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

[snipie]

This season, France, Brazil, Portugal and Spain have the most star players in the squad. It's bad luck for them if they can't do well despite having a strong squad

From the teams you mentioned I think France, Spain but also Argentina that you did not mention it as favourites to advance in the advanced stages. Portugal has a good squad too and might reach advanced stages too. For Brazil, on paper they aren't that bad but I have doubts regarding them. I suppose Carlo Ancelotti did hard to improve the team, we will see how far they improved.

What are you experiences with Football World Club albums?
Do you think it is worth it or it is just a other way to get money from fans in exchange of something which may be worthless?

I remember in the past people, especially young ones, are spending money for things like this. Older ones don't care a lot about collection. For me it is not that important regarding the price you mentioned.

[Swordsoffreedom]

This season, France, Brazil, Portugal and Spain have the most star players in the squad. It's bad luck for them if they can't do well despite having a strong squad

From the teams you mentioned I think France, Spain but also Argentina that you did not mention it as favourites to advance in the advanced stages. Portugal has a good squad too and might reach advanced stages too. For Brazil, on paper they aren't that bad but I have doubts regarding them. I suppose Carlo Ancelotti did hard to improve the team, we will see how far they improved.

Mate sorry, I couldn't explain it to you well. I said Spain, Portugal, Brazil and France have the strongest squads. I know Argentina is the current world champion and is also the favorite for this World Cup. Even I like Argentina's gameplay very much. But you may not admit it France, Spain and Brazil's squads are stronger than Argentina's. But Argentina has a great bonding between its players. At the same time Scaloni is a very smart coach. The strong bonding between the players and a smart manager is why Argentina became the world champion. And is also the favorite for this World Cup. But if we consider only the squad aspect, Argentina will be a little behind. They have comparatively fewer star players in their squad.

[Fiatless]

We have already talked about this countless of times but for me the major fault in the England list for this world cup is not Palmer and Phoden because despite their talent and majestic play they maybe could be replaced and we dont know how they behaves between the other players of the team in terms of fellowship so the biggest and incredible one left behind is Maguire he was the captain of the team in this whole process How you can left him behind now???

England always has selection problems because of the number of good players available. Cole Palmer has been a shadow of himself and Phil Foden has not be at his best. Eberechi Eze , Kobbie Mainoo , and Morgan Rogers have been outstanding this season. The coach would have to select the best and players that suits is playing strategy. Cole and Phil are still young to play in the next world cup if they improve.

[Adbitco]

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.

Wait did I hear you say Germany is one of the favourites to win the world cup? Very laughable, you think it's the Germany of 12 years ago, no mate, Germany is a shadow of their former self, last world cup, they were dumped out in the group stages, this time around of they should make it past the R16 I'm sure they wouldn't get past QF. You also downplayed the importance of Ronaldo, I just laughed because the more people doubt him, the more he proves himself the more. I love what he did in the final between Spain Vs Portugal, they mocked him and the rest was history.

[cande86]

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.

no i don't like him very much but you can't help but keep meguire, i don't understand, after what he has done for them, don't take him into consideration after what he is doing, it doesn't seem respectful to me, in any case we have to respect Tuchel and see what he will do with the squad he has chosen, that's it and nothing else can be done.

[Gost ms]

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.

the world cup is certainly a very difficult competition to win, you cannot win with a single player, if the best player in the world is lucky enough to also have a great team around him he wins otherwise it will be very difficult for them to win, this is how Messi won, which Cristiano Ronaldo can do this year.

It is very difficult for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the trophy this time. Last time we saw how much the entire Argentina team helped Messi in all aspects and how much the entire team played on the field. If we talk about this aspect of Cristiano Ronaldo or his team, then maybe it will not be the same at all. In this World Cup, the biggest and strongest team is France. France is the strongest team in this World Cup and next to it is Argentina and there are several other strong teams and after that is Portugal.

[FanEagle]

Look at 2022 world cup, it was the worst ever world cup that was ever hosted and yet FIFA was okay with it, and we watched it on TV without any trouble and didn't had to go to Qatar. All of this is a bit of a trouble and we should not be considering how "easy" it is for the teams or the fans or anything like that because FIFA has not been making it easy for a long time. This is just for the TV, and for the TV nobody will care.

Now we can easily avoid USA too, they think their nation is great to go because people from third world nations go there to live, thinking they are better than the world because of it, when in reality we are far happier here and would not even visit them as a tourist for the world cup. Some will go, if they love football, but it won't be much.

[blomen]

Look at 2022 world cup, it was the worst ever world cup that was ever hosted and yet FIFA was okay with it, and we watched it on TV without any trouble and didn't had to go to Qatar. All of this is a bit of a trouble and we should not be considering how "easy" it is for the teams or the fans or anything like that because FIFA has not been making it easy for a long time. This is just for the TV, and for the TV nobody will care.

the preparations for the world cup in qatar were massive. qatar spent billions of dollars on the world cup, and after a one-month tournament, those facilities were never used again. usa also needs to prepare very well so that fans watching the matches at the stadium don’t face any issues, and so that those of us watching from home don’t have to deal with problems like delays or postponements. i hope this turns out to be a world cup where the focus is on the matches themselves. there are about two weeks left, and i’m getting more excited every day.

[Callido]

We have already talked about this countless of times but for me the major fault in the England list for this world cup is not Palmer and Phoden because despite their talent and majestic play they maybe could be replaced and we dont know how they behaves between the other players of the team in terms of fellowship so the biggest and incredible one left behind is Maguire he was the captain of the team in this whole process How you can left him behind now???

England always has selection problems because of the number of good players available. Cole Palmer has been a shadow of himself and Phil Foden has not be at his best. Eberechi Eze , Kobbie Mainoo , and Morgan Rogers have been outstanding this season. The coach would have to select the best and players that suits is playing strategy. Cole and Phil are still young to play in the next world cup if they improve.

It was really surprising that Harry Maguire was not called up for the World Cup after his outstanding performance at Manchester United this season, it's really a problem with England selecting players for the World Cup. Even players like Trent Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Greaoish and Madison were not called up, these were players who once played as the main man in their various clubs.

England has a lot of talents so it's difficult to make selections in many cases, but I really hope that the coach knows what he's doing and how to navigate this players.

[welovebit]

Look at 2022 world cup, it was the worst ever world cup that was ever hosted and yet FIFA was okay with it, and we watched it on TV without any trouble and didn't had to go to Qatar. All of this is a bit of a trouble and we should not be considering how "easy" it is for the teams or the fans or anything like that because FIFA has not been making it easy for a long time. This is just for the TV, and for the TV nobody will care.

the preparations for the world cup in qatar were massive. qatar spent billions of dollars on the world cup, and after a one-month tournament, those facilities were never used again. usa also needs to prepare very well so that fans watching the matches at the stadium don’t face any issues, and so that those of us watching from home don’t have to deal with problems like delays or postponements. i hope this turns out to be a world cup where the focus is on the matches themselves. there are about two weeks left, and i’m getting more excited every day.

The 2022 World Cup, which was played in Qatar, had one of the most massive spendings in any sporting event they spent around $220 billion for 7 new stadiums and other things, but still people always call this one of the worst World Cups in soccer history. It's really insane.
Now, three countries with many controversies and problems due to war have things on track, and the media is calling this one of the most lucrative World Cups. With a few days left, all will be watching how they will do and how things will work, but now it's almost changing the concept of soccer and sports because having an investment like this has never been easy for any country.

[Sithara007]

Look at 2022 world cup, it was the worst ever world cup that was ever hosted and yet FIFA was okay with it, and we watched it on TV without any trouble and didn't had to go to Qatar. All of this is a bit of a trouble and we should not be considering how "easy" it is for the teams or the fans or anything like that because FIFA has not been making it easy for a long time. This is just for the TV, and for the TV nobody will care.

Now we can easily avoid USA too, they think their nation is great to go because people from third world nations go there to live, thinking they are better than the world because of it, when in reality we are far happier here and would not even visit them as a tourist for the world cup. Some will go, if they love football, but it won't be much.

The only advantage with the 2022 FIFA World Cup was that it was easy to travel to Qatar from both Europe and Asia. Apart from that, fans faced overpriced tickets, accommodation and transport. Also, some 4,000+ Nepali and Bangladeshi construction workers died during the stadium construction, and most of them received no compensation. Nowadays FIFA don't care about fans or human rights. The hosting rights are awarded to the highest bidder and that is how Saudi Arabia managed to win the rights for the 2034 edition.

[el che]

Can anyone recommend a platform that provides comprehensive World Cup information? I'm looking for a site that covers team news and player updates, as well as detailed historical data on team and player performances. Ideally, I'd also like to see breakdowns like who is the best defender on each team, key statistics (goals scored, etc.), and team top scorers. On top of that, I'm looking for predictions as well, such as which team will concede the fewest goals in Matchday 1, which will concede the most, and similar analytical insights. The more detail, the better.

[Bobrox]

It was really surprising that Harry Maguire was not called up for the World Cup after his outstanding performance at Manchester United this season, it's really a problem with England selecting players for the World Cup. Even players like Trent Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Greaoish and Madison were not called up, these were players who once played as the main man in their various clubs.

England has a lot of talents so it's difficult to make selections in many cases, but I really hope that the coach knows what he's doing and how to navigate this players.

I can't believing with Harry Maguire not calling for FIFA World Cup 2026 after impressive performance with Manchester United, the England team manager Thomas Tuchel prefer calling John Stone with less minutes playing this season with Manchester City but get part for playing at World Cup. I think not only Harry Maguire but also Trend Arnold, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer had good performance with their club in this season have missing the World Cup 2026.

In World Cup 2026, England at Group L will face Croatia, Panama and Ghana looks not difficult group for England to secure top standings position but have be careful when facing Croatia or Ghana.

[BlackBoss_]

Mate sorry, I couldn't explain it to you well. I said Spain, Portugal, Brazil and France have the strongest squads. I know Argentina is the current world champion and is also the favorite for this World Cup. Even I like Argentina's gameplay very much. But you may not admit it France, Spain and Brazil's squads are stronger than Argentina's. But Argentina has a great bonding between its players. At the same time Scaloni is a very smart coach. The strong bonding between the players and a smart manager is why Argentina became the world champion. And is also the favorite for this World Cup. But if we consider only the squad aspect, Argentina will be a little behind. They have comparatively fewer star players in their squad.

Spain and France are very strong in attacks, Portugal looks to be strongest in their midfield, while Brazil in theory looks to be strong but in actual match operations they might have big problems with how they organize and operate their attacking systems. The comeback of Neymar in theory can be helpful for Brazil but in World Cup 2026, it's up to individual fitness and performance quality of Neymar and it's a very risky bet from Ancelotti.

Scaloni is a young coach but he proved his management quality with Argentina national team in World Cup and Coppa America, won titles with the team, and he also got good support from Argentina players. This World Cup will be the last one for Messi, and likely he will lead the team with more young players than they had in World Cup 2022, not only to defend the title but also to prepare for the future national squads in next World Cups without his participation.

[Joeboy]

It is very difficult for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the trophy this time. Last time we saw how much the entire Argentina team helped Messi in all aspects and how much the entire team played on the field. If we talk about this aspect of Cristiano Ronaldo or his team, then maybe it will not be the same at all. In this World Cup, the biggest and strongest team is France. France is the strongest team in this World Cup and next to it is Argentina and there are several other strong teams and after that is Portugal.

With this mindset of yours am sure you would be very shocked if in this world cup, an underdog happens to beat or eliminate their higher opponent... Truth be told, strength isn't majorly how football games are won.. Coz if that was so Portugal would have won the World cup countless numbers of times.. And also if it was majorly about strength, Arg. wouldn't have defeated France in the last world cup since you very well said it yourself that France National team happens to be the most strongest....

Honestly speaking, when we are talking about talent and squad, then Portugal shouldn't be left out coz they do have.. Infact their squad is more experienced and stronger than those of the other teams that you were speaking of.. Portugal has players like Ronaldo who is the best in the world, also has Vitinha, Mendes, J.Felix, Cancelo, B fenandes, to mention but a few...

[famososMuertos]

Look at 2022 world cup, it was the worst ever world cup that was ever hosted and yet FIFA was okay with it, and we watched it on TV without any trouble and didn't had to go to Qatar. All of this is a bit of a trouble and we should not be considering how "easy" it is for the teams or the fans or anything like that because FIFA has not been making it easy for a long time. This is just for the TV, and for the TV nobody will care.

the preparations for the world cup in qatar were massive. qatar spent billions of dollars on the world cup, and after a one-month tournament, those facilities were never used again. usa also needs to prepare very well so that fans watching the matches at the stadium don’t face any issues, and so that those of us watching from home don’t have to deal with problems like delays or postponements. i hope this turns out to be a world cup where the focus is on the matches themselves. there are about two weeks left, and i’m getting more excited every day.

The World Cup is now made for television, plain and simple. Stadium tickets are incredibly expensive; I've seen VIP packages that go for around $1,000, and those include a buffet, VIP treatment, etc. The old days when ordinary people could plan a trip to the World Cup four years in advance aren't gone; it still happens. In fact, the Latin American community practically took over entire neighborhoods during the last World Cup... but it's increasingly reserved for die-hard fans, young people who can afford to take that risk.

Anyway, let's just hope we have some exciting matches and that this expansion helps with that, since it would be great to see two different teams among the four finalists. The usual suspects have to be Brazil, Argentina, and maybe Colombia, so we could accept Curaçao. 

[Ale88]

The World Cup is now made for television, plain and simple. Stadium tickets are incredibly expensive; I've seen VIP packages that go for around $1,000, and those include a buffet, VIP treatment, etc. The old days when ordinary people could plan a trip to the World Cup four years in advance aren't gone; it still happens. In fact, the Latin American community practically took over entire neighborhoods during the last World Cup... but it's increasingly reserved for die-hard fans, young people who can afford to take that risk.

More than for television I would say that the World Cup became an event only for rich people and celebrities who don't care about football but simply want to be seen there. It's sad that FIFA keeps calling it "the people's sport" when they pushed away all the real fans. I used to love football, I understand football is money too but now it's 90% money and 10% sport. They ruined the best sport in the world.

[paco92x]

England always has selection problems because of the number of good players available. Cole Palmer has been a shadow of himself and Phil Foden has not be at his best. Eberechi Eze , Kobbie Mainoo , and Morgan Rogers have been outstanding this season. The coach would have to select the best and players that suits is playing strategy. Cole and Phil are still young to play in the next world cup if they improve.

To me, when looking at the extended squad of England, only maybe Foden and Palmer pop up as the ones that were not called up. But then, you see what the options are in attacking midfield, and everything starts to become clear: they have selected Eze, Rogers, and Bellingham. For me, they are all valid picks. Eze was a significant player in the Arsenal squad, and Rogers played well all season and started almost all games. The third pick, Bellingham, is the one that is most critical because he didn't play much or particularly well for Real Madrid, but honestly, he was better than Foden, who didn't even play, and Palmer, who was not on the same level this year. So, for me, there's no surprise here. For me greater mistery is how Jordan Henderson did make the cut.

[m4r1o]

Actually no one hates this player for his adequate performance because this England player has given his best in any league we have seen. He was in the EPL before and gave his best there too and from what I can see this player is currently involved with a club in the German league where this England player is also a top-level goal scorer. At this stage, notice Bayern recently became DFB Pokal champions and they defeated VfB Stuttgart in that game even this player scored a hat-trick there so we think that since Harry Kane has been named in England's 2026 World Cup squad, he might surprise with his performance because he has that ability.

the world cup still has a lot to offer, certainly there are players who can still have their say, england has some very great players, just think of kane who has proven to be the best english and german striker, i think he can easily play to win.

[bastisisca]

Can anyone recommend a platform that provides comprehensive World Cup information? I'm looking for a site that covers team news and player updates, as well as detailed historical data on team and player performances. Ideally, I'd also like to see breakdowns like who is the best defender on each team, key statistics (goals scored, etc.), and team top scorers. On top of that, I'm looking for predictions as well, such as which team will concede the fewest goals in Matchday 1, which will concede the most, and similar analytical insights. The more detail, the better.

I believe that the official site may already be good, personally I really love the Sky site which I consider to be good professionals and also good journalists, but I can give you the Italian version if you want
if you want the version in your language you have to search for it yourself

https://sport.sky.ch/it/sp/competition/429