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

[Comeacross]

France performed brilliantly as usual, but Morocco didn't perform as competitively as I expected, there was a huge difference in their attack,


France had 22 shots, Morocco only 5, France had 9 shots on target, while Morocco only had 1.

I never expected Morocco to be so bad in attack. The possession of the ball was equal for both teams in the match, but there was a huge difference in their attack.

France missed a penalty first, it was an opportunity for Morocco, but they couldn't use it, and in the end they lost 0-2, I expected a tough match, but France won the match easily.

You know football is a game of surprise most of the time. France against Morocco was definitely one of their best games in this world cup. They didn't underrate Morocco, they had no reason to underrate them by the way because Morocco is the current African champions and they prove it. But unfortunately, the game was against Morocco when they played France.

Morocco barely create meaningful impacts, they could only pass the ball around and allowed France to dominate the game totally. France made Morocco plan to look useless. They never play like the Morocco we know but I still prefer the manner they got eliminated than other Africa countries that gave us hope and fumbled.

[BitcoinHunt3r]

Yesterday's Morocco was completely different, it was impossible to win against France with such a performance. France was breaking through their strongest point, the defense, and attacking again and again. We only saw two goals in the match due to the goalkeeper's excellent performance. This World Cup seemed to be for goalkeepers, most teams' goalkeepers are performing incredibly well this season, even the defense. My expectations from Morocco were a bit high. Even if I didn't expect to win, I wanted to see at least a fight, but they couldn't even build a fight against France.

Yesterday, France attack was completely well-organized and their attack was perfectly. But Moroccan goalkeeper Yacine Bounou tried hard to save the goal and was successful in some cases but france victory was ensured thanks to Mbappe's first goal and a wonderful assist. However, despite the moroccan attack's efforts, they could not create much advantage against the france attack. So, France influence on morocco was widespread

As I said before Morocco knows they cannot face France with an attack so they apply defensive play hoping for 0-0 that goes to penalties that's why France dominated the attack, unfortunately, Morocco failed to maintain that performance in the second half and yeah France scored 2 goals. Yassine Bounou deserves appreciation in this match for his efforts in making several saves, imagine that throughout the match France fired 22 shots and 9 were on target that's why Yassine Bounou got the highest rating yesterday among all Moroccan players.

Next match today is Spain vs Belgium, will Spain complete this match easily or have to go through a penalty shootout? Honestly, today I'm on Spain side
It would certainly be very interesting if Spain met France in the semifinals.

[Majestic-milf]

 I never expected no change in football cause it bound to happen, everything is now advance and we'll still witness more changes and policies in the future but the problem is cheating and being honest to favour a particular team, I believe that the new policies should favour all teams and not some.

 The VAR controversy is becoming something else, when it first came out I was happy that there would be reviews of fouls and stuff which would help stop referees controversy or poor decision making but it seems the VAR is now being used as a tool to cheat and favour some teams, they're gradually ruining the sports.

Initially, reforms like this will look appealing but as time goes on people will see the damage it is causing. Imagine that there was VAR during the time of Diego Maradona when he used his hand to score and called it " hand of God", it would have been chopped off after the review.
 Honestly, football isn't as fun as it used to be and now most people watch football just to watch their games they betted.

[Joca97]

France performed brilliantly as usual, but Morocco didn't perform as competitively as I expected, there was a huge difference in their attack,


France had 22 shots, Morocco only 5, France had 9 shots on target, while Morocco only had 1.

I never expected Morocco to be so bad in attack. The possession of the ball was equal for both teams in the match, but there was a huge difference in their attack.

France missed a penalty first, it was an opportunity for Morocco, but they couldn't use it, and in the end they lost 0-2, I expected a tough match, but France won the match easily.

You know football is a game of surprise most of the time. France against Morocco was definitely one of their best games in this world cup. They didn't underrate Morocco, they had no reason to underrate them by the way because Morocco is the current African champions and they prove it. But unfortunately, the game was against Morocco when they played France.

Morocco barely create meaningful impacts, they could only pass the ball around and allowed France to dominate the game totally. France made Morocco plan to look useless. They never play like the Morocco we know but I still prefer the manner they got eliminated than other Africa countries that gave us hope and fumbled.

They tried not to play football,they kept possesion but its like they were scared of attacking and were more worried about their defence. I think you need to risk it sometimes if you want to win a game or go through. You just cannot wait for penalties against a team that is World Class. They should have been punished in the first but yet they got punished in the second half. Morocco just started attacking in the last 10 minutes when the game was already over for them.

[ASloveapg]

 The match between Spain and Belgium will start in 1 hour, from this match Spain should definitely go to the semi-finals, because Spain is much stronger than Belgium, and they are the biggest favorites to win this match. If there is no unexpected event, Spain will win the match, and after that Spain will face France, that match will be even stronger, but France will win there. Anyway, I don't want to make any predictions too far ahead, today's match should definitely be a tough match, regarding Morocco's performance in yesterday's match I would say they were not good in attack, let's see how Belgium performs against Spain in today's match.

[M47AK16]

France was the clear favorite in this match (by the way, I still don't understand why the bookmakers were so willing to give away money here), but I'd point out this: how easily France beats everyone, as if it were just practice.
Only the bus game with Paraguay looked tense, and yesterday there was one yellow card, while in the game against Sweden there were zero (lol!) yellow cards.
Let's see how the game goes against Spain, which in my opinion is the second strongest team in this World Cup.

It is mainly because they look like they will not be able to score, Mbappe is great but he is not a pure striker, and he even missed a penalty. So you look at what's going on in the game, and until they score it looks like they do not even have any proper chance. Then, somehow, someway, someone shoots from some silly place right at the point where nobody can parry it.

Like look at Mbappe goal, it goes from inches away from defender, if defender put his leg out for like just couple inches, it would have bounced off, and it goes inches next to goalkeeper and woodwork. He puts it EXACTLY where it can be, 2 inches left or right, and it is not a goal. Nobody expects that much precision when you see sixty minutes of failing to do that.

[bitgolden]

You are right that France is doing very well, and beating everyone easily, and they are at semi finals now. I think that is clear that we are seeing a team that is much better than anyone else in the world.

Plus Mbappe is just very different when it comes to national team, for some reason he is exceptional there on every game, in the club he may look like he scores a lot but he scores against smaller teams bunch of times and then ghosts big games. Here, in his entire life, he has never been knocked out in world cup, dude is insane.

[Delaforetnoire]

As I said before Morocco knows they cannot face France with an attack so they apply defensive play hoping for 0-0 that goes to penalties that's why France dominated the attack, unfortunately, Morocco failed to maintain that performance in the second half and yeah France scored 2 goals. Yassine Bounou deserves appreciation in this match for his efforts in making several saves, imagine that throughout the match France fired 22 shots and 9 were on target that's why Yassine Bounou got the highest rating yesterday among all Moroccan players.

Yes, if Yassine Bounou had not made those saves, the number of goals would have been even higher. In every respect, Yassine Bounou is the one who deserves the praise. Anyway, I was very happy that France's victory was confirmed in the end.

Next match today is Spain vs Belgium, will Spain complete this match easily or have to go through a penalty shootout? Honestly, today I'm on Spain side
It would certainly be very interesting if Spain met France in the semifinals.

It seems that Spain will be able to win through full-time play without going through a penalty shootout because the Spanish team is better than Belgium. Although it cannot be said that Belgium is behind, it seems that Spain will be relatively ahead. Let's see what happens in the end but if Spain and France play in the semi-finals, the game will be very interesting.

[longyenthanh]

I just found some interesting odds for Lamine Yamal to score the first goal in the match against Belgium.

Lamine Yamal first goalscorer  ➜ 11.77

Yamal is definitely one of the candidates to score today and will undoubtedly cause Belgium a lot of problems. I'm just wondering whether to take the risk and bet on him to score first. Odds of 11.77 looks really interesting.  

[skarais]

~~~

They tried not to play football,they kept possesion but its like they were scared of attacking and were more worried about their defence. I think you need to risk it sometimes if you want to win a game or go through. You just cannot wait for penalties against a team that is World Class. They should have been punished in the first but yet they got punished in the second half. Morocco just started attacking in the last 10 minutes when the game was already over for them.

You are right, not always a defensive strategy can provide satisfactory results for teams that are not favored based on squad depth. Morocco could have given something more to the game had they dared to play more openly. Relying on defense and counterattack sometimes doesn't produce great results, especially if the opposing team has better quality players and a more effective game strategy.

France are a complete team with really good squad depth. They are one of the favourites to reach the final and win the title, so Morocco's strategy in that match is not quite right if they want to beat France. In knockout matches, high ball possession is good, but they also need to be able to create enough goal chances and maximize them well. Morocco lost not only because of the strategy of the game, but also because the depth of the squad was not comparable to the French.

[Minor Miner]

The match between Spain and Belgium will start in 1 hour, from this match Spain should definitely go to the semi-finals, because Spain is much stronger than Belgium, and they are the biggest favorites to win this match. If there is no unexpected event, Spain will win the match, and after that Spain will face France, that match will be even stronger, but France will win there. Anyway, I don't want to make any predictions too far ahead, today's match should definitely be a tough match, regarding Morocco's performance in yesterday's match I would say they were not good in attack, let's see how Belgium performs against Spain in today's match.

These two teams have not faced each other much. In 2015 and 2016, they faced each other in two friendly matches. One match was  drawn and one was won by spain. But after 10 years , the scenario is different now. There have been big changes in both the squads.

Most of the bettors consider Spain as the favorite. And that is  normal. Spain has many  star players and talented players in their squad. But there is no chance  to consider any team that has qualified for the quarter-finals as weak. Every team is  very strong. So if Spain does not play well and makes any mistakes in  the match, they are likely to  be defeated. Spain will have to play very carefully from the beginning of the match if they want to win.

[xzone]

The match between Spain and Belgium will start in 1 hour, from this match Spain should definitely go to the semi-finals, because Spain is much stronger than Belgium, and they are the biggest favorites to win this match. If there is no unexpected event, Spain will win the match, and after that Spain will face France, that match will be even stronger, but France will win there. Anyway, I don't want to make any predictions too far ahead, today's match should definitely be a tough match, regarding Morocco's performance in yesterday's match I would say they were not good in attack, let's see how Belgium performs against Spain in today's match.

Everyone considers Spain the favorite team. In fact, many believe Spain will reach the final; they are the favorites for most of this tournament. It wouldn't be surprising if they won. However, Belgium isn't a weak team either; if they start with the right strategy and score an early goal, I'm sure it will affect the outcome of the match.
Let's see, in half an hour the team that advances to the next round will be decided

[Fakhrulenclix]

You are right that France is doing very well, and beating everyone easily, and they are at semi finals now. I think that is clear that we are seeing a team that is much better than anyone else in the world.

Plus Mbappe is just very different when it comes to national team, for some reason he is exceptional there on every game, in the club he may look like he scores a lot but he scores against smaller teams bunch of times and then ghosts big games. Here, in his entire life, he has never been knocked out in world cup, dude is insane.

The French national team boasts a highly qualified midfielder, and even great players across all lines, making it easier for Mbappé to play more freely and score more goals. That's how I see it.

France's current strength is quite evident, and no one can match their strength. Since the opening match of the World Cup, we haven't seen France struggle to win. Overall, this year's World Cup final is likely to be similar to the final four years ago, with France likely to achieve a successful revenge mission.

[Crytohillss]

You are right that France is doing very well, and beating everyone easily, and they are at semi finals now. I think that is clear that we are seeing a team that is much better than anyone else in the world.

Plus Mbappe is just very different when it comes to national team, for some reason he is exceptional there on every game, in the club he may look like he scores a lot but he scores against smaller teams bunch of times and then ghosts big games. Here, in his entire life, he has never been knocked out in world cup, dude is insane.

France have definitely looked like the most complete team so far but knock out football has a way of surprising everyone , one bad game can change everything entire. mbappe just seems to switch into another pattey when he's wearing the France shirt his confidence and decisions making in international tournaments are on different level. Yes France have been pretty impressive but calling them unbearable they deserve it.

[Lida93]

Morocco barely create meaningful impacts, they could only pass the ball around and allowed France to dominate the game totally. France made Morocco plan to look useless. They never play like the Morocco we know but I still prefer the manner they got eliminated than other Africa countries that gave us hope and fumbled.

It's one of the fairest games in the tournament and  If I didn't saw the game myself I would have thought that fans are talking down on Morocco because it's a France team they were up against but what really played out was just disappointing that Morocco weren't in the game both defensively and in the attacks they were just poor. It wasn't like the Morocco team we saw in other games of the World Cup. Even though France may appear stronger in squad depth I didn't think that the African team wouldn't be able to get a single goal from French side.

[Distraction]

There is less than half an hour left for the match to determine France's competitor... Spain - Belgium.

I'm on Spain's side as I think realistically for this matchup.    I really admired Belgium against USA but I don't think they will be able to maintain the same effort tonight against a much stronger team.

I must confess I don't like Spain in the WC as much as Euros. But they should still be able to make it to semi finals and then probably lose to France...

[SatoPrincess]

You are right that France is doing very well, and beating everyone easily, and they are at semi finals now. I think that is clear that we are seeing a team that is much better than anyone else in the world.

Plus Mbappe is just very different when it comes to national team, for some reason he is exceptional there on every game, in the club he may look like he scores a lot but he scores against smaller teams bunch of times and then ghosts big games. Here, in his entire life, he has never been knocked out in world cup, dude is insane.

Like your name, the French team is the golden team in the World Cup. They have so much mentality, talent and talent and squad depth to win the competition. The bench is good enough to compete against any of the teams in the World Cup.

This is Mbappe’s third World Cup that he will playing in the finals ( semi-finals), I am certain he’s not going to lose this one. It would be interesting to see an Argentina - France final. IMO that would be passing on the crown from one era to another.

[Muba20]

-snip-
Anyway, we are betting that Spain will play at their maximum strength today and their star players will definitely perform their best to enter the semi-finals.

Spain will win this match convincingly because they have a better squad than Belgium. Their offense is strong, and their defense is also quite solid – in fact, they haven't conceded a single goal in the World Cup so far, making them one of the favorites to win this year's tournament. However, the score might be narrow, as Belgium is no pushover, they've also performed well so far. But still, the win will still go to Spain because they look more consistent and more convincing.

Spain is one of the teams in the current World Cup who has not conceded a single goal so far. Every team is definitely strong enough to reach the quarter-finals. Belgium certainly plays well but they have not been able to create history like Spain so far. Belgium has conceded goals in every match so far but has paid for it later and secured victory. But if we talk about Spain, then here we see that there are experienced forwards like Lamine Yamal, Álex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal. And Spain currently has more than seven experienced Barcelona players. So we can call Spain a mini Barcelona.

But to be honest, it is not entirely true that the team will be strong at this stage of the quarter-finals if only star players are present. Because a team can perform best only if there is a right balance between teammates in the game. So it is not a big deal which club they have played for before. So Belgium can win in the Spain vs Belgium match. But Spain has won every match by maintaining the right balance between experience and teammates. So Spain is my favorite in today's match. In the semi-final we will see Spain face France.

[Moreno233]

The match between  Spain and Belgium tonight is going to one of the most interesting match of the tournament,  so tough and captivating like the match of Brazil against Norway. Not only will it be entertaining, it is absolutely difficult to predict who will win because either of the sides can win the match. Spain have to be serious to withstand Belgium else we might see something similar to what Belgium did to the US.

[Kavelj22]

It is not a unique case for Morocco. It becomes a pattern for the majority, if not all, the african teams. We see african players with France team or with another European teams and they play very well in harmony with other players from different levels. In african teams, there are other major problems that forbid players from playing in full performance till the last second of the match.

I don't know if it's just me, but it looks like most African teams haven't learned a thing or two about game management or trying to control the game. In most cases what I saw was that in the first half and the early part of the second half, they would be so brilliant and would even have some healthy goal cushions, only to blow it off in like the last 10-20 minutes of the game.
I think they use a lot of energy in the first minutes and by the time the game is halfway in the second half. Most of them are just so tired and will just let goal flow in.

This is exactly what I meant. And see this as a pattern in almost all african teams. What should explain that european teams are full of african players, while african teams are less performed? It can be a wise strategy when playing with teams at the same level or less, but with strong teams, they are far from achieving the wanted position. Another clear example is none of the african teams succeeded in turning the table after being defeated by a large score like what happened with France or with Argentina against Egypt.