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

[Joca97]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

[|MINER|]

After Argentina dramatic and controversial victory over Egypt, I doubt Switzerland can maintain their unbeaten run.

Several times when Argentina has been in a stalemate or struggling in a match, the referee has always given them an advantage. This was evident in Argentina's victory over Cape Verde and, most recently, against Egypt. Just look at the referee's decision-making, which always favors Argentina, even when it comes to Var decisions. For example, when there's physical contact with an Argentine player, the referee quickly checks Var, but not the other way around.

No one can doubt Argentina quality especially since they have excellent players. However, sometimes their victories are fraught with controversy, as if they're being protected. The referee should be fair. If Argentina can easily win by checking Var or making decisions, the referee should do the same for other teams. As was the case with Egypt second goal, the referee immediately consulted VAR, disallowing it. However, for Argentina third goal with the same issue but a different decision the referee ignored VAR. This is what makes Argentina the golden child of this World Cup.

Actually, if it is called an unfair or controversial decision here, then it is not enough to blame the referee only, the blame should be given completely according to FIFA rules because the foul committed by the Egyptian players and the goal scored is considered a direct result according to FIFA rules, but the goal scored by Argentina after the Egyptian player fouled Salah is not officially considered a foul because the Argentine player tackled him when he had control of the ball, meaning Salah had already lost control of the ball, so it cannot be called unfair according to FIFA rules. And here we have to change the FIFA law if we say this as a controversial result.
And also from a superficial point of view, it is natural that Argentina's victory will be a little difficult for those who do not support Argentina to digest.

[Derekfunds]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

The force and form Norway is playing with this year is really shocking and if they continue with this pressure there will be surprise and for Brazil's defeat, it is not really a surprise to me because Brazil has already lost it and even though Brazil qualified they would not have passed the next round because England is strong. I want to believe France will still beat Morocco again this year but football can happen to France tomorrow and people will be shock because Morocco has a solid defense.

[Cryptoprincess101]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

The teams you named to reach the semifinal stage are not bad but i would say that you should remove England and put Norway because England cannot win Norway in the quarter final. Norway can reach the semifinal with Erling Haaland because he is very concerned to win the golden boot and the only way to achieve it is for Norway to reach the semifinal or final since he can get opportunity to score more goals. Argentina has a higher chance to reach the finals; France may not reach the final because i feel like Spain can eliminate them at the semifinal then the final will be Spain versus Argentina.

[Jaycoinz]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

The force and form Norway is playing with this year is really shocking and if they continue with this pressure there will be surprise and for Brazil's defeat, it is not really a surprise to me because Brazil has already lost it and even though Brazil qualified they would not have passed the next round because England is strong. I want to believe France will still beat Morocco again this year but football can happen to France tomorrow and people will be shock because Morocco has a solid defense.

This is their first ever world cup and they have shown so much impression and I believe if they are even knocked out on this stage it would still mean a lot for them because no one taught they would make it this far. With the way every team are playing there is just one team I feel will win it and that's the French team because of the quality of players that are in their squad and the performance rates too although there are still some great team likes Argentina and the likes of England but all am still confident with france make it to the finals.

[yixichloro2xx]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

The force and form Norway is playing with this year is really shocking and if they continue with this pressure there will be surprise and for Brazil's defeat, it is not really a surprise to me because Brazil has already lost it and even though Brazil qualified they would not have passed the next round because England is strong. I want to believe France will still beat Morocco again this year but football can happen to France tomorrow and people will be shock because Morocco has a solid defense.

This world cup has stopped me from underestimating teams. I see all teams in this quarter final round as equal, regardless of how good their squad is. Anybody can be eliminated if they don't play at their absolute performance.  Alot of football fans expected Brazil to win Norway, but we got a different results. Morocco are now the only African nation that is still in the world cup, I feel they will want to try every possible means to survive. But France attack is on another level, the only I feel Morocco can have a strong chance against France is if their defense and midfield are working heavily and also composed. It's really going to be a very tight game for both teams Morocco would want to try and get a revenge because of what happened in 2022 world cup.

[pewboy]

What a scary game, England were comfortable after scoring two goals by Bellingham but the host started making the game uncomfortable for them after they pulled one back before halftime. This match wasn't easy for England as they have to send one of them out for a serious foul offence. England played most of the second half with 10 men and Mexico made use of this, ball possession and chances created were coming there way more regularly. England had to defend, that's what you get for going a man down. Yesterday it was South america team that was playing dirty against France, today it England that's playing dirty against North america. England finally made it to the next stage as they beat Mexico to secure their spot.

England will have an excellent World Cup, and i think they can really go far, they are certainly a top team at European level and they are proving it in this World Cup, it is very likely that they will reach at least the semi-finals, they are playing very well and have very strong players.

[Barcode_]

Egypt almost did every other remaining teams in the World Cup a big favor if they are able to eliminate Argentina out of this tournament, Egypt were so close to completing one of the biggest achievement in their football history but sadly their defense still gave up to the constant pressure put up by Argentina. I guess reaching the round of 16 and being able to lead Argentina by 2-0 until the reversal happened was already a big achievement achieved by the Egypt national football squad and the fans of Egypt should still be proud of their national team.

[Crypto Library]

I believe some of them maybe Ronaldo fans who got heartbroken after Messi went to the quarter. However, it makes no sense to generalize all of them to be Ronaldo fans. The fact that there have been a controversial since one of Egypt disallowed goal due to the soft foul, which was not exist.
Some people feel Argentina got special treatment by FIFA. So that's why they're accusing FIFA to give a red carpet to the Argentina to go to the quarter.

If you're also watching closely, one of Egypt player has also accused the game was rigged, and it's all due to the referee and VAR. Nevertheless, since Argentina already won it, the result can't be overtuned.
It means this still remain a controversial even until the world cup end.  

I don't think the Egypt player Mostofa Mohammad Ziko said anything wrong here, because it's kind of open secret that the referee gives some extra favour to the Argentine team especially the first one is not giving the goal to the Egypt for a soft touch I wouldn't say that soft foul. And even then I can agree with this not giving goal to the Egypt if the referee also cancel the goal scored by the Argentine player on the last if the first goal from the Egypt was by foul then it should be also marked as foul but the referee didn't even go to the var for checking.
And this should be clearly questionable decision, and I will also say that this is injustice to the Egypt team even if this is the fault or mistake from the referee. And I think there should be a clear investigation.

[GxSTxV]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

That’s actually a bad idea to take into consideration when you are willing to bet, if it’s that easy to make predictions then everyone will make easy money betting against these team you named as no chance for them. We have seen Morocco beating Netherlands and managed to draw against Brazil. Same thing goes for Norway… I think that everything is clear now, we came to a conclusion that we shouldn’t ever underestimate any team, especially right now at this stage.

If you think that the match of tomorrow between Morocco and France will be easy then you are absolutely wrong. In my opinion and how I like to bet, I will pick Morocco in a parlay bet adding for example Argentina and Spain to draw. Higher risk with low stake is my go rather than low odds and risking a high stake.

[Spaceman1000$]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

Norway are some of the underdog countries that has really shown that, they are small but might.  Brazil couldn't stand a chance, and the funny part is that, people still look at Norway as if they are not a team to be taking serious about, this is because I've read through the analysis and comments of most analyst in this competition and I've seen that Norway is no always given their flower.

As for France vs Morocco, That is one of the greatest games in this competition, Morocco pattern of play reminds me of Greece of 2004, They don't have too much of superstars but they are so coordinated and offensive in their condition to a point you find it very difficult to close mark them, France on the other hand have individual intelligence That's they bring into the game, can stand the pressure that will come from France, that is what we don't know but I believe it will be a fierce battle.

[LordShanken]

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

Norway proved against Brazil they fear nobody, and England definitely looked beatable during that Mexico game. That one feels like a true coin toss!

As for France vs. Morocco, it's hard to argue with your logic. France is just a machine, and missing Saibari is a massive blow for Morocco's creativity. Without him, breaking through the French defense will be much more difficult. Your head is definitely in the right place with that prediction, even if we love an underdog story. Let's see if the tournament delivers more madness tomorrow!

[tiCeR]

Snip.

Haaland is a monster. I don't think there is any team at this World Cup with the same level of dependency on one player. France would still be dangerous if Mbappe were to miss a match, most other teams have a bunch of strong players who can have an impact on the match, but what would Norway be doing without Haaland? He is the one who is alway good for a goal and that makes it difficult to play against Norway because it only needs one moment of bad attention and he scores.

Admittedly, Norway dependence on Erling Haaland is very real, but he has proven himself to be more than just a momentary savior for his country. His sharpness in the front line made Norway succeed in reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in history. On the other hand, Norway is not only about Haaland because there are still several other players such as Martin Odegaard, Haskjold Nyland, and other sharp attackers such as Alexander Sorloth. Besides Haaland, Haskjold Nyland performance was also extraordinary when they eliminated Brazil, he managed to make four crucial saves, including thwarting Bruno Guimaraes penalty kick in the first half.
Brazil elimination from the World Cup is a bad record for them, this defeat is Brazil earliest elimination from the World Cup since 1990, while also extending their record of never being able to beat Norway at the World Cup stage.

The other players are there of course and they make their contribution to the Norwegian game, but let's face it that Haaland scores goals no other Norwegian player would have scored and I think if you do some experimental thinking, remove Haaland from their game and put another player there, they would never ever be as successful as they are now, assuming they would just play differently. The dependence on Haaland is crazy and if he were to get injured in an early game in the quarterfinals, Norway would be in huge trouble. Their dependence on Haaland is far bigger than England's dependence on Kane I think.

[aipercoin]

The result will be determined by the performance of the team on the field. Both teams tried to avoid mistakes but Spain did not give Portugal any chance, on the contrary, their attack was much stronger. Portugal was breathless towards the end of the game and the Spanish youngsters took advantage of that opportunity. That is why in the end, although the goals were few in this game, Spain won and Portugal lost. It will be really painful for Cristiano Ronaldo. We saw the departure of a legendary player and this time he deserves respect, and criticism based on his performance on the field is also natural. This is really his last World Cup and the football world saw the end of a historical chapter. He can be made fun of, but his contribution is difficult to deny.

Painful or not unfortunately that's the way football is, Spain played much better they deserved to win.
A player who has really given so much in the world of football deserves respect, it's sad to see his last World Cup end like this, but Portugal certainly couldn't have been expected in the final, right?
Considering the way i played, i didn't have a positive vision for Portugal, just because Ronaldo is in the team doesn't mean a sure win.

[Amphenomenon]

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

England are still favourites for this game. Norway can be really dangerous but still I expect England to find a way to move pass them.

If they can defend well enough then the threat from Norway can be minimised while they try their best to get an early lead and use the momentum to keep pushing on.

[dzonikg28]

Am I the only one who is noticing a lot of hate and attacks against the Argentina team and it's fans on social media?
I have literally been on Twitter(X) for some hours now and there have been hundreds or even thousands of Cristiano Ronaldo fans accusing Argentina to have some given advantage by the referee and the FIFA in general.

I would have never seen so many people wishing for Argentina to lost this tournament before?

Have you experienced something like this as well? Or is it only my personal Twitter feed which may be giving me some false perception on the state of this tournament?

I believe some of them maybe Ronaldo fans who got heartbroken after Messi went to the quarter. However, it makes no sense to generalize all of them to be Ronaldo fans. The fact that there have been a controversial since one of Egypt disallowed goal due to the soft foul, which was not exist.
Some people feel Argentina got special treatment by FIFA. So that's why they're accusing FIFA to give a red carpet to the Argentina to go to the quarter.

If you're also watching closely, one of Egypt player has also accused the game was rigged, and it's all due to the referee and VAR. Nevertheless, since Argentina already won it, the result can't be overtuned.
It means this still remain a controversial even until the world cup end.  

I am not sure if the match was really rigged or if there is intentional scam going on behind the scenes, but I agree that this was not optimally handled by the FIFA.

Now what I think when decisions are made in favor of countries like Argentina, isn't it possible that those decisions are favoring them because of their reputation and standing in football? It reminds me of other sports and when a huge favorite does something wrong or is facing a 50 50 decision, it often goes to their benefit because of who they are.

In tennis for instance, when a very well known player freaks out, it may take longer for them to be penalized by the referee than an unknown player. Is it fair? I think no, but it is how it is, but I wouldn't actually call it rigged.

[whiteblue]

There aren't that many "small" teams left. France, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Norway, England, Argentina, Switzerland. I would say between these, I am 99.99% sure that Belgium, Morocco, Norway, Switzerland will not win. But that means the other half, France, Spain, England and Argentina has a chance.

So we are going to see how this moves on and what happens but I think we are going to have easier time betting on these games. I know that it is not "easy" but it's simple if you want to bet on favourites.

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

Norway is in top form, so I'm confident they'll be even more impressive against england. Both teams are performing well, Especially with their squads boasting goal hungry strikers like harry kane and haaland. So, both teams will be looking to put on a strong Performance to help their teams advance to the Semifinals.

Haaland is a Phenomenal player at this world cup, having led his team to the next round thanks to his goalscoring contributions. I think the england defenders will have to guard him very closely, Because if he gets through, he score.

For France vs Morocco, I'd love to see an upset in this match. I hope morocco can beat France, even if it's highly unlikely, But we see.

[pawel7777]

We didn't have any games today, which seemed a bit off after having a day-to-day action, but the first game of the quarter-final is coming up tomorrow.
Quarter-final fixtures and odds (from Winna.com) on which team will advance to the semi-final are:

France x1.25 Vs Morocco x3.95
Spain x1.31 Vs Belgium x3.45
Norway x2.66 Vs England x1.45
Argentina x1.31 Vs Switzerland x3.35

As we can see, each game has a clear favourite.
If I had to pick one underdog to bet on, I'd probably go for Belgium. They looked really well in their game against USA, while Spain had a hard time against Portugal.

[Berry2d]

Norway can surprise honestly,they already surprised Brazil and i think they can do anything at this point.  England aint that special and we seen that against Mexico so i think for me its 50/50 on Norway vs England. France for me will surely win over Morocco because they are clearly better and without Saibari i doubt that Morocco can do anything against France tommorow.

Norway proved against Brazil they fear nobody, and England definitely looked beatable during that Mexico game. That one feels like a true coin toss!

As for France vs. Morocco, it's hard to argue with your logic. France is just a machine, and missing Saibari is a massive blow for Morocco's creativity. Without him, breaking through the French defense will be much more difficult. Your head is definitely in the right place with that prediction, even if we love an underdog story. Let's see if the tournament delivers more madness tomorrow!

 Norway may look very promising and stronger but not enough to compete with England,  especially now England is looking up to write something in there name this season. For now i think England is among the team with great potentials and also with determination never to go home empty handed  even in there weakest moment which am very sure they will prove it in there game against Norway.

Morocco playing against France is like a trap which know one can tell the animal it will kill at last, so i will suggest we stay watchful till that main day as predicting in favour of France even as they appear more promising than Morocco is the last i can do.

[KingsDen]

After Argentina dramatic and controversial victory over Egypt, I doubt Switzerland can maintain their unbeaten run.

Several times when Argentina has been in a stalemate or struggling in a match, the referee has always given them an advantage. This was evident in Argentina's victory over Cape Verde and, most recently, against Egypt. Just look at the referee's decision-making, which always favors Argentina, even when it comes to Var decisions. For example, when there's physical contact with an Argentine player, the referee quickly checks Var, but not the other way around.

No one can doubt Argentina quality especially since they have excellent players. However, sometimes their victories are fraught with controversy, as if they're being protected. The referee should be fair. If Argentina can easily win by checking Var or making decisions, the referee should do the same for other teams. As was the case with Egypt second goal, the referee immediately consulted VAR, disallowing it. However, for Argentina third goal with the same issue but a different decision the referee ignored VAR. This is what makes Argentina the golden child of this World Cup.

I honestly didn't see any wrong decision the referee made. Before the referee pauses the game, he must have been notified by VAR, so when VAR says play on, why should he pause the game. The Argentina player clearly dispossessed Salah off the ball before making contact so they is no foul. It is true that the same issue occurred when the Egypt second goal was cancelled, but the referee allowed them to score before going back to review, the same way he allowed Argentina to carry on with their attack before making any call, so where is the partially coming from?.

If you really think the referee favoured Argentina, then go back to the Brazil vs Norway match and explain why the referee didn't check the second penalty awarded to Brazil, he just concluded and gave Brazil a penalty, and after the penalty he still added more time he shouldn't have just to favour Brazil.