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

[Fiatless]

Last night, I think it was very bad luck for Croatia, they scored multiple goals but most of the time those were canceled due to the offside. And with that, it marks the end of Croatia's journey in the World Cup, now they wait another 4 years to make their place up. Already we have seen many big names get out by the small teams, the biggest example is of Germany, but still Croatia was not facing a noob team.

The goals were disallowed for offside but the last one was the most painful. Croatia have been one of the most successful teams in the World Cup, having won one silver and two bronze medals within the short period they have participated in the World Cup. Waiting for another four years after having high hopes in this World Cup is painful. But for me, they did their best, only that mother luck was not on their side.

[Italian Panic]

My favorites should be France, Spain, Argentina and Portugal. What are your picks?

I’m expecting another France v Argentina final, but to be honest, I don’t think France will have it easy against Morocco because they’re a really strong side, and if they defend well on the day, they could knock the French out and make history. Let’s hope Mbappé has an off day and Saibari is in top form; plus, Bonou can make plenty of saves

[MArsland]

Portugal musst play vs Spain now, and I dont think they can win. Ronaldo was substituted in the last game, and then comes some unrest.  Substituted and now everyone is talking about it, that is not fair for the other players. The coach makes the decisions, and every player has to understand that. I think Spain has better teamwork, and that will more valuable at this stage of the tournament. Argentina is a top favorite this year, you can see how strong they are. The team and their games are much better, and I think we see them in the semifinals.

I agree that Portugal will have a tough time facing Spain in the next round, but as long as the Portuguese players can build solid teamwork, especially in attack, they have a chance to win. The problem is that Spain defense has been very strong so far, and it will take extra pressure to penetrate their defense.

Personally, France is the favorite for this year's World Cup.

[Lillominato89]

People are disappointed to see a 41-year-old who no longer plays as he did when he was 25.
I’d say that’s only to be expected!
He’s had an incredible career and has put Portugal on the map thanks to his goals. I don’t think we should expect too much from him at 41. It’s already quite an achievement that he manages to keep up the pace for 90 minutes

Ronaldo can't play the way he did at 25, that's normal. But people are disappointed  because we've been comparing Ronaldo and Messi all our lives. A big part of us grew up watching these two players fight. Even if Messi scored  2 goals in a match, we would see Ronaldo score  2+ in the next match. But now messi has scored 6 goals in the world cup. He is playing amazingly. On the other hand, ronaldo is not able to do well. That's what has disappointed  us. If Messi couldn't play well , maybe no one would criticize Ronaldo either.

OK, but there’s a small yet significant difference between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi has just turned 39, whilst Cristiano Ronaldo is 41.
It’s only natural that Messi is performing better than him, and despite his age, he’s even outclassing the other younger players.
Those extra two years really do make a difference! We’d have to try playing at such a high intensity ourselves at 41 to understand exactly what it feels like physically.

[Gallar]

Last night, I think it was very bad luck for Croatia, they scored multiple goals but most of the time those were canceled due to the offside. And with that, it marks the end of Croatia's journey in the World Cup, now they wait another 4 years to make their place up. Already we have seen many big names get out by the small teams, the biggest example is of Germany, but still Croatia was not facing a noob team.

The goals were disallowed for offside but the last one was the most painful. Croatia have been one of the most successful teams in the World Cup, having won one silver and two bronze medals within the short period they have participated in the World Cup. Waiting for another four years after having high hopes in this World Cup is painful. But for me, they did their best, only that mother luck was not on their side.

Yes,, I also feel that Croatia's defeat was the most painful defeat compared to defeats against other teams. Basically, Croatia played very well in this match, and they were able to put up a very strong fight against Portugal. But unfortunately,, in this match, the Croatian players were unlucky and they were always caught in the offside trap. So, because of that, Croatia had to go home after their hard work.

Furthermore,, Portugal has qualified for the round of 16 and will face Spain. I think that is clearly a very difficult opponent for Portugal. Because, as we know, Spain's performance is also quite good. So with that, I hope the Portuguese players can play even better. Because if they play like that against Spain, I think Portugal is very vulnerable in this match. So, the Portuguese coach must be able to make quick changes now.

[ASloveapg]

Yesterday's match between Portugal and Croatia was very good, both teams performed very well, both teams were very good in terms of attack, Portugal also continued to attack with all their might and Croatia also continued to attack until the end, but Croatia missed many chances in the match, they made great attacks which were narrowly missed, this was due to their bad luck. I would say that Croatia attacked better than Portugal throughout the match, but they were not effective due to their bad luck. Anyway, congratulations to Portugal, they are going to face Spain in the round of 16. 

[Cossyblack]

Argentina will of course have to face Brazil or England first, and I don't think this will be an easy match for Argentina to win. The problem is that most people are underestimating Cape Verde because Argentina standing is above everyone else. I'm just a little worried that a team like Cape Verde could pull off an unexpected upset. Cape Verde chances are slim, but I won't underestimate this team.

Argentina is strong but it won't be an easy match because England and Brazil have strong teams too.  Argentina have Messi who is the best player in their team but if Brazil or England can lock him, they might be able to defeat Argentina but I don't think it would be easy for them to lock a player like Messi on the field because he is too fast and skilled. So if England or Brazil were to face Argentina in the round of 16, the chances that they will defeat Argentina is low because of Messi.

Argentina faceoff against Cape Verde is clear win for Argentina. there's no two was about it, argentina will defeat cape Verde.  it may happen that cape Verde will play well against argentina but the truth is argentina would still win and that's because they are stronger. so cape Verde wouldn't stand a chance. And I think Messi might score hat trick too,I am expecting nothing less than three goals from him.

[uray]

On paper, Portugal are stronger than Croatia, but in reality we saw two teams of equal strength, and in the end the luckier side won because Croatia hit the woodwork at least twice and had a goal disallowed for an imperceptible touch. If Croatia had Portugal’s players, with the drive and determination they possess, they could easily win a World Cup; unfortunately, they’re currently lacking a striker like Mandžukić was years ago.

I would not call the win luck. Portugal played really well and so did Croatia. When Ivan Perišić scored the first goal for Croatia, I thought that it would be difficult for Portugal to come back from that situation, and that match might even go to penalties.

There are a lot of changes with the introduction of VAR, and if not for that, Portugal would not have got the penalty as the referee initially missed the foul. VAR came to the rescue in the final minutes when Croatia scored but it was deemed offside. To the naked eye I thought it was a goal.

We have the Argentina match today; there is no doubt that they will win.

[laspol65]

Yesterday's match between Portugal and Croatia was very good, both teams performed very well, both teams were very good in terms of attack, Portugal also continued to attack with all their might and Croatia also continued to attack until the end, but Croatia missed many chances in the match, they made great attacks which were narrowly missed, this was due to their bad luck. I would say that Croatia attacked better than Portugal throughout the match, but they were not effective due to their bad luck. Anyway, congratulations to Portugal, they are going to face Spain in the round of 16. 

Yes, this match between Croatia and Portugal was very competitive, Croatia fought until the end and managed to equalize the game but the goal was disallowed due to a slight offside. As a result, Croatia lost the match and were eliminated from this World Cup, Portugal was able to win this match due to luck and the skill of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, I regretted this match because a legendary Croatian goalkeeper has retired.
This is his last World Cup, in my opinion he was a decent player and he has now gone to rest.

[BoundByFate]

Portugal defeated Croatia and advanced to the next round, where they will face Spain.

Croatia thought they had found a dramatic late equalizer, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review. The players celebrated wildly at first, only to see their joy turn into disappointment when the goal was disallowed.

Despite giving everything in the closing stages, Croatia could not find the equalizer and were eliminated from the tournament.

It was also the last time we got to watch Luka Modrić play at a FIFA World Cup.

[Volgastallion]

We all know this is football and in football not always the best team won but what you see yesterday was super painfull, and plus the FIFA didnt help, everyone after the game is gonna think they want to help Cristiano Ronaldo, and what make the silly FIFA? give the MVP player to him who made 0 aside of the penalty goal..... that doesnt help guys, that only feed the rumours no matter if they are untrue.

[Joca97]

Portugal defeated Croatia and advanced to the next round, where they will face Spain.

Croatia thought they had found a dramatic late equalizer, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review. The players celebrated wildly at first, only to see their joy turn into disappointment when the goal was disallowed.

Despite giving everything in the closing stages, Croatia could not find the equalizer and were eliminated from the tournament.

It was also the last time we got to watch Luka Modrić play at a FIFA World Cup.

Portugal barely won this match,i think they dont know how they won this and got into the next round,they were really lucky honestly. The finish was really intresting because of that var decision,i think the decision was right even if we didnt see the player hit the ball,but the ball said he touched the ball and it was then a clear offside.

The game overall was really good especially the second half,in the first half we didnt see anything,but the second half was probobly the best second half of the tournament so far. Luka Modric made a huge impact on Croatian national team in his career and he could have done a little more in this world cup but still he has had a great career.

[Roseline492]

Spain got a very comfortable victory yesterday. I thought Austria might be able to defend them well for a long time. We've seen Spain struggling a lot in some matches so far. 

Portugal's comeback was really nice! Ronaldo finally scored again but apart from the penalty he didn't perform well. And it was too easy for Switzerland. I was expecting some resistance by Algeria...

They robbed Cucurella of his first goal on this world Cup and even when they replayed it I couldn't see or understand why it didn't count, but he was still the assist of Spain two goals. I no that Austria wouldn't defend for even 30 minutes in the match because I saw it on the day Argentina won them so actually there wasn't how all this young and flexible players of Spain would be weak to Austria. Ronaldo has scored 3 goals now on Portugal but you are right there was not good efforts from him in some of this Portugal matches. Already Algeria was an easy people for any country so it was for Switzerland to go and qualified.

[Hewlet]

My favorites should be France, Spain, Argentina and Portugal. What are your picks?

I’m expecting another France v Argentina final, but to be honest, I don’t think France will have it easy against Morocco because they’re a really strong side, and if they defend well on the day, they could knock the French out and make history. Let’s hope Mbappé has an off day and Saibari is in top form; plus, Bonou can make plenty of saves

Even France players should know by now that they have a very deficult part to cross in the round of 16 because it's never going to be a smooth ride for them. The only difference between France and Morocco is just past record and titles is not, the fans will certainly go in either of both directions.

From the point we've gotten to, we still have so many good teams that are still up and running and the favourite has to be Spain. With a smooth record of not conceeding a goal and being really comfortable in all the matches they've played, getting a win against Portugal will indicate that they might become the champions by breaking a lot of record.

[rdluffy]

It was a shame to see Croatia get knocked out of the tournament so early
I was happy for Portugal, but sad for Croatia

In my opinion, Croatia has become an extremely experienced team in knockout tournaments, making them a tough opponent for any team
I think the Croatian team would have had a better chance of beating Spain than Portugal will
Actually, I would have liked to see Croatia face France, hehe

What do you think?
Am I wrong?

[Sithara007]

✂✂✂✂
From the point we've gotten to, we still have so many good teams that are still up and running and the favourite has to be Spain. With a smooth record of not conceeding a goal and being really comfortable in all the matches they've played, getting a win against Portugal will indicate that they might become the champions by breaking a lot of record.

The so called "favorite" drew their first match in this edition against one of the weakest teams (Cape Verde). None of the so called strong teams are having smooth sailing so far. Germany and Netherlands are on their way back. So are Croatia and Algeria. BTW, in a few hours the match between Cape Verde and Argentina will start. Stake has given odds of 20.00 for Cape Verde. This is perhaps the most one-sided odds I have so far seen in this tournament. Anyone courageous enough to bet in favor of Cape Verde? Bet just $25 and if they win, you will get $500.

[Smartvirus]

Last night, I think it was very bad luck for Croatia, they scored multiple goals but most of the time those were canceled due to the offside. And with that, it marks the end of Croatia's journey in the World Cup, now they wait another 4 years to make their place up. Already we have seen many big names get out by the small teams, the biggest example is of Germany, but still Croatia was not facing a noob team.

The team most of us would have preferred to go through, did go through. Aside from the fact that Croatia played a very good football yesterday and that’s in the second half to be precise because, the first half had both teams especially Croatia having to sit back while Portugal just kept passing the ball around at the mid field. The game did come alive in the second half and both teams did have goals disallowed due offside calls with Croatia having 2.
How well they would have wished the second goal did stick but, rules are rules.

[BlackBoss_]

Last night, I think it was very bad luck for Croatia, they scored multiple goals but most of the time those were canceled due to the offside. And with that, it marks the end of Croatia's journey in the World Cup, now they wait another 4 years to make their place up. Already we have seen many big names get out by the small teams, the biggest example is of Germany, but still Croatia was not facing a noob team.

Ramos is unlike a very good striker because since World Cup 2022, during the last four years, he has yet built up his career and gotten a solid position in PSG squad. This means many things and he is not a player who can play as a main striker, while he looks more comfortable with a substitution role. Again, one more time, he brought Portugal national team to a win and it's time for the whole team to enjoy this important win.

Croatia is not a weak and easy opponent, and Portugal solved this challenge in a hard way but successfully did that. Next match, they will have to play against a stronger team, Spain, and it will be another big challenge for Cristiano and his teammates. After that, if they went to quarter final, likely USA or Belgium will wait there before possibly meet France in the semi final match.

[Baki202]

OK, but there’s a small yet significant difference between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi has just turned 39, whilst Cristiano Ronaldo is 41.
It’s only natural that Messi is performing better than him, and despite his age, he’s even outclassing the other younger players.
Those extra two years really do make a difference! We’d have to try playing at such a high intensity ourselves at 41 to understand exactly what it feels like physically.

They act the same way and they are always is competition with one another and the truth is there times that Ronaldo did better than Messi and there periods that messi did better than Ronaldo it's always a vice versa and both of them are good and I love the fact that they are not allowing the public pressure to get to them because fans can be crazy at time and there is always going to be comparison and by now they should be already use to it.

And in this world cup Messi is actually doing a good job even in serious competition with the younger players and just because of how Messi is performing still does not guarantee the fact that his going to win the world cup this time around that is how crazy the games can be so it is always better and there other countries that there participation in the world cup is not even normal because all energy is going into i, teams like France and others.

[Pandu Geddon]

The round of 32 has 3 matches left, and there will still be 3 teams advancing to the round of 16. But the round of 16 is already showing some very exciting matches, especially Spain vs Portugal and Norway vs Brazil. Besides that, the three host teams also made it to the round of 16. Although in this round, their opponents certainly won't be easy.