner than ever will have a 64-team World Cup. This is the new path: more teams, more matches, more money. Football's quality? It doesn't matter. They completely ruined the tournament.

[Salahmu]

I wish the number of teams joining the World Cup didn't ever change from 32 to 48. Or they could have just increased the number of European countries joining it at least!

Only 16 out of 48 national teams are from Europe which is insane... This simply drops the quality of the biggest football organization in the world.

But we will never be able to tell FIFA about it I guess. They just don't care about what we think.

Europe is a home of soccer they are doing very well plus the league they have but however FIFA has been very fair to them in the number of countries that's coming from their to play the world cup this year because I believe Europe has the highest number of countries in one content to play the world cup because out of the total number and they gave them 16 is actually a lot, even the continent which is regarded as the largest has only few countries that is coming to the world cup, so actually I was even thinking they're the ones who could have ask for more countries to be added for them.

[katanic97]

I wish the number of teams joining the World Cup didn't ever change from 32 to 48. Or they could have just increased the number of European countries joining it at least!

Only 16 out of 48 national teams are from Europe which is insane... This simply drops the quality of the biggest football organization in the world.

But we will never be able to tell FIFA about it I guess. They just don't care about what we think.

Europe is a home of soccer they are doing very well plus the league they have but however FIFA has been very fair to them in the number of countries that's coming from their to play the world cup this year because I believe Europe has the highest number of countries in one content to play the world cup because out of the total number and they gave them 16 is actually a lot, even the continent which is regarded as the largest has only few countries that is coming to the world cup, so actually I was even thinking they're the ones who could have ask for more countries to be added for them.

Let’s be real, european football is the highest quality and it’s always been that way. Not saying other continents aren’t good there’s quality football everywhere,but europe is still on another level. So it makes sense they get that many spots at the tournament. FIFA has been pretty fair with the allocations, and I think we’re in for a really great world cup.

[Adbitco]

I really don't know how solid the news is but there's a news circulating that Gattuso has resigned rom his role as the Italy national team coach after he couldn't lead his team to the world cup. Italy couldn't make it directly to the world cup but it's qualifiers and was drawn in a playoff, their match against Bosnia was the game that should have earned them the ticket but they blew that chance. Italy were ahead in the match but got a red card in the closing minutes of the first half, I believe that one man down was one of the reasons why they couldn't hold on but nevertheless, Italy has even been poor in recent years so it's not like they are one solid side. As for the part of him leaving far away from Italy, I don't think he would do that, these men just talk and that's it.

[Lembo69]

Let’s be real, european football is the highest quality and it’s always been that way. Not saying other continents aren’t good there’s quality football everywhere,but europe is still on another level. So it makes sense they get that many spots at the tournament. FIFA has been pretty fair with the allocations, and I think we’re in for a really great world cup.

This 2026 FIFA World Cup is going to be really exciting, because it is not long before the FIFA World Cup starts. I myself am very interested in watching the FIFA World Cup, I am even more interested in which team will win this year's FIFA World Cup. 48 teams in 12 groups, just think about how exciting it is going to be, among them the legendary players' games will tell which team has become more powerful. The whole world seems to be thinking like me now when it will start, they are counting the days. Modern arrangements in a new country in a new stadium create more excitement. As a football lover, it is really a matter of joy, who loves football. Only they will be able to understand this. Football lovers are interested in the philosophy of the experience of the players and powerful coaches of each team. This 2026 FIFA World Cup will not be easy even for those who are known as big and strong teams from the beginning. No team will want to lack effort, so this FIFA World Cup is going to be exciting, this is real and true.

[ndutndut]

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.

in international competitions Italy hasn't had a decent team for years and this is clear, if you don't have the chance to have young people play in prestigious club teams these are the results, i have to say that even the young Italians are a bit too poor and not as strong as they used to be.

You're right, because they don't give young players opportunities resulting in a lack of regeneration. This is what's causing Italy dark period in football to continue especially in the World Cup. There are many contributing factors, but the most obvious is their lack of talented young players. Perhaps this is because Serie A clubs prefer to bring in older players rather than relying on young talent.

This is different from Portugal and France. Although their leagues are still below Serie A, most of their players are foreigners while Italy mostly plays in its domestic league and even then most of its young players are reserves because they can't compete with older discarded players thus slowing regeneration. Just look at France, Portugal, Spain and others where regeneration is very fast. Essentially, the quality of the league also affects the national team. Just look at the Italian clubs devastation in the UCL.

Besides the slow regeneration, what caused Italy failure to qualify for the World Cup, I think it's because they often underestimate their opponents and lack the experience of their coach. Even though there are many successful coaches from Italy they recruit coaches for the national team who lack experience.

[DiMarxist]

Even though Italy is not going to be in the world cup, and the disappointment coming from this team. But I don't think that Gattuso should resign from his position as the manager of the team. The problem with the Italian national team is lack of quality players so it will take a while before the Italian National team can compete at the highest level of football like the world cup. Gattuso should stay and build a formidable team he has already started and should be allowed to continue. Bringing a new coach will mean that the coach will start from the scratch all over again.

[jaberwock]

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.

This is why I highly suggested that we should be making a "world qualifier" to everyone, because that would make things more fair. I do not know how many teams are in FIFA, how many nations participate in these qualifiers, but take it from all around the world from every single part, and put them into a single world qualifier. No more 12 from Europe 5 from there and 6 from there etc etc, no more continents at all.

We put every single nation into groups, and those groups battle each other, that way you will see Italy play against Jordan too, or Norway against Qatar too etc, and Tahiti or whatever will have to face France too. Lets see how many teams actually go to world cup from each nation. Then we can discuss if a team was good or not, I guarantee you that Italy would be in every single year that way.