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

[OsaiEmma]

I do agree with you partially. The only problem here is that this version of the World Cup is quite different from the previous ones because the number of nations was expanded so we have weaker teams joining the tournament, thus less risk to face several top teams in the same group and the more chance to advance from the group stage.
United States 1 - 0 Bosnia Herzegovina in the first half. No blame for the European team. This is their first time playing there against the host team. They have to avoid returning home with a lot of goals, that's it.

England and Belgium had two hard matches but they eventually made comebacks and won their matches. It's not easy way to win their matches against weaker teams like Senegal and Congo but they already finished their matches well. There will be criticisms against poor performances of Belgium and England but they will have some days to recover and prepare for their next matches.

Honestly I was surprised too. For a moment there I almost thought they'll be knocked out of the tournament, by the somehow get their game rolling and clinched to victory. Congrats to them on qualifying. The team I'm most disappointed in is Senegal's; they almost had their victory but just gave it all away with some ridiculous subs, it was really disappointing to me.

[Solokan]

To be honest, I didn’t expect England to secure such a dramatic victory , as I’d initially thought they’d win this match easily, but it turned out that Congo put in such a good performance in this match. Congo really had all the England supporters on the edge of their seats , and, quite unexpectedly, they managed to score just moments after the match had started. England tried to make up the deficit , but Congo put up such a strong fight, and the Congo goalkeeper was in impressive form in this match.

Of course England is playing well but Dr. Congo's players are playing the game fairly well. One thing in particular that I like is that they tried their best to stay with England. Congo was ahead at the beginning but then fell behind.

While watching (England and Congo) match, Definitely surprised by Goal keeper/Y. Wissa's play and this dribbling. It can be said without a doubt that they actually tried their best.

I also thought that England would be able to beat Congo easily but it turned out that Congo played very well until England conceded first in that match but fortunately England finally won and finally he qualified for the next round. Yes, Congo did play well even though he lost in that match and even though Congo lost but he had worked hard and played well. now the teams from the African continent are starting to lose one by one and of course we don't know which teams from the African continent will advance to the last 16 and it's also a shame that Senegal lost against Belgium and now Sadio Mane and his friends' struggle in this year's World Cup is enough to stop here but I am amazed by the teams from the African continent which of course many have qualified for the last 32 too and in my opinion Morocco will have the potential to be a country from the African continent that is favored to continue to advance and of course it does not rule out the possibility of also advancing to the semifinals. in your opinion, which teams from the African continent will advance to the last 16 from which countries?

[HajiBagi]

Source: https://mediaindonesia.com/piala-dunia-2026/906547/hasil-32-besar-piala-dunia-2026-inggris-vs-rd-kongo-dua-gol-harry-kane-pastikan-kemenangan-the-three-lions
harry Kane performed exceptionally well in the match against Congo, scoring two goals against Congo. In my opinion, the match was full of tension because both teams performed well, and Congo also played well, as evidenced by Congo's first goal against England through Cipenga. When Congo was ahead by one goal, I was a bit nervous because I was afraid of losing my bet because I favored England to win. Fortunately, England scored two goals through Harry Kane, which ultimately resulted in England winning 2-1. In retrospect, it was fitting that Congo's match against Portugal ended in a draw because Congo is a strong and difficult team to beat. However, it is very unfortunate that Congo lost that match to England, and finally, his struggle in this season's World Cup is enough Now he must work harder to play again in the next World Cup and perform even better

England has now qualified for the last 16 and of course England must prepare everything for the upcoming match because it could be that the opponent England will face is stronger than Congo, but in my opinion, in the next match England will face Mexico I think there is a big potential for England to win what do you think?

England vs Dr Congo game is one of the best game i have watched in the World Cup so far, what a game of football, Dr Congo score the opening goal that shocked the world and after they score the goal they look very strong and confident to the extent that they are dominating the game, England first half of the game is so bad because their midfield is not too creative and also the right wing is not good and i wonder why Thomas Tuchel keep starting Madueke over Saka.

Harry Kane changed the game and that is why i keep calling him the best striker in the world, he knows how to position himself and find a way to score goal, the second goal was exceptional because no one expect him to play the ball, Dr Congo tried and what affect them is that they tried to play a defensive game and you can not play a defensive game against England that have players that know how to score goals.

[Gallar]

Source

After France defeated Sweden in the round of 32,, they will face Paraguay in the round of 16. After seeing how good France's performance is, I think this match against Paraguay will definitely not be difficult for France. Basically, the performance of the French players is really great, as evidenced by the fact that in every match until the final match, they were able to easily score goals against their opponents. So, I think if they face Paraguay, it will be no different from other opponents that France has faced.

So, therefore, I think it will be very easy for France to continue to qualify for the next round of this World Cup. In fact, I think they will most likely be able to enter the final round again. Because currently, I don't think there is another team that is truly capable of defeating France. Perhaps only Argentina has proven capable of doing it. But at this time, I don't know for sure whether Argentina is also capable or not. Because the point is that Francis' performance is really great right now.

The same thing also happened to me that after they won the match against Sweden in the round of 32 it seems that France will be able to beat their next opponent Paraguay but what needs to be underlined is that each team has its own goals especially since this has entered the round of 16 so for France even though they were able to easily win the match last night with a fairly convincing score they better maintain their scheme implemented by the coach and also their performance to maintain in order to achieve their big goal in this world cup because they are one of the favorite teams to win this world cup, so it is better to maintain their togetherness and mentality to always appear prime when they play every match.

Yes, that's true, especially since they seem to have found their best strategy all along. Their team is always the favorite in the competition for the World Cup title. This is due to the fact that their current players are so compact in matches and no player is relied upon by a teammate. They all possess the same qualities. Every time they play they express their joy like one family. This means their chemistry is always well-maintained at every World Cup. It's natural for them to advance to the final this time.

Yes, it's clear that the current France players must not change their game plan and must remain united to achieve good results in this World Cup. Even though France's next opponent will be Paraguay, they still cannot afford to be reckless and underestimate Paraguay. All the players and all the teams that have qualified for the round of 16 are certainly in high spirits.

Therefore,, France must not slacken their game, even if their opponents are weaker on paper. Because in a World Cup like this, even a small mistake can be disastrous for a team. Therefore,, Mbappe and his teammates must maintain their unity. Because it is their main asset so they can continue to play well. Because without good unity, a team's performance will clearly be destroyed. So, I also hope that France's game will remain excellent.

[Tamaperdana]

Currently,, the three countries hosting the World Cup have all qualified for the round of 16. I think that's truly extraordinary. Initially, I thought one of the host countries would definitely be eliminated in the round of 32,, but it turned out not to be the case. They actually qualified very well. But now in the round of 16,, I think the journey for those countries will definitely not be easy.

Because now Canada will also face Morocco, then the United States will also face Belgium, and Mexico will also face England. So, the opponents of these three countries are clearly all strong teams. So I don't think it will be easy for them to win again in this match. Because looking at the performance of their opponents, I think there is no doubt that the possibility of these three countries losing is very high. But yes, we don't know for sure what the results will be. So hopefully there will be quite a surprising result in this round of 16.

[Lillominato89]

The final matches of the round of 32 could set up a fantastic tie in the round of 16.
Today, Spain will face Austria, and tomorrow, 3 July, Portugal will take on Croatia. These two matches will lead to the round of 16, and we could already be in for an exciting clash such as Spain v Portugal – unless there are any surprises.

[Cryptmuster]

Senegal let a qualification spot slip away in the final three minutes.
Both goals conceded by the Senegal goalkeeper were very soft; the second goal was entirely his fault.
Just as the match seemed headed for a penalty shootout, they handed the win to Belgium by conceding a penalty in the final minute of the second period of extra time.
As a sports fan, I felt sorry for Senegal, but unfortunately, these things happen in football. They might well have advanced to later stages, but they were eliminated in the Round of 32.

Senegal stopped playing too early, while Belgium kept pushing until the final whistle. Once again, Lukaku came off the bench and scored, he's an outstanding striker with excellent goalscoring instincts.

In my opinion, this loss is entirely on Senegal. First of all, they had several great chances to score and should have taken them. Secondly, instead of trying to keep the game further away from their own goal and controlling possession in midfield during the closing stages, they dropped deep and focused almost entirely on defending. That's not a smart approach against a team like Belgium.

[Antotena]

Yes, it's clear that the current France players must not change their game plan and must remain united to achieve good results in this World Cup. Even though France's next opponent will be Paraguay, they still cannot afford to be reckless and underestimate Paraguay. All the players and all the teams that have qualified for the round of 16 are certainly in high spirits.

Therefore,, France must not slacken their game, even if their opponents are weaker on paper. Because in a World Cup like this, even a small mistake can be disastrous for a team. Therefore,, Mbappe and his teammates must maintain their unity. Because it is their main asset so they can continue to play well. Because without good unity, a team's performance will clearly be destroyed. So, I also hope that France's game will remain excellent.

The France team knows what is at stake and for them to win, they have to leverage between Mbape, Olise and Dembele, this 3 are the most important players in their attack. How the 3 of them are not greedy is what has been moving this team since the beginning of their success. If you notice, there are games that Mbape don't score one Dembele will act as the leading player and there Mbape will lead through the game time, this is to show other teams that they are unpredictable.

I can't wait to see Mbape break Messi records, its going to be the most exciting to see after many people celebrating and think he is now the highest goal scorer. If he lead the goals, he will not stop there, u believe he will continue to launch more goals especially with this Paraguay, they don't deserve that round of 16 place, France will definitely use them to make goals in their next play match.

[B-BossMan]

Snip

I caught half of the second half of the Belgium vs Senegal game, enough to see Belgium's goal comeback, putting them back in the game, much to Senegal's misfortune.

The England vs DR Congo game was thrilling, for me, the game was already won by Congo, it was a very good game to watch, it captivated me from beginning to end. England should be very grateful to Harry Kane. it was a game full of twists and turns and many tense moments.

European teams are having a lot of difficulty eliminating African teams in these qualifiers, while in the group stage, we saw teams score 7x1 against weaker teams.

Belgium won! They chased the loss in the final minutes of the game, and that penalty came as a godsend, but Senegal played a great game and dominated the first two halves. In the end, for me (from what I saw), they played better.

It was a pity that Senegal had to leave this way after giving their best. The extra time penalty made things worse for them.

England's game was not so bad but they lacked creativity in their team and it made things difficult for them. I got frustrated with how England build up their game, no urgency, no special strategy which made it difficult to penetrate Congo defense even when they are not defending hard. At some point I thought I lost my bet but luckily Harry Kane turned up.

Now it's not just about having big names, even top countries will have to fight their way to eliminate weaker teams now. Teams like Germany, Netherlands and Belgium are not really performing well that's why they are having difficulty winning games with ease. Belgium got lucky today.

I was totally disappointed at the Senegal's performance seriously, although they did played well at the first half and I was quite impressive with the little consistent they showed up in the early minutes. Which pave way for them to scored at first at early minutes of time or scored 2 goals at firts half. But  I would say in the second half there's no any signs of hopes in them again, because I was expecting them to comes back with full force and creates many chances of goals for thier victory, but Belgium has already studied thier patterns of playing from the first half. So the match turns out in the favor of Belgium and the Senegal were eliminated. Well done job to Belgium on this victory.

[Barikui1]

Senegal stopped playing too early, while Belgium kept pushing until the final whistle. Once again, Lukaku came off the bench and scored, he's an outstanding striker with excellent goalscoring instincts.

In my opinion, this loss is entirely on Senegal. First of all, they had several great chances to score and should have taken them. Secondly, instead of trying to keep the game further away from their own goal and controlling possession in midfield during the closing stages, they dropped deep and focused almost entirely on defending. That's not a smart approach against a team like Belgium.

I did not watch the game last night, but when saw a 2-0 lead from Senegal, I believed that the game was already sealed, but to my surprise, I saw 2-2  when I check the result again believing that the game was already over. I was really disappointed in the Senegalese team because they had no excuses why they threw this winning away just like that, so every one of the Senegalese national team players should bear the full responsibility of this defeat because they really let their nation and their fans all over the world down, because they have no business losing this game after they have been leading with 2-0 for most part of the regular time.

[As-Soon-As]

The final matches of the round of 32 could set up a fantastic tie in the round of 16.
Today, Spain will face Austria, and tomorrow, 3 July, Portugal will take on Croatia. These two matches will lead to the round of 16, and we could already be in for an exciting clash such as Spain v Portugal – unless there are any surprises.

Spain vs Austria is the most likely to win, Spain will definitely qualify out of the 16 teams. But I cannot guarantee much between Croatia vs Portugal. Of these two teams, only the team with good luck will win, although Croatia is not in its current form but Portugal is in a very good position.
Any result of this match can be in favor of any team, so I did not place any bet on Croatia vs Portugal. But between Spain vs Austria, I placed a bet on Spain.

Yes, but if any team performs here with Spain out of the 16 teams, then it will definitely have to go through a tough competition.

[Lillominato89]

The final matches of the round of 32 could set up a fantastic tie in the round of 16.
Today, Spain will face Austria, and tomorrow, 3 July, Portugal will take on Croatia. These two matches will lead to the round of 16, and we could already be in for an exciting clash such as Spain v Portugal – unless there are any surprises.

Spain vs Austria is the most likely to win, Spain will definitely qualify out of the 16 teams. But I cannot guarantee much between Croatia vs Portugal. Of these two teams, only the team with good luck will win, although Croatia is not in its current form but Portugal is in a very good position.
Any result of this match can be in favor of any team, so I did not place any bet on Croatia vs Portugal. But between Spain vs Austria, I placed a bet on Spain.

Yes, but if any team performs here with Spain out of the 16 teams, then it will definitely have to go through a tough competition.

Obviously, Spain have the best chance of progressing to the next round, whilst Portugal face a much tougher match.
Croatia, however, are no longer the side they were a few years ago and are much weaker than before, but they remain a very tough team to beat.
I wouldn’t bet on this match, but I’m convinced that the round of 16 will feature Spain v Portugal.

[Hewlet]

To be honest, I didn’t expect England to secure such a dramatic victory , as I’d initially thought they’d win this match easily, but it turned out that Congo put in such a good performance in this match. Congo really had all the England supporters on the edge of their seats , and, quite unexpectedly, they managed to score just moments after the match had started. England tried to make up the deficit , but Congo put up such a strong fight, and the Congo goalkeeper was in impressive form in this match.

Of course England is playing well but Dr. Congo's players are playing the game fairly well. One thing in particular that I like is that they tried their best to stay with England. Congo was ahead at the beginning but then fell behind.

While watching (England and Congo) match, Definitely surprised by Goal keeper/Y. Wissa's play and this dribbling. It can be said without a doubt that they actually tried their best.

I also thought that England would be able to beat Congo easily but it turned out that Congo played very well until England conceded first in that match but fortunately England finally won and finally he qualified for the next round. Yes, Congo did play well even though he lost in that match and even though Congo lost but he had worked hard and played well.

It is one thing to have a good start against a team that is better than you and a completely different thing to maintain similar momentum to the end of the game. Congo were all hyped up in the first half but the main mistake they did is to sit back and think that they could do all the defending against a team that have aggressive attackers like harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. obviously, the Congo keeper made all the difference in that game if not, right from the first half Congo would have conceded a lot of goals. in the end, we have to just put a respect on the Congo national team for showing that they are not a weak team to be played against. surely, this will cause for an increase in their FIFA ranking.

[xzone]

The final matches of the round of 32 could set up a fantastic tie in the round of 16.
Today, Spain will face Austria, and tomorrow, 3 July, Portugal will take on Croatia. These two matches will lead to the round of 16, and we could already be in for an exciting clash such as Spain v Portugal – unless there are any surprises.

We've seen many surprising results before, but I don't think we'll see anything like that in this match. Spain will win this match; both statistically and in terms of team strength, I think Spain should have a dominant advantage.
The betting odds also support this, so there's no need to bet on Spain at all. The odds are very low and won't be profitable

[jeremypwr]

Team USA looked pretty good defeating BIH by score of 2:0.
Next up will be BEL in a match that could go either way according to the odds.

[yixichloro2xx]

The final matches of the round of 32 could set up a fantastic tie in the round of 16.
Today, Spain will face Austria, and tomorrow, 3 July, Portugal will take on Croatia. These two matches will lead to the round of 16, and we could already be in for an exciting clash such as Spain v Portugal – unless there are any surprises.

Spain vs Austria is the most likely to win, Spain will definitely qualify out of the 16 teams. But I cannot guarantee much between Croatia vs Portugal. Of these two teams, only the team with good luck will win, although Croatia is not in its current form but Portugal is in a very good position.
Any result of this match can be in favor of any team, so I did not place any bet on Croatia vs Portugal. But between Spain vs Austria, I placed a bet on Spain.

Yes, but if any team performs here with Spain out of the 16 teams, then it will definitely have to go through a tough competition.

Obviously, Spain have the best chance of progressing to the next round, whilst Portugal face a much tougher match.
Croatia, however, are no longer the side they were a few years ago and are much weaker than before, but they remain a very tough team to beat.
I wouldn’t bet on this match, but I’m convinced that the round of 16 will feature Spain v Portugal.

I myself believe that Spain will beat Austria, Now that they've qualified they know that any mistakes committed in the knockout round,it means they are going home. So I feel that the Spain National manager will want to start his best XI, but unfortunately I heard that Nico Williams is injured. Which means Ferran Torres might be one starting in the left Wing while Lamine yamal starts at the other wing. I am not fully convinced or confident in Ferran Torres because of the big chances he misses eveytime. But Spain midfielders is what will give them the win. Because they control the whole games in terms of possession and passes which Austria might not do because they will want to sit a little bit dip.

[m4r1o]

Norway were lucky to get a late winner in this underdogs world cup, the underdogs has held strongly so far in this world cup knockout stages and big names like Germany has gone home.
I think resting that amount of players by the Norwegian coach yielded no fruit because I did not see any impact that decision made in todays game, regardless congratulations to Norway I believe this is a record feet for them to reach the round of 16 of the FIFA world cup.

Even though Norway's strategy wasn't the best, they still advanced, despite other teams in other groups who were almost confident of advancing instead going home.
Obviously the more difficult competition later on will be for Norway to compete with more solid teams, but at least they managed to secure a place in the round of 16 which is no small feat.

[New Judgement]

Team USA looked pretty good defeating BIH by score of 2:0.
Next up will be BEL in a match that could go either way according to the odds.

That match can’t go either ways. USA will win that match without much stress. Belgium are not impressive in this World Cup. They have been struggling to get to this stage, while USA has been having an excellent campaign so far. End of the road for Belgium.

[jeremypwr]

Team USA looked pretty good defeating BIH by score of 2:0.
Next up will be BEL in a match that could go either way according to the odds.

That match can’t go either ways. USA will win that match without much stress. Belgium are not impressive in this World Cup. They have been struggling to get to this stage, while USA has been having an excellent campaign so far. End of the road for Belgium.

You're actually wrong as according to the odds (like I said) it can go either way
You probably didn't check the odds nor even bet on the games so here you go

usa 2.56
bel 2.70
draw 3.40

https://rainbet.com/sportsbook/soccer/international/world-cup/usa-belgium-2654437930713624599

[EarnOnVictor]

Obviously, Spain have the best chance of progressing to the next round, whilst Portugal face a much tougher match.
Croatia, however, are no longer the side they were a few years ago and are much weaker than before, but they remain a very tough team to beat.
I wouldn’t bet on this match, but I’m convinced that the round of 16 will feature Spain v Portugal.

Your assessment is accurate; if Portugal could not overpowered weak teams to show how powerful they are, what can they possibly do against a better team? Croatia is not so strong, but it's equally important to acknowledge that they are above average, which makes them dangerous for Portugal. Bookies are giving Portugal good odds to win against Croatia, but for me, it's a bait that we should beware of. Germany's match with baited odds of about 1.3+ across boards had further taught me a lesson.