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

[wiss19]

Netherlands captain Van Dijk led from the front and scored the first goal of this match with his header, which gave the lead to the Netherlands as they are looking for a win and a good start to their campaign in this World Cup just after the start of the second half.

The match is looking interesting after having a boring first half. While I am writing this and Japan is having an equalizer in the 57th minute, this is a surprising reply from cool Japan midfielder Nakamura. Now 30 minutes remain in this match, and things are looking balanced because both teams are doing good attacks to have a second goal and win this game.

12 minutes into the 3rd goal, what a start to the second half Summerville had on the scorers sheets.

[red4slash]

The one quality this Netherland possess more than that of the Japan side Is there ability to be press resilient and still that same ability that would give them the edge to go ahead of Japan if the Japan players press too high. It feels like there are 3 Frankie De Jong in that mid fielder and that's the reason Japan can't just press them to take possession.

Now it feels like Netherlands attacks has come back to life

Even though in this match Reijnders did not play optimally but indeed De Jong as a Pivot really looked very good because not only securing the zone in defense in this match De Jong played as an initial regulator for the attack pattern that the Netherlands did and the results even though Japan tried with their extraordinary presing and defense but the Netherlands seemed quite capable of fully controlling the flow of the match.

Crucial times are on the horizon and usually with the tension a little faster like now there is always a mistake that can turn out to be fatal and now Japan will be looking for more points especially as they are behind now but they can still try to counterattack and stronger pressing if the Netherlands relax their attack and play safer.

[CLS63]

It’s a real shame about that one goal in stoppage time, but oh well. With Australia’s recent win over Turkey, we’ve had yet another surprise.

That was really unbelievable for me mate. I was so hopeful about Turkey to defeat Australia. I had a bet on them just as I showed in my previous post.

But we just played very badly. It was like we didn't train for how to open the deadlock of defenses like this before coming to the World Cup.

We actually didn't dominate the match unlike some of our players and manager said.

[PhilosopherKing]

Curaçao suffered a very humiliating defeat; it must have been very sad for them. They conceded 7 goals and only managed to score 1. I don't know if they will be able to recover psychologically in time for the next game. Before this game started, I had high expectations for Curaçao, something like they could lose but without conceding many goals. I didn't imagine they would be defeated in such a humiliating way. Honestly, I don't know how Germany, against whom I didn't have high expectations, played so well today. Maybe they can really go far in this World Cup.

I join you in the expectations and even they would have have lost, I didn't see it being more than 2 goals down but they went 6 goals down against Germany. But watching that match against Curacao tells us alot about the team, I don't know how they played in there previous matches but today, we saw players trying to make highlights instead of playing collectively as. And still that defense is just borderline horrendous, it's something they should pay attention to

I began to expect the goals from Germany to reach 10 after Germany scored their 5th goal, this isn't me trolling but just my expectations due to the German team's performance, Curacao where so lucky to score the only goal they had. After they equalized, i was hoping for a suprise from Curacao although they suprised me by conceding 6 more goals afterwards.
Maybe after this World Cup, that's if they'll even manage to qualify for the next, they'll have to organize their team by developing players in the country or send some out to get experience in club teams around Europe and beyond cause this current team is not ready to represent the country in International level.

With what I see today, then Curacao are going no where, this is probably their last bus stop, so there is no hope for them. Their defense was notthing to write home about. That is why after havertz penalty goal, I think that more goals would be coming. And assuming there was more time, germany would have make it to be ten goals.

Even if Curacao dosent qualify, this world cup will still serve as an experience for them, so that they will be better prepared for the next one if they will qualify.

[LUCKMCFLY]

What has been happening on and off the football field is impressive, many contrasts, many things that you see and that you can't believe, the African referee, the Mexico goals that were due to South African errors

A lot of controversies that if happened in any other country around the world, you can imagine the critics said by developed nations and especially FIFA. There will be sanctions for sure. But when it comes to USA, FIFA just became blind. Qatar World Cup was way better and even the older versions were way respectable.

the only match I liked was the one between China and South Korea,

You mean Czechia because China has nothing to do here other than watching.

today there is another opening ceremony in the USA, I have a lot of faith in that USA game against Paraguay.

USA is favourite in this match but I hope Paraguay will play better here.

You said it, sorry, I typed quickly without looking, it's Czech Republic. However, notice something: I haven't seen another match that has amazed me like the USA's, not even Brazil. I still have to see Argentina, Portugal, and France, but if you watch the USA game again, the players are like hunting animals. Instead of going up to defend when the forwards lose possession, they defend themselves, but further up the field. They don't even play offside. No, the defenders run like wild boars and find the ball, and instead of going back, their first option is to launch an attack and make quick switches of play from inside to outside.

[SUPERSAIAN]

It’s a real shame about that one goal in stoppage time, but oh well. With Australia’s recent win over Turkey, we’ve had yet another surprise.

That was really unbelievable for me mate. I was so hopeful about Turkey to defeat Australia. I had a bet on them just as I showed in my previous post.

But we just played very badly. It was like we didn't train for how to open the deadlock of defenses like this before coming to the World Cup.

We actually didn't dominate the match unlike some of our players and manager said.

AbdulKerimbardakçı said the same thing, that they were prepared for it, but they made a mistake in their preparation. They conceded the first goal from just one counter-attack, and then... well, what happened, happened. The first match was very important I wanted to experience the excitement of starting the group stage with a win, everyone wanted that.

Everyone thought we would get a clear victory. You thought so too, and you even placed a bet, that's bad. I hope you make up for it in your next bets.

[JiiBs]

It’s a real shame about that one goal in stoppage time, but oh well. With Australia’s recent win over Turkey, we’ve had yet another surprise.

That was really unbelievable for me mate. I was so hopeful about Turkey to defeat Australia. I had a bet on them just as I showed in my previous post.

That’s one loss that adds to the list of surprises at this group stage of the World Cup. So much for trying to back the favorites in the group stage. I’m glad I didn’t have reasons to take a bet today on the World Cup else it would have being an obvious loss for me as, there was no way I wouldn’t have considered giving Turkey a win.

Germany however were exceptional today. They are playing a less experienced side though but that scoreline, that’s not something we see in the World Cup.

[HaXX0R1337]

~
For now they look much more convincing but since the opponent is Curacao which is far below Germany I will consider this as a very natural thing.D
One team that might make it to the knockout phase quickly is Germany given their current confidence and a group that looks pretty easy for them.

It was a great game for Germany. They cut lose in the second half and was tormenting the Curacao defense. They will be the group leaders without a doubt as they are facing Côte d'Ivoire, first time hearing this name.

The Netherlands other match against Japan looked like a one-sided affair but the Dutch didn't have much attacking quality in the first half.

The Netherlands are leading the score but Japan is attacking and troubling the Netherlands defense. It is not an easy one sided affair like you expect.  

Here you go, Japan leveled the score. I have seen big bets on Netherlands to win, unfortunately it looks like they will lose their bets.

[Sandra_hakeem]

I normally like to talk about confidence as it plays a major role in a team's performance. Curaçao conceived too early into the game, but since it was just a goal difference, they worked their way in and equalized in time. The joy killed their spirit and in a moment, they lost focus and thought they could balance it up till the end, but when the defenders didn't expect anything serious to penetrate, the pass came through and the goals started flying in from every direction. The more they tried to cover up, the more they opened up space for them to shoot from different angles.
Germany is no joke for any team now, and maybe Curaçao just needed a little more patience and will power to keep the defense tighter. I can't imagine musiala passed through 6 defenders? tf.

[Btcdeybodi]

Curaçao suffered a very humiliating defeat; it must have been very sad for them. They conceded 7 goals and only managed to score 1. I don't know if they will be able to recover psychologically in time for the next game. Before this game started, I had high expectations for Curaçao, something like they could lose but without conceding many goals. I didn't imagine they would be defeated in such a humiliating way. Honestly, I don't know how Germany, against whom I didn't have high expectations, played so well today. Maybe they can really go far in this World Cup.

I join you in the expectations and even they would have have lost, I didn't see it being more than 2 goals down but they went 6 goals down against Germany. But watching that match against Curacao tells us alot about the team, I don't know how they played in there previous matches but today, we saw players trying to make highlights instead of playing collectively as. And still that defense is just borderline horrendous, it's something they should pay attention to

How will you say that you didn't see the match between Germany versus Curacao going above 2 goals, that's an insult on Germany because if not that the German team reduced in form, they used to be one of the most feared team in the World cup matches. Have you forgotten that Germany won Brazil by 7:1 too in the semi final of 2014 FIFA world cup? This is the first time am even hearing about a country called Curacao and i don't even know how they managed to qualify for the world cup. When Germany scored and Curacao equalized, i was even thinking that they will become a difficult team for Germany but not until when they entered the second half and Germany didn't show any mercy to them.

[tiCeR]

The Netherlands other match against Japan looked like a one-sided affair but the Dutch didn't have much attacking quality in the first half.

The Netherlands are leading the score but Japan is attacking and troubling the Netherlands defense. It is not an easy one sided affair like you expect.  

Here you go, Japan leveled the score. I have seen big bets on Netherlands to win, unfortunately it looks like they will lose their bets.

They are not anymore and I don't know who watches some of the match, but these Japanese are so quick. Their acceleration looks faster like that of other players, but I think this is just a wrong impression. Whatever is true here, they are fighters and know how to handle the ball and not get overrun by a strong team like the Netherlands. They are not favourites for me for that reason, but it is a team that could survive in the tournament for a good amount of time. It will depend how they play against Sweden I think, but their chances are good.

[danadc]

With what I see today, then Curacao are going no where, this is probably their last bus stop, so there is no hope for them. Their defense was notthing to write home about. That is why after havertz penalty goal, I think that more goals would be coming. And assuming there was more time, germany would have make it to be ten goals.

Even if Curacao dosent qualify, this world cup will still serve as an experience for them, so that they will be better prepared for the next one if they will qualify.

What happened in Curacao was something many of us expected; a team going for the first time and facing Germany, it was obvious they were going to get crushed. But I liked the attitude of the Curacao players because they ran, they didn't give up despite the quality of the Germans. They always believed in their game and kept playing as if nothing was wrong. I admire that; at no point did I see them give up. They believed in themselves.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Long night, the 2 teams I support (Germany and Japan) with solid performances. WOuld have loved to see a clean sheet for Germany but yeah, if the balls wasn't deflected Neuer definitely would have held that one shot that gave Curacao the goal Nevertheless, 7:1 is a good win for the morale and also it's a result everybody has fond memories of. 

Japan also had a decent showing. I actually thought they might beat the Netherlands, they are kind of a dark horse in this tournament I think. Yet the Dutch were better than I expected.

Now the rest of the games of the first round don't really concern me, have to wait a full week now to see something interesting again, hahaha.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Morocco is one of the top teams in Africa and they have a strong defense and are a confident team. We can see the performance of Morocco against Brazil and the way they played their games is absolutely perfect. However, Ancelotti, since this is Brazil's first match on the World Cup day, certainly could not manage this match very well, he will definitely lead well in the next matches. The XI that was played was certainly a strong one but they could not escape a big impact on Morocco due to which the match ended in a draw. In this match, Brazil's team returned to parity with Vinicius' goal, otherwise they would have lost, the stupid team's attack was very strong, Brazil's defense was a little stronger, so they did not lose the match. However, in the form that Morocco is in at the moment, they have certainly played much better than Brazil, but the Brazilian team is not performing well at the moment.

I love the way Morocco played, especially Hakimi and Brahim, wow, it was amazing. But we have to realize something: we saw that things are different in Brazil because they didn't take Thiago off. For me, Thiago wasn't doing anything good; he looked like a stake, as if he had rebar in his legs. I don't know why Ancelotti didn't put Endrick in. I hope Endrick and Neymar can finally play; Brazil needs it, and the spectacle needs it.

[Koal-84]

Qatar cost me quite a bit on my parlay bet, but with the new bet, featuring a dominant win and the Netherlands only managing a draw (which I’m hoping for with a bit of luck).

I’ve already hit 50%. Now I’m counting on the last two games of this matchday, and Schweden absolutely has to win in my picks, if they don’t, things will get tough for me again. So when I wake up, I’ll definitely know more.

[$weetne$$]

I am a bit surprised at Japan's performance against Netherlands today, actually I am not surprised they got a goal but how they were able to get another after Netherlands is very interesting, and now they ended the game in a draw. I think there will be more surprises ahead to see in this world cup, it may later become even more interesting that Japan may get pass the group stage if they consistently put up this performance and maybe improve it even better.

[LUCKMCFLY]

I am a bit surprised at Japan's performance against Netherlands today, actually I am not surprised they got a goal but how they were able to get another after Netherlands is very interesting, and now they ended the game in a draw. I think ther will be more surprises ahead to see in this world cup, it may later come as surprise that Japan may get pass the group stage if they consistently put up this performance and maybe improve it even better.

The Japanese have triumphed over a formidable rival like the Netherlands. They're so small, yet incredibly skillful. They've delivered some unexpected results that have left me speechless. Now, any team needs to be wary of them because they can pull off a surprise. This is something that fascinates me about national teams. I liked what Curacao did today, even though they were thrashed. Even so, those people were happy. I think they're slowly but surely starting to build a football culture.

[KTChampions]

Long night, the 2 teams I support (Germany and Japan) with solid performances. WOuld have loved to see a clean sheet for Germany but yeah, if the balls wasn't deflected Neuer definitely would have held that one shot that gave Curacao the goal Nevertheless, 7:1 is a good win for the morale and also it's a result everybody has fond memories of. 

Japan also had a decent showing. I actually thought they might beat the Netherlands, they are kind of a dark horse in this tournament I think. Yet the Dutch were better than I expected.

Now the rest of the games of the first round don't really concern me, have to wait a full week now to see something interesting again, hahaha.

I take it you support Germany? Tell me, don't you think Neuer has become a piece of crap? I don't remember him making a decent save. It seems to me that the fact that he returned to the national team is a minus for the team.

I'd like to bet on Sweden now, Tunisia looks very weak, but Sweden are literally bums with disabilities who shamefully took the last place in the qualifying tournament in the group. But the odds look attractive at 1.90. Besides, after the favorites draw, this could be a lucky chance for Sweden, so I'll probably take the chance.

[Bright0515]

I am a bit surprised at Japan's performance against Netherlands today, actually I am not surprised they got a goal but how they were able to get another after Netherlands is very interesting, and now they ended the game in a draw. I think there will be more surprises ahead to see in this world cup, it may later become even more interesting that Japan may get pass the group stage if they consistently put up this performance and maybe improve it even better.

Honestly I'm also surprised too because I thought that Netherland would win the game because the even scored late, which even made me concluded that Netherland will win Japan with a total score of 2:1 but surprisingly, Japan managed to score back and end the game with a 2:2 draw, Japan really tried. That's really interesting, well, I'm not too surprised anymore because in football anything is possible,

[Franctoshi]

Qatar cost me quite a bit on my parlay bet, but with the new bet, featuring a dominant win and the Netherlands only managing a draw (which I’m hoping for with a bit of luck).

I’ve already hit 50%. Now I’m counting on the last two games of this matchday, and Schweden absolutely has to win in my picks, if they don’t, things will get tough for me again. So when I wake up, I’ll definitely know more.

This world cup is coming a bit of surprises base on the outcome of matches, I haven't been lucky with my predictions this world cup competition, Canada played a draw, Brazil also played a draw from the choice/predictions of my games. I will find another opportunity with different games tomorrow to also test my luck, hopefully I ge a recovery win.