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

[Woodie]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

[Adbitco]

they have a lots of top players but imho one of the worst decision by portugal boards is select Martinez as a coach. he is such a terrible coach without proper strategy. look at belgium national team when he work here as a coach. a golden era without major thropy. so i must say he is the main problem here. from here i expect portugal boards will sack Roberto Martinez asap.

True though, Martinez has lots of top players at his disposal but failed to make proper use of them all, this reminds me of Belgium golden generation few years ago, lots of stars that played as a team. These guys were so good to the extent they played international football throughout that year and didn't draw or lose, that was when Belgium was number one in FIFA rankings, funny enough that golden generation of Belgium didn't win a spoon let alone a silverware to their collection. He was sacked after the team went downhill and Portugal appointed him to be their next coach. Just like you said, he was sacked immediately after that Spain match.

[leonair]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

I didn't expect Belgium to score so quickly against Spain. But my prediction was that Spain would win by 2-1. Belgium is playing much better than I expected. However, no matter how well Belgium plays, the chances of them winning against Spain are very low. But since nothing can be guaranteed in football and it's only half time and there's still a lot of time left, a lot can happen here.

[CLS63]

Spain-Belgium is 1-1 at halftime. I can't say Belgium are able to balance the game against their opponent but it was really crucial for them to answer with a goal in the first half.

They don't want to keep the ball more than Spain in the first place. They are just trying to extend the match in the way they want as much as possible. In case of extra time and penalties Belgium would have more chance.

[MorganaX]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

Why would think that Belgium wouldn't be able to get a goal against Spain?

Belgium played terribly in the group stages that I know but they have changed since the knocked out stages and you can clearly see the improvements that have been installed in their gameplay and that's why I have faith that they would have score personally and I even think it's going to be a close game between the two and Belgium is more than capable to make things happen by defeating Spain of course.

[Merit.s]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

I wouldn't be too quick to conclude that Spain will find it easy to advance to the semifinals because of the way Belgium clapped back the goal despite that Spain was in full control of the game.

De Keteleaere equalizer was like a shock to Spain and they need to be careful to avoid an unexpected elimination out of the competition because Belgium has the players and quality to find the back of the net when the opportunity comes.

[ASloveapg]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

Belgium is not performing too badly, they are trying to fight on an equal footing with Spain, in the first half I didn't think Belgium would be able to score and equalise, but they did, they are not playing too badly. Spain should win the match, but Belgium will not let them win easily, so also in the second half I think we will see an equal performance, even if Belgium concedes a goal they can return it, so in the second half both teams will score, and in the end the match could go to extra time. Anyway, let's see what happens.

[ArabBTC]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

Yea i also didn’t expect them to perform the way they have been performing in this World Cup, their attack have been good so far that is why they could get a goal tonight against Spain, however in the late part of this second half Belgium have allowed so much of pressure which isn’t really good for the team, once a team starts allowing so much of pressure from their opponents their are possibilities that they will end up conceding a goal, i really feel the coach should make key tactical decisions before the second half begin in other for them to stand a better chance of winning.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Spain vs Belgium is looking like a tense game, nearly 30 minutes in and no real big chances yet.

We’re at the stage now where these games can be so tight. I think Spain will win but it’s on a knife edge.

Ferran has given Spain the lead on the 25th minutes with a technical goal from a dangerous rebound played by Yamal. Ferran scored his first goal in this world cup today to make the scoreline 1-0.

Spain is attacking Belgium aggressively without giving their defenders any space. Spain is just everywhere on the pitch.

That escalated quickly, maybe I jinxed it saying it was a tight game. Two goals in fairly quick succession.

It’s all set up perfectly for an intriguing second half now.

[Taricoins]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

From where am standing I see things different, I know deep down Spain is going to win but with the little things Belgium do, I am starting to think it's not over yet. Doku is the biggest asset to Belgium right now, looking at the match Porro is finding it hard to Man mark him hence Rodri's support and that attention Doku Is dragging is removing the focus from the other wing where the cross/goal came from.

So second half might be Spain utter domination but I still can't write Belgium out

[Majestic-milf]

Spain-Belgium is 1-1 at halftime. I can't say Belgium are able to balance the game against their opponent but it was really crucial for them to answer with a goal in the first half.

They don't want to keep the ball more than Spain in the first place. They are just trying to extend the match in the way they want as much as possible. In case of extra time and penalties Belgium would have more chance.

The clean sheet has been broken and Unai Simon goal has been breached. Granted Belgium didn't play like a team that was ranking 6th a t sometime in the FIFA rankings but after the De Ketelare goal, we began seeing some moves from them. Spain were obviously the better side, dominating the game and calling the shots and if feel that we'd see more action in the second half, Belgium just need to add more pressure if not Spain will have a field day.

[Joca97]

Honestly,  I didn't expect Belgium to get a goal against Spain...and with such the current scoreline this means both teams will feel like the have a shot at getting into the last 8 , but from.what am seeing..Spain is having more of the ball which never goes well for the under team, but lets see what the other half brings.

Belgium is not performing too badly, they are trying to fight on an equal footing with Spain, in the first half I didn't think Belgium would be able to score and equalise, but they did, they are not playing too badly. Spain should win the match, but Belgium will not let them win easily, so also in the second half I think we will see an equal performance, even if Belgium concedes a goal they can return it, so in the second half both teams will score, and in the end the match could go to extra time. Anyway, let's see what happens.

Belgium is just defending and trying from counter attacks and they succesed and they got a positive result on halftime. Spain is still really good and i think that they will win this game. They are perforiming really well and could have scored one more goal at least. I wonder what will happen in second half but i expect that Spain scores at least two more goals in this game. They are looking really well currently,while Belgium is just defending and praying for good counter attacks over Doku to score.

[BIT-BENDER]

Spain lamine yamal hasn't really lite up this world cup, at a point this world cup was meant to be his but he has not been how we know him to be at his club football in Barcelona.
Don't know if he is still nursing an injury but Lamine yamal could really be the difference for Spain in tight corners but the team hasn't depended on him like they have done in the past especially in the last Euro they won.
I think a second half lamine yamal show can make the game uncomfortable for Belgium.

[Taricoins]

Spain lamine yamal hasn't really lite up this world cup, at a point this world cup was meant to be his but he has not been how we know him to be at his club football in Barcelona.
Don't know if he is still nursing an injury but Lamine yamal could really be the difference for Spain in tight corners but the team hasn't depended on him like they have done in the past especially in the last Euro they won.
I think a second half lamine yamal show can make the game uncomfortable for Belgium.

Players are very intuitive and when they see a player is getting them the desired result or a player keeps failing at a particular thing, they always tend to find other alternatives and that's what is happening to Yamal, he keeps losing or making incomplete dribbles that leads to turnover and that's not really helping the game, had it been Spain had a dribbling type at the left wing, j feel Yamal now would have been ghosted.


This wad suppose to be his stage and seeing him in Barcelona and here makes me feel like he truly can't turn up in the biggest of stage. Hope second half will be different

[LUCKMCFLY]

Belgium is just defending and trying from counter attacks and they succesed and they got a positive result on halftime. Spain is still really good and i think that they will win this game. They are perforiming really well and could have scored one more goal at least. I wonder what will happen in second half but i expect that Spain scores at least two more goals in this game. They are looking really well currently,while Belgium is just defending and praying for good counter attacks over Doku to score.

The hardest thing to accept about all this is that Belgium drew with Spain, and that's not good for Spain. Given the level Spain has shown, their football is far superior to Belgium's, even though they're tied. I wouldn't want to think what France could do to either of them; they'd devour them. What they're doing is impressive. However, may the best team win. I'd like to see Belgium play, to see something different.

[WatChe]

That escalated quickly, maybe I jinxed it saying it was a tight game. Two goals in fairly quick succession.

It’s all set up perfectly for an intriguing second half now.

Thanks to the equaliser by Charles de ketelaere in 41 minute, the Belgium team must be relaxed in their dressing room at the end of first half. Everyone is favouring Spain for this quarter final but in football we have to wait for the final whistle to see the winner. Both teams now have to score in second half to take the lead otherwise game will go to extra time. Belgium team has qualified for the quarter final and that means they are equally good as Spain team to win this match.

[Baki202]

I didn't expect Belgium to score so quickly against Spain. But my prediction was that Spain would win by 2-1. Belgium is playing much better than I expected. However, no matter how well Belgium plays, the chances of them winning against Spain are very low. But since nothing can be guaranteed in football and it's only half time and there's still a lot of time left, a lot can happen here.

Seems like Belgium is ready for spain because Spain scored first now they are equal and I know that the prediction will be that spain is going to win the game is not yet finished and spain can actually win the fact that they will soon start the second half and we don't know what it actually holds because now both coaches would have analyzed the game and that is what will determine who is going to win because it's already a tough game already, we know that spain have the upper hand but anything can still happen but let us be sure of what we are doing.

And now we know that the second half is going to come out very hot because they have tested each other for the second half so let us wait for what's in the bag, and I was not even expecting Belgium to even score a single goal but they did and the moment they scored I was like what is spain playing that they are allowing Belgium to score and the prediction of it ending 2:1 seems like is something that is likely to happen.

[|MINER|]

I didn't expect Belgium to score so quickly against Spain. But my prediction was that Spain would win by 2-1. Belgium is playing much better than I expected. However, no matter how well Belgium plays, the chances of them winning against Spain are very low. But since nothing can be guaranteed in football and it's only half time and there's still a lot of time left, a lot can happen here.

Not only just you I am also, I thought that the way Spain is dominating in the match especially the first half I thought that maybe they will going to score to before the break but unfortunately the Belgium did a good counter attack with a magnificent headshot.

I already called the first goal scored by spain a magnificent goal, but the Belgian players scored an even greater goal. Now it remains to be seen which team will take the lead first. I still have Spain in the lead in terms of winning.

[virasog]

I was just going to post something like this: Spain is playing well enough against Belgium but they are not performing at the level that would allow them to win. But then I saw that Spain scored their first goal. Although the Belgian goalkeeper saved the first shot, he couldn't stop the second shot. So I will call it a magnificent goal.

I want to also say that the way they were performing there could also score more goal even we saw some counter attack from the Belgium team but that wouldn't gonna be workout in front of the strong defence of Spain.

The 2nd half is going to be very interesting. I know both teams will be defensive a bit in the 2nd half as soon as one teams scores, it will be all out attack by the other team.

Overall, Spain is dominating the match but the problem is that they aren't in lead. The lead that Spain took when Ruiz scored for them in the 31 minute, it looked that they will now play safe but soon after De Ketelaere scored an equalizer with an incredible header and it was something too good. Whether we will have a result in this half or will we go into extra time, we will get to know this in the next 45 minutes  

[Ale88]

All the African teams are now out of the world cup. Now only the UEFA teams and one team from CONMEBOL (Argentina) remain.

This, once again, proved European football's superiority. FIFA keep giving more slots to other continents while penalizing Europe but the result at the end doesn't change. FIFA's biggest failure in this World Cup is, by far, Asia, a complete disaster. South American teams under performed too.