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

[MinoRaiola]

Yamal only scored one goal, why using his picture instead of a player that scored two goals and assisted Yamal to get his first goal in this World Cup?
Well it is all about fame, I am not against Yamal scoring the opining goal because his performance was very good in the game before he was substituted in the second half of the match.

Nevertheless, Spain has won an important match that has taken them to the top of Group H. This win will mean a lot to the team, they need to improve their game because they have work to do if their dream of winning the World Cup is alive.

Spain is a favorite to win the title, and now they finally played good soccer. In their upcoming match against Uruguay, they should show it agian. And if Cape Verde wins, it will be a suprise in the group. Maybe Group H will be one of the surprises of the group stage. We find out soon, and I think Spain will play another good game against Uruguay and score a lot of goals. Yamal will definitely start again thanks to his first WM goal.

[danadc]

This world cup until now is the most diferent and crazy one we witness in the whole history i believe. I mean every single team who is favorite against each weaker or not weaker team and not matter what odds they have given by the bookies in the games all is diferent and the weakest teams makes super good games and stole points from the favorites.

But it also makes us emotional. I'm supporting Cape Verde against a country that is or was from my region, but I really like how Cape Verde has done. And the African countries have given many surprises, plus they bring great joy to the World Cup. The World Cup is also about this; in the end, what matters is having a good time, and I know that these countries are also the most beloved so far. They are giving great lessons.

[Tmoonz]

Without regret I must say, I'm so proud with the African teams performance in this year FIFA world cup, like I couldn't believe it, at first I was thinking it will be a short journey to them, but so far so good they've stood their ground in their respective groups and I'm so pleased with that, mostly the likes of Egypt, Cape Verde, and  Morroco, like these teams actually impress me with their performance, and what amuse me the most was this is exactly the very first time Cape Verde is playing this tournament, and they are already performing like they have been playing it for quite a long time now, truth be told I really enjoyed them play.

[yixichloro2xx]

Argentina is aiming for a perfect record in Group J. In addition to winning, the Argentine squad will set up scoring opportunities for their captain, Lionel Messi, so that he can become the top scorer at the 2026 World Cup—considering that in 2022, Messi trailed Kylian Mbappé by one goal.
Austria will face Argentina in the group’s second match. On June 17, Austria won 3-1 against a relatively easy opponent, and Argentina also defeated Algeria.
The Argentina vs. Austria matchup is the most intriguing in this group, featuring players we know from top leagues.

This match will be an interesting match because Argentina who won their first and has already given their fans another hope of defending the title will want to perform at their absolute best again. Austria on the other hand has beaten Jordan and on the same point with Argentina.  Argentina has a better team than Austria, so I see Argentina having more winning Advantage over Austria, depending on how  Messi plays. Every Austria player focus will be on Messi and looking for  possible ways to stop from causing trouble in their own half. This will give the rest of Argentine players to attack Austria. I won't underestimate Austria but I will give the win to Argentina

[HustleZ]

Argentina is aiming for a perfect record in Group J. In addition to winning, the Argentine squad will set up scoring opportunities for their captain, Lionel Messi, so that he can become the top scorer at the 2026 World Cup—considering that in 2022, Messi trailed Kylian Mbappé by one goal.
Austria will face Argentina in the group’s second match. On June 17, Austria won 3-1 against a relatively easy opponent, and Argentina also defeated Algeria.
The Argentina vs. Austria matchup is the most intriguing in this group, featuring players we know from top leagues.

It really is an interesting match of this group but not overall because we all know what the result would be. Seeing at the team’s quality in this group then it is by far the most interesting match because these two are arguably strongest teams of the group but if we talk about the quality difference between Argentina and austria then it is huge. Though we will hope it’s an interesting match because many big teams have given upsetting performances and most were draws so hope not this match draws and Argentina wins to go onto advancing the group stage easily.

[Adbitco]

^{Source: https://x.com/Mr_Jay_Pee/status/2068587428563042724/photo/1}

I still not believe with the result from VAR decision in Tunisia vs Japan match, indeed Japan succeed to win this match, but no goal decision from VAR is really controversial. For some people view, it already pass goal line, even I personally judge this already pass the line, because bottom part of the ball already inside. However, it seems the judgment is ball body not fully pass the goal and considered not goal. what do you think, is this should be goal?

If that's the last image of the ball before it was either cleared by the defender or saved by the goalkeeper, then it's not a goal as seen, the ball hasn't clearly gone past the line which means game is still in play. I remember the incident that happened in the 2010 world cup were England scored but because the ball hit past the line and came out, the referee didn't see it and eventually awarded no goal, this made them to work and introduce the goal line technology. This technology tells the referee if the ball has crossed the line or not by getting a vibration on the device they usually wear at their fore arm. The rule is simple, for the ball to be out of play, it has to completely go off the line same as a goal. In this case the decision is correct as the ball didn't completely go out of the line.

[Creeper0]

It really is an interesting match of this group but not overall because we all know what the result would be. Seeing at the team’s quality in this group then it is by far the most interesting match because these two are arguably strongest teams of the group but if we talk about the quality difference between Argentina and austria then it is huge. Though we will hope it’s an interesting match because many big teams have given upsetting performances and most were draws so hope not this match draws and Argentina wins to go onto advancing the group stage easily.

The Argentina team does not have the shortcomings that other teams have. The relationship between the Argentine players is very good and the understanding with the teammates is also very good. So Argentina is the favorite team in this World Cup and I think they will not lose any points in the group stage. Only Austria has the ability to play competitive football with Argentina in this group, but I do not think they will be able to beat Argentina. Tonight I see an easy win for Argentina, maybe the match will end 2-0.

After the great performance in the first match, there will be a lot of pressure on Messi today, maybe someone else will score today and we will see some great assists from Messi. With the quality of the player he is, putting more pressure on him may not be of much benefit.

[Olatundespo]

Argentina is aiming for a perfect record in Group J. In addition to winning, the Argentine squad will set up scoring opportunities for their captain, Lionel Messi, so that he can become the top scorer at the 2026 World Cup—considering that in 2022, Messi trailed Kylian Mbappé by one goal.
Austria will face Argentina in the group’s second match. On June 17, Austria won 3-1 against a relatively easy opponent, and Argentina also defeated Algeria.
The Argentina vs. Austria matchup is the most intriguing in this group, featuring players we know from top leagues.

This match will be an interesting match because Argentina who won their first and has already given their fans another hope of defending the title will want to perform at their absolute best again. Austria on the other hand has beaten Jordan and on the same point with Argentina.  Argentina has a better team than Austria, so I see Argentina having more winning Advantage over Austria, depending on how  Messi plays. Every Austria player focus will be on Messi and looking for  possible ways to stop from causing trouble in their own half. This will give the rest of Argentine players to attack Austria. I won't underestimate Austria but I will give the win to Argentina

Argentina is the favourite so I think there will not be much competition in the match. Argentina team will win easily and will go to the next round as group champion. Messi scored a hat-trick in the last match and Austria team will have to be strategic to stop him but I think it is not that easy to stop this talented player of the world from scoring. If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

[Sandra_hakeem]

^{Source: https://x.com/Mr_Jay_Pee/status/2068587428563042724/photo/1}

I still not believe with the result from VAR decision in Tunisia vs Japan match, indeed Japan succeed to win this match, but no goal decision from VAR is really controversial. For some people view, it already pass goal line, even I personally judge this already pass the line, because bottom part of the ball already inside. However, it seems the judgment is ball body not fully pass the goal and considered not goal. what do you think, is this should be goal?

If that's the last image of the ball before it was either cleared by the defender or saved by the goalkeeper, then it's not a goal as seen, the ball hasn't clearly gone past the line which means game is still in play. I remember the incident that happened in the 2010 world cup were England scored but because the ball hit past the line and came out, the referee didn't see it and eventually awarded no goal, this made them to work and introduce the goal line technology.

The problem with most people is that no matter how hard you make an explanation, if they choose to pretend not to understand you, use instances of things they can see and touch if you want, they will always end up saying the same thing-- The game was rigged, the ball was over the line, but it seems the VAR was bribed by Tunisian president.

The rule is simple--- Until the ball goes TOTALLY over the line, it is still ACTIVELY in play. FIFA went miles ahead to perfect that rule by introducing several technologies, even after the goal-line tech was brought. In Japan's case, the ball was few inches still on the line!

[Pandu Geddon]

Argentina is the favourite so I think there will not be much competition in the match. Argentina team will win easily and will go to the next round as group champion. Messi scored a hat-trick in the last match and Austria team will have to be strategic to stop him but I think it is not that easy to stop this talented player of the world from scoring. If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

Austria shouldn’t be as weak as Algeria. I know Argentina will be the favorite in this group with much better player quality. The odds for betting on Argentina are around 1.44, not bad for a team that we really dominate. Let’s just hope there are no surprises in the match later, like Belgium vs Iran.

[bangjoe]

This world cup until now is the most diferent and crazy one we witness in the whole history i believe. I mean every single team who is favorite against each weaker or not weaker team and not matter what odds they have given by the bookies in the games all is diferent and the weakest teams makes super good games and stole points from the favorites.

Do you think that matches like Congo vs Portugal, Brazil vs Morocco, and Spain vs Cape Verde, matches of weak teams with winning favorites managed to steal points, even if not completely 3 points, 1 point here is enough to say taking points, or do you have another point?
Atleast everything is the same in my opinion, the big teams in the early matches did surprise with their performance that was not optimal but I think they have not found a rhythm that matches the planned strategy, we know building chemistry is also not easy especially with a long time and coming from different teams united in one team with a very fast time in adaptation.

[sompitonov]

Argentina is the favourite so I think there will not be much competition in the match. Argentina team will win easily and will go to the next round as group champion. Messi scored a hat-trick in the last match and Austria team will have to be strategic to stop him but I think it is not that easy to stop this talented player of the world from scoring. If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

Austria shouldn’t be as weak as Algeria. I know Argentina will be the favorite in this group with much better player quality. The odds for betting on Argentina are around 1.44, not bad for a team that we really dominate. Let’s just hope there are no surprises in the match later, like Belgium vs Iran.

The 1.44 odds on Argentina look very good; this is probably a rare opportunity I'm willing to bet on. Argentina shouldn't repeat what they did against Belgium yesterday, because they're more systematic and play more aggressively, and they're also better at scoring goals, in my opinion. I wonder how long Messi will be allowed to play, because he might be given a rest in this match too, so he has enough strength for the next one and, most importantly, doesn't get injured.

[Hirose UK]

If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

But if Austria plays with more control over Messi movements, they can at least reduce the chance of more goal as we understand that Messi will be prioritized in receiving passes to convert them into goal.
Austria only chance is to play more defensively, because if they can hold Argentina to draw that better result than getting no points at all.

[len01]

Atleast everything is the same in my opinion, the big teams in the early matches did surprise with their performance that was not optimal but I think they have not found a rhythm that matches the planned strategy, we know building chemistry is also not easy especially with a long time and coming from different teams united in one team with a very fast time in adaptation.

From my perspective, it’s not really that they haven’t found the right rhythm for their tactics. Instead, I think it’s one of the strategies used by the favorite teams to avoid looking too dominant while still making sure they don’t lose points. Even sharing points can be a good result in certain situations. This World Cup is a long tournament with plenty of matches to get through, so it makes sense to me. The coaches still need to manage their players' fitness carefully to keep them performing consistently and make sure they are in the best condition for the most important stages of the competition.

[GiftedMAN]

If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

But if Austria plays with more control over Messi movements, they can at least reduce the chance of more goal as we understand that Messi will be prioritized in receiving passes to convert them into goal.
Austria only chance is to play more defensively, because if they can hold Argentina to draw that better result than getting no points at all.

Not a fan of Lionel Messi but having been watching him over the last two decades, I think the worst means of stopping Lionel Messi is trying to man mark him or box him. Messi creates chances from the most unexpected settings so if you really want to stop him, only follow him when he's with the ball on his feet and hope that he'll having a bad day. I watched Austria's first game and I strongly doubt that they'll be able to stop Lionel Messi.

[Umulala-alala]

Argentina is the favourite so I think there will not be much competition in the match. Argentina team will win easily and will go to the next round as group champion. Messi scored a hat-trick in the last match and Austria team will have to be strategic to stop him but I think it is not that easy to stop this talented player of the world from scoring. If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

Austria shouldn’t be as weak as Algeria. I know Argentina will be the favorite in this group with much better player quality. The odds for betting on Argentina are around 1.44, not bad for a team that we really dominate. Let’s just hope there are no surprises in the match later, like Belgium vs Iran.

Football is full of surprises, Belgium has a better quality players than Iran but they end the match goalless draw well i wouldn't also say that Belgium red card affect them because they were already playing draw for about 60 minutes before the red card. Betting on Argentina wouldn't be bad the odd is ok with better players than Austria though both country has same points, Austria will still qualify in that group even if the defending champions happens to win them.

[Razmirraz]

Without regret I must say, I'm so proud with the African teams performance in this year FIFA world cup, like I couldn't believe it, at first I was thinking it will be a short journey to them, but so far so good they've stood their ground in their respective groups and I'm so pleased with that, mostly the likes of Egypt, Cape Verde, and  Morroco, like these teams actually impress me with their performance, and what amuse me the most was this is exactly the very first time Cape Verde is playing this tournament, and they are already performing like they have been playing it for quite a long time now, truth be told I really enjoyed them play.

Even though I'm not from that continent, I'm very interested in the performance of African teams in this World Cup. The achievements of these teams are very proud, especially for their countries and their supporters. Cape Verde has successfully recorded an unbeaten record in two games, Egypt leads the group standings, and Morocco is competing tightly to qualify for the knock-out round, I see Morocco chances are still very open because in the last match of the group stage they will face Haiti who has already been confirmed eliminated.

Among the other African teams, Cape Verde was the biggest surprise, they did not look like a debut team at the World Cup because they managed to hold Spain and Uruguay to draws. If they manage to beat Saudi Arabia in their next match and Spain draws against Uruguay, they will officially become the first World Cup debutant to have made it through the group stage without a defeat, a record that will be a source of pride for Cape Verde.

[Agbamoni]

It would be great to see the small Cape Verde qualifying side by side with the potency Spain. They have potential to turn this dream into reality, becoming the first surprise of this world cup.

this result leaves everyone speechless, there are people who don't believe that they could compete against Uruguay and instead they drew, proving that they are truly a solid team, i hope they can pass, it would be a dream for all lovers of this sport, truly incredible.

Cape Verde is undoubtedly the dark horse of this year's FIFA World Cup. As the 63rd ranked team in the world, everyone expected European champions who are the 2nd ranked team in FIFA rankings to beat the African team with ease but they made sure Spain never scored a goal in that game. Yesterday, they played against an Uruguay side that plays more physical football than Spain and despite trailing 2:1 at some point, their mentality was very strong to help them get another important point. Now, they need to beat Saudi Arabia in their final game of the group stage to progress to the next stage.

Arguably i think Ecuador are the dark horse of this competition not Cape Varde. I blame the team that couldn’t beat Cape Varde. I also know they have a good keeper. But Morocco has been good with the ball I see them as a threat too. While Ecuador with its solid defense is going to make teams suffer.

[Pandu Geddon]

Austria shouldn’t be as weak as Algeria. I know Argentina will be the favorite in this group with much better player quality. The odds for betting on Argentina are around 1.44, not bad for a team that we really dominate. Let’s just hope there are no surprises in the match later, like Belgium vs Iran.

The 1.44 odds on Argentina look very good; this is probably a rare opportunity I'm willing to bet on. Argentina shouldn't repeat what they did against Belgium yesterday, because they're more systematic and play more aggressively, and they're also better at scoring goals, in my opinion. I wonder how long Messi will be allowed to play, because he might be given a rest in this match too, so he has enough strength for the next one and, most importantly, doesn't get injured.

I think Messi will get enough playing time in that match. Argentina wants to secure points for the top spot in the group. And in the third match against Jordan, he might be able to take it easier to prepare for the knockout round. If everything goes smoothly, Argentina shouldn’t have any problems in the group stage. They’re still one of the favorites to win this World Cup.

[ibuddy122505]

If every player of Austria is targeted to stop Messi it will not be very effective because Argentina team has several young players who are good at playing and scoring goals. The match will definitely be interesting and I am almost sure that Argentina will win.

But if Austria plays with more control over Messi movements, they can at least reduce the chance of more goal as we understand that Messi will be prioritized in receiving passes to convert them into goal.
Austria only chance is to play more defensively, because if they can hold Argentina to draw that better result than getting no points at all.

Not a fan of Lionel Messi but having been watching him over the last two decades, I think the worst means of stopping Lionel Messi is trying to man mark him or box him. Messi creates chances from the most unexpected settings so if you really want to stop him, only follow him when he's with the ball on his feet and hope that he'll having a bad day. I watched Austria's first game and I strongly doubt that they'll be able to stop Lionel Messi.

Austria plans to stay solid defensively, focusing on preventing Lionel Messi from creating chances. And stopping Messi is almost impossible when he has the ball, but Austria is determined and might cause an upset. However, I strongly believe that Argentina will shine as usual and take control of Group J tonight.