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

[abaeze]

Pressure on Ancelotti, he is old enough in the game to withstand pressure. If the Brazilians can play his tactics very, I'm sure Brazil will go far in the tournament. Brazil has one of the best attacking force, Vini and Raphina put together, that is trouble for defenders.

Brazil don't look too favorable to win the World Cup, but they will make a strong name in the competition.

Brazil has many good players to build a very strong team. And Brazil believes in Carlo Ancelotti, that he will be able to do it and achieve very good results at the World Cup. He has proven himself many times with different clubs and achieved great success on the international stage. I think that if he is given enough time with Brazil, he will do the same there.

If we look at history, talent and experience, then it must be said that bringing Carlo Ancelotti to Brazil is a brave and logical decision. Because Brazil's problem in the last few years is not the quality of the players but the team balance, mentality and tactical stability, and Ancelotti is a very strong coach in all three areas. So for me, if Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Rodrygo and the experienced Neymar JR can show their best performance together in the upcoming World Cup, then Brazil is definitely the biggest contender for the world Cup title. Although many critics are saying that Neymar is not in the main XI, I think he should be given a chance to show new surprises in his last World Cup.

[Ryu_Ar1]

England is good, of course, because they are not short of talents, in fact for now there are too many good players from English soil, but I feel that this English national team is like an Arsenal team, they seem to lack a winning mentality, I quite remember how they played in the last euro final, there was a clear lack of motivation in that match. And the fact is that England lack a great coach from that country, which we know in history they have used more coaches from English soil. Yes, hopefully this year's WC will be different because they are handled by Thomas Tuchel.

Mental pressure, media pressure and a lot of ego are some of the factors that make England always fail in the world cup even in the golden era when the players were filled with many stars like Gerrard, Lampard or Bekham they always lost control.  This time around, the squad is still very good but I don't see them as favorites because there is still a lot of pressure that makes their mentality look very bad as a team with a big name and great players in it.

This world cup my eyes are centered on Portugal and Japan because for Portugal they don't need to talk about the players but Japan now they have confirmed the players who will be in this world cup and I think most of these players are quite talented though they are missing Mitoma in the attack. I am pretty sure Japan will be the dark horse and for the group stage I am pretty sure they will qualify especially only Netherlands which is quite strong in its group.

[$weetne$$]

I also have huge expectations from the France team and I m really excited to watch Kylian Mbappe as captain. I hope this time he will do something even more amazing because in the last World Cup final he surprised the whole football community with his incredible performance. France has a very strong squad again and they have a high chance of going far in the tournament. Many people including me believe that France will once again be one of the most dangerous teams in the World Cup.

France does have a really solid team and we do expect a lot from them, having Mbappe as their captain even increases the expectations because a lot of persons does believe so much in his abilities  and the much he can achieve  with the team just like he has done before  but I am just hoping  the issues at the club will not be affecting him and his performance for this tournament. I am really rooting for them, at least for the sake of Mbappe.

[Obim34]

Brazil has many good players to build a very strong team. And Brazil believes in Carlo Ancelotti, that he will be able to do it and achieve very good results at the World Cup. He has proven himself many times with different clubs and achieved great success on the international stage. I think that if he is given enough time with Brazil, he will do the same there.

True, as we know that getting good result in the World Cup does not mean winning the World Cup. I can't think of Brazil winning the World Cup, I didn't say you said but evaluating the team and comparing them with other countries, it is unease to believe Brazil will win the World Cup, not minding Ancelotti as the coach and despite what he has done with clubs.

[Ale88]

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Yeah it's true about how tough the qualification stages for the European countries to the World Cup usually is but with some of the other continents you have mentioned you should also consider the number of countries in total that makes up the continent and how many of them there are really enthusiastic football nations just as we have them in Europe. However, I think it's right to say same thing about the African continent where football rules there as one of their top priorities sport and with many nations, a hard competition which has kept a football nation like Cameroon, and Nigeria particularly Nigeria out of the World Cup for straight 3 times including this year tournament.

Africa is interesting because I see more, how can I call it, generational rotation? Growing up Nigeria and Camerun were the best teams in Africa, now they almost disappeared from the football map; in 2002 we had Senegal which was a huge surprise; then over the years we saw Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco... But I don't feel like we have really consistent teams over the years: maybe they produce a lot of good players for 5-10 years and then the level drops and somebody else replaces them. It's kind of a unique situation.

Quite true, there has being some significant revolution in African football in the last two decades which has seen different countries in African football emerged in the world map, the likes of Senegal, the Ivorians, Nigeria, Ghana etc, but neither of these countries were consistent during their time of dominance which brings me to the topic of continuity which is something that is missing in African football, in the last 3 World Cup events. We have seen countries like Argentina and France played in two finals respectively due to vigorous investment in football but in Africa you never see that happening.

African football and players are always missing something. Again, I don't want to sound like an old fart, but when I was a kid I always heard that "African football was the future", I think even Pele said something like that. But it never happened. They have never been able to be consistent. Unfortunately in the African federations there is a lot of corruption so I wouldn't be surprised if they receive money after good results but, instead of being invested back into the football system (infrastructure, stadiums, etc), that money simply disappears. Even a few years ago the Cameroonian federation asked money to Mbappé's father in order to call his son...

[Lida93]

Quite true, there has being some significant revolution in African football in the last two decades which has seen different countries in African football emerged in the world map, the likes of Senegal, the Ivorians, Nigeria, Ghana etc, but neither of these countries were consistent during their time of dominance which brings me to the topic of continuity which is something that is missing in African football, in the last 3 World Cup events. We have seen countries like Argentina and France played in two finals respectively due to vigorous investment in football but in Africa you never see that happening.

African football and players are always missing something. Again, I don't want to sound like an old fart, but when I was a kid I always heard that "African football was the future", I think even Pele said something like that. But it never happened. They have never been able to be consistent. Unfortunately in the African federations there is a lot of corruption so I wouldn't be surprised if they receive money after good results but, instead of being invested back into the football system (infrastructure, stadiums, etc), that money simply disappears. Even a few years ago the Cameroonian federation asked money to Mbappé's father in order to call his son...

I agree with you. What has really stifled African football is what could be referred to as poor administration from the CAF down to the respective country's football federation and a lot of the times you see that injured players are not giving adequate medical care, some are not even attended to complete recovery which has to be that the player would rather be spending from his own pocket to treat himself after representing his national team. All of these irregularities and even poor sports infrastructures due to high level of embezzlement, it has forced many great talents to go play for other countries of Europe. See players like Olise, Bukayo Saka, and even the Mbappe you mentioned all of African descent but playing for European countries instead. All because they had to encounter a corrupt system that didn't give them opportunity to showcase their talent fairly.

[Daniel91]

Quite true, there has being some significant revolution in African football in the last two decades which has seen different countries in African football emerged in the world map, the likes of Senegal, the Ivorians, Nigeria, Ghana etc, but neither of these countries were consistent during their time of dominance which brings me to the topic of continuity which is something that is missing in African football, in the last 3 World Cup events. We have seen countries like Argentina and France played in two finals respectively due to vigorous investment in football but in Africa you never see that happening.

African football and players are always missing something. Again, I don't want to sound like an old fart, but when I was a kid I always heard that "African football was the future", I think even Pele said something like that. But it never happened. They have never been able to be consistent. Unfortunately in the African federations there is a lot of corruption so I wouldn't be surprised if they receive money after good results but, instead of being invested back into the football system (infrastructure, stadiums, etc), that money simply disappears. Even a few years ago the Cameroonian federation asked money to Mbappé's father in order to call his son...

I agree with you. What has really stifled African football is what could be referred to as poor administration from the CAF down to the respective country's football federation and a lot of the times you see that injured players are not giving adequate medical care, some are not even attended to complete recovery which has to be that the player would rather be spending from his own pocket to treat himself after representing his national team. All of these irregularities and even poor sports infrastructures due to high level of embezzlement, it has forced many great talents to go play for other countries of Europe. See players like Olise, Bukayo Saka, and even the Mbappe you mentioned all of African descent but playing for European countries instead. All because they had to encounter a corrupt system that didn't give them opportunity to showcase their talent fairly.

I wouldn't really agree with you. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Ghana was very unlucky to lose to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals, and at the 2022 World Cup in Kstar, Morocco was fourth in the world, after victories against top European teams like Spain and Portugal.
Yes, African teams used to have a lot of problems due to a lack of tactical discipline and organization in the game, but that's no longer the case.
However, if we talk about the winners of the World Cup, it's always a few top teams, like Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy and Germany (for the last 60 years) and it's hard to stop the dominance of those teams.
However, look at their players and their roots and you'll see that they have, especially France, a lot of players with African roots.

[Slow death]

I wouldn't really agree with you.

So, for you, there isn't much corruption in African football? So, for you, football managers treat African players well? I am an African living on this African continent and I agree with everything that @Lida93 and @Ale88 said. What you're saying about African teams beating big European teams isn't a big deal. The relevant point is whether Africa has ever won the World Cup or not, and if not, why not.

I've seen thousands of cases of African football managers disregarding players from local leagues, and those same players are lucky enough to go and play in Europe. It's because the African manager likes money without effort, calling up players who are abroad to play for the national team, and when they win something, 95% of the money goes to the African manager and 5% to the players and coaches.

[giorgione]

If we look at history, talent and experience, then it must be said that bringing Carlo Ancelotti to Brazil is a brave and logical decision. Because Brazil's problem in the last few years is not the quality of the players but the team balance, mentality and tactical stability, and Ancelotti is a very strong coach in all three areas. So for me, if Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Rodrygo and the experienced Neymar JR can show their best performance together in the upcoming World Cup, then Brazil is definitely the biggest contender for the world Cup title. Although many critics are saying that Neymar is not in the main XI, I think he should be given a chance to show new surprises in his last World Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti is a coach who knows a lot about it and recognizes talent, because he himself was a player of the highest level, this means that if he didn't select Neymar he doesn't think he has this appeal to return to the team and i honestly would trust him.

[Lida93]

I wouldn't really agree with you.

So, for you, there isn't much corruption in African football? So, for you, football managers treat African players well? I am an African living on this African continent and I agree with everything that @Lida93 and @Ale88 said. What you're saying about African teams beating big European teams isn't a big deal. The relevant point is whether Africa has ever won the World Cup or not, and if not, why not.

I've seen thousands of cases of African football managers disregarding players from local leagues, and those same players are lucky enough to go and play in Europe. It's because the African manager likes money without effort, calling up players who are abroad to play for the national team, and when they win something, 95% of the money goes to the African manager and 5% to the players and coaches.

@Slow death I discovered through my telegram bot notifier that I got mentioned and I tried to quickly reply but later found probably you made some editing cutting me off because I couldn't find it where you quoted me in the discussion... Like I said probably.

Well, if @Daniel91 thinks there's no daylight corruption in African Football Federations then he's just trying to be economical with the truth about that. We have had many players from Africa playing for Europe countries give testimonies of how they were rejected to play for their original country because they couldn't grease some hands in charge. He wanna say those testimonies are all cooked?! What I know is that the African players are really doing their best in terms of how they have being performing in the world stages but when we come home to the administration of the football system, it's a zero fair one on talents hunting, with addition to lack of disbursing of funds for building of sports facilities which should help develop local talents greatly.

[Daniel91]

I wouldn't really agree with you.

So, for you, there isn't much corruption in African football? So, for you, football managers treat African players well? I am an African living on this African continent and I agree with everything that @Lida93 and @Ale88 said. What you're saying about African teams beating big European teams isn't a big deal. The relevant point is whether Africa has ever won the World Cup or not, and if not, why not.

I've seen thousands of cases of African football managers disregarding players from local leagues, and those same players are lucky enough to go and play in Europe. It's because the African manager likes money without effort, calling up players who are abroad to play for the national team, and when they win something, 95% of the money goes to the African manager and 5% to the players and coaches.

@Slow death I discovered through my telegram bot notifier that I got mentioned and I tried to quickly reply but later found probably you made some editing cutting me off because I couldn't find it where you quoted me in the discussion... Like I said probably.

Well, if @Daniel91 thinks there's no daylight corruption in African Football Federations then he's just trying to be economical with the truth about that. We have had many players from Africa playing for Europe countries give testimonies of how they were rejected to play for their original country because they couldn't grease some hands in charge. He wanna say those testimonies are all cooked?! What I know is that the African players are really doing their best in terms of how they have being performing in the world stages but when we come home to the administration of the football system, it's a zero fair one on talents hunting, with addition to lack of disbursing of funds for building of sports facilities which should help develop local talents greatly.

I answered the part of the question that I can answer because I follow it, the sports results of the African teams at the previous world championships and my impression of their tactical preparation and organization.
I will not and can't comment on other issues, including possible corruption, because I do not have enough information about it.
I did not say that there is no corruption in African football nor does it say so in my post, I answered only one aspect of this complex question that only relates to sports and football as such.

[aipercoin]

France does have a really solid team and we do expect a lot from them, having Mbappe as their captain even increases the expectations because a lot of persons does believe so much in his abilities  and the much he can achieve  with the team just like he has done before  but I am just hoping  the issues at the club will not be affecting him and his performance for this tournament. I am really rooting for them, at least for the sake of Mbappe.

I expect a lot from France, they can even have another team that would start everywhere and still make them play great, and they can afford to leave out incredible champions, but this is another thing, they are really strong and i think that mpabbe will show great things.

[Volgastallion]

One thing im not gonna like at all from this world cup is the fact that a lot of records from previous world cups are gonna be broken super easy in the next years, since we are gonna have a lot of lowe tier teams playing some players for example can score a lot more goals than before so the previous records of Klose are gonna be destroyed easily by the new players, and i dont like it since i feel like is not a fair comparison.

[Ale88]

I answered the part of the question that I can answer because I follow it, the sports results of the African teams at the previous world championships and my impression of their tactical preparation and organization.
I will not and can't comment on other issues, including possible corruption, because I do not have enough information about it.
I did not say that there is no corruption in African football nor does it say so in my post, I answered only one aspect of this complex question that only relates to sports and football as such.

Without talking about corruption, etc, what is missing in African football is consistency. As I explained we have several teams that have golden generations but then they can't keep up. I know football goes in cycles so some generations are way better than others but in African football everything is extremely short, so short that they don't even have the time to actually achieve something.
Just because Ghana or Morocco (the teams you mentioned) obtained great results once it doesn't mean that everything is fine. The potential is there but for different reasons a few people ruin it for everybody. There is no vision for the future.

Take a look at Japan: since they knew they were going to host the World Cup back in 2002 they had a plan, and they stick to it. And now we have a lot of Japanese players playing in Europe and we saw Japan beating some of the strongest national teams in the world. 20 years ago nobody would have thought Japan could produce these type of results, but they did, and they did it building players from nothing because their main sport is baseball. In Africa, as far as I know, everybody loves football, so African countries already have kids growing up playing football, they don't have to push it like Japan did.

[pewboy]

African football and players are always missing something. Again, I don't want to sound like an old fart, but when I was a kid I always heard that "African football was the future", I think even Pele said something like that. But it never happened. They have never been able to be consistent. Unfortunately in the African federations there is a lot of corruption so I wouldn't be surprised if they receive money after good results but, instead of being invested back into the football system (infrastructure, stadiums, etc), that money simply disappears. Even a few years ago the Cameroonian federation asked money to Mbappé's father in order to call his son...

Curruption my friend is everywhere and not just in Africa, players play as children only if they are strong and for nothing else, only those who pay and have some connections have the chance to play and show off, in every country it works like this, it shouldn't but it is like that and those who really deserve never win.

[BIT-BENDER]

Honestly let's be clear does anyone think Cristiano Ronaldo should start at the world cup, I have some Cristiano Ronaldo fans that can die for him especially in any arguement but in sincerity they have come to agree that he may not need to be a starter at the world cup.
Ronaldo is 40+ years old originally nature is against him but you may argue that he trains and he is fit but his recent performances has really put a doubt if he should be a starter in a very contested competition like the world cup.
But In contrast to Cristiano Ronaldo form Messi seems to be very much prepared for the world cup and has been dropping massive ratings recently.

[Just Say]

France does have a really solid team and we do expect a lot from them, having Mbappe as their captain even increases the expectations because a lot of persons does believe so much in his abilities  and the much he can achieve  with the team just like he has done before  but I am just hoping  the issues at the club will not be affecting him and his performance for this tournament. I am really rooting for them, at least for the sake of Mbappe.

France definitely has a strong team and I think the players on this team are trying to mature further with the upcoming FIFA World Cup in mind. Another thing to note is that this France team was a finalist in the last two tournaments because as far as I know they won the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and they were runners-up in the last World Cup but looking at their squad this season, it looks like they deserve to reach the finals again. There is no doubt that this team's attacking side is much stronger because it turns out that skilled players like Madrid player Kylian Mbappe, PSG player Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise are associated with this team, anyway Michael Olise has proven his worth in Germany and the Champions League for Bayern this season, so we can say that with these players, France will be able to play more tactical football in the upcoming World Cup.

[Noorooo]

If we look at history, talent and experience, then it must be said that bringing Carlo Ancelotti to Brazil is a brave and logical decision. Because Brazil's problem in the last few years is not the quality of the players but the team balance, mentality and tactical stability, and Ancelotti is a very strong coach in all three areas. So for me, if Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Rodrygo and the experienced Neymar JR can show their best performance together in the upcoming World Cup, then Brazil is definitely the biggest contender for the world Cup title. Although many critics are saying that Neymar is not in the main XI, I think he should be given a chance to show new surprises in his last World Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti is a coach who knows a lot about it and recognizes talent, because he himself was a player of the highest level, this means that if he didn't select Neymar he doesn't think he has this appeal to return to the team and i honestly would trust him.

I think it would be a great move not to take Neymar into the team because in the last four years he has achieved absolutely nothing. Vinícius jr. and Rodrygo are far better attackers than him and both of them have proven themselves over the last four years.

[Slow death]

African football and players are always missing something. Again, I don't want to sound like an old fart, but when I was a kid I always heard that "African football was the future", I think even Pele said something like that. But it never happened. They have never been able to be consistent. Unfortunately in the African federations there is a lot of corruption so I wouldn't be surprised if they receive money after good results but, instead of being invested back into the football system (infrastructure, stadiums, etc), that money simply disappears. Even a few years ago the Cameroonian federation asked money to Mbappé's father in order to call his son...

Curruption my friend is everywhere and not just in Africa, players play as children only if they are strong and for nothing else, only those who pay and have some connections have the chance to play and show off, in every country it works like this, it shouldn't but it is like that and those who really deserve never win.

I don't know if there's corruption in European, Asian, or American football. But since I'm African and have seen many cases here in Africa, I'll talk about Africa. The problem is much more serious than you imagine, and it's always swept under the rug. I'll give you an example from my country's national team in the World Cup qualifying matches this year.

It so happened that my country was in second place in the group, playing very well and with a very good chance of reaching first place and qualifying for the World Cup. But strangely, three days before the game against the group leader, the president of my country visited the leader's country, and when my national team played against the leader, my national coach didn't field certain best players, and we lost. And days later, the president of my country announced that the leading country in the standings had forgiven a large debt that my country owed them.

This happened again with the team that was in 3rd place in the standings, and we lost to them. As a result, we didn't go to the World Cup. Now, let's think: if African countries are capable of this, what wouldn't they do to deliberately lose in the World Cup in exchange for money?

[rdluffy]

If anyone is interested in watching the Brazilian national team’s roster announcement live, it will be streamed live and for free at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSBFz25nhzc

Everyone here in Brazil is eagerly waiting to see whether Neymar will be called up today
We’ll find out in a few hours
It’s practically one hour until it starts