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

[OcTradism]

Apart from Uruguay, all the other teams from the CONMEBOL were exceptional throughout this tournament. I would say that 6 spots is not fair for this confederation. At least they deserve one more, which can be substracted from the CONCACAF. Anyway, Paraguay will head back now, as they were unable to prevail in the end. Round of 16 has just started, and till now there were no upsets. One that may happen is scheduled for today. The Brazil vs Norway match will be played at the MetLife Stadium, and I would say that Norway has the abilities to pull off an upset. Stake has given Norway odds of 4.50, which sounds fair to me.

It's a hardest match so far for France in World Cup 2026 and that shows quality of Paraguay. They perhaps did not play beautiful and attractive attacking football but they knew how to constrain opponent strength, as well as know how to lead the match to their winnings. They tried and performed well in this match against France that are surely at a higher level.

France were stronger, dominated the match but it's a first match in World Cup 2026, France fell into a deadlock and the stalemate was changed with an individual effort of Doue. It is like an alarm for Deschamps and France because Olise can not shine as a playmaker for their squad in all matches and both Barcola and Doue are still lack of stability for good performances. Chekri can be an ace under sleeves for French national team in the quarter final match against Morocco.

[abaeze]

Morocco won the victory against Canada with a remarkable score of 3-0 without reply a single goal, this is a success spread to Morocco can get into the round of 8 or quarter finals, unfortunately this round they will meet France who became the mainstay team to win the World Cup after successfully defeating Paraguay with 1-0 match next to the field, maybe they didn't have the confidence against France and hoped to have a chance to counter-attack quickly but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Do you think Morocco will be able to beat France?

Among the African countries, Cape Verde and Morocco have performed exceptionally well in this World Cup. Cape Verde lost to last year's champion Argentina even though they played very well. Now it's Morocco's turn to see what they do in this World Cup. Will they be eliminated even though they play well like Cape Verde or will they be able to make new history by defeating France?

Morocco has been playing well since the beginning of this World Cup and as a result they are in RO-16. Since a small mistake in the knockout match can destroy the dream of winning the World Cup, Morocco should strengthen the attack by maintaining more discipline to advance to the next round. Because France will play more aggressive games after not being the champion last time so that they can win the World Cup this time. So my prediction is that there may be a new surprise in this match.

[Solokan]

Source: https://sport.detik.com/juara-bola-dunia-2026/bola-dunia/d-8560211/hasil-paraguay-vs-prancis-penalti-mbappe-menangkan-les-bleus/amp
Mbappe was the hero in today's match against Paraguay because he scored a goal against Paraguay. Although the goal he scored was only a penalty kick, he still played well because he scored a goal, even though a penalty kick is certainly not easy. Paraguay has tried hard in this match, and if only France had not received a penalty kick, the result would have been a draw and potentially a penalty shootout. Now everything has happened, and finally, France has advanced to the quarterfinals. This certainly makes the French people happy because the team they support has won against Paraguay.

In my opinion, France gets a tough opponent to beat because Morocco is a strong team and will certainly be difficult for France to beat. However, what is certain is that both teams are strong teams, so I don't think it will be easy to predict the match. Who do you think will win in this match? In my opinion, Morocco has a great potential to win in this match. Yes, we'll just have to see what happens later, but what is clear is that the match will definitely be more exciting because the quarter-finals are definitely different from the matches in the round of 16.

[OsaiEmma]

Morocco won the victory against Canada with a remarkable score of 3-0 without reply a single goal, this is a success spread to Morocco can get into the round of 8 or quarter finals, unfortunately this round they will meet France who became the mainstay team to win the World Cup after successfully defeating Paraguay with 1-0 match next to the field, maybe they didn't have the confidence against France and hoped to have a chance to counter-attack quickly but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Do you think Morocco will be able to beat France?

Honestly, it will be a tough one for Morocco. I know 1 thing for sure that Morocco will put up a good fight against them; but I'm not confident that they can overcome France.

1 way I feel they can win against France is if they hold the defence line and drag the game to a penalty shootout, then Morocco will have a favorable chance of winning because they have a good track record when it comes to penalties.

Anyways, I wish them all the best.

[*Ace*]

Source: https://sport.detik.com/juara-bola-dunia-2026/bola-dunia/d-8560211/hasil-paraguay-vs-prancis-penalti-mbappe-menangkan-les-bleus/amp
Mbappe was the hero in today's match against Paraguay because he scored a goal against Paraguay. Although the goal he scored was only a penalty kick, he still played well because he scored a goal, even though a penalty kick is certainly not easy. Paraguay has tried hard in this match, and if only France had not received a penalty kick, the result would have been a draw and potentially a penalty shootout. Now everything has happened, and finally, France has advanced to the quarterfinals. This certainly makes the French people happy because the team they support has won against Paraguay.

In my opinion, France gets a tough opponent to beat because Morocco is a strong team and will certainly be difficult for France to beat. However, what is certain is that both teams are strong teams, so I don't think it will be easy to predict the match. Who do you think will win in this match? In my opinion, Morocco has a great potential to win in this match. Yes, we'll just have to see what happens later, but what is clear is that the match will definitely be more exciting because the quarter-finals are definitely different from the matches in the round of 16.

France deserved to win, even if it was down to just a single penalty.
France dominated the match from start to finish, but were unlucky not to score from open play. It must be said, however, that the match was very tense throughout the 90 minutes; the Paraguayans tried to rile the French players by seeking physical confrontation on several occasions, particularly against Mbappé. It was clear that their aim was to rattle him. But he then rightly celebrated right in their faces after scoring the winning goal.
Now, in the quarter-finals, they’ll face Morocco, who are a fairly strong side, but I believe France are tactically superior. We’ll see how it ends; I wouldn’t know who to bet on.

[satscraper]

Morocco won the victory against Canada with a remarkable score of 3-0 without reply a single goal, this is a success spread to Morocco can get into the round of 8 or quarter finals, unfortunately this round they will meet France who became the mainstay team to win the World Cup after successfully defeating Paraguay with 1-0 match next to the field, maybe they didn't have the confidence against France and hoped to have a chance to counter-attack quickly but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Do you think Morocco will be able to beat France?

It would be a hard task for them to beat France. Their win over Canada was expected because Canada's squad is not strong compared to Morocco's, but France is another story, just take Ousmane Dembele alone as an example. Personally, I wouldn't bet on Morocco. Regarding the bets, today I have the ticket on Brazil to win. Hope it will pay off.

[Barikui1]

It is really hard to believe that the first half of the Paraguay-France match ended in a 0-0 draw. The more interesting part is that France couldn't even dominate in the way they showed us normally.

This is why this particular world cup looks different, unlike other world cup where the bigger teams find it very easy, but this tournament, you just can't underate any team, because you may get the shocker of your life if you look down on any team.
The Argentina vs cape Verde island game was really a spectacular games that got everyone excited, except the Argentine fans that will be at the edge of their seat all through due to tension, so that is how most games coming up might be, that's why I never expected France to run over the Paraguay team easily.

[Altryist]

France deserved to win, even if it was down to just a single penalty.
France dominated the match from start to finish, but were unlucky not to score from open play. It must be said, however, that the match was very tense throughout the 90 minutes; the Paraguayans tried to rile the French players by seeking physical confrontation on several occasions, particularly against Mbappé. It was clear that their aim was to rattle him. But he then rightly celebrated right in their faces after scoring the winning goal.
Now, in the quarter-finals, they’ll face Morocco, who are a fairly strong side, but I believe France are tactically superior. We’ll see how it ends; I wouldn’t know who to bet on.

Paraguay built their game on disruption and provocation, but I think the referee did a very poor job in this match. Despite this, France played very well, and they didn't respond to these provocations. And this once again showed how much higher their level is compared to Paraguay. I think FIFA should have looked into some aspects of Paraguay's performance even after the match, regarding some of their players.

[kennycryptoitalia]

True, conditionally they are the only team in this World Cup who have only drawn in normal time in all their matches but despite that their opponents are clearly not easy opponents from the group phase until this knock-out phase.

Their goalkeepers are outstanding in every game and some players are also always focused and this is the main attraction because their journey for the current duia Cup debutants is very good.

4 series against big teams and 2 goals against Argentina who are the defending champions provide evidence that although the difference in quality of players is far different but when the cooperation and chemistry of good players they seem much stronger than imagined.
I don't expect results in normal times and I don't think many gamblers lose money at 1x2 in this game.

I think it was just a problem with Cape Verde's defense, they weren't very careful and this was the result, it's unfortunate because they could have won before, but instead they got caught up in the emotion and didn't manage the equalizer, they should have taken it to penalties, however Argentina's level is no longer as it was before.

[Varnquister]

Switzerland was the favorite against Algeria and managed to win. Switzerland took a 1-0 lead in the first half and extended their lead to 2-0 right at the start of the second half, effectively sealing the match from that point on. Although Algeria had more possession, they were unable to score. In my opinion, Switzerland’s roster is made up of higher-quality players, so I find their victory to be entirely expected.

[Sammye3]

Morocco won the victory against Canada with a remarkable score of 3-0 without reply a single goal, this is a success spread to Morocco can get into the round of 8 or quarter finals, unfortunately this round they will meet France who became the mainstay team to win the World Cup after successfully defeating Paraguay with 1-0 match next to the field, maybe they didn't have the confidence against France and hoped to have a chance to counter-attack quickly but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Do you think Morocco will be able to beat France?

It would be a hard task for them to beat France. Their win over Canada was expected because Canada's squad is not strong compared to Morocco's, but France is another story, just take Ousmane Dembele alone as an example. Personally, I wouldn't bet on Morocco. Regarding the bets, today I have the ticket on Brazil to win. Hope it will pay off.

Both teams are good but Frnace is better. In the World of soccer, anything can happen because even the least expected team could become the strongest team in a competition so its still an open competition. Personally, my full support is with France because they are the better team amd it would be really disappointing that Morroco eliminates them.

In 2022, Morocco beat Portugal 1-0 to advance to the World Cup semi finals and they became the first African country to reach that stage.

Could it be that we would be seeing something similar in this World Cup?

[SatoPrincess]

Morocco are African and they are making us proud, although they behaviour in the last world cup was shameful and disappointing

They were incredible in the last World Cup, reaching the semi-finals until they were knocked out by France. So no, their performance was not shameful nor disappointing.

I don't want morroco to meet France because France will removed them from the tournament. France will be strong for them if they meet that is why I wouldn't want morroco to play against France. Paraguay may not be a difficult opponent for morroco,I will prefer Paraguay to meet Morocco instead of France. However, France is pressing Paraguay and they have a good chance to score. If France score Paraguay it would be a problem for morroco because France will defeat Paraguay and meet Morocco in the next phase.

Have some faith in Morocco’s, they have made it this far. While it’s true that France are the strongest team in the World Cup and in the last World Cup they eliminated Morocco in the semi-finals, if they do meet this time, there is a possibility that Morocco may cause an upset or take the game to penalties.

[eisen33]

Morocco won the victory against Canada with a remarkable score of 3-0 without reply a single goal, this is a success spread to Morocco can get into the round of 8 or quarter finals, unfortunately this round they will meet France who became the mainstay team to win the World Cup after successfully defeating Paraguay with 1-0 match next to the field, maybe they didn't have the confidence against France and hoped to have a chance to counter-attack quickly but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Do you think Morocco will be able to beat France?

It would be a hard task for them to beat France. Their win over Canada was expected because Canada's squad is not strong compared to Morocco's, but France is another story, just take Ousmane Dembele alone as an example. Personally, I wouldn't bet on Morocco. Regarding the bets, today I have the ticket on Brazil to win. Hope it will pay off.

Canada also played a good match, especially the first half, but they were less effective because they ran a lot, but could not score. Morocco looked much tired, but this did not stop them from winning. And I agree with you that it will be much more difficult for them against France, because France is one of my favorites to win this World Cup. For Brazil, I also think Brazil should win, but I think Norway will score a goal today too.

[Varnquister]

Australia came very close to advancing past Egypt but was eliminated by its opponent in a penalty shootout. Egypt, which ended the first half ahead thanks to a goal scored early on, conceded a goal at the start of the second half, and the match ended 1-1. With no goals scored in extra time, the match went to a penalty shootout. In the shootout, Australia took some really poor penalty kicks and lost to their opponent. Both teams took nearly the same number of shots throughout the match, but I think neither was able to get the goals they wanted.

[Zackz5000]

Apart from Uruguay, all the other teams from the CONMEBOL were exceptional throughout this tournament. I would say that 6 spots is not fair for this confederation. At least they deserve one more, which can be substracted from the CONCACAF. Anyway, Paraguay will head back now, as they were unable to prevail in the end. Round of 16 has just started, and till now there were no upsets. One that may happen is scheduled for today. The Brazil vs Norway match will be played at the MetLife Stadium, and I would say that Norway has the abilities to pull off an upset. Stake has given Norway odds of 4.50, which sounds fair to me.

It's a hardest match so far for France in World Cup 2026 and that shows quality of Paraguay. They perhaps did not play beautiful and attractive attacking football but they knew how to constrain opponent strength, as well as know how to lead the match to their winnings. They tried and performed well in this match against France that are surely at a higher level.

France were stronger, dominated the match but it's a first match in World Cup 2026, France fell into a deadlock and the stalemate was changed with an individual effort of Doue. It is like an alarm for Deschamps and France because Olise can not shine as a playmaker for their squad in all matches and both Barcola and Doue are still lack of stability for good performances. Chekri can be an ace under sleeves for French national team in the quarter final match against Morocco.

When Mbappe hasn't score i was like which team is this they eliminated Germany from the World Cup and now they want to the same to the almighty France with much better quality players? Paraguay did very well i think there game plan was to end game on a penalty play out since any side can win if they get into a penalty shot out and the luck might be on them, they actually had no shot on target while France dominated but couldn't see the net till a penalty opportunity came to them, Mbappe was the hero of the game.

[virasog]

Honestly, it will be a tough one for Morocco. I know 1 thing for sure that Morocco will put up a good fight against them; but I'm not confident that they can overcome France.

1 way I feel they can win against France is if they hold the defence line and drag the game to a penalty shootout, then Morocco will have a favorable chance of winning because they have a good track record when it comes to penalties.

Anyways, I wish them all the best.

In the last season of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Morocco's journey was really one of the most iconic journeys, they were in group F and finished the matches in the top position in the group. They qualified for the Round of 16 too and beat Spain, but in that match the score was 0- 0, and then in the penalty Morocco won it. Even in the Quarter Final when they were facing to Portugal they even beat to them but then in the Semi-final, they played bad, resulted that they got out from that stage still they played really well and they are in the same momentum in this season too.

[topbitcoin]

But Mbappe's penalty changed everything. France were dominant but they were also difficult to break through Paraguay's defence and I quite appreciated how Paraguay defended in this match even though they had to be knocked out of the World Cup.

It will take a strong team with good defense to be able to stop France from scoring goals because if they find it hard to score through runs or canter attacks they will look for a way to commit any player in the box so that thdy will be given a penalty and that's exactly how they fit the penalty that Mbappe scored to take them to the next round. Paraguay was solid in their defense but they allowed France to have full control of the ball they couldn't score not until the penalty was given and the outcome changed the game and made Paraguay to lose the game. The game is becoming more difficult as 4hd numbers are reducing we hope to see more from the French team.

Seeing from the match that happened actually I feel not only a strong club but ready with the possibility of a rush :d honestly I actually question how Paraguay can be separated from the cards (0 yellow card 0 red card) with a style of play like this

They tried everything, their aggressive and Hard style of play did but they still couldn't to stop France's dominance because it's undeniable that France are on a different level.

But after this quarter final will be interesting for France, Morocco is not a club that can be said to be easy but on the one hand at the moment France are in a very good confidence not only about the proactivity but their defense is currently one of the best so it is likely that this will be a very interesting big match in the quarter final.

[Agbamoni]

One moment I found interesting in that Paraguay vs France match was when Dembele took the ball for the penalty kick. The Paraguay players thought he was actually going to be the one to kick the Pen. They said all sorts of things to his ear, trying to destabilize him mentally, but he was out there laughing. Eventually, Mbappe took the Pen and scored. Paraguay did all the dirty things to shatter France, but trust me, this France team has so much experince with all these shady attitudes.

[Varnquister]

As expected, Morocco emerged victorious in the match against Canada. The first half was a hard-fought affair, but no goals were scored. Morocco opened the scoring early in the second half with a goal by Ounahi and went on to score two more goals in the final 10 minutes, winning the match 3-0. Azzedine Ounahi finished the match with two goals, while Brahim Diaz contributed two assists. Morocco was already the favorite going into this match, and despite not taking many shots, they managed to score three goals. They took only half as many shots as Canada, yet Canada was not very effective in front of goal.

[Italian Panic]

Seeing from the match that happened actually I feel not only a strong club but ready with the possibility of a rush :d honestly I actually question how Paraguay can be separated from the cards (0 yellow card 0 red card) with a style of play like this

You’re absolutely right; at times it felt more like a wrestling match than a football match. After all, Paraguay knew that the only way they could hope to win the match was to take it to penalties or get someone sent off by riling them up, and let’s just say that’s exactly the way the match went. Still, credit to them for playing very well regardless and for only being beaten by a penalty.