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

[cande86]

But from this World Cup, I?ve also started to better understand what makes favorite teams win more often in the end, aside from the quality of their players. And well, it seems to be about mentality as well. Because top-seeded teams like England, aside from having better-quality players, also have a stronger mentality. They maintain their rhythm and continue to build attacks very aggressively.

In terms of individual player quality, Congo?s players aren?t actually better than England?s. But they were highly motivated from the start. It?s just that their mentality faltered when England scored the equalizer.

But I really take my hat off to Congo. I?m really looking forward to seeing more from this team in the next World Cup. Because I?m sure they?ll be back in the next World Cup, possibly with even better quality.

at the direct elimination stage, the strongest teams come out and show themselves, but it's normal, it's always been like this, the strongest teams are always the ones that get to the end and do many good things, mentality counts but knowing that they can do great things is also important to win.

[Ale88]

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.

I think they simply did what almost everybody was expecting them to do: except for Mexico's group, in the others 3 out of 4 teams qualified, and then at the round of 16 they faced some easy teams. Well, not Mexico because Ecuador are a good team but South Africa and Bosnia didn't show much football at the tournament.

[Velvet78]

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.

Tuchel has already been criticized for not calling some important talents. Such as Foden, Palmer and so on... Now they are struggling and he is going to get even more criticism.  

If they get eliminated early, I think he can also get sacked. There have been quite many managers who got sacked so far during the World Cup. I know it hasn't been a long time since Tuchel took the job. But we never know...

[aipercoin]

Brazil had a bit of luck, they could very well have finished on penalties, but that extra time and the determination to finish the match was decisive.
Japan played well, they were a worthy opponent, nothing to say about it, but i don't know if Brazil will be able to keep their guard up in the next matches.

In a lot of talk about luck, in this case luck is based only on the extra time that was given at the end of the game, but essentially it was believing it until the last second.
So it's not just luck, but a mix of things, including having the courage to try until the end.
It's not the Brazil of all time, that's true, the performances aren't amazing, but the character remains nonetheless.

[Bluedrem]

at the direct elimination stage, the strongest teams come out and show themselves, but it's normal, it's always been like this, the strongest teams are always the ones that get to the end and do many good things, mentality counts but knowing that they can do great things is also important to win.

Yes, that's right, every team has been able to give their best performance here and have been able to qualify for the knockout stage. Every team here is strong, meaning every team here has the ability to beat every team. If Congo had defeated England in yesterday's match, it would not have been surprising. Paraguay did. They defeated a strong team like Germany and qualified for the last 16.
Again, in another match, a team like Morocco defeated the Netherlands and confirmed the last 16. Again, if a team like Cape Verde defeats Argentina, it would also be surprising.

[Italian Panic]

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.

I think they simply did what almost everybody was expecting them to do: except for Mexico's group, in the others 3 out of 4 teams qualified, and then at the round of 16 they faced some easy teams. Well, not Mexico because Ecuador are a good team but South Africa and Bosnia didn't show much football at the tournament.

I agree with you; Bosnia and South Africa were really rather poor. Perhaps the Africans were even worse than the Balkan teams, they struggled throughout the match and were at times embarrassing. I don’t know how they made it to the round of 16. The host nations, on the other hand, showed they have some good players alongside their well-known international stars.

[Pandu Geddon]

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?

If luck is on their side, Cape Verde could win in any way they play against Argentina. I guess they are the underdog team in this World Cup. Mexico could also be one of them, but I think Morocco and Norway still have a chance too. I think out of the three host teams, Mexico has the better team play. They will face England, but I think they have a chance to win.

[Not your key not your BTC]

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.

So far, fans’ hopes for the World Cup host nations have been fulfilled, as these teams have successfully advanced to the Round of 16. However, it seems highly likely that the runs of the three host nations will end in the Round of 16, as they are facing strong opponents. Mexico will face England, the United States will take on Belgium, and Canada will challenge Morocco in the Round of 16. I predict that all three host nations will lose in the Round of 16. But who knows, there might be a surprise if one of them manages to advance to the quarterfinals.

[reagansimms]

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.

Tuchel has already been criticized for not calling some important talents. Such as Foden, Palmer and so on... Now they are struggling and he is going to get even more criticism.  

If they get eliminated early, I think he can also get sacked. There have been quite many managers who got sacked so far during the World Cup. I know it hasn't been a long time since Tuchel took the job. But we never know...

I don't know if the decision was due to him leaving out the player or if it was intentional because their playing style didn't fit Tuchel plan. But despite all that, fans continued to criticize Tuchel's decision not to take them to the World Cup. If England fail in the World Cup, he will be ridiculed and his job may become even more difficult to maintain. Ronald Koeman recently resigned after the Netherlands were eliminated earlier than expected, and Julian Nagelsmann position remains uncertain after Germany was eliminated by Paraguay. Perhaps Tuchel will suffer the same fate as Koeman if England are eliminated.

[$crypto$]

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.

If you have Croatia, then I'll pick Portugal to qualify.

Portugal has a very good chance of winning. They have many great players at big clubs. Although I know that sometimes match scenarios are different on the pitch, I'm confident Portugal will win.

I don't want to see Ronaldo fail again early. Let him work hard for his team and provide plenty of motivation for his own squad.

[GIF-JOBS]

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).

But the match will not be too easy for Portugal, Croatia is not a bad team, they are capable of playing well enough, so personally between Portugal and Croatia I think both will fight evenly, and although I am in favor of Portugal, I cannot be too confident about the outcome of the match. However, I expect the match to go to 120 minutes in the end, because of course no one wants to end their World Cup journey easily, so now it is a matter of seeing how the match goes, I understand very well that the match can be quite a tough match.

[Wakate]

So far, fans’ hopes for the World Cup host nations have been fulfilled, as these teams have successfully advanced to the Round of 16. However, it seems highly likely that the runs of the three host nations will end in the Round of 16, as they are facing strong opponents. Mexico will face England, the United States will take on Belgium, and Canada will challenge Morocco in the Round of 16. I predict that all three host nations will lose in the Round of 16. But who knows, there might be a surprise if one of them manages to advance to the quarterfinals.

Your prediction is not going to work at all. It's not possible for the 3 host countries to lose at the stage 16.
Belgium could lose to the United States and I don't want you to doubt it even if the United States is not known to have a strong football history. What if Morroco loses to Canada? What is going to happen? There are matches I don't like to add to my bets when I have doubt of anything happening along the way.

[Alonso_]

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.

If you have Croatia, then I'll pick Portugal to qualify.

Portugal has a very good chance of winning. They have many great players at big clubs. Although I know that sometimes match scenarios are different on the pitch, I'm confident Portugal will win.

I don't want to see Ronaldo fail again early. Let him work hard for his team and provide plenty of motivation for his own squad.

Both teams have a very good chance of qualifying for the next round, I think we should not underestimate Croatia because they’re a very good team and are playing a beautiful football, we should not forget they’ve been in the semi- finals in two consecutive World Cup, and Portugal haven’t been that that level or even played a World Cup Finals, Croatia haven’t played in the World Cup Finals in 2018, and when you check team performances, Portugal haven’t been very good and Ronaldo have been very poor in this World Cup, Ronaldo have always been poor in every World Cup, he has never scored a Knockout stage goal at the World Cup.

If I’m Portugal teams I wouldn’t underestimate Croatia because anything can happen in a game of football, Especially a team that have a finished Christiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo should be dropped from the team if they want to go far in the Tournament.

[SuperBitMan]

The match yesterday between Senegal and Belgium was an interesting match, honestly Senegal would have won the match, but they did not put more effort and determination to secure the win that was why they lost the match that they were so close to win, how can you be leading with two goals in 80 minute Plus and you still end up losing the match it is shocking and surprising to everyone.
One thing I saw in that much is that Senegal did not believe that they could win Belgium, because they did not believe or have confidence that they can win was one of the things that made them lose focus when they were close to winning the match, they started focusing on securing the two goals by defending, and that was the beginning of their problem and why they lost to Belgium.

[Adiljutt156]

Wow i was not expecting that first half from Mexico at all they seem to be in their best ever performance in world cup i dont remember a Mexico team playing this good for so long, i know they didnt face already any big team but still a huge step forward from where they were before.

Some players are really on fire, like the two goalscorers from yesterday.

Mexico played a perfect game. They were attacking relentlessly in the first half and Ecuador struggled to handle those attacks. Julián Quiñones was instrumental in Mexico's two goals, he scored the first goal and assisted on the second. In the second half, Mexico changed their game plan completely. They were more focused on defense and counterattacks and Ecuador had no answer on how to break the Mexican defense.

Mexico national football team stats was great in this match and shots of Mexico national football team were 15 in this match And 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 43 percent in this match And passes of that team were 306 in this match. The pass accuracy of that team was 83 percent in this match.  The shots of Ecuador national football team were 8 in this match and one shot was on target and possession percentage of that team was  57 percent in this match and passes of that team were 416 in this match. Quiñones was a person who did first goal of the match and he did first goal at  22 minutes of the match . Jiménez was a person who did second goal of the match and he did this goal at 31 minutes.

[Shussainshah]

The match yesterday between Senegal and Belgium was an interesting match, honestly Senegal would have won the match, but they did not put more effort and determination to secure the win that was why they lost the match that they were so close to win, how can you be leading with two goals in 80 minute Plus and you still end up losing the match it is shocking and surprising to everyone.
One thing I saw in that much is that Senegal did not believe that they could win Belgium, because they did not believe or have confidence that they can win was one of the things that made them lose focus when they were close to winning the match, they started focusing on securing the two goals by defending, and that was the beginning of their problem and why they lost to Belgium.

I thought Senegal can do the same as they did in the afcon final against Morocco Huh but Fifa made them discipline. Overall the match was crazy we see some good goal and Offcource the historic comeback. Senegal play very good football but unfortunately they are not consistent and at the end they are in pressure and make mistakes we see this kinda result in the Afcon as well but bad luck for Senegal hope they can make changes in has behaviour and also in character wise. Senegal is a good team and they have potential to win some the trophy

[SOKO-DEKE]

But the match will not be too easy for Portugal, Croatia is not a bad team, they are capable of playing well enough, so personally between Portugal and Croatia I think both will fight evenly, and although I am in favor of Portugal, I cannot be too confident about the outcome of the match. However, I expect the match to go to 120 minutes in the end, because of course no one wants to end their World Cup journey easily, so now it is a matter of seeing how the match goes, I understand very well that the match can be quite a tough match.

It is known to almost everyone that this match is going to be a very tough and interesting one, and I will still say that both teams have good chances of winning the match. Despite the fact that I know Portugal's squad seems to be a little stronger than Croatia's, based on the quality of players Portugal has, I am still expecting anything to happen in this match.Both teams are in very good form, and that is why, if Croatia wins the match, I will not be surprised because I see them as having a good chance of winning as well. Just as you said, it is possible that the match may go into extra time and possibly even end in a penalty shootout.We have witnessed a lot in this World Cup, and I believe much more will happen.

[Zaguru12]

I thought Senegal can do the same as they did in the afcon final against Morocco Huh but Fifa made them discipline. Overall the match was crazy we see some good goal and Offcource the historic comeback. Senegal play very good football but unfortunately they are not consistent and at the end they are in pressure and make mistakes we see this kinda result in the Afcon as well but bad luck for Senegal hope they can make changes in has behaviour and also in character wise. Senegal is a good team and they have potential to win some the trophy

The difference between this African teams that are actually bottling good leads with Morocco is the character. The other African teams once they start the match they play so well and take the ball to the opponent but immediately they get a goal they simply change the way they play football which is really bad for them. The both teams yesterday the managers let them down by been scared.

The worst is the Senegalese team, if you look at the names even on paper this Senegalese team where better than the Belgian squad. The manager got the line up and the tactics spot on, but he immediatel changed after the first goal which was really bad. Then in the second half they started like how they started the first half and got a goal and then the manager made the biggest mistake yesterday by taking off his midfielders most especially Papa Gueye. What Belgium has was a good midfield and this guys bullied them so why take them off. It was really sad that they actually bottled this game

[Oluwa-btc]

Tuchel has already been criticized for not calling some important talents. Such as Foden, Palmer and so on... Now they are struggling and he is going to get even more criticism.  

If they get eliminated early, I think he can also get sacked. There have been quite many managers who got sacked so far during the World Cup. I know it hasn't been a long time since Tuchel took the job. But we never know...

Even God knows Phil Foden would have created more chances for England than Eberechi Eze. I still can't even understand the importance of Noni Madueke in that list. He us not a business footballer and not productive enough to be involved. I could say the same for Saka. He never had what we call a great season with Arsenal in my humble opinion.
The test against Mexicans will be interesting in front and support of the Mexican fans. I don't know what happens during that game though, but it should be a tough game for both nations. Tuchel sacked?! We'll see, don't spoil the fun.

[topbitcoin]

On the one hand  for this tournament, Mbappé, Haaland, and Messi these three players are still in top form and no one has been able to stop them yet as the race for the top scorer title remains extremely tight.  While Vini and Dembele are currently tied for third place in the scoring race  we cannot overlook these three names for the top spots right now.

I don't think that there is currently a stronger team than France, i don't think so and in fact they are continuing to have victory after victory, i also believe that the time has come for mbappe to return to dominating the world championship as it did previously, the only one is Argentina who are constantly helped, the only obstacle could be them.

In terms of the strength of the players, the teamwork and the complexity of their squad, there is no doubt that at the moment France are a very strong team because their defense, midfield and attack lines are without gaps.

Not only in the core squad but the reserves are still very good for now so Didier Deschamps has no trouble finding the right scheme and formation for their current squad.

On the other hand, their players are also quite sharp in terms of scoring instinct even though their target man is still Mbappe but we know how Dembele and Olise can make the field different.
The last 16 they will face Paraguay, at the moment Paraguay's defense is Solid but France is clearly much more terrible.