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

[Italian Panic]

FIFA has never been interested in bringing peace through sport but only finds agreements in the interest of its managers and allies, there is no reason for these managers and organizers to think about the global good and sport in general even if they should do so, but something is changing, i can feel it in the air...

In my view, sport and politics should be two parallel lines that never intersect. Just as it was wrong to bar Russian athletes from the summer and winter olympics and the World Cup, it would now be wrong if Iran were not to take part. Sport should be a model of integration and excellence, yet it is constantly being politicised for no good reason.

[giorgione]

Good list and no wonder why Argentina in the top place because they are defending champion and Spain too can be considered as one of the strongest team among to that list especially at their squad it is dominated by young players which i am sure Spain will talk more in this tournament later but i think the interesting is Norway that because this team is very amazing that Norway have won all of the games on qualification stages or 8 consecutive won besides that Haaland also impressing with 16 goals during qualification and if Norway can playing consistent i am sure other teams should beware of them because seems for the current world cup Norway is pretty strong

that will be a real and best challenge, for the rest there are no very interesting groups, the big teams have been drawn and placed far from each other, times have changed and the teams are no longer as strong as they once were, that's for sure, now i just have to understand if and when they will meet, Spain has a good chance of winning.

[snipie]

In my view, sport and politics should be two parallel lines that never intersect. Just as it was wrong to bar Russian athletes from the summer and winter olympics and the World Cup, it would now be wrong if Iran were not to take part. Sport should be a model of integration and excellence, yet it is constantly being politicised for no good reason.

That's called double standards because aggressor in a part of the world is sanctioned and in another part of the world is called self-defence.
Anyway, what you said about the two parallel lines that should never intersect is the ideal world but in reality the emotions that the victims have are intense and persist for decades so we cannot blame them for refusing to face the aggressor. I am talking in general and not about a specific place.
Nowadays everything is getting politicised as you said and social media are pushing blindly the people and making the fire worse..

[aipercoin]

I dont see this Portugal as a real contender, anyways they can still have a chane to do something for sure, but i feel like the past world cup they were a much better team overall, now they are nearby the same but having alittle bit less and some players are now much more older, like Cristiano and a few other key players who are not longer in their best.

But i feel like they are between the top 5 or 7.

To tell the truth, Portugal, you can say what you want, I'm telling the truth, was driven hand and foot by Cristiano Ronaldo.
When he doesn't play, Portugal simply doesn't exist. Point.
There's no point in beating around the bush, this is the plain and simple truth.

[Catenaccio]

To tell the truth, Portugal, you can say what you want, I'm telling the truth, was driven hand and foot by Cristiano Ronaldo.
When he doesn't play, Portugal simply doesn't exist. Point.
There's no point in beating around the bush, this is the plain and simple truth.

It's true in the past several years but now, Cristiano Ronaldo no longer has such huge impacts on his national team performance. He can contribute for the team but just at right time, as at his age and performance quality, it's not good if he wants to play in every match, and in full time of each match. He can easily become burden of his teammates if he does not sacrifice his high ego and accepts more appropriate role in this World Cup.

He has his value but his contribution will be better if he is used cleverly and rightly by the head coach but of course he must cooperate well with the coach and  his teammates too.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

I dont see this Portugal as a real contender, anyways they can still have a chane to do something for sure, but i feel like the past world cup they were a much better team overall, now they are nearby the same but having alittle bit less and some players are now much more older, like Cristiano and a few other key players who are not longer in their best.

But i feel like they are between the top 5 or 7.

To tell the truth, Portugal, you can say what you want, I'm telling the truth, was driven hand and foot by Cristiano Ronaldo.
When he doesn't play, Portugal simply doesn't exist. Point.
There's no point in beating around the bush, this is the plain and simple truth.

I think I have to completely agree with you bud, because one way to tell if a football team is really doing well and could be a potential contender for the world Cup is by the number of top star players in the team. When a team has up to 3, 4 or 5 or even 6 top star players, it's imminent that such a team will do well because there is no way of those star players will all not be available to save the team any time and day a tournament like the fifa World Cup shows up

But if we look Portugal, there might be some other star players I don't know but the fact is that it's only Christiano Ronaldo that I know who is a star player from that national team, and if as carefully study Ronaldo, we will see that he has already gone past his prime, at his age, he should be thinking of retirement already but I guess passion and the need to keep making money is the reason why he's still playing.

[Jaycoinz]

I dont see this Portugal as a real contender, anyways they can still have a chane to do something for sure, but i feel like the past world cup they were a much better team overall, now they are nearby the same but having alittle bit less and some players are now much more older, like Cristiano and a few other key players who are not longer in their best.

But i feel like they are between the top 5 or 7.

To tell the truth, Portugal, you can say what you want, I'm telling the truth, was driven hand and foot by Cristiano Ronaldo.
When he doesn't play, Portugal simply doesn't exist. Point.
There's no point in beating around the bush, this is the plain and simple truth.

No doubt that Christaino Ronaldo has done so much for his country and he is part and parcel of every single glory they have and is enjoying right now. But the time is coming when he will need to step down for the younger generation as his age is getting closer and closer to the point where he won't be able to meet up again and with the squad am seeing in the Portuguese team, I think it's safe to say they can carry themselves for some time even without Christaino.

[KTChampions]

IMO, here are the top-10 teams:

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Norway
9. Belgium
10. Uruguay

Don't forget how pathetically Portugal performed during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They crashed out during the quarter-final stage, after losing to Morocco.

Reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup is a pathetic result? Do you remember when Argentina were eliminated in 2018? 
Anyway Portugal also won the Nations Cup in 2025 beating teams like Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Not too bad I'd say.

In the meantime what results have Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Uruguay accomplished? How would you judge their last World Cup participation?

If I'm not confusing him with someone else (I don't think so), he's always trying to put down Europe and elevate the Third World + South America. Moreover, the absence of the third world in the competition for the title between Europe and South America (where all the others are just decoration) infuriates him the most  And here we go again, the closer the World Cup gets, the louder his dubious takes become. I can just imagine how he'll burn out after the quarter-finals are again mostly made up of European teams.

[el kaka22]

I do not want to get into the top 10 discussion for Portugal, but I can tell you that they are not the team that I am expecting them to win this situation because this world cup has a lot of great teams and I do not see them as a team that has a chance to win. Doesn't matter if you put them outside of top ten or you put them in 10th or whatever.

France, Spain, Argentina, these three alone are basically 70%+ Of the chance and if just two of them end up on the opposite sides (only to meet at the finals) then there is a 90%+ chance that we are going to see these teams at the finals. This is why I do not think that this is going to happen and we should not be considering this as a possibility for Portugal, because there are teams better than them anyways.

[Agbamoni]

No doubt that Christaino Ronaldo has done so much for his country and he is part and parcel of every single glory they have and is enjoying right now. But the time is coming when he will need to step down for the younger generation as his age is getting closer and closer to the point where he won't be able to meet up again and with the squad am seeing in the Portuguese team, I think it's safe to say they can carry themselves for some time even without Christaino.

Messi continued in international football until he won the major trophy with his country. Ronaldo will not rest until he has done it. But if it gets to the point he can't win the World Cup due to FIFA's age restriction, the world we know, he did his best. Ronaldo has won the Euros with Portugal, and the World Cup is possible for him to win because when Messi won it, no one expected them to win it over France.

[xLays]

Maybe some of you know about free2play promos from online casinos for the World Cup, like predicting which teams will qualify for the Round of 16. I remember during the last World Cup, a lot of online casinos had promos like that. I’m pretty sure there are still similar promos this time, I just can’t find where they’re being offered, or maybe they haven’t started promoting them yet.
In case you know any World Cup free2play promos from casino you're playing, feel free to share them here. You can also open a thread listing all the available World Cup promos.

[Sithara007]

Reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup is a pathetic result? Do you remember when Argentina were eliminated in 2018? 
Anyway Portugal also won the Nations Cup in 2025 beating teams like Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Not too bad I'd say.

In the meantime what results have Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Uruguay accomplished? How would you judge their last World Cup participation?

Reaching the world cup quarter-final is good. But then losing out to a team such as Morocco is not so good. The reason I don't consider Portugal to be in the same league as teams such as France and Spain is due to the fact that they have an overdependence on Cristiano Ronaldo. Now a lot of the posters will claim that they have players such as João Félix, Bernardo Silva and Rúben Neves. But whenever Ronaldo is not playing, the performance of the team has been poor historically. BTW, even during the qualifiers, they lost a match to the Republic of Ireland. What about that?   

[Ale88]

IMO, here are the top-10 teams:

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Norway
9. Belgium
10. Uruguay

Don't forget how pathetically Portugal performed during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They crashed out during the quarter-final stage, after losing to Morocco.

Reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup is a pathetic result? Do you remember when Argentina were eliminated in 2018? 
Anyway Portugal also won the Nations Cup in 2025 beating teams like Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Not too bad I'd say.

In the meantime what results have Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Uruguay accomplished? How would you judge their last World Cup participation?

If I'm not confusing him with someone else (I don't think so), he's always trying to put down Europe and elevate the Third World + South America. Moreover, the absence of the third world in the competition for the title between Europe and South America (where all the others are just decoration) infuriates him the most  And here we go again, the closer the World Cup gets, the louder his dubious takes become. I can just imagine how he'll burn out after the quarter-finals are again mostly made up of European teams.

He's the guy who thinks the World Cup spots should be assigned depending on the population of the country, not on the teams' strength, should I add something else?  

Reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup is a pathetic result? Do you remember when Argentina were eliminated in 2018? 
Anyway Portugal also won the Nations Cup in 2025 beating teams like Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Not too bad I'd say.

In the meantime what results have Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Uruguay accomplished? How would you judge their last World Cup participation?

Reaching the world cup quarter-final is good. But then losing out to a team such as Morocco is not so good. The reason I don't consider Portugal to be in the same league as teams such as France and Spain is due to the fact that they have an overdependence on Cristiano Ronaldo. Now a lot of the posters will claim that they have players such as João Félix, Bernardo Silva and Rúben Neves. But whenever Ronaldo is not playing, the performance of the team has been poor historically. BTW, even during the qualifiers, they lost a match to the Republic of Ireland. What about that?

I don't care they lost a match during the qualification, every team loses against some underdogs, so?
I ask you to evaluate other teams' performances because maybe you forgot which team eliminated Spain. So I don't understand how you can keep contradicting yourself.

[m4r1o]

If I'm not confusing him with someone else (I don't think so), he's always trying to put down Europe and elevate the Third World + South America. Moreover, the absence of the third world in the competition for the title between Europe and South America (where all the others are just decoration) infuriates him the most  And here we go again, the closer the World Cup gets, the louder his dubious takes become. I can just imagine how he'll burn out after the quarter-finals are again mostly made up of European teams.

it is useless for all this work to be done to favor teams that come from the third world, in the end it is normal that the strongest teams will be the European ones as always, the football played in Europe has always been of a very high level compared to other parts of the world and there is no discussion about this.

[TastyChillySauce00]

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Norway
9. Belgium
10. Uruguay

Don't forget how pathetically Portugal performed during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They crashed out during the quarter-final stage, after losing to Morocco.

It makes me wonder what metrics you have used to exclude Portugal from top 10 nation team in the world. Your statement is very biased and opposite to the what already published by FIFA. To be fair, Portugal has not yet won World Cup, but it's not denying the fact that they're one of football house nation.
This is why i think you exclude Portugal from the top team just because you hate them. It's not because they are bad statistically. It's based on stats i think they're at the top 10 team.

Beside that you argued is not good for Portugal to lose against Morocco, which is think it's fair. Even some top nations could lose to the Japan, which is far below them in the football ranking. It's not good to judge nation power just from one lose.

[pewboy]

Personally I still consider Portugal the favorite because although some players are getting older, they also have a number of quality young players, all of whom play for much better clubs. Portugal has quality players in almost every position, although overall they may not be as good as some of the senior players. Nuno Mendes, Diogo Dalot, Ruben Dias and Cancelo all have quality in defense and Portugal also has the best midfielders currently in Bruno Fernandez, Felix and Silva. Overall, Portugal's squad this season is probably quite complete and the front line could be a threat to other squads in this World Cup.

Portugal is an excellent team, they also have some very strong players, Cristiano Ronaldo i don't think he will start, or rather not always, but just having him in the team i think is a fundamental thing, for all the experience he can give to his teammates it's as if they had another coach on the pitch,

[Daniel91]

Still cannot believe when somebody said Portugal is not even in top 10, it puzzled me to think of 10 candidates better than them.

That is exactly why I've been waiting for that user to enlighten us with his list of these 10 (at least) teams better than Portugal, I am extremely, extremely curious to read his post.

IMO, here are the top-10 teams:

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Norway
9. Belgium
10. Uruguay

Don't forget how pathetically Portugal performed during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They crashed out during the quarter-final stage, after losing to Morocco.

I was about to stop holding my breath, but curiously he has replied to you and not to my original one unless I missed it.

@ Sithara007? You do realize Quarterfinal means you are in the Last 8? Half of those teams you listed didn't even make it to the quarterfinals,,, if they are top 10, isn't that even more pathetic?

Realistically, Portugal is certainly not the main favorite in the World Cup, with such top national teams as France, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, England, Germany, but I would say that in the second group there are teams that can surprise and be dangerous for the main favorites.

In your opinion Brazil are better than Portugal? Are you sure about it? Did you see the names? I'm not even sure how many Brazilians would play in the line-up for Portugal...

On paper I think Brazil have been getting weaker and weaker @Daniel91 especially if you saw the qualifications,,, they really really struggled, and also killed me in BSFL so many times  

The only reason I put Brazil among favorites is simply their Real Madrid style 'we are good in this tournament' plus they also have Ancelotti who can really create magic. But on paper? That squad is extremely weak compared to past editions,,,

But Kalshi thinks Brazil is slightly above Portugal so I do not know

OK, let's start with the basics, the values ​​of both national teams.
According to transfermarkt, https://www.transfermarkt.com/vereins-statistik/wertvollstenationalmannschaften/marktwertetop the value of the Portuguese national team is 864 million euros and they are the fourth team on the list, and the value of the Brazilian national team is 778 million euros and they are the sixth team on the list, so they are almost the same in terms of financial indicators.
It can be said that the Brazilian national team has shown slightly weaker results recently, but I think the problem was not in the quality of the players (they are still top players from the best clubs in the world), but that the Brazilian coaches did not know how to put together a good team from top individuals. They played too much on individual quality and not as a team.
Their current coach Carlo Ancelotti knows how to put together a strong team from great individuals (Real and other clubs) and based on that I think that Brazil will be more competitive at this World Cup than at the last few World Cups.
Of course, neither Brazil nor Portugal are the first favorites to win the World Cup, but, in my opinion, France and Spain.

[leea-1334]

Reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup is a pathetic result? Do you remember when Argentina were eliminated in 2018? 
Anyway Portugal also won the Nations Cup in 2025 beating teams like Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Not too bad I'd say.

In the meantime what results have Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Uruguay accomplished? How would you judge their last World Cup participation?

If I'm not confusing him with someone else (I don't think so), he's always trying to put down Europe and elevate the Third World + South America. Moreover, the absence of the third world in the competition for the title between Europe and South America (where all the others are just decoration) infuriates him the most  And here we go again, the closer the World Cup gets, the louder his dubious takes become. I can just imagine how he'll burn out after the quarter-finals are again mostly made up of European teams.

Ah,,, I see now that this guy is a repeat offender, he seems so active posting but rarely replies, at least,,, for me he does not seem to respond back. He throws a post about Portugal being pathetic and then randomly next posts about Norway, I really do not get this guy.

I have a feeling he is just one of those shitposters 50% of the time just to post for the sake of it and does not have a clear opinion. No offense to Stake but they have a lot of posters doing this. Not even sure he gambles.

[KTChampions]

If I'm not confusing him with someone else (I don't think so), he's always trying to put down Europe and elevate the Third World + South America. Moreover, the absence of the third world in the competition for the title between Europe and South America (where all the others are just decoration) infuriates him the most  And here we go again, the closer the World Cup gets, the louder his dubious takes become. I can just imagine how he'll burn out after the quarter-finals are again mostly made up of European teams.

Ah,,, I see now that this guy is a repeat offender, he seems so active posting but rarely replies, at least,,, for me he does not seem to respond back. He throws a post about Portugal being pathetic and then randomly next posts about Norway, I really do not get this guy.

I have a feeling he is just one of those shitposters 50% of the time just to post for the sake of it and does not have a clear opinion. No offense to Stake but they have a lot of posters doing this. Not even sure he gambles.

I haven't studied his posts, but here he's clearly obsessed and he's not just shitposting for the sake of it, he's obsessed. I'm telling you, I remember his reasoning from the last World Cup, where he wrote same obvious nonsense. And I'm not surprised he doesn't respond to you. It's expected that if someone writes nonsense, several people will point it out. It must be hard to find the strength to argue with everyone (especially if there are no arguments other than obsession, haha).

[Italian Panic]

Portugal is an excellent team, they also have some very strong players, Cristiano Ronaldo i don't think he will start, or rather not always, but just having him in the team i think is a fundamental thing, for all the experience he can give to his teammates it's as if they had another coach on the pitch,

Cristiano Ronaldo is incredibly physically strong, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he started every match, except perhaps the final group stage match if it isn’t necessary. Portugal also have an incredible team, very technical and quick; players like Vitinha drive me wild, they are phenomenal. Perhaps what Portugal are lacking a bit are top class defenders, because, for example, Ruben Dias keeps suffering hamstring injuries and, whilst he’s the best they have got, he might not be able to guarantee consistency.