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

[Synchronice]

EA sports who predicted Spain to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition has also made a huge prediction yet again prior to the event.

They have just made a prediction for Portugal to be the winners of the world cup. I have my doubts but impossible is nothing, they have a solid sqaud who can make it work.

Portugal to win the world cup is going to go demand a lot of effort from the players. They have a good squad, but we have teams like Brazil and France with a better squad and far more technical players. In as much as they have one of the greatest football player to ever live, I still don't think they're the favourites. Imo, France top my list of the favourites to win, followed by Brazil and Spain, then Portugal coming 4th, while Argentina and Germany coming 5th and 6th respectively.

And mind you, when we compare all players that were called up, the countries that topped my list, have more in form set of players. Ooh, and I forgot to mention England, well, maybe they can just go on to surprise me.

Is Portugal in such condition to win the FIFA World Cup? I'm sure Cristiano Ronaldo will play there and there is a big chance he won't tolerate sitting in squad, he will want to play and if he plays, that will be a very bad decision for Portugal, the team will play better without him but honestly, is Portugal in such shape to be the favorite? I think that Argentina, Spain and Germany will win the world cup most likely. My heart is on Argentina's side but I feel like Spain is going to win. From what I see, Messi is still Messi and can change the fate of the match at any time. Even if he doesn't play, a free kick is enough to give Argentina a score.

[logfiles]

Is it just me or there is not any much excitement regarding this upcoming world cup which is a few weeks to go?

There was also a report that there are so many empty hotel rooms in the hosting cities with a lot of blame being put on very high ticket prices and costs of living. The hotels that had initially hiked their room prices by a very big percentage have since tried to reduce them but still the bookings are not coming in as expected  ----> Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout

Capitalism at its best when it comes to ruining beautiful events 

[alegotardo]

Is it just me or there is not any much excitement regarding this upcoming world cup which is a few weeks to go?

There was also a report that there are so many empty hotel rooms in the hosting cities with a lot of blame being put on very high ticket prices and costs of living. The hotels that had initially hiked their room prices by a very big percentage have since tried to reduce them but still the bookings are not coming in as expected  ----> Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout

Capitalism at its best when it comes to ruining beautiful events 

It is not just your impression, the demand for hotels and flights is really low! But I do not think that means a total lack of interest in the tournament in general, and the problem is precisely what you said: exorbitant prices.

It is already "normal" for businesses to raise prices a lot at important FIFA events, but this time we are talking about countries that naturally have a higher cost of living than many other countries, in other words... the dollar is already an expensive conversion option for many other currencies, so with another exaggerated price increase, this becomes unfeasible for many people outside the North American continent.

But FIFA is also to blame for having unnecessarily blocked many reservations for teams and commissions, this reduced the supply, increased the prices and now there are vacancies left.
In any case, I did not intend to go to this event, so for me it has not changed anything.

[Ale88]

Is it just me or there is not any much excitement regarding this upcoming world cup which is a few weeks to go?

There was also a report that there are so many empty hotel rooms in the hosting cities with a lot of blame being put on very high ticket prices and costs of living. The hotels that had initially hiked their room prices by a very big percentage have since tried to reduce them but still the bookings are not coming in as expected  ----> Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout

Capitalism at its best when it comes to ruining beautiful events 

I honestly hope this World Cup is going to be the biggest flop ever. Between FIFA and United States I don't know who is the worse. I'm not sure how many of you but at this point Iran will play the games in the United States and then, immediately after the game, they'll go to Mexico: https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/fifa-confirms-irans-world-cup-base-camp-moved-tijuana--flm-2026-05-25/

They will literally enter in the USA only to play, not to train, not to sleep, they won't spend a full day there. This situation is just too ridiculous to be true...

[Pablo-wood]

Is it just me or there is not any much excitement regarding this upcoming world cup which is a few weeks to go?

There was also a report that there are so many empty hotel rooms in the hosting cities with a lot of blame being put on very high ticket prices and costs of living. The hotels that had initially hiked their room prices by a very big percentage have since tried to reduce them but still the bookings are not coming in as expected  ----> Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout

Capitalism at its best when it comes to ruining beautiful events 

It is not just your impression, the demand for hotels and flights is really low! But I do not think that means a total lack of interest in the tournament in general, and the problem is precisely what you said: exorbitant prices.

It is already "normal" for businesses to raise prices a lot at important FIFA events, but this time we are talking about countries that naturally have a higher cost of living than many other countries, in other words... the dollar is already an expensive conversion option for many other currencies, so with another exaggerated price increase, this becomes unfeasible for many people outside the North American continent.

But FIFA is also to blame for having unnecessarily blocked many reservations for teams and commissions, this reduced the supply, increased the prices and now there are vacancies left.
In any case, I did not intend to go to this event, so for me it has not changed anything.

If the said reservations FIFA made were filled up already it wouldn't have sparked concerns and questions to why empty rooms still remains despite having a world tournament has this. The price hike isn't favourable this time and it's not just the common citizens that are affected even the so-called elites aren't let out.

Businesses hiking prices is as normal as our daily existence besides their prices are still regulated despite the hike which means taxation has a role to play in their hike percentage because they too have to recover from all expenses incurred in trying to render their services during this period.

[Die_empty]

If the said reservations FIFA made were filled up already it wouldn't have sparked concerns and questions to why empty rooms still remains despite having a world tournament has this. The price hike isn't favourable this time and it's not just the common citizens that are affected even the so-called elites aren't let out.

Businesses hiking prices is as normal as our daily existence besides their prices are still regulated despite the hike which means taxation has a role to play in their hike percentage because they too have to recover from all expenses incurred in trying to render their services during this period.

So many factors have contributed to the drop in interest in the World Cup in the US. The war in the Middle East has caused high inflation that many countries to face an increase in the prices of goods and services. People are more interested in surviving than pursuing pleasure. The high price of tickets will add to the problem.

Another factor might also be the harsh immigration stance of the present government. People might want to avoid the competition because they don't want to experience any confrontations.

[Hewlet]

EA sports who predicted Spain to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition has also made a huge prediction yet again prior to the event.

They have just made a prediction for Portugal to be the winners of the world cup. I have my doubts but impossible is nothing, they have a solid sqaud who can make it work.

Portugal to win the world cup is going to go demand a lot of effort from the players. They have a good squad, but we have teams like Brazil and France with a better squad and far more technical players. In as much as they have one of the greatest football player to ever live, I still don't think they're the favourites. Imo, France top my list of the favourites to win, followed by Brazil and Spain, then Portugal coming 4th, while Argentina and Germany coming 5th and 6th respectively.

And mind you, when we compare all players that were called up, the countries that topped my list, have more in form set of players. Ooh, and I forgot to mention England, well, maybe they can just go on to surprise me.

Is Portugal in such condition to win the FIFA World Cup? I'm sure Cristiano Ronaldo will play there and there is a big chance he won't tolerate sitting in squad, he will want to play and if he plays, that will be a very bad decision for Portugal, the team will play better without him but honestly, is Portugal in such shape to be the favorite?

Ronaldo might not be as active as he use to be during his prime but that is never to say that he does not have the ability to play well in the world cup if he is giving a moderate playing time. dude is still scoring against tough teams in the Saudi pro league. some of these teams are even stronger than the opposition he will be facing in the world cup. at the end, the team that will do well in the world cup is not the one that has a single player like Ronaldo, it is the team that unites and plays collectively with every single player that will do well.

In terms of winning the league, there is a small chance that Portugal will win regardless of how we want them to because there are a lot of better teams that will make it difficult for them. France is already cooking something serious ahead of the world cup.

[pewboy]

I remember one match where the English national team was struggling to score. And when Palmer came on in the second half, we immediately saw a quick goal from him. And I remember that didn't happen just once. So it's a real shame he wasn't selected.

Alexander-Arnold is one of those players who can certainly solve the game for you, and not calling him up would be a huge mistake, but Tuchel will be able to decide well who to bring to the World Cup and who not, the coaches know many things more than us and we shouldn't judge the choices they make a priori.

[blomen]

Alexander-Arnold is one of those players who can certainly solve the game for you, and not calling him up would be a huge mistake, but Tuchel will be able to decide well who to bring to the World Cup and who not, the coaches know many things more than us and we shouldn't judge the choices they make a priori.

i don’t think it’s unreasonable for tuchel not to include alexander-arnold in the national team squad. the england national team is quite large, and it’s possible to have more than one player in a single position. alexander-arnold may be a good player, but since his transfer from liverpool to real madrid, he hasn’t been able to find his footing and has struggled with injuries.

if you’re calling up a player for a tournament that lasts only one month, that player needs to be a sure thing. including alexander arnold in the squad during a period when he’s so prone to injuries would have been risky. it makes sense to give new names a chance on the team. i think reece james is a better choice than arnold.

[yixichloro2xx]

Is it just me or there is not any much excitement regarding this upcoming world cup which is a few weeks to go?

There was also a report that there are so many empty hotel rooms in the hosting cities with a lot of blame being put on very high ticket prices and costs of living. The hotels that had initially hiked their room prices by a very big percentage have since tried to reduce them but still the bookings are not coming in as expected  ----> Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout

Capitalism at its best when it comes to ruining beautiful events 

I honestly hope this World Cup is going to be the biggest flop ever. Between FIFA and United States I don't know who is the worse. I'm not sure how many of you but at this point Iran will play the games in the United States and then, immediately after the game, they'll go to Mexico: https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/fifa-confirms-irans-world-cup-base-camp-moved-tijuana--flm-2026-05-25/

They will literally enter in the USA only to play, not to train, not to sleep, they won't spend a full day there. This situation is just too ridiculous to be true...

16 days to the World cup and still there's no good hype around the world cup, complaint has filed everywhere. Ever since the time Donald Trump has made his stance on Immigration I already knew hosting world cup there will be a very big mistake. Life in the United States is very expensive, Tickets prices is costly, securing accomodations is also expensive. For a single person to be able to watch this world they will need to budget a lot of money, imagine a family of 3 or 4 who wants to watch the world cup. Trump himself has ban some countries whose team are in the world cup from entering the US. This world cup will just be like the Club world cup, we are really going to be seeing a lot of empty seat in multiple games. I know how the hype for 2022 world cup was compared to this. I hope FIFA can learn a lesson not to be hosting world cup in countries who has tough policies and expensive living.

[Zoomic]

I have been thinking about Tuchel and his World cup team. He produced a team that shocked many people and I don't know how he had such a gut to make the selection. I just wish he is successful because English fans can do crazy things that he will not imagine.

I think Tuchel made two notable mistakes in his selection;
1. Droping Maguire who had a very good season and also a threat on aerial contests is not the best choice for him.

2. Dropping Palmer/Foden totally and going with Madueke is not so good. No matter how poor Palmer is, he has a name to protect and good be a good substitute when England is failing.

I just wish Tuchel the best, but me as a coach must find a way to squeeze in Arnord Alexander.

The selection is not really that bad, he just ignored a few players that would have really been of help and selected some that wasn't even deserving. The like of Arnold, Palmer, Shaw and Foden should have been selected but he's the coach so he knows who he likes better.

Maguire also deserves the call up and replacing him with John Stones is something I can't understand. His selection wasn't only based on performance else some wouldn't have made the list.
I think we shouldn't pray for a bad result because of the selections, let's just wish them well and see how far they can go.

No selection is actually proven bad unless it is tested in a tournament. So, only time will reveal if Tuchel made a good selection or not.

Meanwhile, you acknowledged that Tuchel made a mistake by dropping Arnod, Palmer, Shaw, Maguire and Foden and then you also said that the selection was not bad. Did you forget Nottingham Gibbs who had a very fantastic season? I actually did not just understand Tuchel, but I believe he knows what he is doing and he knows his style of play.

[Black Mbaye]

I remember one match where the English national team was struggling to score. And when Palmer came on in the second half, we immediately saw a quick goal from him. And I remember that didn't happen just once. So it's a real shame he wasn't selected.

Alexander-Arnold is one of those players who can certainly solve the game for you, and not calling him up would be a huge mistake, but Tuchel will be able to decide well who to bring to the World Cup and who not, the coaches know many things more than us and we shouldn't judge the choices they make a priori.

TAA's Real Madrid career wasn't particularly brilliant this year, actually. Also, no Real Madrid players were included in the Spanish national team squad. Real Madrid was a disappointment in this regard this year. They don't trust their players in the national team. Luckily, we have Arda Güler, and he's one of our national team's most important players. I hope he represents Real Madrid well at the World Cup and scores some great goals.

[Volgastallion]

Is football and we never know what is gonna happen and what could happen but by far what Tuchel did in the making of the England list is a complete no sense, and i believe he is a great coach but wha he did is impossible to say is a good move, how you can left behind your captain and some of the best players in this generation and put into the team some subs , is just crazy.

[tygeade]

I honestly hope this World Cup is going to be the biggest flop ever. Between FIFA and United States I don't know who is the worse. I'm not sure how many of you but at this point Iran will play the games in the United States and then, immediately after the game, they'll go to Mexico: https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/fifa-confirms-irans-world-cup-base-camp-moved-tijuana--flm-2026-05-25/

They will literally enter in the USA only to play, not to train, not to sleep, they won't spend a full day there. This situation is just too ridiculous to be true...

FIFA has always been "whoever pays us, is our masters" type of thing, they love Qatar and Saudis too, because they got paid from them. Qatar literally caused over ten thousand people dying in work place related injuries and they still didn't care because Qatar paid them. So when you know the history of FIFA and how they bend over for any of the host nations, you realize that a combination of USA and FIFA was never a good idea.

And the fact that Trump is in charge while this is happening, it's even worse than it should be, if some decent normal human was in charge, then it might have been decent, but now it is not even possible. Let me put it this way, to explain how petty and disgusting Trump is, he failed to win Nobel peace prize which Obama got, and in exchange he got so mad that he made FIFA create an award and got a peace prize FROM FIFA, like how did that made sense to him I have no idea.

[Stepstowealth]

No selection is actually proven bad unless it is tested in a tournament. So, only time will reveal if Tuchel made a good selection or not.

Meanwhile, you acknowledged that Tuchel made a mistake by dropping Arnod, Palmer, Shaw, Maguire and Foden and then you also said that the selection was not bad. Did you forget Nottingham Gibbs who had a very fantastic season? I actually did not just understand Tuchel, but I believe he knows what he is doing and he knows his style of play.

Yes it is a very bold move that the England coach has taken to exclude some expected players from selection because by doing so he has put his career on the line because the intention is clear it is either he wins the World Cup with England or he will get fired and criticized heavily for his decision and get sacked.
If he is somehow able to win the World Cup with this selection of players I'm not sure anyone will criticize him for it, they will even praise him for a being bold and going with his gut feeling to keep out those players because they may likely have made him lose the World Cup. It is possible England wins the World Cup because for them to have a different results they have to do something different and it looks like it is what this coach is focused on doing.

[ILuckyGuyI]

I have been thinking about Tuchel and his World cup team. He produced a team that shocked many people and I don't know how he had such a gut to make the selection. I just wish he is successful because English fans can do crazy things that he will not imagine.

I think Tuchel made two notable mistakes in his selection;
1. Droping Maguire who had a very good season and also a threat on aerial contests is not the best choice for him.

2. Dropping Palmer/Foden totally and going with Madueke is not so good. No matter how poor Palmer is, he has a name to protect and good be a good substitute when England is failing.

I just wish Tuchel the best, but me as a coach must find a way to squeeze in Arnord Alexander.

Maguire shouldn't have been kept out of the list. I agree. Even though I don't like him a lot I can't deny he is a good choice for England national team in defense. There are some other interesting choices instead.

We see it in every area of the squad in fact. Tuchel goes for a bold move but will he be successful or mess up? We'll see... By the way not calling Palmer for duty is ridiculous! He could have been used as a game changer even if Tuchel doesn't want him in the starting XI.

[Stavri]

I honestly hope this World Cup is going to be the biggest flop ever. Between FIFA and United States I don't know who is the worse. I'm not sure how many of you but at this point Iran will play the games in the United States and then, immediately after the game, they'll go to Mexico: https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/fifa-confirms-irans-world-cup-base-camp-moved-tijuana--flm-2026-05-25/

They will literally enter in the USA only to play, not to train, not to sleep, they won't spend a full day there. This situation is just too ridiculous to be true...

i think the World Cup will be a tournament where goals fly in left and right in the early rounds since there are 48 teams...
there are too many trash teams. I wonder if there will be one or two minor surprises here and there. other than that, hosting it across 3 countries is absolute nonsense.

[GbitG]

EA sports who predicted Spain to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition has also made a huge prediction yet again prior to the event.

They have just made a prediction for Portugal to be the winners of the world cup. I have my doubts but impossible is nothing, they have a solid sqaud who can make it work.

Portugal to win the world cup is going to go demand a lot of effort from the players. They have a good squad, but we have teams like Brazil and France with a better squad and far more technical players. In as much as they have one of the greatest football player to ever live, I still don't think they're the favourites. Imo, France top my list of the favourites to win, followed by Brazil and Spain, then Portugal coming 4th, while Argentina and Germany coming 5th and 6th respectively.

And mind you, when we compare all players that were called up, the countries that topped my list, have more in form set of players. Ooh, and I forgot to mention England, well, maybe they can just go on to surprise me.

Is Portugal in such condition to win the FIFA World Cup? I'm sure Cristiano Ronaldo will play there and there is a big chance he won't tolerate sitting in squad, he will want to play and if he plays, that will be a very bad decision for Portugal, the team will play better without him but honestly, is Portugal in such shape to be the favorite? I think that Argentina, Spain and Germany will win the world cup most likely. My heart is on Argentina's side but I feel like Spain is going to win. From what I see, Messi is still Messi and can change the fate of the match at any time. Even if he doesn't play, a free kick is enough to give Argentina a score.

Hmmm, Portugal 🤔
No way this just impossible.....!!!

Win a World Cup for Portugal is just beyond reality like wining a world cup required a good team with talented player in insightful tactics. Despite Portugal didn't have any this quality like only speculation and fans wish can't determine whether they will really be able to win their prestigious trophy or not.

I know people are just hyping the Portuguese team due to Cristiano Ronaldo like they are just in wish that it's a last dance for Cristiano Ronaldo and wining a world can give him a better fair well. But to be honest this is absolutely unrealistic expectations.

[pawel7777]

What do you guys think of the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams (so 16 more than 32 teams in previous editions)?
Is this something that increases the prestige of the tournament, or quite the opposite?

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, winning a cup against 47 other participating teams sounds like a greater achievement, on the other, it dilutes interest in single games and makes it harder for the fans to follow the entire tournament, forcing them to only focus on the groups that their national teams play in. It also made it easier for teams to qualify, so the level of entry was lower than before, which could take away a little bit from the prestige.

[Jegileman]

But FIFA is also to blame for having unnecessarily blocked many reservations for teams and commissions, this reduced the supply, increased the prices and now there are vacancies left.
In any case, I did not intend to go to this event, so for me it has not changed anything.

For us that are not going to the event, the anticipation for the start of the World Cup is there already and we’re already looking forward to start the excitement it comes with naturally. The hotel bookings that are on the low should be the problem of the nature of the country and how their economy is affecting their prices. Even with an empty stadium of fans, we that are watching from home will still feel the thrill but it’ll not be interesting for the players when there is low turn out of supporters in such competitions. There is still time and we may see a last minute buy in for most of these hotels and tickets for the World Cup.