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

[MAAManda]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.

Image Source: Rollbit

In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

[B-BossMan]

Portugal needs to get rid of Ronaldo immediately. He isn't helping the team in any way. He was so ineffective yesterday and he was absolutely one of the factors in that point loss. 

They need a better teamwork than this. Ronaldo shouldn't be the target on the front line anymore. I respect his career a lot but he is just done now. Messi is making a much higher contribution to his national team now.

Ronaldo's performance was disappointing but I couldn't find any logical reason for it. Physically he looked fit enough but he didn't seem to be playing a leading role for his country and team. I bet on Portugal blindly based on Ronaldo's excellent performance.

Of course, it might not be right to blame him too much based on his performance in one match. I think he needs to be given more time to see how his form is in at least a few more matches. He is a legendary player in the world and I respect him. He should decide to retire before he gets into a really bad form.

The Portuguese players don't worship CR7 the way Argentinians worship Messi.
What I've seen yesterday was a team of celebrities who don't really care for who Ronaldo is. Meanwhile in Argentina the whole team still plays on Messi on every occasion.

I think Cristiano is still world class but the situation is complicated. He, just like Messi, is used to the whole team playing for him. The current Portugal won't do that even though he's still the best among them.

Yes he's still a world class player till date. Truth be told, I was not actually happy with the Portugal's outcome against Dr Congo yesterday, I believe everyone was definitely expecting a clear good result from Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday as Messi did and Mbappe as well, at times we don't need to blame the Cristiano Ronaldo at the beginning of the tournament, we are just starting the FiFA world cup so anything unexpected can comes over and change the game narrative seriously, but I still believe Cristiano Ronaldo is coming back with full force after this draw against Dr Congo. Many Barcelona's fans always predicted that Messi or Argentina could win every single match they play in the FiFA world cup, which I see it as over hyping, though he actually tried having a 3 goals,hat trick on the first match is not an easy task,but many fans gives him too much hopes in this season FIFA world cup tournament.

[Alonso_]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.

Image Source: Rollbit

In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

Personally I want South Africa to loose this game, there is a huge hate watch from them in Africa, because of the Xenophobic attacks on other African citizens, so everyone in Africa is hate watching them to lose this game, but on a personal level I feel like Czech Republic is more equipped and plays a better football compared to South Africa, is a must win for both teams, any team that looses this game is out of the World Cup, but I think a draw would be an absolute fair result to both sides, especially with the both teams loosing their first games.

Czech Republic is a more experienced team compared to South Africa in the biggest stage of the World Cup Finals.

[Lida93]

Portugal needs to get rid of Ronaldo immediately. He isn't helping the team in any way. He was so ineffective yesterday and he was absolutely one of the factors in that point loss. 

They need a better teamwork than this. Ronaldo shouldn't be the target on the front line anymore. I respect his career a lot but he is just done now. Messi is making a much higher contribution to his national team now.

Ronaldo's performance was disappointing but I couldn't find any logical reason for it. Physically he looked fit enough but he didn't seem to be playing a leading role for his country and team. I bet on Portugal blindly based on Ronaldo's excellent performance.

Of course, it might not be right to blame him too much based on his performance in one match. I think he needs to be given more time to see how his form is in at least a few more matches. He is a legendary player in the world and I respect him. He should decide to retire before he gets into a really bad form.

Ronaldo is not the real problem, he is the secondary issue within the team, the main hindrance to the team's problem is Roberto Martinez the coach of the Portuguese side, the Portuguese coach seems to be very indecisive when it comes to taking critical decisions as to who starts and who sits on the bench. It's obvious that Ronaldo isn't an important player for the team based on his age and lack of good form recently and at such shouldn't be amongst the starting eleven, perhaps he could be used as a motivational player not a starter

[MAAManda]

But I think a draw would be an absolute fair result to both sides, especially with the both teams loosing their first games.

Don't you see the odds I shared in the image, mate?

A draw would be a good result for South Africa, but it wouldn't be a good result for the Czech Republic. The two teams squads differ greatly in quality, making it unwise to say a draw is a fair result for either team. Well, in less than 10 minutes we will see the kick-off, I hope what you said doesn't happen, Czech Republic deserves 3 points in this match.

[Volgastallion]

Sadly for me and for a lot of people it seems like Cristiano Ronaldo is not in the top level anymore, when you see him you start to notice his level has dropped despite how good his image still is, is something super tiny but a fraction of a second in reaction and in aceleration is what makes the diference at the highest level, and it seems like he lose it right now.

[nikola22]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.
In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

both teams need a win in this match. but on the other hand, the loser loses almost all chances of advancing from the group. Czech Republic has its last match against the championship hosts Mexico and South Africa faces a strong South Korean team. furthermore, South Africa lost two key players in the first match due to red cards. bookmakers are apparently considering these factors when making Czech Republic the favorite. in any case, the match should be interesting as both teams have nothing left to lose.

[Livingleged]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.

Image Source: Rollbit

In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

Sometimes  odds doesn't  define  who wins  it's all probability, and why do I think south Africa  can actually  put up a surprising  performance  and even get away with  a win in this matches, I really want to pick the 4 odd and stake some dollar  but I want the game to start first so the odd can even get better. Czech Republic  are  not in anyway favorite  let the odds not deceive  you. African  teams  are doing  great in this tournament  holding  the big country  at neck and not allowing  them to breath I don't  see south Africa  giving  Czech  Republic  that chance again as well. Hence, my bet would  be in South Africa  to win.

[GIF-JOBS]

England showed a lot of brilliance yesterday on the pitch yesterday against Croatia. Croatia had a weak defense which was unable to stop England attackers from penetrating their defense easily. Harry Kane the goal opener for his team was able to double his goal since no defender could stop him. A great start for the English men.

England's match was really a great match, they started their journey with a really great performance. Harry Kane's performance was really great, I really like his game, he scored 2 goals in the first half. Both teams scored 2-2 in the first half, both teams performed very well in the match. But England were more brilliant in attack, they took a total of 12 shots on target in the whole match, they attacked very well. At the beginning of the second half, Jude Bellingham scored 1 goal in the 47th minute and Marcus Rashford scored 1 goal in the 85th minute, England won the match 4-2, their match was very exciting throughout, they really played a great match.

[$weetne$$]

Sometimes  odds doesn't  define  who wins  it's all probability, and why do I think south Africa  can actually  put up a surprising  performance  and even get away with  a win in this matches, I really want to pick the 4 odd and stake some dollar  but I want the game to start first so the odd can even get better. Czech Republic  are  not in anyway favorite  let the odds not deceive  you. African  teams  are doing  great in this tournament  holding  the big country  at neck and not allowing  them to breath I don't  see south Africa  giving  Czech  Republic  that chance again as well. Hence, my bet would  be in South Africa  to win.

There are times when the odds can be slightly deceptive because it does not represent the actual strength of the team at all times. If we are to look at the most previous performance of south Africa, I would say they are not to be trusted that much but a bet on the expected number of goals will be safer, at least this time we can expect three or more goals so over 2.5 will be a good option as I am expecting both teams to have a goal at least then the other should win by a second goal.

[yixichloro2xx]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.

Image Source: Rollbit

In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

This match will be tough and low goals. Both them are currently fighting for survival because anybody that lose in this round 2 will be packing their baggages and head to the airport. I am more confident on Czech Republic to get a win here maybe 1-0, or 2-1 difference. The way South Africa played their opening match was terrible and two of their players has gotten red card. I don't really expect much from them again. I was impressive with way DR Congo played Portugal yesterday, they almost snatched a win by the way. What surprised me is that South Africa team is far better than Dr congo but can't still perform well. Czech Republic should get a win here.

[ASloveapg]

The second round will take place soon, it's the Czech Republic - South Africa match.

Image Source: Rollbit

In this second match, South Africa is again the underdog, I think they will have problem in this second match because the Czech Republic wants full points after they lost to South Korea. If I were betting on this match, I would definitely bet on the Czech Republic, having no real reason to pick South Africa after their poor performance in the first match.

Their performance on the field is also not good, at the beginning Czech Republic scored a goal in just 6 minutes, Czech Republic started their performance with a very aggressive performance from the beginning. South Africa's chances in this match are very slim, because of the kind of performance they performed in the beginning, no one will expect anything from them now. And similarly in this match, since Czech Republic has already scored 1 goal in 6 minutes and now the score is 1-0, so South Africa is already far behind, so the chances of Czech Republic winning this match are the highest.

[fluffaloo]

Argentina managed to win the match against Algeria thanks to Messi?s three goals. Messi has now tied the record for most goals scored in the World Cup. If he scores one more goal, he will go down in history as the player with the most goals in World Cup history. If we consider that Messi will score at least 3?4 more goals, the gap will continue to widen. We?re still early in the tournament, and I think Argentina has the roster to make it to the semifinals. Since they?ll play a lot of matches on their way to the semifinals, it seems likely that Messi will score at least three more goals.

I also think Lionel Messi won't stay. He'll score even more goals and break this record. Cristiano Ronaldo isn't even in the top five in this ranking. i think Messi's clear advantage over Ronaldo lies in the World Cup. Because Messi is a World Cup winner, while Cristiano Ronaldo is missing this trophy from his collection, and his biggest dream is to win the World Cup.

Before the start of the World Cup they told Messi and Ronaldo all sorts of things, they're old they shouldn't let them play, they won't be able to keep up with the young players, and in response Messi proved otherwise with his actions.
They certainly won't have the performances they had when they were younger, but they're still feared on the pitch, because they can really do as much and even more than we think.

[Zaguru12]

Ronaldo is not the real problem, he is the secondary issue within the team, the main hindrance to the team's problem is Roberto Martinez the coach of the Portuguese side, the Portuguese coach seems to be very indecisive when it comes to taking critical decisions as to who starts and who sits on the bench. It's obvious that Ronaldo isn't an important player for the team based on his age and lack of good form recently and at such shouldn't be amongst the starting eleven, perhaps he could be used as a motivational player not a starter

I definitely agree with you that Roberto Martinez is actually the biggest problem that the Portugal team has, I can say that all his decisions yesterday were definitely bad, I wouldn’t even talk about Ronaldo because we have gone through that discussion numerous time. Starting from his wide players I still don’t understand why the likes of Bernando Silva is actually starting on the wing in 2026, there is Joao Felix who actually is there. And on the other side I will rather have this Conciencao guy.

Then in the midfield there is no changes to be made but no one will tell me that those sideways passes weren’t actually an instruction from the manager even those who are spreading their own propaganda that it’s because Bruno hates Ronaldo and all sort of unnecessary excuses, if Bruno was doing that un purpose and not holding to possession base on the manager decision why wasn’t he substituted, or was Nuno Mendez who loves to cross suddenly stops today because he too hates Ronaldo. The instructions is simply from the manager and he needs to stop with all this retaining possession of a thing

[el kaka22]

England definitely played amazing, and if you consider how many shots Livakovic saved, Croatia could have lost a lot worse as well, four goals was a lot and even with that Livakovic had a great game, think about how bad you have to lose that even with four goals the best player is the goalkeeper. So England definitely has amazing attacking and there is no denying that.

However, we should also realize their missing pieces at defense, because they also conceded two goals, and they need to be careful with that. Croatia is not a bad team, but at the same time there are betters, so when England faces teams like France, Spain, Argentina and so forth in the future, there will be problems for them to defend against them if they are not careful.

[chinhar]

Argentina managed to win the match against Algeria thanks to Messi?s three goals. Messi has now tied the record for most goals scored in the World Cup. If he scores one more goal, he will go down in history as the player with the most goals in World Cup history. If we consider that Messi will score at least 3?4 more goals, the gap will continue to widen. We?re still early in the tournament, and I think Argentina has the roster to make it to the semifinals. Since they?ll play a lot of matches on their way to the semifinals, it seems likely that Messi will score at least three more goals.

Messi is the greatest player to ever play this game and we got to witness him. He has equaled the top scorer in worldcups and he will surely surpass him in this worldcup but honestly speaking he cant hold this record for a long time because mbappe and messi have only 2 goal gap and mbappe is much younger than him but i dont think he needs any more record to prove his greatness. He was asked about this in an interview and he said he didn?t care and that this is just a statistic. If it was ronaldo or anyone elder im sure they would have bragged alot or wouldve showed ego but the GOAT doesn?t even care about these. Im considering another worldcup for Argentina. Winning again will hurt alot of people im sure though its hard but its not impossible.

This result doesn't surprise me at all; in fact, I expected exactly that from Messi. I've always considered him a classy player, and I'm confident that if he continues like this, he'll most likely reach the semifinals. And he's right to say he doesn't care about goals because they only matter up to a certain point. However, if he manages to win another World Cup, then that's what matters.

[Ruttoshi]

South Africa is on a goal down and they need to try their possible best to get an equalizer. Czechia was able to get an early goal on the 5th minutes to be ahead of the game. Sadillek is the goal opener as he made a brilliant finish into the back of the post.

South Africa is struggling to get an equalizer but they haven't gotten that perfect moment because their opponent wouldn't give them that chance. SA has a lot of time to level the scoreline but currently, it's still 1-0.

[Livingleged]

There are times when the odds can be slightly deceptive because it does not represent the actual strength of the team at all times. If we are to look at the most previous performance of south Africa, I would say they are not to be trusted that much but a bet on the expected number of goals will be safer, at least this time we can expect three or more goals so over 2.5 will be a good option as I am expecting both teams to have a goal at least then the other should win by a second goal.

Betting  on expected  numbers  of goal  has alway been my favorite  option  before it became  boring  when team keep play 0-0 or 1-0, but I think on this game betting  on expected  numbers  of goals  will make much sense  too as well, I was typing  my previous reply  when the first  goal from the match was scored by Czech  Republic, I expect a reply from the south African  team before the first half ends, I can see the two team looking  hungry  for goals so over 2.5 goal  or even 3.5 should  be a good bet in the game.

[bitgolden]

I think now I have to choose England as a team that can win the World Cup, next to France, I was very impressed with how they were playing, it was a good and solid performance from England the way they played Croatia I was impressed with that, I think they will top the group, and they will get to the Finals with France if they don’t meet France before then, But Spain should not be underrated with the way they’re playing, it’s quite a good and impressive squad that they have put together in place, Thomas Tuchel I think he knows what he is doing, I’m not going to be surprised about England.

While that is true, Spain and their failure to win is overreacted if you ask me. Yes they had one bad game, but check out their last 30 games and they never had a game like that, I would not just remove them from contention because of a single game, that makes no sense at all to me.

I think it is clear that we are seeing how these things are changing for the long term, and that is why I believe we should not be considering Spain out yet. England and France are serious candidates, but so is Spain.

[Hispo]

During this world cup it seems people have continued the tradition of using animals in order to foresee the result of matches.
There is one which has caught my attention, though, there is a cat on Instagram which has managed to predict 7 out of 8 matches outcomes correctly during this world cup.
What astonishes me the most is how there are people who actually bet according to whatever a cat blindly chooses on Instagram.

No technical analysis, no study of the market to see if there is value, no research on anything at all, just a cat picking up food from a bowl with the name of the country on it.

Have you ever bet your money in which a random and silly fashion? Beted on whatever a cat, a seal or an octopus chose?

I have never done something like it and I doubt I will.