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

[Warkop]

England are ready to face their opposition in the world cup because they just proven tonight that they're serious contender for the world cup and it's high time we put them on the list of favorites for the worle cup. Spot on, England have the necessary players and what it takes to win the world cup but do you know they've always been having good players and formidable squad depth but what can they come up to achieve? Absolutely nothing but with Thomas Tuchel as headcoach, I believe england will go far this season, they just have to keep all hope alive.

Remember they are among one of the favourites for the World Cup this year and so far they have been putting  the effort and they have all it takes with their squad strength and depth.  But then I just hope they will be consistent enough to scale through to winning  the World cup this year.

But I still wonder why they were held to a draw by Ghana if England is the favorite for this year's World Cup, they have not been completely consistent with their game that they have had difficulties when playing against teams from Africa this could be a sign that England always has difficulties when meeting countries with a strong defense, sometimes the players have difficulty finding gaps in the opponent to score the opening goal, I hope Thomas Tuchel can find a solution to their team's weaknesses.

[Ale88]

The funny thing is that Cape Verde defender Logan Costa only made 2 appearances for Villarreal last season because he suffered a knee injury that ruled him out in most part of the season and he is even yet to feature for Cape Verde in the ongoing FIFA world cup but still his team are doing just fine because they follow among African teams that didn't lose a match in the group stages even after meeting prestigious teams like Spain and Uruguay. I don't know where Cape Verde got their strength and fighting spirit from, but their goalkeeper Vozinha is one of the major reasons why they advanced to the round of 32 after making several brave saves, the most was against Spain. If Logan Costa is fit, their coach should consider playing him in their round of 32 match against Argentina so that it can increase his market value.

Cape Verde Town was grouped alongside two strong teams, which everyone believes they can't make it to the next round of the World Cup but they defy every odds against them, they didn't only qualify to the round of 32 as the best loser but they qualified as the second team with the most point in group H, which also make me to wonder where they got their strength and fighting spirit from. Argentina is the favorite against Cape Verde in the round of 32, but I won't be surprised if Cape Verde triumph over Argentina.

Come on now, did you really write you wouldn't be surprised if Cape Verde beat Argentina? Cape Verde already did a miracle qualifying to the next round but they really struggle to score any goal. They only scored 2 against Uruguay and one was a free kick and the other a huge mistake by Uruguay's defense. I didn't watch all the full matches but their offensive phase is almost non-existent. They are a solid team in defense, that's for sure, but I can't imagine them beating Argentina.

Of course, it’s hard to believe that Cape Verde can beat Argentina. But they still have a chance. I don't think a Cape Verde victory is likely. However, if Cape Verde plays tight in defense, stops Messi and company from scoring, and manages to drag the match to a penalty shootout, then they will have a shot—and maybe the Vozinha effect can kick in during penalties. Of course, Cape Verde has already punched above their weight by drawing with Spain and Uruguay and making it to the World Cup knockout stage, so I'm not sure a penalty shootout scenario is even possible. Most likely, Argentina will win by a convincing margin.

You see, saying that "Cape Verde has a chance", like you said, it's extremely different from saying "I won't be surprised if Cape Verde triumph over Argentina". Of course Cape Verde, on paper, has a chance, it's football at the end. At the same time it would be something unbelievable if a team taking part at the World Cup for the first time eliminates the current champion. I'm not even sure something like this ever happened before in the history of the tournament. So, yes, it would be a huge surprise.

[Tamaperdana]

England, even with a strong squad, still can't score against Panama. I had high expectations for England before the World Cup started, but after seeing their poor performance in this tournament, I no longer have any expectations for them. I see that if they are lucky enough to advance to the next stage, they will be eliminated as soon as they play against strong opponents. I confess I don't understand why they fail so often in World Cups, even having the most attractive football league in the world, I'm talking about the Premier League. Anyway, we'll see how the game ends.

You might not have watched the entire match,, but England ultimately defeated Panama 2-0. Consequently,, England has topped Group L and advanced to the next round, where they will face Congo in the Round of 32. It is hard to say for certain whether England will win against Congo, as Congo is currently in excellent form—even Portugal struggled to beat them. Predicting the outcome of this Round of 32 match is therefore quite difficult.

While England should theoretically have the upper hand, it is entirely possible they will face challenges, given Congo's incredibly strong defense; England will likely struggle to break it down. Ultimately, the match is hard to call, so personally, I would probably choose to bet on a different, more predictable game.

Image source: Google

[*Ace*]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo have also secured a place in the round of 16 by beating Uzbekistan 3–1
They’ll now face England in their next match! It’ll be an interesting match – I reckon we’re in for some nice surprises!
But the English are a strong side and I don’t think they’ll disappoint

[Sithara007]

Looks like Iran will be out of the world cup. With a few minutes remaining, the match between Algeria and Austria is tied at 3-3. If this scoreline is maintained till the end, then both these teams will qualify for the next phase with 4 points each. If one of the teams manage to win, then the losing team would be left with 3 points and a worse goal difference compared to Iran. But if looks like that will not happen and both the teams will qualify for the round of 32. Apart from Iran, the following third placed teams failed to qualify for the next phase: South Korea, Scotland and Uruguay.

[Gaza13]

Group H is proving to be incredibly tough and tightly contested, with the standings remaining undecided right up to the final match. Every nation still has a chance to advance to the next round, a situation that naturally leaves fans anxious about their team's fate. Can Cabo Verde pull off a surprise in their final match? Their opponent is Saudi Arabia, a team whose current footballing strength should not be underestimated. In their last match, Cabo Verde played with considerable boldness and confidence using a 4-1-2-3 formation hopefully, they do not let their guard down defensively. If Cabo Verde advances to the next stage, it will certainly make history for the nation.

I thought that Cape Verde has qualified for the next round. It is already making waves in the internet because I have seen several posts that a country of less than 500,000 people has qualified. It  was said that this is their first would cup.
Does it mean that the information was wrong and Cape Verde hasn't qualified yet?

I am trying my best to be interested in this competition as there are much trends about it. So, in conclusion, has Cape Verde really qualified for the next round or not?

I made that post before the first few minutes of the match started. So, it is only natural for me to make a prediction regarding whether Cape Verde has a chance of advancing to the next stage or no. As we all know, that country has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in this tournament. I think it’s not just you who is interested in or making a great effort to watch this major World Cup football competition everyone is surely watching it. Yes, I not only knew the result but also watched the match on television.

[longyenthanh]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo have also secured a place in the round of 16 by beating Uzbekistan 3–1
They’ll now face England in their next match! It’ll be an interesting match – I reckon we’re in for some nice surprises!
But the English are a strong side and I don’t think they’ll disappoint

That's going to be an interesting game for sure! But honestly, I don't think England is playing that well this year. They had a lot of problems in their last matches and their style is not very impressive.
In my opinion, they got really lucky to play against the Democratic Republic of the Congo now. If they had to face a stronger team, they could easily lose and drop out of the tournament. DR Congo has great energy right now, so for sure they will fight, but I dont expect some big surprise here.

[Yurkov]

Looks like Iran will be out of the world cup. With a few minutes remaining, the match between Algeria and Austria is tied at 3-3. If this scoreline is maintained till the end, then both these teams will qualify for the next phase with 4 points each. If one of the teams manage to win, then the losing team would be left with 3 points and a worse goal difference compared to Iran. But if looks like that will not happen and both the teams will qualify for the round of 32. Apart from Iran, the following third placed teams failed to qualify for the next phase: South Korea, Scotland and Uruguay.

You are completely right, the match just ended and it's officially over for Iran. That dramatic 3-3 draw was the worst possible result for them. Since both Algeria and Austria finished with 4 points, they both secured their spots in the round of 32.
Iran finished the group stage with 3 points and a 3-3 (0) goal difference, which unfortunately puts them in 9th place among the third-placed teams. Since only the top 8 advance, Iran misses out on the knockout stage by just one single spot. It's heartbreaking for them because they remained undefeated in the group stage, but that last-minute equalizer from Austria officially sent them home.

[disbil]

You are completely right, the match just ended and it's officially over for Iran. That dramatic 3-3 draw was the worst possible result for them. Since both Algeria and Austria finished with 4 points, they both secured their spots in the round of 32.
Iran finished the group stage with 3 points and a 3-3 (0) goal difference, which unfortunately puts them in 9th place among the third-placed teams. Since only the top 8 advance, Iran misses out on the knockout stage by just one single spot. It's heartbreaking for them because they remained undefeated in the group stage, but that last-minute equalizer from Austria officially sent them home.

Iran have been eliminated after crucial match Algeria vs Austria get draw 3-3, the top third standings team dominance with the team have 4 points and Senegal only 3 points but leading difference goals than Iran. Sadly for Asian team have two teams only who qualified to round of 32 from Japan and Austria, Japan have to face very difficult opponent team at round of 32 by facing Brazil and the World Cup 2026 not really advantage for Asian teams.

All third placed team who have 3 points have been qualified due 7 top third teams place have 4 points and make the last spot securing by Senegal, for the first match of round 32 will play at tomorrow with the match South Africa vs Canada. I think difficult for underestimate South Africa due last match success defeating South Korea as favorite team will qualified to next round at Group B.

[Bitcoin_people]

Argentina's great victory against Jordan and they have become the champions in the group stage. They have collected nine points by winning three matches and they are really performing exceptionally in this World Cup. Messi scored one goal in today's match, his total goals in this World Cup are 6, he is in great form at this age in the World Cup and is the favorite team. However, in the next match, Argentina will face Cape Verde in the knockout stage, in which case the equation for their victory here is very simple. The way the Argentina team is advancing them on the World Cup stage, they have enough qualifications in this World Cup and they are continuing to try. Although against Argentina I think they are not facing a very strong team due to which the games are not very competitive, if it is played between two strong teams then it will be more interesting.

[Iamgoat]

But I still wonder why they were held to a draw by Ghana if England is the favorite for this year's World Cup, they have not been completely consistent with their game that they have had difficulties when playing against teams from Africa this could be a sign that England always has difficulties when meeting countries with a strong defense, sometimes the players have difficulty finding gaps in the opponent to score the opening goal, I hope Thomas Tuchel can find a solution to their team's weaknesses.

With 7 points gathered so far, England are still the ones who are leading the table. They scored two of their games and draw in one of their games which is against the Ghanian team. I was hoping to see Ghana emerge victorious in the match but it did not go well for them and as such they are left with 4 points and in the third place in the table. Ghana for instance are gone as far as my assessment is concerned and England will be facing DR Congo in the round of 32 while Ghana faces Columbia. With this round of 32 where England will be facing DR Congo, we will be able to tell if England team are finding it more difficult to face African teams or it was just Ghana’s efforts which brought them to the draw game.

[Yurkov]

You are completely right, the match just ended and it's officially over for Iran. That dramatic 3-3 draw was the worst possible result for them. Since both Algeria and Austria finished with 4 points, they both secured their spots in the round of 32.
Iran finished the group stage with 3 points and a 3-3 (0) goal difference, which unfortunately puts them in 9th place among the third-placed teams. Since only the top 8 advance, Iran misses out on the knockout stage by just one single spot. It's heartbreaking for them because they remained undefeated in the group stage, but that last-minute equalizer from Austria officially sent them home.

Iran have been eliminated after crucial match Algeria vs Austria get draw 3-3, the top third standings team dominance with the team have 4 points and Senegal only 3 points but leading difference goals than Iran. Sadly for Asian team have two teams only who qualified to round of 32 from Japan and Austria, Japan have to face very difficult opponent team at round of 32 by facing Brazil and the World Cup 2026 not really advantage for Asian teams.

All third placed team who have 3 points have been qualified due 7 top third teams place have 4 points and make the last spot securing by Senegal, for the first match of round 32 will play at tomorrow with the match South Africa vs Canada. I think difficult for underestimate South Africa due last match success defeating South Korea as favorite team will qualified to next round at Group B.

It is definitely a tough World Cup for Asian teams, but just to correct one small detail - Austria is a European team, so only Japan and Saudi Arabia (or Uzbekistan/other AFC teams depending on the final groups) made it through from Asia. Japan facing Brazil is going to be a massive match, though. Senegal really got lucky with that goal difference to grab the final spot over Iran. Also, South Africa vs Canada will be a great opener tomorrow. South Africa looked so strong against South Korea, they can surprise everyone.

[Futurexxx]

With 7 points gathered so far, England are still the ones who are leading the table. They scored two of their games and draw in one of their games which is against the Ghanian team. I was hoping to see Ghana emerge victorious in the match but it did not go well for them and as such they are left with 4 points and in the third place in the table. Ghana for instance are gone as far as my assessment is concerned and England will be facing DR Congo in the round of 32 while Ghana faces Columbia. With this round of 32 where England will be facing DR Congo, we will be able to tell if England team are finding it more difficult to face African teams or it was just Ghana’s efforts which brought them to the draw game.

As the pairing came out, the team that I really felt for are cape Verde island against Argentina, Ghana against Colombia that is a very strong side and Dr congo against England, though the Moroccans are also up against a formidable team which are the Netherlands, but I believe that they have what it takes to beat the Netherlands if they can come out attacking the way they did against the Brazilians, but one thing that I think is certain is that, any team that wants to go all the way and win the world cup needs to beat the best team in the tournament, so I believe that after this round of games is concluded, that's when we are going to see more tough and quality teams that will go up against each other because right now their are still weaker teams that are given a second chance all in the name of best losers positions.

[OsaiEmma]

Yet another update
So far, all the group stage games have been concluded and those progressing to the knockout stage have been determined, including the 3rd placed teams. The table can be seen below:



A very interesting turn of evet if I must say. Croatia defeated Ghana thus moving to second place and Ghana to third place in their group, and 4th in the best third. This has subsequently prevented the likes of South Korea (SK), and Iran from qualifying.

France became the overall 1st, with a clear 9 points and +8 goal difference (GD). Argentina followed suit, but with a +7 GD, followed by Mexico with a +6 GD all with 9 points.

It has really been an interesting group stage games. Argentina and France are showing why they came 1st and 2nd in the previous World cup with their outstanding performance. I'm looking forward to the round of 32. Below is the table for it:


   

SA VS Canada is kicking off today. Hope we're all looking forward to it?

[ArabBTC]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo have also secured a place in the round of 16 by beating Uzbekistan 3–1
They’ll now face England in their next match! It’ll be an interesting match – I reckon we’re in for some nice surprises!
But the English are a strong side and I don’t think they’ll disappoint

That's going to be an interesting game for sure! But honestly, I don't think England is playing that well this year. They had a lot of problems in their last matches and their style is not very impressive.
In my opinion, they got really lucky to play against the Democratic Republic of the Congo now. If they had to face a stronger team, they could easily lose and drop out of the tournament. DR Congo has great energy right now, so for sure they will fight, but I dont expect some big surprise here.

Yea England performance have been really inconsistent judging from how poorly they played in the previous World Cup games, even with a strong squad depth but i won’t want to write England off for now, one thing about football is every teams play is dependent on opponents performance as well, you will discover that big teams don’t always play well when they meet lower division teams because those lower teams normally play scattered pattern of football, England will be predicting certain obvious moves and the opponent lower team won’t make them because they haven’t trained to such extent to predict the move and this will completely destabilize the game play of the bigger England team, moving forward am predicting that England will perform better than they have done in this first round because they will meet more organized teams and this will boost their game play, winning DR Congo would be easy for England, England might not win the World Cup but i see them going very far, possibly up to quarter finals.

[Hypnotizer]

You see, saying that "Cape Verde has a chance", like you said, it's extremely different from saying "I won't be surprised if Cape Verde triumph over Argentina". Of course Cape Verde, on paper, has a chance, it's football at the end. At the same time it would be something unbelievable if a team taking part at the World Cup for the first time eliminates the current champion. I'm not even sure something like this ever happened before in the history of the tournament. So, yes, it would be a huge surprise.

Argentina are one of the favorites to win this World Cup, possibly going back to back, so playing against Cape Verde shouldn’t be done big issue for them and the worst case scenario I can think of in that match should be a draw and even after that Argentina would still triumph in penalty in move to the next round. It’s really an impressive performance from the Cape Verde team as first timers to reach a knockout stage but against this first world ranked team by FIFA, it’s very unlikely.

Messi came in in the 60th minute and scored for Argentina making the score three to one in their favor against Jordan, Lautaro got his first World Cup goal from a penalty in the 31th minute before being subbed off.

Portugal and Columbia ended a draw, meaning we wouldn’t get to witness a Portugal Vs Argentina game except if they both end up in the finals.

[satscraper]

Argentina are one of the favorites to win this World Cup,

France is a very strong team and yesterday was proof of this, they showed everyone that they are the best team around, i would say both are an impressive player, i must say that i am very happy to see such a strong team that finally dominates against everyone and everything, France is really strong.

France is a very strong team and I think they deserve to go to the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, we have already seen the proof in the match against Norway. One thing to note is that although the opponent in this match was France, Norway played with their second-string team in this World Cup match, because Erling Haaland, Manchester City's most reliable player, was not there in this game. Therefore it was not difficult for the strong France to win in this match. Also, we saw that PSG's most reliable player, Ousmane Dembele, made the match easier for France by putting in a most impressive performance in this match, as a result of which France secured a 4-1 victory over Norway and they have won three consecutive matches in this World Cup.

Agreed, France is strong and so far my bets on them have never gone wrong, unlike betting on other favorites in this World Cup. I'll probably continue to place bets on France until the semi-finals and then we'll see. If Argentina happens to face them, they'll be a very tough obstacle for France to overcome and proceed further.

[BRINIRHA]

But I still wonder why they were held to a draw by Ghana if England is the favorite for this year's World Cup, they have not been completely consistent with their game that they have had difficulties when playing against teams from Africa this could be a sign that England always has difficulties when meeting countries with a strong defense, sometimes the players have difficulty finding gaps in the opponent to score the opening goal, I hope Thomas Tuchel can find a solution to their team's weaknesses.

In this case we just need to see how their scheme in a match and a draw is actually not a thing that is considered confusing meaning that the scheme in the match was successful.
We can see how solid Ghana was in terms of defense against England especially for the midfield and defense but against Croatia they did not fully defend.

This case is similar to how Cape Verde could hold Spain and Uruguay to a draw even though the condition of their team in terms of players is much worse than Ghana.
Regardless of the player material, we can definitely see that in a match the scheme on the field is very important.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Argentina's great victory against Jordan and they have become the champions in the group stage. They have collected nine points by winning three matches and they are really performing exceptionally in this World Cup. Messi scored one goal in today's match, his total goals in this World Cup are 6, he is in great form at this age in the World Cup and is the favorite team. However, in the next match, Argentina will face Cape Verde in the knockout stage, in which case the equation for their victory here is very simple. The way the Argentina team is advancing them on the World Cup stage, they have enough qualifications in this World Cup and they are continuing to try. Although against Argentina I think they are not facing a very strong team due to which the games are not very competitive, if it is played between two strong teams then it will be more interesting.

Argentina, Mexico and France have won all their group stage matches. All three teams have been playing exceptionally well since the first match. Such performances were expected from France and Argentina. But unexpectedly Mexico is in very good form.

I was pretty sure that we would see Argentina win against Jordan. Jordan is a weak team. They lost their first two matches. So they did not have the ability to resist an opponent like Argentina. Argentina played with their second-string squad in this match. Scalono did not field important players in the first half. Even then Argentina played excellently. Messi's goal from a free kick was also impressive.

[YUriy1991]

Colombia scored a goal towards the end of regulation time but it was ruled out for offside. But I thought it was a clear goal but the technical analysis showed it was offside. Portugal's players spent more time defending than attacking, which led to them finishing as runners-up in the group. Portugal's opponents in the next round were Croatia and Colombia's opponents were Ghana.

Of course, the last minute goal scored by Davinson Sanchez which was later disallowed by referee Faghani was a huge loss for the Colombian national team. They should have swept all group stage matches with a full scoreline, but the disallowed goal left them with only 7 points from 3 matches with 2 win and 1 draw. It seems Portugal played too safe in that match.

As you said, the next match will be even more exciting in the knockout phase. Columbia will face Ghana a strong African team and Portugal will face Croatia facing his former teammate, Luca Modric We will see which legend will return home first Ronaldo or Modric.