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

[Lida93]

Snip

Cristiano Ronaldo still have ability of scoring goals including fantastic goals but he is old and with aging effects, he has more opportunities wasted too. Using Ronaldo at this age is like using a double-edged sword that has advantage and disadvantage with likely increasing disadvantage with time. At this old age, his body sometimes no longer is easily to control well even he really wants to do that, and in his matches for Al Nassr, we already saw many situations he did not make good touches.

It's very human and natural because of aging but he is helpful for Portugal if he accepts his role and order from the head coach as well as does not have too high ego in this World Cup 2026. Portugal need him and he needs his teammates, they must work hard together for winning World Cup 2026 title, the first ever World Cup title for Portugal.

Just as you rightly put it, there are some disadvantages of fielding a player like Ronaldo and also there are so many advantages likewise to it, when you have a high profile player like Ronaldo on the pitch his presence commands lots of respect from the opponents as well as some fear among the opposing team which could be an added advantage.
But on the other hand, Ronaldo's age and fitness level may hinder the player's ability from not being able to be as proactive as he used to be in the past.

[SirLancelot]

Considering his age, it is true that the 2026 World Cup will be Ronaldo's last in his career, even though he has not made an official statement regarding this. It will take several more years for the next World Cup while he is now 41 years old as of last February 5.
An impossible number if Ronaldo still wants to be on the field for the next World Cup after the 2026 World Cup. Maybe you can, but just sit on the bench and watch the current generation play.

If the world of football, including the World Cup, was at stake, maybe Ronaldo would reach the final. Could this happen?

Age is just a figure for a few, while he is already signing a contract with Al Nassr till 2028. This means things are still arguable about his retirement from soccer. The last two seasons he has done enough in the Saudi Pro League because here conditions are much better than UEFA; while here he is having no competition like UEFA, as well, this is helping him to stay on a good level.

If someone talks about it, he will be available for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. This is also possible because he has enough potential and physical fitness to stay good for four more years. Even this is not good for Portugal because now it's time for them to come out of this influence and have changes, which will give them a good boost.

[bitgolden]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

[Shadiq]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

Maybe we will see Ronaldo play in the World Cup again, but it will be in the Legends FIFA World Cup or the FIFA World Cup with retired players. But as far as I know, no such World Cup is organized. So this year is the last World Cup of Cristiano Ronaldo's life. Even after this World Cup, we may see him retire from all forms of football. He is already 41 years old, I don't think any club would want to accept a player who is 42 or 43 years old, not even the fans. So it is almost certain that we will not see him playing football for much longer after the World Cup.

There are some other legendary players who are going to retire very soon after the World Cup, they are legendary players like Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez. Although Luis Suarez has already finished playing in the last FIFA World Cup, he was not called up to the squad for this season. So we can assume his international football career is already over.

[sergiorus]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

why wouldn't Saudis want 45 year old Cristiano? They accept even mid tier celebrity players in their late 30s. Assuming CR7 would still be not worse than them, just because of the name alone everyone will still want him in Saudi and other leagues of this tier.

Also, just imho, CR7 has decent chances to play the next worldcup as a rotation player just for the team's spirit. He would be as good as anybody for the last 15-20 minutes of a game.

[Arenga pinnata]

The friendly match between Spain and Iraq will be held today. although I’m usually not very interested in friendly matches, as the World Cup approaches, I’ve become quite curious about the performance of the various teams that will be competing in the World Cup. Through friendly matches, we can sometimes get a glimpse of the strategies a team might use, and we can also see the potential a team might have based on their abilities.

Well, both teams will certainly test out some of their strategies and see how well the players work together. in a friendly match, it’s not really that important which team wins. that’s because teams usually keep rotating their players, and coaches often use these matches to evaluate whether certain players deserve a spot on the starting lineup or should remain on the bench. Usually, the players are actually very enthusiastic and start showing their best performance. however, everyone will play quite cautiously because they certainly want to avoid unnecessary injuries.
Even so, I predict that Spain will win this match with more than 3 goals scored.

[jakdanyel]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

There is no need for him in the Portuguese national team anymore as well. No offense...    Because man he is just too old now.

There are many talented young players in this team already. I don't think they need Ronaldo anymore. He might even be dragging them from getting bigger achievements now.

In this World Cup I wouldn't prefer him in the starting eleven of difficult matches for sure.

[xLays]

I didn't know that Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Michael Olise were all born in England, yet they chose to represent their countries of origin. Unlike Bukayo Saka, who is of Nigerian descent but decided not to represent Nigeria.
Well, Nigeria hasn't qualified for the World Cup, but who knows? Maybe if Saka had been part of the Nigerian squad, they might have had a better chance of qualifying this time.

Anyway, Saka was born in England so it's completely his right to play for England rather than Nigeria. In the end, it's a personal decision and there's nothing wrong with choosing to represent the country where you were born and raised. Right?

[Alonso_]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

There is no need for him in the Portuguese national team anymore as well. No offense...    Because man he is just too old now.

There are many talented young players in this team already. I don't think they need Ronaldo anymore. He might even be dragging them from getting bigger achievements now.

In this World Cup I wouldn't prefer him in the starting eleven of difficult matches for sure.

I think you have said everything, Ronaldo shouldn’t be playing in this World Cup anymore, I don’t know what he will still be doing in this team, I don’t know what he will be contributing in this World Cup.

There are so many talented players who should be taking that position in the team, every team are now focusing on young talented players.

This was actually a problem for them last World Cup, he was no longer in manager (santos) plans and things was very difficult and hard for the team, they had a terrible World Cup.

[LUCKMCFLY]

This certainly would be his last World Cup and I have doubts in Portugal having to win this one with him.

I understand you, there will always be doubts because that's how things are for any team. I remember a guy who makes predictions, and according to him, the Netherlands will win in a possible final against Portugal. He's very famous; supposedly, he's the one who's been right about everything. But Portugal should shine in this World Cup. Personally, I want them to win. I think CR7 deserves this World Cup, and that's why they have to fight hard.

[promise444c5]

There is no need for him in the Portuguese national team anymore as well. No offense...    Because man he is just too old now.

There are many talented young players in this team already. I don't think they need Ronaldo anymore. He might even be dragging them from getting bigger achievements now.

lol tell that to the die hard fans who just want to see Ronaldo on the field even if he does absolutely nothing nothing for the next 90 mins  . Yes! I said it and now they probably coming for me because they are too blind to see the reality.. They keep comparing him to Messi , if Messi plays full 90 mins in WC game then Ronaldo must .

Same thing for Neymar which I’m probably sure he’s going to sustain another injury before 6matches lol..
Ney is still on average though, he’s just injury prone.

New Debate on the World Cup song..

Team Ishowspeed are stealing the show already. Which song is better? IShow or Shakira.

Left to me, NONE but Ishow is still much better for a World Cup vibe. Shakira got some lyrics but doesn’t give the Vibe IMO




(img-source : Directly from FIFA page)

He made it to the album list already..

[Franctoshi]

I didn't know that Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Michael Olise were all born in England, yet they chose to represent their countries of origin. Unlike Bukayo Saka, who is of Nigerian descent but decided not to represent Nigeria.
Well, Nigeria hasn't qualified for the World Cup, but who knows? Maybe if Saka had been part of the Nigerian squad, they might have had a better chance of qualifying this time.

Anyway, Saka was born in England so it's completely his right to play for England rather than Nigeria. In the end, it's a personal decision and there's nothing wrong with choosing to represent the country where you were born and raised. Right?

It's an individual choice for these players, but regardless, if I'm a footballer, I don't see a reason why I would choose representing another country's national football team over another; that's selling my true identity; that's a lack of love for my country. However, though as a Nigerian, I get a bit of some reason behind Saka's decision and many other Nigerian players that did so, likely based on getting that preferential treatment by the government as supposed, last last, the choice is theirs.

[Arenga pinnata]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

Well, I think this World Cup will likely be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last. In fact, during the previous World Cup, some people doubted whether Cristiano Ronaldo would still be playing for the national team in 2026. but now it turns out he’s still being called up by the Portuguese national team, and his contributions like in the Nations League have proven that he’s still needed. but imagining him at the next World Cup, well, I think it’s almost impossible that he’ll still be playing by then. I think he might have retired by then, and well, he’s even started investing in a few clubs now. And I think he’ll focus more on that after he retires like owning a club or buying a club and developing it.

[yudi09]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

There will be no more nostalgia for the modern era of soccer at the World Cup once this tournament is over, because Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be spectators, not players.
Lionel Messi has already won this trophy with Argentina. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to win the World Cup with Portugal.

It’s no surprise that many people are hoping Portugal will give it their all to win this World Cup, as they all want to see Ronaldo—an icon of modern soccer—lift the trophy now that Argentina has done so for Messi.
This isn’t about whether or not they’re Ronaldo fans; they simply want Portugal to win.

[Silikiem]

I didn't know that Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Michael Olise were all born in England, yet they chose to represent their countries of origin. Unlike Bukayo Saka, who is of Nigerian descent but decided not to represent Nigeria.
Well, Nigeria hasn't qualified for the World Cup, but who knows? Maybe if Saka had been part of the Nigerian squad, they might have had a better chance of qualifying this time.

Anyway, Saka was born in England so it's completely his right to play for England rather than Nigeria. In the end, it's a personal decision and there's nothing wrong with choosing to represent the country where you were born and raised. Right?

There are still the likes of Ademola lookman, Alex Iwobi, and Calvin Bassey and few of them who were born and raised in the United Kingdom and most of them even represented England in the under17 and under23 teams before switching allegiance to Nigeria national football team but they still fail to qualify for the World Cup.

I think is all about structure, the Nigerian teams Have good quality players within their ranks playing for top European clubs and they are capable of qualifying for the World Cup or perhaps win the trophy but the national team just needs a more improved structure to enable them compete well at the highest level.

[Jewan420]

There will be no more nostalgia for the modern era of soccer at the World Cup once this tournament is over, because Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be spectators, not players.
Lionel Messi has already won this trophy with Argentina. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to win the World Cup with Portugal.

It’s no surprise that many people are hoping Portugal will give it their all to win this World Cup, as they all want to see Ronaldo—an icon of modern soccer—lift the trophy now that Argentina has done so for Messi.
This isn’t about whether or not they’re Ronaldo fans; they simply want Portugal to win.

How many years or days will we get the next legend after losing these two legends? It is still uncertain. Although there are star players like Kylian Mbappe, Dembele, Julian Alvarez, Vinicius Junior and Rafinha at the moment, they have not yet shown the ability to become legendary players. Although Lamine Yamal is considered the successor of Lionel Messi, he is still far from being a legend.

After Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo leave the field, perhaps one of the names mentioned will take the place of the legend for the younger generation. But those of us who are used to watching Messi and Ronaldo play, we may not find a new legend or it is still too late. Ronaldo should win the current World Cup title, Ronaldo's basket of achievements now lacks only the World Cup title.

[Livingleged]

What do you think about the new referee and VAR rules against the upcoming FIFA world cup do you think it will make it more interesting? Is the Direct red card to a player that covers their mouth during confrontation too hash? The wrongly awarded yellow card and corner kicks to be called off by VAR has been long overdue now I think that makes sense football is just getting tougher you need to put in all as a player. However i like the new rules it shows discipline.

[Marykeller]

Ronaldo won't see another world cup, that much is known. He would be roughly 45-46 years old on the next one, and there is no way that he could play until then. Hell, even if we assume that he plays, like not even Saudis would want a 46 year old Ronaldo, but let's assume that he somehow does, like goes to Portugal buys a club and plays there or something lol.

He would not be good enough for the nation team, and it would be weird to see him there at that age. Lets face it, it's his last one ever.

Maybe we will see Ronaldo play in the World Cup again, but it will be in the Legends FIFA World Cup or the FIFA World Cup with retired players. But as far as I know, no such World Cup is organized. So this year is the last World Cup of Cristiano Ronaldo's life. Even after this World Cup, we may see him retire from all forms of football. He is already 41 years old, I don't think any club would want to accept a player who is 42 or 43 years old, not even the fans. So it is almost certain that we will not see him playing football for much longer after the World Cup.

There are some other legendary players who are going to retire very soon after the World Cup, they are legendary players like Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez. Although Luis Suarez has already finished playing in the last FIFA World Cup, he was not called up to the squad for this season. So we can assume his international football career is already over.

The football world is gonna miss the legendary players you mentioned. They will all be missed and wish to stay a bit longer in football, to give us more good football but age is not on their side, they will answer it by quitting football.

This World Cup will see the retirement of many football superstars. The Lionel Messi and Ronaldo comparisons won't be talked about and dragged about again on who is better than the other and has made history.

[Oluwa-btc]

What do you think about the new referee and VAR rules against the upcoming FIFA world cup do you think it will make it more interesting? Is the Direct red card to a player that covers their mouth during confrontation too hash? The wrongly awarded yellow card and corner kicks to be called off by VAR has been long overdue now I think that makes sense football is just getting tougher you need to put in all as a player. However i like the new rules it shows discipline.

The racial treatment from that Argentina player who plays for Benfica towards Vinicius  junior, I mean this shit happened during the Champions League competition between them. That stuff lead to the second rule on this photo.

While that which happened during the AFCON finals between Senegalese national team and  Moroccan national team lead to the third rule on this photo. I believe players will abide by it.

[CLS63]

What do you think about the new referee and VAR rules against the upcoming FIFA world cup do you think it will make it more interesting? Is the Direct red card to a player that covers their mouth during confrontation too hash? The wrongly awarded yellow card and corner kicks to be called off by VAR has been long overdue now I think that makes sense football is just getting tougher you need to put in all as a player. However i like the new rules it shows discipline.

I find red cards while covering their mouths during confrontations not fair to be honest. They don't always use bad words and so when they do that in the end. Maybe they are just talking over a problem to solve it quickly between.

I have heard something additional to these as well. During substitutions the player to replace will have to wait for a minute if the replaced player doesn't leave the pitch in 10 seconds. That's also a good way to prevent the game from stopping for long.