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

[Sithara007]

Dr congo and Senegal had a better advantage over England and Belgium they could have defeated them if that defense were strong. The both africa teams were leading, they were in a better positions to win and they could have won if they had maintain that advantage positions. However, Senegal didn't do well if they hadn't conceded those goals and had hold 10 minutes more it would've been a landslide victory but they bottle the game in the end.

There is a strong chance that at least a few teams from CAF will be present in the PQF phase. Already Morocco has qualified for PQF, and they have Canada as their opponents. Egypt has their Round of 32 match against Australia, and they may qualify as well. Algeria and Ghana will be facing Switzerland and Colombia. The chances are that at least one of these two will qualify for PQF. If both of them qualify, then they will face each other in the PQF phase. The interesting fact is that out of the 10 teams who have qualified for PQF stage so far, only 4 are from UEFA (France, Belgium, Norway and England). 

[SilverCryptoBullet]

England has already fought hard in the match against Congo. Watching the game, honestly, it wasn’t an easy match for England. They fell behind from the very start, and Kane is really amazing, but England doesn’t have a replacement for him in the future. It’s going to be tough if Kane retires from the national team. Their opponent in the Round of 16 is Mexico, which might be even harder than England imagined.

Mexico are not a too strong team but they have played very impressively in World Cup 2026. As one of three host countries, Mexico actually had advantage in a match with England, and they are ready to make new history for their national team. Four years ago, in World Cup 2022, Morocco made an amazing tournament as a best underdog, and let's guess which team will be the best underdog in World Cup 2026: Mexico, USA, Canada (three hosts) or any other national teams?

Good to see England getting the shock treatment from Congo. Unfortunately Congo couldn't sustain the momentum, and lost the match eventually. But it was an amazing performance from a team that is participating in the FIFA World Cup after a lengthy gap of 52 years. Also, when they participated in 1974, they lost all the three matches they played. This time though, they got one win (vs Uzbekistan) and a memorable draw against Portugal. In general, there is no doubt that the African teams are improving with each tournament. Morocco is far ahead of the rest, but teams like Senegal and Congo are also rapidly improving.

Tuchel so far made a lot of disappointment with his management for England in World Cup 2026. The team relied too much on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham while Tuchel seems to struggle to find a best squad for this World Cup while the tournament already went to knock out phases. Each match from now will be like a final match, win it and move next or lose it and go home.

Like Rooney said after the match with Congo, he believed that England will have to go home if Tuchel and players won't change their tactics and performance quality. Harry Kane has maintained very outstanding performances in this season but he will not be able to carry England to wins in all matches.

[cyberninja2]

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France is keeping up to their pace and I see them in the finals and the major favorite of winning this world cup. They were in the last world cup finals but Argentina stopped them from winning it. Let's see this time which team will be in the finals with them. Though, most big teams are still struggling.

They are currently showing strong performances so it's fitting that they should continue to advance to the next round. Moreover yesterday France easily won their match against Sweden with a convincing score. Many are predicting they will be able to reach the final this time just as they did in the previous World Cup which ended in defeat to Argentina.

In this World Cup they will fight to pay for their failure in the previous World Cup meaning their goal in this World Cup must be to succeed in bringing home the gold trophy because they really deserve to win it especially since the composition of the players they currently have is very worthy of winning it so what they need to do now is that in every match they must maximize their struggle and must not underestimate the opponents they face and moreover they must do the same as what they have done in the previous World Cup so that they will also reach the final match in this World Cup.

[X-ray]

I'm really sad for Senegal... They deserved the match for a long time with a solid game. But they couldn't hold on for a few more minutes.

Really enjoyed the way Senegal played the game until they lead the game with two nil against Belgium. However, it's very sad they're stop playing just after they scored their 2nd goals. I thought the game already wrapped up when they still head two nil at 85 minutes.

It's hard to guess what scenario prepared by devil for him, but conceded two goals in the last minutes were unstable their mentality. It's getting very sad for the guy who committed penalty at the end of game.

Eventhough they played well since the first minutes until the late game, but they deserved that lost.

[Sithara007]

Really enjoyed the way Senegal played the game until they lead the game with two nil against Belgium. However, it's very sad they're stop playing just after they scored their 2nd goals. I thought the game already wrapped up when they still head two nil at 85 minutes.

It's hard to guess what scenario prepared by devil for him, but conceded two goals in the last minutes were unstable their mentality. It's getting very sad for the guy who committed penalty at the end of game.

Eventhough they played well since the first minutes until the late game, but they deserved that lost.

They played the game of their life for the initial 85 minutes. All that was needed was for them to play like that for another 10 minutes. The team simply disintegrated. It was difficult to fathom what was going on. It would have been a historical win for them, and for the African continent as a whole. But immaturity and lack of commonense meant that Belgium was able to make an unbelievable comeback. Anyway, let's focus on the matches for today. Sparks are going to fly in the second match (Portugal vs Croatia). Stake has Portugal at 1.72 and Croatia at 4.90. But I would go for draw (3.70).

[Lannakosa]

The Switzerland - Algeria match has caught my attention. I see Switzerland as the favorites, and odds of 2.00 on their win look like a good bet to me.
I know Algeria can be a tough team to play against, but I think they tend to perform better against weaker opponents. Against an attacking team like Switzerland, I doubt they'll be able to even earn a draw, especially since Switzerland are also solid defensively. I also considered betting on the total goals market if Algeria manage to score, but I think that's an unnecessary risk. I'd rather keep it simple and back Switzerland to win.

[Iranus]

Like Rooney said after the match with Congo, he believed that England will have to go home if Tuchel and players won't change their tactics and performance quality. Harry Kane has maintained very outstanding performances in this season but he will not be able to carry England to wins in all matches.

England won because of Harry Kane's amazing  performance. Tuchel should be more careful in his match strategy and formation. Otherwise they will be eliminated in the next round. They had to fight hard to win against congo. Gordon should be given a chance in the starting XI instead of rashford. Rashford missed a lot of  chances. I was very upset by rashford's performance against congo. England could not have won the match if Gordon had not been brought on as a substitute in the second half. Gordon made two  incredible assists. Perhaps he is not getting enough chances because of his lack of experience.

[sergiorus]

Like Rooney said after the match with Congo, he believed that England will have to go home if Tuchel and players won't change their tactics and performance quality. Harry Kane has maintained very outstanding performances in this season but he will not be able to carry England to wins in all matches.

England won because of Harry Kane's amazing  performance. Tuchel should be more careful in his match strategy and formation. Otherwise they will be eliminated in the next round. They had to fight hard to win against congo. Gordon should be given a chance in the starting XI instead of rashford. Rashford missed a lot of  chances. I was very upset by rashford's performance against congo. England could not have won the match if Gordon had not been brought on as a substitute in the second half. Gordon made two  incredible assists. Perhaps he is not getting enough chances because of his lack of experience.

They, just like Belgium, got really lucky. European teams show awful performance this WC (on average).

Germany and Netherlands, despite both being world class teams, are flying home already.

England and Belgium didn't really play better so I can only call it luck.

Only France and Portugal are the European hope this time.

[mandown]

I simply couldn't understand why Senegal didn't look to counter-attack after making the score 2-0, or why they sat back so deep.
The first goal Lukaku scored came very late; Senegal should have held onto the lead after that point. The goalkeeper made a huge blunder. Had he stayed on his line in that situation, Tielemans would never have been able to score that header.
In my opinion, the penalty decision during stoppage time was scandalous. Tielemans threw himself to the ground in that instance; a player wouldn't go down from that kind of contact. Senegal was eliminated, while Belgium advanced.
The on-field altercation between Trossard and Tielemans also left a lasting impression.

[martinom]

I was quite amused that Germany and the Netherlands were eliminated on the same day. I heard that the police intervened against Moroccan fans in the Netherlands. They probably caused some disturbances, but nobody interferes with fans who are celebrating and cheering. Morocco certainly has a good squad and performed as well as possible in the group stage. I'm amazed at how Germany was eliminated. Letting it go to extra time was a mistake from the start. Paraguay beat Germany by playing a similar defensive game to the one they played against Türkiye, taking the match to penalties.

I'm not at all surprised that Germany were eliminated, they didn't play well at all, perhaps they underestimated their opponents a little too much or they simply weren't ready to face this World Cup.
The teams that promise well in this World Cup are France, Argentina, Morocco and Brazil, they were the most interesting to see and follow.

[Sithara007]

I'm not at all surprised that Germany were eliminated, they didn't play well at all, perhaps they underestimated their opponents a little too much or they simply weren't ready to face this World Cup.
The teams that promise well in this World Cup are France, Argentina, Morocco and Brazil, they were the most interesting to see and follow.

Brazil is struggling in this edition so far. In the first match, they got a draw against Morocco. Then they had big wins against two weak teams. But again in the Round of 32, they had a tough outing against Japan. Kaishū Sano scored the first goal of the match and Japan was leading by half-time. But in the second half, Brazil fought back and in the end they won by a margin of 2-1. And in the PQF phase, they will be facing Norway. And that is going to be a very tough outing for them. I will be making a bet in favor of Norwegian win. And apart from Vinícius Júnior, none of the other Brazilian players are in good form.

[giorgione]

England also advanced to the Round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over DR Congo.
They struggled to find the breakthrough for much of the match, but eventually scored twice to secure their place in the next round.

France will win the World Cup or if they don't succeed they will come very close to doing so, its their year, they have a truly incredible team, a typical attack of those who can score against any team that comes their way, i don't see much difficulty so far, they have won against practically everyone.

[cxtreenal]

...

France is keeping up to their pace and I see them in the finals and the major favorite of winning this world cup. They were in the last world cup finals but Argentina stopped them from winning it. Let's see this time which team will be in the finals with them. Though, most big teams are still struggling.

They are currently showing strong performances so it's fitting that they should continue to advance to the next round. Moreover yesterday France easily won their match against Sweden with a convincing score. Many are predicting they will be able to reach the final this time just as they did in the previous World Cup which ended in defeat to Argentina.

In this World Cup they will fight to pay for their failure in the previous World Cup meaning their goal in this World Cup must be to succeed in bringing home the gold trophy because they really deserve to win it especially since the composition of the players they currently have is very worthy of winning it so what they need to do now is that in every match they must maximize their struggle and must not underestimate the opponents they face and moreover they must do the same as what they have done in the previous World Cup so that they will also reach the final match in this World Cup.

Most of those who watched France vs Sweden would agree that France is one of the strongest teams in this World Cup and if they can keep up their performance they can reach the final. I have watched every top team in the world play but I have seen a much aggressive game from the French team. Experienced French coach Didier Deschamps has put together a great team where many fans are impressed by the players impressive performances and are betting on them. I have already seen several gambler betting on France and they are saying that France will win the World Cup.

The team's results in previous World Cup are still a bad experience and I think the team is mature enough and the players have the confidence to do well because the team is made up of great players.

[Spaceman1000$]

Belgium was very lucky. They scored the first goal in the 86th minute and after just 3 minutes they equalized the match 2-2 . At the same time, they scored the goal from the penalty spot after  120 minutes. Luck helped Belgium well. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to win this  match. Senegal's performance surprised everyone as usual. As far as I know, it is a very poor country in Africa. Anyway, they have improved a lot in football. If they get enough opportunities and support , maybe they can surpass the european teams.

Senegal would have themselves to blame for losing concentration a few minutes before the end of the match. It was a game that would have been won by the African side if they had sustained the momentum till the end of the match. Senegal goalkeeper Mory Diaw's poor timing of the ball led to Youri Tielemans' equaliser.

But the most painful part of it was the penalty at the end of extra time. Many renowned sports pundits believed that  Lamine Camara's challenge on Tielemans was not a penalty. It took the referee so much time to be convinced that it was a penalty. In such games, such fouls should be overlooked since it is not very clear to the referee.

Of course that challenge wasn't a penalty, The time the referee took to understudy the video is evident to the fact that it was not a penalty, however mere looking at that video you will see that the Senegal defender was the one that approached the ball first and there was no clear cut contact that he touched the Belgium player, the referee would have known that such a penalty at a critical time like that will definitely affect the match given the fact that the penalty was not a clear one.

But for me, regardless of the fact that I will have to blame the referee for that decision, I still want to blame the Senegalese players and the Senegal coach for the mistake he made, he decided to remove some of the most prominent players he has in that game and at a point the belgians decided to come into the game properly, and a 2-0 lead later became a 2-2 draw before that last minute goal. Cincinnati I was disappointed with the Senegalese inability to maintain momentum till the end of that game, this was the same thing that happened to DR Congo.

[MArsland]

England won because of Harry Kane's amazing  performance. Tuchel should be more careful in his match strategy and formation. Otherwise they will be eliminated in the next round. They had to fight hard to win against congo. Gordon should be given a chance in the starting XI instead of rashford. Rashford missed a lot of  chances. I was very upset by rashford's performance against congo. England could not have won the match if Gordon had not been brought on as a substitute in the second half. Gordon made two  incredible assists. Perhaps he is not getting enough chances because of his lack of experience.

Both Congo and England played exceptionally well, but for a team of England stature, conceding early is still a significant factor. Tuchel's selection was quite poor, and you're right about Rashford. England certainly has no shortage of great players, but with Tuchel management, I doubt this team can reach the final.

[Pumared]

Today I'm going to place a multiple bet: England win, draw or Belgium win, and USA win. The odds are around 2.26. I think it could work! It's worth analyzing today's games; depending on how Belgium's game goes, it could even be a win.

I think I agree with your bets. England's game is not going to be easy, but they will win. Congo will be defensive, then hit them on the counter. England struggles against teams that sit back and wait for transition, but they have way more quality than Congo, and that should do the trick.
I think the USA will win Bosnia, but my doubt is the Belgium game.

Belgium has not really been impressive in the tournament.  They couldn't win Egypt, they couldn't win Iran, so there is every chance that they can lose against Senegal.
Senegal qualified from a more difficult group. They lost against France and Norway, but they played well. Against France, it was the exceptional individual brilliance of Kylian Mbappe that killed them.
The problem with Senegal is that they miss a lot of their chances. If they somehow convert some of their chances against Belgium, they would win the game. A team that doesn't know how to finish won't score many goals against Courtois.

Well, I was right. And the Belgium game was the most complicated, which is why I bet on a draw, and that's exactly what saved me. England managed to turn it around, but Belgium didn't. And it was that detail that gave me the high odds.

[asriloni]

Portugal vs Croatia is about to start soon. Nevertheless, this match makes me overthinking due to the portugal performance. They have been so shite, and they were only scoring a lot when they fought weak side. Nevertheless, this croatia is a strong club with Modric still becomes midfielder.

So i think Portugal may be losing this game. This basically last WC game for neither Ronaldo or Modric.

If we're seeing the odds, portugal clearly favorite, but seeing Croatia gets closer to 5.00 is weird. It's because Creoatia is a decent team. I''m wondering in what sides you guys stand for? I call it the last dance game.

for me, it feels like Croatia will win this.

[Shineup]

If Senegal knew they would be humiliated like this, they could have just gave up from the group stage because this humiliation was way to much on them, like while I was watching that game all my hopes was that is the end of the road for Belgium I was actually very happy that Senegal had made it to the next round, but to my greatest surprise in this year world cup, Belgium literally used 5 minutes to score Senegal 2 goals, I was like what the heck is this, because of the anger of that two goals I left the viewing center, only to check score this morning and find out that they latter won Senegal in the dying minute of the extra time, what an embarrassment to the Senegalese team.

[Fiatless]

Both Congo and England played exceptionally well, but for a team of England stature, conceding early is still a significant factor. Tuchel's selection was quite poor, and you're right about Rashford. England certainly has no shortage of great players, but with Tuchel management, I doubt this team can reach the final.

Criticizing a player because of his performance in a match is not fair. Casemiro was highly criticized by Brazilian and European pundits in the game against Japan. And they were attacking Carlo Ancelotti for keeping him in the game. He turned out to be the hero of the game. Rashford is a good player; maybe he had a bad game in that match, but this doesn't automatically mean that Tuchel's selection is poor.

[SPIDERMAN008]

Like Rooney said after the match with Congo, he believed that England will have to go home if Tuchel and players won't change their tactics and performance quality. Harry Kane has maintained very outstanding performances in this season but he will not be able to carry England to wins in all matches.

England won because of Harry Kane's amazing  performance. Tuchel should be more careful in his match strategy and formation. Otherwise they will be eliminated in the next round. They had to fight hard to win against congo. Gordon should be given a chance in the starting XI instead of rashford. Rashford missed a lot of  chances. I was very upset by rashford's performance against congo. England could not have won the match if Gordon had not been brought on as a substitute in the second half. Gordon made two  incredible assists. Perhaps he is not getting enough chances because of his lack of experience.

I agree with you. I expected a better performance from Rashford, Kane scored two goals. His important goal was really needed in yesterday's match. England had many chances but the opponent's goalkeeper saved many skilled shots. It was really hard for England to win. They could not have scored goals even if they attacked a lot. And Kane's impactful performance in a match like this will be really memorable.