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

[snipie]

In the FIFA World Cup warm-up match, we can see that France took to the field today against Northern Ireland with a strong attacking unit, to be honest after this team lost against Ivory Coast, I noticed that they have four trained attacking players in their squad today. Although France is a well-trained team in this World Cup, they may be looking to continue their winning streak in the warm-up matches, as a result it is seen that even against an average team like Northern Ireland today, this team took the field with their best XI, France has dominated this game so far, so it seems like this team will win this match.

France has no intention to start their journey in the FIFA World Cup official games with a shameful defeat against Ivory Coast then a draw or defeat against Northern Ireland, that's explain why Deschamps is pushing forward. So far Olise scored two goals for the French national football team.
France first match will be played the next week so they have enough time to train more and improve their teams performance further.

[Franctoshi]

I saw your a news today that Neymar Junior is getting better from his injury. I just pray he gets well so he can join his teammates in the World Cup competition. injury has been the biggest problem of Neymar Junior, and that has made him not to achieve the big awards he would have achieved in football, his a very talented player who loves to play with the ball, I really want him to be in the World Cup because I enjoy him playing. I know his going to help Brazil in a very big way especially in the leadership quality so he needs to be in the World Cup.

We know Neymar Junior as a usually Injury player, The management and the current coach of the Brazilian national team Carlo Anceloti should drop Neymer and go with other vibrant young talents in their, and besides he has nothing much to offer to the National team again, Because Brazil with it or without Neymer no one would notice any form of changes.

[BigTarget]

I am very happy because in this World Cup, Erling Haaland will play in the World Cup with his team, Norway. As we know, even though Erling Haaland is a famous player in a club, he has never played in the World Cup. So I am very happy in this World Cup. I can see Haaland play in the World Cup. I can't wait to see his performance in that match. Are you too? And surely now Erling Haaland can't wait to compete in the next World Cup.

Source: https://sport.detik.com/sepakbola/bola-dunia/d-8504296/erling-haaland-tak-sabar-main-di-piala-dunia-2026/amp

Norway is in Group I, in the same group as France, Iraq, and Senegal. I think it will not be easy for Norway to face those teams, but I think the most difficult team for Norway to beat is France because France has a strength that is difficult to beat. Well, we'll see what happens later, and I hope I can win the bet in the World Cup match later.

This World Cup is going to be memorable for fans because too many big names are participating in this for their countries. Norway is having one of the toughest groups here life could be not easy for them in the presence of France and Senegal, while Iraq is also not an easy team, but their chances are high for staying at the bottom.

France could be at the top, but who is having the second spot? This is not easy to predict. Senegal has good depth, while a few players are doing a good job. Norway is all about Erling Haaland, but their chances are also good for having a spot in the next round.

[$weetne$$]

This World Cup is going to be memorable for fans because too many big names are participating in this for their countries. Norway is having one of the toughest groups here life could be not easy for them in the presence of France and Senegal, while Iraq is also not an easy team, but their chances are high for staying at the bottom.

France could be at the top, but who is having the second spot? This is not easy to predict. Senegal has good depth, while a few players are doing a good job. Norway is all about Erling Haaland, but their chances are also good for having a spot in the next round.

France and Senegal are not easy teams to get past ,  especially France, I believe  they have got a higher chance to get passed the group stage and then looking at Senegal the only African in that group and of course one of the very few African teams that made it to the competition, they will not want to relent but do their very best to getting passed that stage, so that group will give us a lot to be surprised about.

[EL MOHA]

We know Neymar Junior as a usually Injury player, The management and the current coach of the Brazilian national team Carlo Anceloti should drop Neymer and go with other vibrant young talents in their, and besides he has nothing much to offer to the National team again, Because Brazil with it or without Neymer no one would notice any form of changes.

I agree with certain points and disagree with some on this list. I agree with the fact that Neymar injury woes are worrying and would definitely not get him in a better shape for the World Cup and from all indications this might be an empty spot, Ancelloti didn’t want to pick him from the start but was cajoled by the country federation and even the fans to must include him, left to Ancelloti alone Neymar wouldn’t be in this world. So for me I agree with you that he shouldn’t be starting except he is fit.

What I disagree with you is that you said Neymar presence wouldn’t be felt if he either plays or not, Neymar when fit even at his age his Brazilian most creative player. A fit Neymar would have been a great asset to Brazil in this tournament because he would certainly be used as the attacking midfielder and this is a role that currently Brazil national team lack a better player playing in.

[icebar]

Their performance against especially Serbia in their last friendly was really impressive! South Africa shouldn't be a big deal either.

South Africa have not been in the World Cup for a very long time now, they will not be an easy team to play on their return to the World Cup. They did well during the qualification phase leading to the World Cup, they had very few losses, and that result should not be taken lightly. I have a strong feeling in my guts that African teams will be a lot of shocker in this World Cup and maybe it may just start from the first game with South Africa showing to Mexico that they are not in the competition to play. South African actually finish second in their group, if they miss the first place.

Countries like South Africa certainly have a chance of succeeding in the group stage, but that probability is somewhat low. We see a few teams pull off surprises in every World Cup; could South Africa surprise us this year? I don't think that would surprise anyone.

Remember the previous World Cup? Morocco beat Portugal in the quarter-finals. Yes, they didn't go any further, but even that achievement was very enjoyable. Watching things like that at the World Cup is a pleasure for everyone

Most of the time, people are more excited about the countries that are going to win the trophy. According to them, the team that did not win the World Cup has not performed well. But if we think about Portugal vs Morocco, then we see that Morocco defeated a good team like Portugal in the quarter-finals. This is where the beauty of World Cup football lies. It is not always the fans' favorite teams that win. Most small teams have some good players. And because of their combined attack, they can get good results. Football can never be played depending on one player. Good results in football are produced due to the combined efforts of the entire team. So I will never be surprised if African countries can beat star teams with good performances.

[Adbitco]

Is this a world cup or it's Trump cup because I don't understand anymore, if you're not ready to host the world why then did you bid for it. Last world cup was so smooth even though it was the very first time of it being hosted in the Middle East. I really don't understand this visa denial, you claim to have the best security in the world and we are all seeing this. Is it because the ref is from Somalia? I don't even know what's wrong with FIFA, 3 countries are co hosting the world cup and out of the 3 only one is doing something differently, all these started since last year, shouldn't FIFA have made alternative plans as regards this. Iran has 3 of it group stage matches in the US and the US authorities has told them that they can't spend 24 hours in the country, which means they would have to fly in before the match and fly out after the match, where have we seen this before? Russia hosted the world cup alone and every country enjoyed it, yet the US can't co host a tournament and it goes smooth.

[MK-74]

Is this a world cup or it's Trump cup because I don't understand anymore, if you're not ready to host the world why then did you bid for it. Last world cup was so smooth even though it was the very first time of it being hosted in the Middle East. I really don't understand this visa denial, you claim to have the best security in the world and we are all seeing this. Is it because the ref is from Somalia? I don't even know what's wrong with FIFA, 3 countries are co hosting the world cup and out of the 3 only one is doing something differently, all these started since last year, shouldn't FIFA have made alternative plans as regards this. Iran has 3 of it group stage matches in the US and the US authorities has told them that they can't spend 24 hours in the country, which means they would have to fly in before the match and fly out after the match, where have we seen this before? Russia hosted the world cup alone and every country enjoyed it, yet the US can't co host a tournament and it goes smooth.

FIFA has no real decision making power; they just do whatever the United States wants because they are essentially puppets.
FIFA does not interfere in anything because the US gives them a lot of money, or they simply cannot interfere.
The deportation of a FIFA referee, issues involving Iran, and even the poor quality of training facilities used by teams are all examples of this situation.
It is very clear that this country is not a football nation, but FIFA and others do not care because their only concern is money.
This may end up being the worst World Cup organization we have ever seen.
Also, since I live in Europe, I have to watch my national team’s matches at around 6–7 AM just to support them, which makes everything feel even more frustrating and unfair.

[CLS63]

We know Neymar Junior as a usually Injury player, The management and the current coach of the Brazilian national team Carlo Anceloti should drop Neymer and go with other vibrant young talents in their, and besides he has nothing much to offer to the National team again, Because Brazil with it or without Neymer no one would notice any form of changes.

I don't even know why Ancelotti changed his decision and decided to call him to national team. Neymar isn't even playing football as regular as before.

Injuries and so have affected his career really negatively. Being 34 years old isn't the end of the world for special stars like him normally.

However I don't believe he is in good shape anymore after all he has been through. He doesn't even look focused anymore.

[promise444c5]

Portugal's squad is quite stable. They have talented and experienced players in all three platforms, defense, midfield and attack. More importantly, Portugal's players have played very well last season. Bruno Fernandes in particular has been in incredible form this season. He has scored 9 goals and provided 21 assists in the Premier League.

Yeah sure they do ‘cx buh this is a World Cup mate. You will be surprised when strong team get beaten but Portugal looks competitive this time(maybe) until 1~3 round of group stage.

And the team also has the ability to do well. Portugal's squad is not behind in any way compared to France or Brazil.

It is behind when we put France on scale , not behind when we replace with Brazil. Hence, even with strong squad, Brazil didn’t really compete as expected and there’s possibility for Portugal to be the next Brazil .

[IjawMan]

I still can't understand how France lost to Ivory Coast. Especially since Ivory Coast created more clear chances. France couldn't play their own game. It's also very strange that Spain drew with Iraq. Because both teams are considered among the best in the world, but they played against average teams. Despite this, they couldn't get a win.

Let make this simple, it is a friendly match and you don not expect that they play with all that seriousness and energy they should be taking into the world cup games proper into some friendly match instead.

Spain and France know what they are doing cause this football games is a mind game inclusive, wait till they play in the world cup and see if they will play the way they did by underperforming in the friendlies against unmatched football countries of Iraq and Ivory coast.

I'm surprised that some people are trying to push the narrative that France can be beaten by Ivory Coast in the World Cup finals since they also defeated them in their friendly game. Most of the France players didn't want to risk getting injured. They played the game like a warm up game to keep themselves fit enough before the official kickoff. That was same thing the Spanish team did.
I can't determine a team's strength and depth in a friendly game that's few days before a major tournament. We'll find out every team's strength in less than 10 days from now.

And come to think of it that some of this boys that are excited to play the world cup have never tested it before, it is their first time of about to and any one expects that they will want to risk going into injury that will deny them from playing in the big tournament of the world where every footballers dream is focused first before other competitions.

If only this nations will play each other again in the world cup fixtures I would have loved it to confirm how strong they really can be against the French and Spanish teams.  Whatever results that be this time will end the  discussion.

[pawel7777]

Multiple major news outlets are picking up on the story of the Somali referee who has been denied entry to the US:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/8/us-confirms-denying-entry-to-somali-referee-set-to-take-part-in-world-cup
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/49002985/somali-referee-world-cup-denied-entry-united-states
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cnv9drg0qzgo

The referee's name is Omar Artan. The reason for the denial of entry is not clear, and we only have a vague explanation of:
“determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry”

In my opinion, if he were granted a valid visa (and the fact he was able to board a plane to the US indicates he obtained such) he should be allowed in. But we cannot jump to conclusions without knowing the full story. It could be that there were some valid grounds for the denial and not just that some DHS worker(s) didn't like his face.
Somalia is one of several countries on US travel ban list, so this could've got something to do with it.

[rezakurnia66]

Is this a world cup or it's Trump cup because I don't understand anymore, if you're not ready to host the world why then did you bid for it. Last world cup was so smooth even though it was the very first time of it being hosted in the Middle East. I really don't understand this visa denial, you claim to have the best security in the world and we are all seeing this. Is it because the ref is from Somalia? I don't even know what's wrong with FIFA, 3 countries are co hosting the world cup and out of the 3 only one is doing something differently, all these started since last year, shouldn't FIFA have made alternative plans as regards this. Iran has 3 of it group stage matches in the US and the US authorities has told them that they can't spend 24 hours in the country, which means they would have to fly in before the match and fly out after the match, where have we seen this before? Russia hosted the world cup alone and every country enjoyed it, yet the US can't co host a tournament and it goes smooth.

What the joke from United State government as the host of World Cup? I can't believing FIFA regulation before appointing World Cup host how difficult for players team participants, referee and the visitor come to United State. Last three days ago Iraq captain team investigated more than 7 hours after landed at United State by their immigration and today we got other bad new the referee denied entry to United State before tournament opening.

A lot of controversial appointing United State as most complicated problem country as the house, another unbelievable with Iran team can't stay at United State and have travelling from Mexico to United State for playing the games and exactly Iran have training outside and far away from the Stadium playing match.

[Rgram]

We know Neymar Junior as a usually Injury player, The management and the current coach of the Brazilian national team Carlo Anceloti should drop Neymer and go with other vibrant young talents in their, and besides he has nothing much to offer to the National team again, Because Brazil with it or without Neymer no one would notice any form of changes.

Sometimes, you get to wonder why they still get to bring him with the team, since it’s most likely he’s never going to finish the tournament with the team. That’s the power of influence, what the Brazilian team expects of a player of his quality. He’s presence alone is a moral boost to the team and at best, he can produce some quality performance for the team. I don’t see Brazil to be title contenders though, they’ve got what it takes certainly but, they’ve always found ways to be eliminated from the tournament.

[GbitG]

In the FIFA World Cup warm-up match, we can see that France took to the field today against Northern Ireland with a strong attacking unit, to be honest after this team lost against Ivory Coast, I noticed that they have four trained attacking players in their squad today. Although France is a well-trained team in this World Cup, they may be looking to continue their winning streak in the warm-up matches, as a result it is seen that even against an average team like Northern Ireland today, this team took the field with their best XI, France has dominated this game so far, so it seems like this team will win this match.

France has no intention to start their journey in the FIFA World Cup official games with a shameful defeat against Ivory Coast then a draw or defeat against Northern Ireland, that's explain why Deschamps is pushing forward. So far Olise scored two goals for the French national football team.
France first match will be played the next week so they have enough time to train more and improve their teams performance further.

Exactly this match is really showing their quality that are not even in good shape like against a lay team they just sounded bruh even against Northern Ireland they wasn't too good like their coach was is bit skeptical and that's why he utilize his last possible effort through big player. FIFA world cup isn't an easy competition it's required a consistent move performance. So France need to regain their quality othwise it will be hard for them to win the title.....

Besides that upcoming schedule will be the test for them like Senagal and Norway will be like hard trail and if France do the same performance as current then probably I will neglect their name for World Cup winner because it's an easy job but still team are lacking and even if hard opponent got face then how they will manage their quality.

[Ale88]

There will definitely be a surprise team in this World Cup.
So far, the most cohesive looking teams in my opinion are Norway and Portugal. Though how accurate is it to consider Portugal a surprise, that’s another story.

In the previous World Cup there was Morocco as a surprising team as you can remember. They eliminated Spain and Portugal to reach the semi finals which was really insane!  

They are a part of this World Cup also. What do you think about another surprise by them? I guess expecting that from them would be too much. But I also think there could be another surprising team in this one.

I really hope that the surprise will be Japan. I mean, they already improved a lot during the last World Cups, their movement grew exponentially during the last 20-25 years, but they never managed to achieve a noticeable result in the World Cup despite beating big teams. I hope this year they can finally reach at least the quarter finals.

Japan were really good in the friendly matches too and they're a team that's used to playing together. i'm also expecting a quarter final or even a semi final from them. Norway will also most likely make it to the quarter finals.

Oh, yes, you're right, I forgot Norway! They probably have the best national team they ever had because, to be honest, it's kind of crazy when we think that the best striker in the world is Norwegian. They have a very solid team and definitely can be one of the surprises. I would be disappointed if they don't reach at least the round of 16.

[Sithara007]

This World Cup is going to be memorable for fans because too many big names are participating in this for their countries. Norway is having one of the toughest groups here life could be not easy for them in the presence of France and Senegal, while Iraq is also not an easy team, but their chances are high for staying at the bottom.

France could be at the top, but who is having the second spot? This is not easy to predict. Senegal has good depth, while a few players are doing a good job. Norway is all about Erling Haaland, but their chances are also good for having a spot in the next round.

Group I is the toughest possible group. France is probably the strongest team from the UEFA confederation, while Senegal is one of the top-3 teams from CAF. Iraq is a strong team, but at least in their case we can say that they are not among the top-3 in AFC. The match between Norway and Senegal will probably decide who will proceed to the next round. Initially I was quite excited to hear that finally we will get to watch Erling Håland in the World Cup. But part of that happiness is gone, after learning that they are placed in the same group along with France and Senegal.

[el che]

Morocco are a team with a chance of progressing from the group and will be looking to make the most of it.

I think things look a lot worse for Morocco after that friendly. They lost two important players to injuries during the first half.
Ezzalzouli, who just had his best year at Betis, messed up his knee ligament. Reports say he is out for 3 to 4 weeks, so he will probably miss almost all of the World Cup unless they make it into the semis. Also Mazraoui from Man United had a shoulder injury and left the game after only 25 minutes. It's already confirmed that he will miss at least the first match against Brazil. I believe Morocco will make it out of the group, probably second, but they won’t go much further if they keep getting their main players injured as they rely heavily on their first eleven.

[TedMosby]

[...]
Group I is the toughest possible group. France is probably the strongest team from the UEFA confederation, while Senegal is one of the top-3 teams from CAF. Iraq is a strong team, but at least in their case we can say that they are not among the top-3 in AFC. The match between Norway and Senegal will probably decide who will proceed to the next round. Initially I was quite excited to hear that finally we will get to watch Erling Håland in the World Cup. But part of that happiness is gone, after learning that they are placed in the same group along with France and Senegal.
[...]

I can't see which group is the toughest and which one is not, because some of the other groups consist of teams with somehow equal levels, which also makes it tough for them to fight against each other in that group. Instead of comparing which one is the toughest, I am more into comparing which one is more unpredictable.

IMO, Group I is also one of the groups that is unpredictable so far, especially after the friendly match between Spain and Iraq. They managed to draw against Spain 1-1. Whatever the reason, it definitely strengthens their confidence and mentality.

Another interesting group is Group F. Personally, I like Group F more. Group F consists of the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia. If Japan leads the group table, it will be interesting to see.

[Hewlet]

In the FIFA World Cup warm-up match, we can see that France took to the field today against Northern Ireland with a strong attacking unit, to be honest after this team lost against Ivory Coast, I noticed that they have four trained attacking players in their squad today. Although France is a well-trained team in this World Cup, they may be looking to continue their winning streak in the warm-up matches, as a result it is seen that even against an average team like Northern Ireland today, this team took the field with their best XI, France has dominated this game so far, so it seems like this team will win this match.

France has no intention to start their journey in the FIFA World Cup official games with a shameful defeat against Ivory Coast then a draw or defeat against Northern Ireland, that's explain why Deschamps is pushing forward. So far Olise scored two goals for the French national football team.
France first match will be played the next week so they have enough time to train more and improve their teams performance further.

seams i have been seeing an increasing fanbase that are of the opinion that France is the team that will win the world cup and while it is not a doubt that they have the sharpest of players that are at the world class level and while pre season is always different from what happens when the world cup starts properly.  Ivory Coast have been doing well of recent even though they might not have the kind of individual brilliance like the way France has.  also note that every team that has qualifies for the world cup believes they can win it and wants to make every game count starting from the pre world cup fixtures