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

[Olatundespo]

I did not watch that last goal, that was a big one, I think Martinelli will be seen as hero when he goes back lol. To be fair, Brazil already showed the world that they are not really contenders for the title, they are not going to win the world cup, we know that much.

People should realize, if Brazil has hard time beating Japan, there is no way they are going to beat England or Argentina, we know that they are going to end up losing. So Brazil may have won today, but they have not looked good.

Who said they're not contenders? Go check the stats to see for yourself then you'll know that Brazil weren't just lucky, they deserved to win that game cause they played better but Japan was good too and defended pretty well. Yeah Martinelli was the hero of the day, he saved Brazil the stress of playing penalty shootouts.
 Who knows, maybe they would've been eliminated if it got to penalties. Buddy football doesn't work that way, did you believe Spain would draw Cape Verde or England draw to Ghana? I hope you know that Brazil haven't lost any match yet, so how have they not looked good?

Brazil is a good team and they are also lucky. They have not had a good start to this World Cup but as you said they have not lost a match yet, that is the reality and they are a strong team historically. To win a trophy, a team does not only have to be good, they also have to be lucky. Brazil drew their first match with Morocco, which was not unexpected. Morocco has started their World Cup mission with a truly great team and they have already proven it. Morocco has made it to the last 16 after beating the Netherlands on penalties. This achievement of the team is commendable. The teams that play well will get the rewards they deserve.

[Oluwa-btc]

Yesterday, with Germany's defeat, my bet was lost. Before betting on Germany's victory, I had many doubts because their performance hasn't convinced me. But even so, I decided to give them a chance and bet on them, and it was disappointing. They played poorly and couldn't win the game. They conceded a goal first, had to fight hard to equalize, and the game ended in a draw.

Now Germany is out of the World Cup because they lost on penalties. In their first World Cup game, they won comfortably, scoring 7 goals. It seemed like we were going to see a German team as a title contender, but it was just luck. Anyway, I lost my bet, but there are more games today, and who knows, maybe I'll get it right today.

They lacked creativity with all that squad. And I don't know who should be blamed more than the manager. I think he should be sacked already and the German national team manager should be Jurgen Klopp. He is experienced and his style 9f football has dominated for quite sometime. He could be the one to lead them to their next Euros or FIFA World Cup win.
They was too relaxed when they faced Paraguay yesterday. And the spot kicks?! Jonathan Tah and Kai Harvetz couldn’t bail them!! They cannot continue with Julian Naglesmann, he should be shown the exit.

[AYOBA]

It’s a match that nobody believed Germany were going to lose. Honestly it’s annoying to see Germany lose a match like this, I don’t even believe Paraguay are the one that will kick Germany out of the World Cup. The result of the match really surprised most people, most people placed bet on Germany to win the match, but they just surprised everyone because they ended up losing.

Honestly none expected that Germany will be eliminated against Paraguay what a big disappointment for the country, because even when I saw that the match has ended in a drew I was hope that in the penalty shootout Germany where going due to the quality players that they’ve; but at the end of day they where eliminated.

Germany is just among the teams which I think are going to go far in the World Cup, but they couldn’t pass the round of 32. Germany dominated the match, but Paraguay completely blocked their defense and Germany was able to score just a goal in the match. Honestly Germany had a better squad but I don’t know how they couldn’t win the match.

That’s all about football it’s unpredictable if not with the quality squads that Germany have they suppose go far in this World Cup, what surprised most is that Paraguay was the one that first leading them by one 1 goal before Germany later equalized back which prove that their performances in that math was not strong enough.

[Smack That Ace]

Brazil is a good team and they are also lucky. They have not had a good start to this World Cup but as you said they have not lost a match yet, that is the reality and they are a strong team historically. To win a trophy, a team does not only have to be good, they also have to be lucky. Brazil drew their first match with Morocco, which was not unexpected. Morocco has started their World Cup mission with a truly great team and they have already proven it. Morocco has made it to the last 16 after beating the Netherlands on penalties. This achievement of the team is commendable. The teams that play well will get the rewards they deserve.

Brazil was undoubtedly lucky against Japan. I thought the  match would be a draw and end in a tiebreaker. But brazil was very lucky. They  managed to win the match by scoring in the last minute.

Brazil is undoubtedly a good team and they have won the World Cup most times. They also have an experienced  manager like Ancelotti. Even so, we are not seeing the expected good  performance  from this team. They have the ability to perform better.

[Bluedrem]

They lacked creativity with all that squad. And I don't know who should be blamed more than the manager. I think he should be sacked already and the German national team manager should be Jurgen Klopp. He is experienced and his style 9f football has dominated for quite sometime. He could be the one to lead them to their next Euros or FIFA World Cup win.
They was too relaxed when they faced Paraguay yesterday. And the spot kicks?! Jonathan Tah and Kai Harvetz couldn’t bail them!! They cannot continue with Julian Naglesmann, he should be shown the exit.

If the match goes to penalty shootout, then the victory or defeat of a team is no longer determined by the overall performance. Then, along with luck, only the ability to take free kicks is more effective. In fact, Germany should have performed better in the main 90 minutes against Paraguay because they have some players who perform regularly. But when the game goes to penalty shootout, it is really unfortunate to leave. You can mention another match of the day where Morocco and the Netherlands were facing each other. After the Netherlands took the lead after 70 minutes, Morocco came in extra time and tied the match at 1-1. Later, as both teams failed to score in extra time, the result was decided in penalty shootout where Morocco won. In that case, the Netherlands and Morocco were stronger teams.

[WatChe]

The most surprising elimination yesterday was that of Germany in the hands of Paraguay.  I really thought that it was going to be an easy game for Germany and I believe that a lot of football fan thought the same too, but I was surprised when they were eliminated on penalties.
Netherlands on the other hand are a good team, but I also think that Morocco is on the same level,  so I was not really surprised, because I was expecting Morocco to go far in this competition.  They have got a good team and they are not scared of any team. I still expect to see more of them in this competition.

German fans were happy that their team finally qualified for second round after exiting at group stage in 2022 and 2018 world cup. But the happiness of German fans was for short duration as their team is eliminated in round of 32 on penalty kicks. Its so surprising for Paraguay also and that is the reason their government has declared a one day national holiday to celebrate this historic win. Morocco and Netherlands game was also decided on penalty kicks and on penalty shootouts its more about your luck.    

[Adbitco]

For a team like Norway resting players against France, I find that weird, isn't France supposed to be the team resting players against Norway! It's shows the level of seriousness from the France boss and I commend him for that. He understands that no team is small and no team should be underrated, this is not a league campaign were you start resting players for a particular competition. There's nothing in-between, it's the world cup all the way and no other competitions is going to be played untill after it. When you fight to come first in your group, it gives you the privilege to play against a lesser team since all the big teams in the various groups are all fighting to be first. France will play Sweden next because the topped their group while Norway will meet Ivory Coast for coming second.

There is nothing weird in what they did. They prioritize the team winning the world cup than Haaland looking for highest goal scorer in the world cup. They have done their maths before they come to that conclusion, Norway had already secure 6 points, France the same, if France won which they did, their point moved to 9

You do realise the essence of teams wanting to come first in the group is to play against the teams that comes second or third placed teams in other groups and most of the times it's the lesser teams that occupy such positions. France qualified with 6 points same as Norway with same 6 points. For you, you think it's about Haaland getting the goals, lol. So what's the guarantee that he would score in the match since you think they didn't play simply because Norway prioritize winning the tournament than Haaland scoring according to you! France knew they needed the win to position themselves better in the knockout stages. France came first and will play Sweden, if they get past Sweden guess who they are playing next Paraguay. Norway came second, their opponent is Ivory Coast, if they get past Ivory Coast, guess who they are playing next, Brazil. I know anything can happen in football, but the point is, if you were a Norwegian, between Brazil and Paraguay, who would you prefer to play against?

[Yurkov]

Today we’ll be watching the Round of 32 match between Ivory Coast and Norway. So far in this tournament, we’ve seen two results that could be called surprises. While Norway is clearly the favorite in this match, I think Ivory Coast also has a good chance of advancing. Given this, the outcome of this match remains wide open. While I see Norway as the more likely team to advance, I expect Ivory Coast to give them a tough fight.

With the way this series of matches are going in the round of 36, I even afraid to bet on any matches because literally anything can happened has we have seen in the Paraguay and Morocco games.

Paper wise, Norway should take the win but with the way Ivory Coast where playing in the group stage, I won't write them off. But the advantage Norway has over them is the fact that there starting lineup is fully rested

I've had enough of these World Cup surprises. I've had to throw away too many betslips.
Norway looks much stronger than Ivory Coast today. Halland will definitely attack hard, and I'm betting that he will score today. But Ivory Coast will definitely fight hard too, so I have a feeling both teams will score at least one goal, and I'll bet on that too. However, I have a feeling we'll see another draw today and probably penalties.

[Arenga pinnata]

I did not watch that last goal, that was a big one, I think Martinelli will be seen as hero when he goes back lol. To be fair, Brazil already showed the world that they are not really contenders for the title, they are not going to win the world cup, we know that much.

People should realize, if Brazil has hard time beating Japan, there is no way they are going to beat England or Argentina, we know that they are going to end up losing. So Brazil may have won today, but they have not looked good.

Brazil may not be as strong as it used to be, but this team is still a very strong one. they have players with excellent, above-average talent. It’s just that their style of play isn’t as beautiful as Brazil’s was in the past. In fact, in the match against Japan. especially in the first half, we saw Japan consistently and quickly win the ball back from the Brazilian players, allowing them to attack comfortably. However, Brazil adapted in the second half and truly played better than they did in the first.

So, if Brazil continues to be in top form, I think this team will exceed our expectations. The only issue is that sometimes they’re a bit slow to adapt. Japan is a tough opponent, and their victory over Japan certainly deserves great appreciation.

[Adbitco]

Shocking to me, Germany has crashed out of the world cup, this is still unbelievable to me as it stands, Paraguay eliminated Germany from the competition

This is the show that we all signed up for, a shocker and it makes us remember that anything is possible again in football, big teams can crash out of competitions, Brazil almost did crash out, Germany could not escape, they got their equalizer, but the game did not go as many of them will want.

Netherlands can be sent home by Morocco, just as the Ivorians could send the Norwegians back home.

You're absolutely not far from the truth, indeed this is what we signed up for. Tgis is the craziest world cup I have watched since I started watching world cup matches. From the group stages we could see various upsets starting with that very familiar one of Cape Verde holding Spain to a goalless draw for a whole 90 minutes. It's been from one drama to the next in every of the stages so far in the competition and I think this hasn't happened before, were we are seeing lots of underdogs doing incrediblely well. Just like you guessed, Netherland had been sent packing by Morocco, lol.

[Razmirraz]

Snip.

German fans were happy that their team finally qualified for second round after exiting at group stage in 2022 and 2018 world cup. But the happiness of German fans was for short duration as their team is eliminated in round of 32 on penalty kicks. Its so surprising for Paraguay also and that is the reason their government has declared a one day national holiday to celebrate this historic win. Morocco and Netherlands game was also decided on penalty kicks and on penalty shootouts its more about your luck.    

It was only natural that their government declared a one-day national holiday because Paraguay had managed to achieve the impossible. They were predicted to be eliminated early after losing to the United States in their first match, but they started to recover in the following matches by beating Türkiye and drawing against Australia.
This is football played 11 against 11, no matter which country they come from and what the quality of the team is. This failure marks Germany's third consecutive defeat after winning the title in 2014, as Julian Nagelsmann's position will be increasingly threatened after Germany's early exit from the 2026 World Cup.

[Hewlet]

I did not watch that last goal, that was a big one, I think Martinelli will be seen as hero when he goes back lol. To be fair, Brazil already showed the world that they are not really contenders for the title, they are not going to win the world cup, we know that much.

People should realize, if Brazil has hard time beating Japan, there is no way they are going to beat England or Argentina, we know that they are going to end up losing. So Brazil may have won today, but they have not looked good.

Who said they're not contenders? Go check the stats to see for yourself then you'll know that Brazil weren't just lucky, they deserved to win that game cause they played better but Japan was good too and defended pretty well. Yeah Martinelli was the hero of the day, he saved Brazil the stress of playing penalty shootouts.
 Who knows, maybe they would've been eliminated if it got to penalties. Buddy football doesn't work that way, did you believe Spain would draw Cape Verde or England draw to Ghana? I hope you know that Brazil haven't lost any match yet, so how have they not looked good?

Brazil is a good team and they are also lucky. They have not had a good start to this World Cup but as you said they have not lost a match yet, that is the reality and they are a strong team historically. To win a trophy, a team does not only have to be good, they also have to be lucky.

If you check how deficult the part any team that will eventually win this world cup is, you will understand that luck contributes greatly to those that have come this far and those that will go further. Brazil might have good reputation and track record in the past but currently, if luck is not on Thier side, an average team can easily knock them out because in terms of team play, they are not close to some of the teams that have exited the world cup at present.

With the additional support of the likes of Ronaldho that has always been around for most of their games, you sure will take that as a massive encouragement that will keep them going even in times when they are lossing in the first half. Relative to the other teams that are still in the competition, Brazil isn't the favourite to pull up anything really big but this is football, anything is possible.

[giammangiato]

Brazil was undoubtedly lucky against Japan. I thought the  match would be a draw and end in a tiebreaker. But brazil was very lucky. They  managed to win the match by scoring in the last minute.

Brazil is undoubtedly a good team and they have won the World Cup most times. They also have an experienced  manager like Ancelotti. Even so, we are not seeing the expected good  performance  from this team. They have the ability to perform better.

I don't know whether to call it luck or they just believed it until the last second, you know?
They scored practically at the end, resilience perseverance, I lost my bet but this does not imply that Brazil was more stubborn in winning.
But I think that if he wants to move forward in this World Cup he can't afford to play like this, Japan is not a mediocre team anyway, they were a worthy opponent (I thought they would win).
But later on, the matches will become more difficult, and only with perseverance do you not always win matches, but you need much more. Now they will have to use this "chance" to do better in the next ones and not risk elimination.
Even though Italy isn't participating, I'm lovingly following these World Cups.

[$weetne$$]

If the match goes to penalty shootout, then the victory or defeat of a team is no longer determined by the overall performance. Then, along with luck, only the ability to take free kicks is more effective. In fact, Germany should have performed better in the main 90 minutes against Paraguay because they have some players who perform regularly. But when the game goes to penalty shootout, it is really unfortunate to leave. You can mention another match of the day where Morocco and the Netherlands were facing each other. After the Netherlands took the lead after 70 minutes, Morocco came in extra time and tied the match at 1-1. Later, as both teams failed to score in extra time, the result was decided in penalty shootout where Morocco won. In that case, the Netherlands and Morocco were stronger teams.

This is very true,  sometimes,  Penalties can and could only mean luck, with penalty shoot outs,  you may necessarily not need the whole skill or say it is dependent on the performance of the team, it is mainly  a thing of the luck sometimes,  because at that point,  there will arise so much  tension and the players could in a way be pressured and make mistakes sometimes.

[KTChampions]

Today we’ll be watching the Round of 32 match between Ivory Coast and Norway. So far in this tournament, we’ve seen two results that could be called surprises. While Norway is clearly the favorite in this match, I think Ivory Coast also has a good chance of advancing. Given this, the outcome of this match remains wide open. While I see Norway as the more likely team to advance, I expect Ivory Coast to give them a tough fight.

Norway is the favorite in this game, but not a clear favorite as you say (bookmakers estimate their chances of winning in regular time to be less than 50%). For me, this is a completely random game in which I cannot understand what scenarios are possible. In the FIFA rankings, both teams are close (31st and 33rd places) and I cannot give preference to either of them, even despite such a trump card as Haaland. What looks more or less clear is Total Over and BTTS.

[bitLeap]

This is the show that we all signed up for, a shocker and it makes us remember that anything is possible again in football, big teams can crash out of competitions, Brazil almost did crash out, Germany could not escape, they got their equalizer, but the game did not go as many of them will want.

Netherlands can be sent home by Morocco, just as the Ivorians could send the Norwegians back home.

You're absolutely not far from the truth, indeed this is what we signed up for. Tgis is the craziest world cup I have watched since I started watching world cup matches. From the group stages we could see various upsets starting with that very familiar one of Cape Verde holding Spain to a goalless draw for a whole 90 minutes. It's been from one drama to the next in every of the stages so far in the competition and I think this hasn't happened before, were we are seeing lots of underdogs doing incrediblely well. Just like you guessed, Netherland had been sent packing by Morocco, lol.

It's fair to say that this year's World Cup has taken its toll in the Round of 32, with top teams being eliminated prematurely. There will be more upsets to come. Yesterday, we saw many gamblers stressed out because they were overconfident in their bets on Germany and the Netherlands winning. If Cape Verde can pull off a surprise by stopping Argentina, it will shock the football world. It's a history most people don't want to see.

[Rashlyowl]

Today we’ll be watching the Round of 32 match between Ivory Coast and Norway. So far in this tournament, we’ve seen two results that could be called surprises. While Norway is clearly the favorite in this match, I think Ivory Coast also has a good chance of advancing. Given this, the outcome of this match remains wide open. While I see Norway as the more likely team to advance, I expect Ivory Coast to give them a tough fight.

I agree with you, we’ve seen some surprising results today, so we can expect to see similar ones in the upcoming matches. Norway is indeed one of the strong teams in this world cup, but they are not as formidable as some other European teams. So, I think Ivory Coast could follow the same path as Morocco & defeat the Netherlands in a penalty shootout.

[Ahli38]

Today we’ll be watching the Round of 32 match between Ivory Coast and Norway. So far in this tournament, we’ve seen two results that could be called surprises. While Norway is clearly the favorite in this match, I think Ivory Coast also has a good chance of advancing. Given this, the outcome of this match remains wide open. While I see Norway as the more likely team to advance, I expect Ivory Coast to give them a tough fight.

With the way this series of matches are going in the round of 36, I even afraid to bet on any matches because literally anything can happened has we have seen in the Paraguay and Morocco games.

Paper wise, Norway should take the win but with the way Ivory Coast where playing in the group stage, I won't write them off. But the advantage Norway has over them is the fact that there starting lineup is fully rested

I've had enough of these World Cup surprises. I've had to throw away too many betslips.
Norway looks much stronger than Ivory Coast today. Halland will definitely attack hard, and I'm betting that he will score today. But Ivory Coast will definitely fight hard too, so I have a feeling both teams will score at least one goal, and I'll bet on that too. However, I have a feeling we'll see another draw today and probably penalties.

We still can’t make a definitive assessment to compare these two national teams given that there have been no head-to-head matches. But we can see that the Ivory Coast national team has tremendous fighting spirit in this World Cup, where they’ve managed to defeat Ecuador and even Germany not long ago. As for Norway they’ve looked very strong too with their efforts in reaching the Round of 16. So I personally predict that tonight’s Ivory Coast vs Norway match will be a fierce contest. And perhaps these two teams will put on a very exciting first half. I’m confident that both the first and second halves will see plenty of goals amid intense competition between these two teams. And I think betting on both teams to score is a very likely outcome for this match.

[free-bit.co.in]

German fans were happy that their team finally qualified for second round after exiting at group stage in 2022 and 2018 world cup. But the happiness of German fans was for short duration as their team is eliminated in round of 32 on penalty kicks. Its so surprising for Paraguay also and that is the reason their government has declared a one day national holiday to celebrate this historic win. Morocco and Netherlands game was also decided on penalty kicks and on penalty shootouts its more about your luck.    

None of us would have expected Germany to be eliminated so quickly despite having such a strong squad. Should we  call it their misfortune or failure?
They have players like Undav, Havertz, Wirtz , Sane, Goretzka, Misiala, Kimmich, Jonathon Tha and Rudiger. All of them are  successful and experienced in club football. Despite  having such a strong squad, they lost against teams like paraguay. Germany should find a more experienced manager. Nagelsmann  has not been successful with germany. They should have at least  qualified for the quarter-finals with this squad.

[Shishir99]

I wasn't expecting such a tight and exciting match as this one between brazil and Japan. You could see that Japan has improved its football a lot over the years.

In the first half, they (Japan) applied a lot of pressure on brazil witch played very poorly and made many mistakes in passing. Japan's goal, for example, could have been avoided, it only happened because of a slip-up by a Brazilian player.

Brazil won, but it was a very difficult win. I wasn't that excited for this match, Ii worried me that Ancelotti didn't bring Neymar on, even in the second half... what's going on? Brazil almost lost even without Neymar. I think it's not the time to keep resting Neymar since we're in the qualifiers.

I'm not very optimistic about brazil's next games, because I have the impression that other teams like France, Argentina, and Spain are playing more tactically and superior football.

Curiously, Brazil was one of the first to qualify for the round of 16, so far, only Canada and Brazil are in the round of 16 in their bracket.

I think most Brazilian fans expected an easy win over Japan. I assume the Brazil team itself thought the same, which could be one of the reasons they did not include Neymar in the playing 11. However, you know he is injured, and the coach wants him to play only in important matches. He is still recovering every day, and he may need more time to recover. Another tough foul in these matches would kick him out of the tournament. So, I won't blame the coach for now.

As for the match, everyone knew Japan was the favorite, but in the last match, Brazil played Japan and lost 3-2. They knew it, which probably created some pressure in their players' minds. But it is good that they have scored and won the match in the end.