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

[longyenthanh]

I watched the France vs. Paraguay match up to the 80th minute. Doué came on, a penalty was won on him, and Mbappé scored his seventh goal of the tournament, putting France 1–0 ahead.
I just watched the match highlights. In the final minutes, it was as if France were inviting Paraguay to come and score against them, but Paraguay simply didn't have the capability to do so.
Just as France advanced to the next round with a goal by Blanc when the two teams met in the 1998 World Cup, they advanced again in this match.

I agree with you! It was a very hard game, and Paraguay played very defensive. Your history example with the 1998 World Cup is perfect! It felt exactly the same.
But I think one small thing about the time is different. The penalty and Mbappé's goal happened in the 70th minute, not the 80th.
Also, we can talk about fair play because the game was a bit dirty. Paraguay players were very aggressive and tried to destroy the penalty spot before Mbappé's shot. The referee also made many mistakes. France was very tired at the end because of the hot weather, so they just wanted to defend the 1-0 score. But a win is a win, and France is in the next round!

[Olatundespo]

Argentina struggled quite a bit against Cape Verde but managed to secure a happy ending. Argentina took the lead in the first half with a goal by Messi, but conceded a goal early in the second half, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Early in extra time, Argentina retook the lead with a goal by Lisandro Martinez, but before the first extra-time period ended, Cape Verde equalized with a goal by Lopes Cabral. In the second extra-time period, Argentina scored the winning goal and, though it was a tough battle, managed to eliminate their opponent.

The match was very exciting. But I think many people expected that Argentina would easily beat Cape Verde. I analyzed Cape Verde, they have been a great performing team since the beginning of this World Cup and drew every match, even with the strong team Spain. Argentina was the favourite team because the opponent was much weaker than them, but many did not expect such an exciting match as it happened. If Argentina had lost the match, the joy of the World Cup would have faded a lot because they have countless fans around the world.

[Akbarkoe]

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.

I also think like that in this match, Morocco's match against France is something heavy for me to consider and look for a gap whether Morocco has a better chance or not, the fact is that it is very difficult with the composition of players owned by Morocco and not only Ousmane Dembele, Mbappe and Olise are also very dangerous as an attacking tool in the current era, France is superior in terms of the composition of players who have experience and quality better than Morocco.

I would like to ask also about Spain vs Portugal, what do you think, is it possible for Ronaldo to go home or will they go to the quarter-finals?

[cyberninja2]

I watched the France vs. Paraguay match up to the 80th minute. Doué came on, a penalty was won on him, and Mbappé scored his seventh goal of the tournament, putting France 1–0 ahead.
I just watched the match highlights. In the final minutes, it was as if France were inviting Paraguay to come and score against them, but Paraguay simply didn't have the capability to do so.
Just as France advanced to the next round with a goal by Blanc when the two teams met in the 1998 World Cup, they advanced again in this match.

France may not have won by a large margin. But their gameplay was quite good. They focused on ball possession first in this match. As a result, France naturally had complete control of the match. Paraguay was able to create several chances. But they were not able to attack very strongly.

France had 76% ball possession in this match. This is incredible. It was not easy to keep 76% of the ball. At the same time, they were able to take 15 shots. 5 of them were on target. Paraguay's players were only able to take 5 shots in the entire match. France won by a narrow margin of 1-0. But their dominance in the match was worth seeing.

I think France even though they didn't score a penalty might have scored in extra time. Why do I say that? Maybe I'm looking at their dominance of ball possession in the match. Many people sometimes say that France was lucky to have a penalty in the match but I don't think so. I believe the French play was extraordinary and the penalty was justified especially since the opposing team seemed very ambitious to beat France.

And that's exactly what you said about the ball possession in the match. France clearly dominated the match. Therefore as I said above, if there were no goals in first time the match wouldn't have gone to a penalty shootout. It would have happened in extra time because almost all the French players helped so they wanted to score and didn't want the match to be decided by a penalty shootout.

[yudi09]

It was a very hard game, and Paraguay played very defensive. Your history example with the 1998 World Cup is perfect! It felt exactly the same.
But I think one small thing about the time is different. The penalty and Mbappé's goal happened in the 70th minute, not the 80th.
Also, we can talk about fair play because the game was a bit dirty. Paraguay players were very aggressive and tried to destroy the penalty spot before Mbappé's shot. The referee also made many mistakes. France was very tired at the end because of the hot weather, so they just wanted to defend the 1-0 score. But a win is a win, and France is in the next round!

Paraguay displayed rough play that should not be emulated throughout the match. Where was the excitement? The referee should have been able to curb the rough play if Ilgiz Tantashev had used his whistle to intervene, but not a single Paraguayan player was given a yellow card during the match.
The Paraguayan players’ performance was like a parody of wrestling while running.
Olise, Kounde, and even Mbappe were subjected to rough play, but the Uzbek referee seemed to turn a blind eye to it all.

France dominated the match. They controlled possession with 90% accurate passes and 15 shots, compared to Paraguay’s mere 5 shots in total.

[Inwestour]

Paraguay displayed rough play that should not be emulated throughout the match. Where was the excitement? The referee should have been able to curb the rough play if Ilgiz Tantashev had used his whistle to intervene, but not a single Paraguayan player was given a yellow card during the match.
The Paraguayan players’ performance was like a parody of wrestling while running.
Olise, Kounde, and even Mbappe were subjected to rough play, but the Uzbek referee seemed to turn a blind eye to it all.

France dominated the match. They controlled possession with 90% accurate passes and 15 shots, compared to Paraguay’s mere 5 shots in total.

It was truly a great victory for France. And it seems to me that, besides winning on the field, they also won off the field, because now Paraguay looks like a team that played very dirty, while France looks like a team that did not fall for their provocations and managed to beat them in every aspect. So, my respect goes to the French national team, and I wish them victory at the World Cup.

[longyenthanh]

It was a very hard game, and Paraguay played very defensive. Your history example with the 1998 World Cup is perfect! It felt exactly the same.
But I think one small thing about the time is different. The penalty and Mbappé's goal happened in the 70th minute, not the 80th.
Also, we can talk about fair play because the game was a bit dirty. Paraguay players were very aggressive and tried to destroy the penalty spot before Mbappé's shot. The referee also made many mistakes. France was very tired at the end because of the hot weather, so they just wanted to defend the 1-0 score. But a win is a win, and France is in the next round!

Paraguay displayed rough play that should not be emulated throughout the match. Where was the excitement? The referee should have been able to curb the rough play if Ilgiz Tantashev had used his whistle to intervene, but not a single Paraguayan player was given a yellow card during the match.
The Paraguayan players’ performance was like a parody of wrestling while running.
Olise, Kounde, and even Mbappe were subjected to rough play, but the Uzbek referee seemed to turn a blind eye to it all.

France dominated the match. They controlled possession with 90% accurate passes and 15 shots, compared to Paraguay’s mere 5 shots in total.

You are completely right! "Wrestling while running" is a perfect description. It was very dangerous for stars like Olise and Mbappe. I cannot believe the referee did not give any yellow cards. That is crazy for a World Cup match.The stats you shared show everything. France was much better with much more passes and more shots. Paraguay only wanted to fight, not to play football. France deserved this win, even if the game was ugly to watch. Let's hope the next referee will be much better!

[BitBakerr1]

France was very lucky to have won yesterday, the match was not actually easy for them, everyone was thinking France was going to win the match with 3 goals and above, I’m very sure some people predicted France to win with 2 goals and above, in this World Cup predicting with goals is very difficult is just better you predict who will win the match and leave it that way, no matter how strong a team is in this World Cup theirs always another team who is going to give them hard time.
Mbappe is again equal to Messi in terms of goals, the fight for the World Cup golden boot is still on and right now Mbappe is topping because he has 7 goals and 2 assists but Messi has only 7 goals with zero assist. I strongly believe Mbappe will win the golden boot.

[m4r1o]

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.

France in this World Cup is the one that dominates all the matches and i think that once they are now in the quarterfinals they will certainly put everyone they meet in serious difficulty, Morocco is already another team that will most likely be eliminated by France, they are too strong for everyone.

[In_cu_bent]

I watched the France vs. Paraguay match up to the 80th minute. Doué came on, a penalty was won on him, and Mbappé scored his seventh goal of the tournament, putting France 1–0 ahead.
I just watched the match highlights. In the final minutes, it was as if France were inviting Paraguay to come and score against them, but Paraguay simply didn't have the capability to do so.
Just as France advanced to the next round with a goal by Blanc when the two teams met in the 1998 World Cup, they advanced again in this match.

I agree with you! It was a very hard game, and Paraguay played very defensive. Your history example with the 1998 World Cup is perfect! It felt exactly the same.
But I think one small thing about the time is different. The penalty and Mbappé's goal happened in the 70th minute, not the 80th.
Also, we can talk about fair play because the game was a bit dirty. Paraguay players were very aggressive and tried to destroy the penalty spot before Mbappé's shot. The referee also made many mistakes. France was very tired at the end because of the hot weather, so they just wanted to defend the 1-0 score. But a win is a win, and France is in the next round!

History repeated in the match between Paraguay and France since it was same score as that of 1998. What you have to know is that South American teams are very difficult to win easily, and besides Paraguay defeated a strong team like Germany so France also experienced a bit of what Germany passed through and they were lucky to score a penalty because if the match had entered extra time they may have suffered same fate as Germany. I haven't seen France being defensive but for them to do that against Paraguay shows that the pressure and aggressiveness of Paraguay players weakened their morale to score more goals.

[knowngunman]

Paraguay displayed rough play that should not be emulated throughout the match. Where was the excitement? The referee should have been able to curb the rough play if Ilgiz Tantashev had used his whistle to intervene, but not a single Paraguayan player was given a yellow card during the match.
The Paraguayan players’ performance was like a parody of wrestling while running.
Olise, Kounde, and even Mbappe were subjected to rough play, but the Uzbek referee seemed to turn a blind eye to it all.

France dominated the match. They controlled possession with 90% accurate passes and 15 shots, compared to Paraguay’s mere 5 shots in total.

The referee issued one yellow card after the game. 

France showed patience, quality and classic performance to earn a well deserved victory against Paraguay yesterday night. The Paraguayan players spent most of their time sitting deep in defence and committing unnecessary fouls that takes away the beauty of the game but France still handle the game so well. I can't imagine Anthony Tailor officiating that match, probably half of the Paraguay players would be watching from the bench after receiving their red card. I really can't blame the players because the referee let them to play.

[JoyceBTC]

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.

France in this World Cup is the one that dominates all the matches and i think that once they are now in the quarterfinals they will certainly put everyone they meet in serious difficulty, Morocco is already another team that will most likely be eliminated by France, they are too strong for everyone.

France is a good team and their performance in the world cup has been fantastic so far but you can not predict what is going to happen when they meet Morocco when you know that changes do happen in football and the change can make a good team to lose in a game they were going to win initially. Of a truth France has one of the best front in the world cup talking about Dembele, Olise and Mbappe but meeting Morocco is going to be hard for them because a team that has reached this stage of the competition is already motivated to put more effort because winning will take them to another stage.

[yudi09]

Paraguay displayed rough play that should not be emulated throughout the match. Where was the excitement? The referee should have been able to curb the rough play if Ilgiz Tantashev had used his whistle to intervene, but not a single Paraguayan player was given a yellow card during the match.
The Paraguayan players’ performance was like a parody of wrestling while running.
Olise, Kounde, and even Mbappe were subjected to rough play, but the Uzbek referee seemed to turn a blind eye to it all.

France dominated the match. They controlled possession with 90% accurate passes and 15 shots, compared to Paraguay’s mere 5 shots in total.

It was truly a great victory for France. And it seems to me that, besides winning on the field, they also won off the field, because now Paraguay looks like a team that played very dirty, while France looks like a team that did not fall for their provocations and managed to beat them in every aspect. So, my respect goes to the French national team, and I wish them victory at the World Cup.

France won the match in the end because they didn’t let Paraguay’s dirty play provoke them. We know both teams were physically drained throughout the match, but when you’re running out of energy, it’s not advisable to resort to wrestling.
Mbappé showed at the end of the match that they, too, can play rough—it’s not just Paraguay. I’m truly upset with all the Paraguayan players.

FIFA needs to select referees to officiate matches who aren’t like the one in that game. If necessary, just send him back to his home country of Uzbekistan.
We can’t imagine what the future holds for young players like Olise and several others if a team is allowed to keep playing rough.
It’s bad enough that one Canadian player had to suffer an injury when Canada played against Qatar.

vs. Morocco—this is a big, exciting match.

[mandown]

France managed to overcome a massive wall, albeit with difficulty. I call it a wall because Paraguay plays exceptional defensive football.
They erected this same wall against us, against Germany, and against France; yet, France broke through it with a penalty goal and advanced to the next round.
Such is the fate of teams that defend the way Paraguay does. It is not easy to win a trophy—let alone the World Cup—playing defensive football.
France made it through, though it was a struggle, but I think they will face a tough challenge against Morocco.

[Qhunman]

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.

Since the game has ended the way I don't want the only option left is to keep my faith strong in morroco. France is a very strong team but being stronger isn't a guarantee that they would win they can ended up being defeated we never can tell. I believe this time it wouldn't be rosie for France like it has been for them in the past, morroco has grown more stronger than the last time they met so it would be strong match and if France is not careful, morroco will defeat them in 90mins without extra time.

[WatChe]

France is a good team and their performance in the world cup has been fantastic so far but you can not predict what is going to happen when they meet Morocco when you know that changes do happen in football and the change can make a good team to lose in a game they were going to win initially. Of a truth France has one of the best front in the world cup talking about Dembele, Olise and Mbappe but meeting Morocco is going to be hard for them because a team that has reached this stage of the competition is already motivated to put more effort because winning will take them to another stage.

France was runner up while Morocco finished at forth spot in last world cup. The competition is getting tough and exciting as it moves towards it closing stage. Both France and Morocco are doing good in this world cup and have equal chances of winning the game in round of 16. There are lot of teams playing round of 16 from Europe but Morocco and Egypt are only team to qualify for round of 16 from Africa region. While all teams from Asia region are already eliminated from the world cup.

[Ahli38]

Brazil will face Norway. I’d say this is a match where both teams have a real chance of winning. Although Brazil is considered the favorite heading into the game, Norway also has a good chance of winning. Brazil will definitely score in this match because they have some truly talented young players, and I think Norway also has a high scoring potential in this game. We can see that Norway has been a team that both scores and concedes goals in most of their recent matches, and the statistics show that Brazil isn’t a particularly strong defensive team either—they’re also a team that scores and concedes goals.

Brazil certainly deserves to be the favorite over Norway. And their performance has been impressive in their last few matches and even their players are clearly of high quality. But I personally see a significant difference between the two teams when they face France. Brazil was defeated by France by a one-goal margin in a friendly match a few months ago. On the other hand Norway suffered a crushing defeat against France by a wide margin during the World Cup group stage. So I personally view this situation as a comparison between Brazil’s and Norway’s performances. And I predict that Brazil will dominate the match against Norway and secure the win. Raphinha is reportedly set to play against Norway tonight since he has recovered from his injury, where it makes me even more confident that Brazil will win the qualifier.

[disbil]

France and Morocco will face each other in what will be the toughest and most competitive match of the season. It is very difficult to say which team will win this match because Morocco has entered this round with a huge margin. Winning against France is not that easy, only the team that performs well here can win.
If this match goes to penalties, Morocco will have a higher chance of winning, because every player in the Moroccan team is very experienced and patient. Because I saw that in the last World Cup, France lost to Argentina on penalties and failed to win the World Cup.

Excited match France vs Morocco in quarter final round after consistent performance for both club since phase group round, I think not easily for predicting possibility which one team win the match between France or Morocco how last edition achievement of Morocco success qualifying to semifinal round.

France team performance so far 100% perfectly success winning all matches and scoring 14 goals of 4 matches played, France have solid performance with defense conceded three goals of four matches. I hope between France or Morocco team have chance qualifying until final round and the opponent team possibility face Argentina who have easily batch, todah have interested match Brazil vs Norway in the round of 16.

[Iranus]

Since the game has ended the way I don't want the only option left is to keep my faith strong in morroco. France is a very strong team but being stronger isn't a guarantee that they would win they can ended up being defeated we never can tell. I believe this time it wouldn't be rosie for France like it has been for them in the past, morroco has grown more stronger than the last time they met so it would be strong match and if France is not careful, morroco will defeat them in 90mins without extra time.

We know that the France team is very strong and full of star players. But in the match against paraguay we saw that  they had to fight hard to score. They even scored the only  goal of the match from the penalty spot. On the other hand, the Moroccan team is playing relatively well. They  will try to win against france. The probability that morocco will win is somewhat less. Even so, the match will be  competitive. It is highly unlikely that France will dominate  the match and win by a  large margin. France is naturally considered the favourite. However, the road to  victory is not easy for them.

[rdluffy]

France was very lucky to have won yesterday, the match was not actually easy for them, everyone was thinking France was going to win the match with 3 goals and above, I’m very sure some people predicted France to win with 2 goals and above, in this World Cup predicting with goals is very difficult is just better you predict who will win the match and leave it that way, no matter how strong a team is in this World Cup theirs always another team who is going to give them hard time.
Mbappe is again equal to Messi in terms of goals, the fight for the World Cup golden boot is still on and right now Mbappe is topping because he has 7 goals and 2 assists but Messi has only 7 goals with zero assist. I strongly believe Mbappe will win the golden boot.

We South Americans already knew how Paraguay was going to play, hehe  
And that’s exactly what happened

To tell you the truth, I was even expecting a red card during the match
Paraguay held France off very well and played extremely well defensively
The big problem was that Paraguay’s offense was very limited and couldn’t mount a good counterattack to create more chances, since they had almost no scoring opportunities in the match