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

[asriloni]

Damn! What the h*ll was that? Portugal had 70% possession but only managed to score one goal? Being packed with quality players apparently guarantees nothing. It's very disappointing.

At first, I thought Portugal would score at least two or three goals. But things didn't go as expected. Ronaldo, in particular, failed to live up to expectations. And if they had taken a few of their chances more efficiently, the match definitely wouldn't have ended in a draw like this.

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

I think he has to start from the bench in the rest of group games against Columbia and Uzbekistan.

[mikel_012]

I'm sorry that I complained about a missed clear red card when it was clear there should have been a red card

Maybe give the card and no one will complain? It's as easy as that

[Edited out]

They are just against Messi,
They noticed every bit of mistakes, and call it out. But on a normal day where other players do the same they don't talk about it, very biased sets of individuals.
That can be a yellow card but not red

Speak for yourself

We are talking about the WORLD CUP. It's very different from a random match

What's so funny is that it's always argentina and messi that have "every bit of mistakes" and a big part of the win last world cup was full of this with lots of controversy.

A "bit mistake" that let him continue to play and score 3 goals.

This was Hakimi's challenge againts Vini. Almost same as that of Messi's. He didn't get a red card and nobody rioted. We all took as as one of the many calls or mistakes that officials make.

Did Hakimi score three goals after he did not receive a red card? Use your brain a little bit, it's a different situation

[Joeboy]

Portugal drew today against a weaker opponent, even though they had scored early. Neves scored in the 6th minute. Portugal dominated possession throughout the match. Democratic Republic of Congo only had a couple of shots on goal before scoring the equalizer. Ronaldo was heavily criticized perhaps he played one of his worst games. I'm not sure if he'll be in the starting lineup next time. He needs to bench himself.

Perhaps the manager will want to rest him in his next match. Everyone expected a high performance from Cristiano Ronaldo, but it didn't happen. It was a disappointment for Cristiano as well. Because of this bad experience, he has to prepare better and more for the next match. It's always a pleasure to see him on the field, but unfortunately, he didn't play very well today.

I like CR7 so much and I respect him, but I wouldn't deny the fact that he himself have some traits that he really needs to get off him, if Portugal is gonna go far in this world cup... Right from time Ronaldo has been know to be a very stingy players who didn't value the assistance of others, all he needed was to net the ball himself and that very behavior isn't very helpful to the whole team...Ronaldo should know that he is one of the best if not the best and so he needs to stop trying to imitate or compete with others just to prove himseld.. He desperately wanted to dominate the match like Messi did against Algeria and he forget in the process that team work is always the best to achieve result...

[Ale88]

He desperately wanted to dominate the match like Messi did against Algeria and he forget in the process that team work is always the best to achieve result...

And you know the funny thing? Messi doesn't care at all about all this stuff: records, goals, etc, he just plays, without thinking about it. Ronaldo has always been obsessed with the records and Messi's performances so he puts himself under unnecessary pressure. I feel like right now Ronaldo's biggest enemy is himself. And he doesn't understand he is damaging the rest of the team too.

[laijsica]

Damn! What the h*ll was that? Portugal had 70% possession but only managed to score one goal? Being packed with quality players apparently guarantees nothing. It's very disappointing.

At first, I thought Portugal would score at least two or three goals. But things didn't go as expected. Ronaldo, in particular, failed to live up to expectations. And if they had taken a few of their chances more efficiently, the match definitely wouldn't have ended in a draw like this.

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

I think he has to start from the bench in the rest of group games against Columbia and Uzbekistan.

Winning for his country was important for Ronaldo but I was not able to find the fast-paced Ronaldo that I am used to seeing. As you said, he seemed completely lost. When it comes to Messi talent, I have to keep surprising myself. In the case of Ronaldo, I had the same idea and I expected to win by at least 3 goals. But Portugal ended the match in disappointment.

Despite having many chances, they could not start their World Cup mission with a win against DR Congo. Several talented players in the team played impressively and I admire them but it was disappointing for me that Portugal, as the favourites, did not win.

[Sithara007]

And you know the funny thing? Messi doesn't care at all about all this stuff: records, goals, etc, he just plays, without thinking about it. Ronaldo has always been obsessed with the records and Messi's performances so he puts himself under unnecessary pressure. I feel like right now Ronaldo's biggest enemy is himself. And he doesn't understand he is damaging the rest of the team too.

If Ronaldo was so obsessed about the records, then he would have moved to a weak league (similar to what Messi already did) and by now he could have achieved his target of 1,000 career goals. One bad match, and all the hatred is unleashed upon Ronaldo. What about the other players? Why is it Ronaldo's sole responsibility to get a win for Portugal everytime he plays? BTW, did anyone noticed that all those European fans who were against the expansion of world cup to 48 teams have gone silent by now? A majority of the UEFA teams have been unable to win their opening matches (obviously there are exceptions like Norway and England).

[MFahad]

All around the world, Messi is the talk of the town and that is totally unbeatable as he once again proved his class in a grand style. He claimed the highest goal scorer in the World Cup yesterday with a super hattrick giving Argentina a 3-0 clean win against Algeria.

After  the 2016 retirement speculations, it was though that was the last dance for the legend but that was actually a breakthrough for the World Cup winners in 2020 and a truly deserved win. Messi has carried the Argentina team like a true hero and it is really nice to see him back in the World Cup yet again because mucb would be expected from the Argentine.

Yes Messi gave his one of the best performances. He scored a stunning piece of hattrick and become the oldest player in the history of FIFA World Cup to score a hat trick. He made a new record. And lead his nation towards victory. It's very important victory against Algeria as there opening match. Messi is the one if the greatest player in the history of Argentina and football. He is famous for his dribbling skills and assists he is the most assist maker in the history. He is a key player he gave key performance in key matches like same way he performed in this opening match took his team to the top of table and proof that they are the real champ.

[As-Soon-As]

Damn! What the h*ll was that? Portugal had 70% possession but only managed to score one goal? Being packed with quality players apparently guarantees nothing. It's very disappointing.

At first, I thought Portugal would score at least two or three goals. But things didn't go as expected. Ronaldo, in particular, failed to live up to expectations. And if they had taken a few of their chances more efficiently, the match definitely wouldn't have ended in a draw like this.

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

In this match, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen very busy, because his ball passing and goal scoring excitement was the most inside him. Because of which he failed to score a goal, although the opposing team DR Congo was weak, but in this match, Ronaldo was busy to show their dominance, so he failed to score. And in the end, the match ended with the disappointment of victory and the game turned into a draw, but I believed that this match would have a huge difference in the result for the two teams.
But it did not happen, rather the Portugal team made the speakers regret their failure of performance, I do not know what Cristiano Ronaldo will perform next.

[Tamaperdana]

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

I think he has to start from the bench in the rest of group games against Columbia and Uzbekistan.

Yes,, it's really a shame that Portugal only managed to get one point in this match, because basically I also feel that in this match Portugal should have been able to win over Congo. But there were so many wasted opportunities,, so I was also very enthusiastic about watching Portugal's match, but in the end I felt disappointed with this draw. Because basically in this match we can see how Portugal's compactness is not good in my opinion. Besides that, Ronaldo also seemed to really want to be able to score in this match because maybe he saw that Messi had scored a hat trick yesterday.

But instead of making the match easier, it actually made it difficult for Portugal to score. So I also feel that in the next match, Ronaldo is better off coming off the bench, because basically it seems like it will look better. Because even though Ronaldo currently has a very big ambition to be able to win with Portugal, but if it causes chaos on the field, I think it is clearly not good. So that's why I hope that Portugal can play even better in the upcoming second match.

[Alpha Marine]

Did Hakimi score three goals after he did not receive a red card? Use your brain a little bit, it's a different situation

First of all, Messi had already scored one goal before that challenge.
You ask me to use my brain after saying this? So if Messi had not scored a hat-trick, it would have been okay to not receive a red card? So it is how he performed that is annoying you. Not the fact that he fouled a player.
If Hakimi had gotten a red card, it would have been an advantage for Brazil. That is what a red card does.

If I go through your post now, I won't see you talking about how FIFA is helping Morocco, or how FIFA is helping Paraguay against the USA, but when something like that happens for Argentina, then it's a conspiracy.

We all saw how Argentina performed in the last World Cup; they were better than every team they played against. They got a goal wrongfully disallowed in the first match against Saudi. In the final, they received two penalties against them, but yeah, there was a conspiracy for Argentina to win.

[len01]

If Ronaldo was so obsessed about the records, then he would have moved to a weak league (similar to what Messi already did) and by now he could have achieved his target of 1,000 career goals. One bad match, and all the hatred is unleashed upon Ronaldo. What about the other players? Why is it Ronaldo's sole responsibility to get a win for Portugal everytime he plays? BTW, did anyone noticed that all those European fans who were against the expansion of world cup to 48 teams have gone silent by now? A majority of the UEFA teams have been unable to win their opening matches (obviously there are exceptions like Norway and England).

Although I was a bit disappointed with Ronaldo's performance yesterday, what you said makes a lot of sense. In reality, we don't need to put all the blame on Ronaldo because he wasn't the only player who had chances, and he wasn't the only player responsible for scoring. There were other players on the team who were also capable of finding the net.

That said, the criticism people have directed at Ronaldo is understandable as well. It seemed as if Portugal relied too heavily on him, and the Congo DR defenders were able to limit his space quite easily. If Ronaldo had only come on in the second half, the situation might have been different.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Damn! What the h*ll was that? Portugal had 70% possession but only managed to score one goal? Being packed with quality players apparently guarantees nothing. It's very disappointing.

At first, I thought Portugal would score at least two or three goals. But things didn't go as expected. Ronaldo, in particular, failed to live up to expectations. And if they had taken a few of their chances more efficiently, the match definitely wouldn't have ended in a draw like this.

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

In this match, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen very busy, because his ball passing and goal scoring excitement was the most inside him. Because of which he failed to score a goal, although the opposing team DR Congo was weak, but in this match, Ronaldo was busy to show their dominance, so he failed to score. And in the end, the match ended with the disappointment of victory and the game turned into a draw, but I believed that this match would have a huge difference in the result for the two teams.
But it did not happen, rather the Portugal team made the speakers regret their failure of performance, I do not know what Cristiano Ronaldo will perform next.

You guys overrate Cristiano ronaldo too much anyway, this is not a hate sentiment of whatever, I personally love ronaldo as a person and as a footballer because he is actually a very good footballer but he is not actually the best as most people argue that he is, Messi is a much more better football player than Ronaldo will ever be.

Now, before the beginning of this world Cup tournament, I've heard or read people saying that since Messi won the last World Cup for Argentina in 2022 World Cup, that in this 2026 world Cup, Ronaldo is going to win the Cup for this country Portugal, but at this point, and with this type of performance, it doesn't seem to me that like Portugal is ready or prepared to win the Cup, which this type of performance, they did be out even before the quarter finals gets close.

But on the other hand, I understand this is still like the beginning of the race, may Ronaldo and Portugal are preserving their energy and fuel for the middle and last laps.

[Gallar]

Source

I really didn't expect Congo to put up such a strong fight against Portugal in this match. At the start of the match,, I thought Portugal would win by a large margin, as they had already scored a goal through Neves. That's why I thought Portugal would win easily. But it turned out all my assumptions were wrong,, as Congo was able to block all of Portugal's attacks and even managed to score.

It was completely beyond my expectations,, and it was a complete shock to me, as I was hoping Portugal would win. But it turned out Portugal could only manage a draw. So,, what can I do? Portugal has to play well in their second match. Because if they get another bad result in their second match,, it's clear that their chances of advancing to the next round will be slim. So, after watching some of the big, surprising matches,, I can now conclude that we can't underestimate any team right now, because they're all very strong right now.

[BlackBoss_]

Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.

He seems being so obsessed to score after Messi recorded hatrick against Algeria. This is basically the old ronaldo i know. What a waste man.

I think he has to start from the bench in the rest of group games against Columbia and Uzbekistan.

It's very known about ambition of Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring goals for himself but I don't know in a match, with very quick situation, players can make their decisions accurately all the times. Sometimes they make good decisions but sometimes they make bad decisions like Cristiano did at this moment but it's hard for me to conclude anything only with the screenshot.

Perhaps I would see the situation clearer if I watch a highlight of this match including this shot from Ronaldo. At least from the screenshot, I see Bruno is behind Cristiano who actually did not have too good view toward Bruno. It's not like situations when Mbappe refused to pass the ball to Vinicius Junior in a match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in UEFA Champions League quarter final months ago.

Generally Cristiano performance in this match is terrible as a striker who is responsible of scoring goals for the team, he did not do the task well.

[johnsaributua]

Source

I really didn't expect Congo to put up such a strong fight against Portugal in this match. At the start of the match,, I thought Portugal would win by a large margin, as they had already scored a goal through Neves. That's why I thought Portugal would win easily. But it turned out all my assumptions were wrong,, as Congo was able to block all of Portugal's attacks and even managed to score.

It was completely beyond my expectations,, and it was a complete shock to me, as I was hoping Portugal would win. But it turned out Portugal could only manage a draw. So,, what can I do? Portugal has to play well in their second match. Because if they get another bad result in their second match,, it's clear that their chances of advancing to the next round will be slim. So, after watching some of the big, surprising matches,, I can now conclude that we can't underestimate any team right now, because they're all very strong right now.

Many new teams that have just appeared or participated in this World Cup event seem to be giving quite fierce resistance to teams that always participate in the World Cup event meaning now what we need to know is that teams that do not have a history in this event can provide fierce resistance especially the team that just held Portugal to a draw which has never previously appeared in this big party event especially in this match the Congo team was able to score a goal meaning they are not just passing through in this event so this could be that they will be more consistent in playing the next match because their goal is to be able to provide resistance to the Portugal team this is to make it easier for them to face other teams in the same group as them because other teams seem to be performing a little below Portugal which they think, so with this result Congo is more motivated in playing the second match in their group.

This is no longer unexpected because everyone thought Portugal could win easily when facing Congo. In terms of players Congo doesn't have the same capabilities as Portugal where many of their players compete in elite competitions. This means that in terms of reputation they are clearly capable of winning easily but everyone was silent with the final score only a draw. Indeed statistically Portugal clearly dominated possession but in my opinion they were more unlucky in that match especially since it was only the first match so every team must have a little anxiety going into their first match.

[Out of mind]

England's great performance which gave them a 4-2 win over Croatia and they managed to collect three points. England team is in quite good form especially their star players played well, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Rashford they all scored goals. If they can maintain their strength in this World Cup, then they can compete strongly for the World Cup. I think England team has enough good players if they can play well and play strategically then they will definitely be in a good position. However Croatia team's performance was not very good due to which they lost but they will win the next matches and they can survive in the group stage.

[Furious 7]

Agreed and I hope this result is a draw although the chances are a little slim but the hope is still there for Croatia.
They weren't given much space by England in this match but if they can make the most of the little chances I feel in the remaining time anything can happen and it will be interesting if the score is 3-3 for this match as they are the 2 qualifying clubs in group L.

But if the result is a draw again it will make a lot of bettors lose because I think most of them will choose England for victory in this match, the hope is too small to return to equalize because now the score is 4-2 before a few minutes of the match, Marcus Rashford again added to England's lead, and in this round of extra time there is no time for Croatia, so they have to accept defeat with laughter that Croatia for the time being cannot beat England, but to get out of the group phase it is not a difficult thing for them because Ghana and Panama are not difficult.

Yeah there was 1 extra goal but it wasn't for Croatia as 1 goal from Rashford with his new hairstyle killed the game in this match but even so shout out to Dominik Livakovic in this match.

He did concede 4 goals but his performance under the bar was outstanding and he deserves to be MOTM. There were so many crucial saves that he made and that kept Croatia to just 4 goals. If he hadn't performed in this match then it could have been more than that.
 
England's performance was also outstanding and it was very different from what they showed in the friendlies. It looks like Tuchel is deliberately keeping his best schemes so that England's performance is not read in this match.

[TedMosby]

[...]
Ronaldo looked so clueless, and he's always trying to score by himself in this game. That is a moment when he's so stubborn to kick the ball by himself. If he lets the bal going to the Bruno behind him, i believe Portugal would be winning this.
[...]

Yeah, it's like there are 3 teams in that match. Portugal, Congo, and Team Ronaldo. I think the big pressure on him feels like it is giving extra pressure to Portugal as a whole team.

We all know he has an individual target to reach 1,000 goals in his career. And Messi also scored a hat trick a day before. The accumulated pressure is just getting bigger day by day. His individual target seems bigger than Portugal's target to play well and win the World Cup.

Don't get me wrong, I am a Ronaldo fan. He's the player that makes me imagine how a human would end up if they train hard, stay disciplined, and focus on their health and performance. Messi is just not human. He is naturally gifted. So, you could be the next Ronaldo if you train hard and stay disciplined like Ronaldo. But you will never be Messi, even if you do exactly what Messi does. Ronaldo needs to chill and accept this to loosen the pressure and focus on the team. But I am sure even if Ronaldo did that, the media would always do everything they can to flip everything just to drive traffic. And it will also impact him and the team.

Back again to Portugal as a team. Portugal is decorated with world-class midfielders, and the midfield seems isolated, with no progress. 75% ball possession and only 3 shots on goal. Meanwhile, Congo had 2 shots on goal with only 25% ball possession.

The worst stat is the Expected Goals (XG), Portugal only had 0.65, meanwhile Congo had 0.87. For reference, England had 3.20, they played offensively, created many big chances that ended up with shots on target. It just shows Portugal has low-quality attacks and shots.

Next week, Portugal will play against Uzbekistan. If nothing changes, it will just end up the same and become a big headline, even bigger than the World Cup itself. I am sure next match Ronaldo will not play 90 minutes

[laijsica]

England's great performance which gave them a 4-2 win over Croatia and they managed to collect three points. England team is in quite good form especially their star players played well, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Rashford they all scored goals. If they can maintain their strength in this World Cup, then they can compete strongly for the World Cup. I think England team has enough good players if they can play well and play strategically then they will definitely be in a good position. However Croatia team's performance was not very good due to which they lost but they will win the next matches and they can survive in the group stage.

The England and Croatia match was more entertaining for me, especially the England team was very consistent and every player played responsibly. The attacking players' aggressiveness and goal-scoring attitude destroyed the Croatian defence. The Croatian players were also confident and were desperate to score more goals, but the English defence handled the situation skillfully. Jude Bellingham, Rashford and Harry Kane played impressively and if they can maintain their consistent performances, they can reach the second round unbeaten in the group stage.

[Ale88]

And you know the funny thing? Messi doesn't care at all about all this stuff: records, goals, etc, he just plays, without thinking about it. Ronaldo has always been obsessed with the records and Messi's performances so he puts himself under unnecessary pressure. I feel like right now Ronaldo's biggest enemy is himself. And he doesn't understand he is damaging the rest of the team too.

If Ronaldo was so obsessed about the records, then he would have moved to a weak league (similar to what Messi already did) and by now he could have achieved his target of 1,000 career goals. One bad match, and all the hatred is unleashed upon Ronaldo. What about the other players? Why is it Ronaldo's sole responsibility to get a win for Portugal everytime he plays? BTW, did anyone noticed that all those European fans who were against the expansion of world cup to 48 teams have gone silent by now? A majority of the UEFA teams have been unable to win their opening matches (obviously there are exceptions like Norway and England).

I'm sorry, now the Saudi Arabia League is not weak? I remind you we're not talking about the English Premier League or the Spanish Liga, it's the Arab league. Just because it's better than other low-tier leagues it doesn't mean all of a sudden they are good.
Also, the problem with Ronaldo is that he simply shouldn't be in the starting eleven. Portugal are hostages of Ronaldo, and I said this months before the World Cup. And to be honest if we look his performances at the World Cup... Well, they suck. Besides Russia 2018, all the other times he scored 1 goal only.