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

[allthebitandbobs]

It is a big upset, as I was also expecting France to dominate and win against Spain. They did not even dominate the match, and Spain was in full control of the match. 2-0 defeat in the semifinal is a significant win. I was expecting Argentina and France to play the final. Now it looks like Spain might play either Argentina or England in the final. England is not a team to be underestimated; they might defeat Argentina in the semifinals.

For me it was not an upset. I always considered Spain as a better team and the results matched my expectations. In the second semi-final also, I guess the same may happen. Stake has England at 2.70, while Argentina at 2.95. From the games completed till now, it seems to be that Argentina is marginally better than England (I am not denying the fact that they really struggled against Egypt). 1x2 bets are almost 50-50 now in Stake, and this means that the gamblers are also not sure which team is stronger. There is a very good chance that the match will not get completed in the regular 90 minutes + injury time.

Both teams were balanced due to good performance and consistency in previous games, but for this game Spain was looking exceptionally well they started off well and then had good control, while France was looking not like they played in the last few games; their ball control was also looking not good.

Predicting which is better is surely not easy, especially since both teams have good players. England, after years, is looking like a much better side, still this game is going to be tense. Argentina is doing good but in the last three games they have always gone into extra time, time which is surely not good.
Now they are having a challenge from the English side, which has a few good match winners in this World Cup for breaking the deadlock.

[Majestic-milf]

Though I expected a lot for France in the second half but indeed Spain was ready with Deschamps ' scheme in this match.
Spain knew to dampen France's pace was with their signature tiki taka short balls and this France could not stand.

See how the process of the second goal, France did not even intend to presing Strictly and only focus on the defense of the area that made Pedro Porro managed to score kill the game in this match.

I feel we were able to see such poor performance because Spain broke through them and made them weak. France were so confused, desperate and this led to them making easy mistakes which had not happened since the beginning of the tournament. Imagine Michael Olise not enjoying the game like he used to because Cucurella made life difficult for him. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first game France has failed to score and what a way to get booted out of the tournament. This performance yesterday just cancelled all the excellent record of Mbappe and should Messi score today, he would be the favorite to win the Golden boot since Kylian is out of the discussion.

[Oluwa-btc]

England. Argentina’s run will end in the semifinals. They’ll face France again in the third-place match, and I’m certain of that.
My hopes are the same as yours regarding the England-Argentina match. In other words, this is a showdown between the two biggest leagues in the world right now: La Liga and the English Premier League.
Jude Bellingham will once again pull off a surprise for England.

I have been so much invested on whoever knocks out Argentina stage after stage but they have always shown superior quality and alongside couple cheating from VAR officials.
Thomas Tuchel is quite tactical, now this game will be the toughest for Argentina. I don't know who wins, but deep down it feels like it will be Argentina all over again.

Spain - Argentina for the finals.

[Pandu Geddon]

I feel we were able to see such poor performance because Spain broke through them and made them weak. France were so confused, desperate and this led to them making easy mistakes which had not happened since the beginning of the tournament. Imagine Michael Olise not enjoying the game like he used to because Cucurella made life difficult for him. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first game France has failed to score and what a way to get booted out of the tournament. This performance yesterday just cancelled all the excellent record of Mbappe and should Messi score today, he would be the favorite to win the Golden boot since Kylian is out of the discussion.

This is football, when facing different opponents, their performance can be very different. France is not without chances; they got some opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them.
I don't know what is wrong with France, but they really struggled to break through Spain's defense. France might be able to console itself with third place, but it also depends on who their opponent is.

[Wakate]

I feel we were able to see such poor performance because Spain broke through them and made them weak. France were so confused, desperate and this led to them making easy mistakes which had not happened since the beginning of the tournament. Imagine Michael Olise not enjoying the game like he used to because Cucurella made life difficult for him. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first game France has failed to score and what a way to get booted out of the tournament. This performance yesterday just cancelled all the excellent record of Mbappe and should Messi score today, he would be the favorite to win the Golden boot since Kylian is out of the discussion.

This is football, when facing different opponents, their performance can be very different. France is not without chances; they got some opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them.
I don't know what is wrong with France, but they really struggled to break through Spain's defense. France might be able to console itself with third place, but it also depends on who their opponent is.

Lol, the script has been shattered and this is to help Argentina get a smooth experience in the final stage of the world cup.
So unfortunately that France had to miss their opportunity to reach the top final stage due to couples of errors they made on the pitch.
What we are expecting to see is the match between Argentina and England, this is not going to be a soft meat at all.

[Hewlet]

It is a big upset, as I was also expecting France to dominate and win against Spain. They did not even dominate the match, and Spain was in full control of the match. 2-0 defeat in the semifinal is a significant win. I was expecting Argentina and France to play the final. Now it looks like Spain might play either Argentina or England in the final. England is not a team to be underestimated; they might defeat Argentina in the semifinals.

For me it was not an upset. I always considered Spain as a better team and the results matched my expectations. In the second semi-final also, I guess the same may happen. Stake has England at 2.70, while Argentina at 2.95. From the games completed till now, it seems to be that Argentina is marginally better than England (I am not denying the fact that they really struggled against Egypt). 1x2 bets are almost 50-50 now in Stake, and this means that the gamblers are also not sure which team is stronger. There is a very good chance that the match will not get completed in the regular 90 minutes + injury time.

Both teams were balanced due to good performance and consistency in previous games, but for this game Spain was looking exceptionally well they started off well and then had good control, while France was looking not like they played in the last few games; their ball control was also looking not good.

I was literally getting angry with the performance of Olise because it was not close to what you expect from him in a world cup semi finals. look at the way the Spanish side took the game, everyone played for the team without trying to do anything special. just create spaces, make the runs and cover up for your opponent. as simple as that sound, it was all they needed to do to neutralized whatever whatever tactics the France team came up with and it did not take long before France because confused and destabilized.

When it comes to knock out game, every game is a final and regardless your past performance, if you don't step up per game, you are heading straight home. fortunately for Spain, they are writing a massive story for themselves.

[Solokan]

The game between France and Spain was a very good game. I had bet on France to win, but unfortunately I lost my bet. Even so, I was very happy to have watched the game. Spain played very well, with a good defense, and didn't give France any space to play well. Mbappé didn't have much space. It was as if the Spanish players had studied him very well; of course, with so many games they've played against Mbappé in La Liga, they know his weaknesses. But the French coach made a mistake in not starting Désiré Doué. Anyway, it was the last game for the French coach; now we'll see if Zidane becomes France's coach.

It's a shame I also lost my bet because I thought Spain would lose to France Judging from previous matches, France certainly had a stronger team than Spain. However, it seems Spain knew France's weaknesses, which ultimately led to their defeat. After all, the Spanish players, who often play against Mbappé, certainly knew his weaknesses, so France ultimately lost. But I think Simon performed well in this match because he always managed to save his goal well

If the French coach had played that player, the situation might have been different, but now it's all happened, and I think France played well, even though they failed to win the 2026 World Cup trophy. From the news I've read online, it seems Zidane has agreed to become France's coach, and I'm curious to see whether he will be able to lead france to even better performance than they have now

[Sim_card]

This is football, when facing different opponents, their performance can be very different. France is not without chances; they got some opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them.
I don't know what is wrong with France, but they really struggled to break through Spain's defense. France might be able to console itself with third place, but it also depends on who their opponent is.

Spain is becoming tougher as they go farther in the competition and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up winning the world cup. France performance has been so excellent since the beginning but Spain was able to make proper use of their goal opportunities which was why they defeated Spain. I think the third position will be a consolation price for them.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Spain had only conceded just 1 goal since the beginning of the FWC and many have been talking about the goalkeeper for keeping a clean sheet till they got to the finals and for me I thought he (Unai Simon) would have conceded another last night against France but nothing special happened for the France national team.
Now, nobody is talking about this young man with his brilliant display in this competition at the age of 19 playing in the biggest stage in football when it comes to country level, Cubarsi, he is too good and I applaud him for his composure in the defense line, what a way to go about business, what's your take on Cubarsi's performance?

[Majestic-milf]

Lol, the script has been shattered and this is to help Argentina get a smooth experience in the final stage of the world cup.
So unfortunately that France had to miss their opportunity to reach the top final stage due to couples of errors they made on the pitch.
What we are expecting to see is the match between Argentina and England, this is not going to be a soft meat at all.

Kindly explain to me what script you're talking about because I'd be sorely disappointed that you are amongst those who saw a trend and decided to jump on it without having no proper idea.
Saying this football is a script will mean some players were handed their winning on a platter of gold without much work eh? Or is this as a result of the fact that Portugal got booted out cause they built their game around the flailing Ronaldo? Name one game Argentina played that was handed to them and I'm saying this as a neutral football watcher so don't base your arguments on the fact that I'm saying this as a result of a sense of loyalty.

[Sammye3]

Oh! What a performance from Spain, the underdogs have become the winners of the long anticipated game and they did that effortlessly, as you could see that it could have being the easiest game for Spain in this World Cup.

Spain kept the ball within their space with close contact possession and breakthrough passes that the France defence could not comprehend. At last, we could see that the best players in a team does not decide the outcome of the game and Spain proved that.

Congrats to Spain on reaching the finals of the World Cup, it was truly deserved.

[Felicity_Tide]

Spain is becoming tougher as they go farther in the competition and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up winning the world cup. France performance has been so excellent since the beginning but Spain was able to make proper use of their goal opportunities which was why they defeated Spain. I think the third position will be a consolation price for them.

One thing that takes a team far in major tournaments, is their defense, and their level of efficiency in attack.
Spain hasn't been the best team in this competition, but they keep maintaining that solid defensive structure, while capitalizing on some key moments. We've seen them win some of their games in this competition by just a goal margin... That's how you make it to the next round because nobody cares much about having ball possessions. At this point, they're looking very much like a stronger side to win this WC, but I won't underestimate the team that is coming from the other bracket of this tournament.

[B-BossMan]

Source: https://sport.detik.com/juara-bola-dunia-2026/bola-dunia/d-8574445/hasil-prancis-vs-spanyol-menang-2-0-la-roja-ke-final-piala-dunia-2026/amp
The semifinal match between france and Spain was truly exciting because both teams fought hard to win, but unfortunately, one of them had to lose and ultimately failed to advance to the final The one that failed to advance to the final was France because they lost to Spain with a score of 2-0. Although France had several good chances to score, unfortunately, they failed to capitalize on them. Now France can only compete for third place in the 2026 World cup. Now Spain has qualified for the final and now they just have to wait and see who will be their opponent in the final

Oyarzabal and Porro were the heroes in this match because they were the ones who scored the goals against France However it is also very unfortunate that the goal scored by Yamal was offside If it had not been for offside, Spain would have scored 3 goals in this match. But unfortunately, in this match, I lost my bet because I thought that France would be superior to Spain but in reality spain was superior to france Did you also lose your bet on this match?

Before the match many people see Spain as the underdog in the game because France has been the best team in this tournament and i said it that no one should underestimate Spain because they are the only team that have a good defense and have conceded a single goal in this World Cup, Spain dominated the game and still defeated France with a good performance, What affect France yesterday is a midfield and defense, i stated that Kone should start the game over Tchoumeni if the coach want to win and he decided to start Tchoumeni and Tchoumeni is a defensive midfield that lack creativity, i knew him as a Real Madrid fan and what he is doing to affect the team.

Another thing that affect France yesterday is defense, after the injury of Saliba everything changed and only Opamecano is doing his job at the back, the coach should have bring Konate that Ja not a defender that is going out too much, France coach is also part of the reason why they lose the game, though Spain is very strong to be honest and as it stands now they are the favourite to win the World Cup.

The Spain actually deserved the victory because the Spain looked more organized than France from the starting of the match to the ending of that match, Spain truly stayed more discipline than France, all thier ball touches or passes was moving quickly and easily. In facts their game was well understood and they played based on thier roles, the Olise, Dembele and the Mbappe performance was weaker, I know quite alright that the genesis of the loses actually came from thier midfielders and their defenders, Spain has been the best team or country that has a strong defenders, so the France attackers Hardly sees chances easily, but seriously I wasn't well impressed with thoer their poor performances. Well they were not meant to achieve the victory, so congratulations to Spain for being qualified to a final stage. Today we are looking forward to see what will happen between Argentina and England.

[pewboy]

France have consistent performance during the world cup match and keep unbeaten with 100% winning trend since group stage until quarter final round, indeed Spain have bigger odds I am still confusing place bet for which one team France or Spain?

I checked before the match, all the bookmakers were giving France as the favourite, it is absolutely not predictable the result definitely, especially with teams of this level.
Spain played tactically, they won by strategy, it's difficult to determine who will win the World Cup, but at this point the Spanish, being candidates, have all the credentials to be able to win seriously.

[SuperBitMan]

England. Argentina’s run will end in the semifinals. They’ll face France again in the third-place match, and I’m certain of that.
My hopes are the same as yours regarding the England-Argentina match. In other words, this is a showdown between the two biggest leagues in the world right now: La Liga and the English Premier League.
Jude Bellingham will once again pull off a surprise for England.

I have been so much invested on whoever knocks out Argentina stage after stage but they have always shown superior quality and alongside couple cheating from VAR officials.
Thomas Tuchel is quite tactical, now this game will be the toughest for Argentina. I don't know who wins, but deep down it feels like it will be Argentina all over again.

Spain - Argentina for the finals.

I’m expecting England to knock out Argentina and if they can’t do it then I’m sure Argentina are going to lift the World Cup if they meet Spain, everyone is wishing for Argentina to meet Spain and i know is because of the two stars in the two countries.
I will be betting on England to win today, yesterday I bet on France and they disappointed me and I’m sure a lot of us also did same because we saw France as the most inform and strongest team in the World Cup competition, it was France defense that made France lose the match, Spain was just finding it very easy to break into their box.
Let see what will happen today.

[m4r1o]

But if we look back, Spain actually won a lot when they faced France, for example in the Euro and also in the national cup. In both competitions, if I'm not mistaken, France always lost to Spain. So, that's why it's not impossible that Spain could win again, so let's just wait and see.

Spain has secured their place, officially France is out, the circle is closing in on any finalists for this World Cup.
I honestly don't understand on what basis they were giving France as favourites, especially considering the fact that Spain won a lot against France.

With today's match we will find out who will be in the final, although i believe it will be a final between Spain and Argentina.
.

[As-Soon-As]

France have consistent performance during the world cup match and keep unbeaten with 100% winning trend since group stage until quarter final round, indeed Spain have bigger odds I am still confusing place bet for which one team France or Spain?

I checked before the match, all the bookmakers were giving France as the favourite, it is absolutely not predictable the result definitely, especially with teams of this level.
Spain played tactically, they won by strategy, it's difficult to determine who will win the World Cup, but at this point the Spanish, being candidates, have all the credentials to be able to win seriously.

I myself lost by betting on the French team, in this game it was completely the opposite, the French team could not dominate. In the current position, the Spanish team performed so aggressively that it always created pressure on the French team. Due to the excessive pressure,
the French team completely lost their performance, and using this opportunity, the Spanish team started to perform very well and was able to score goals. However, if the Spanish team can perform like this on the day of the final match, then it will definitely be a contender for the title.

[MinoRaiola]

The second half of the match is not going to be easy, I placed bet on France to get a win today, but with the pattern that france is using, I feel it’s going to be kind of difficult for them, and France allowing Spain score a goal is really a great mistake for them, Spain are going to do everything possible to defend the goal which they have.

Spain defense is strong and France are just finding it difficult to break, just imagine France couldn’t get even a shot on target in the first half of the match, that’s why I just feel it’s going to be difficult for France to score in the match. The second half of the match has started already, let’s see how the two teams are going to perform.

You were right. France didnt score a goal. With the 2-0, Spain had everything under control, and t think they could scored another goal. But the goal is to reach the final, and they do that. So maybe it will be Spain vs. England? That is exactly the opposite of what many people bet. So the title will go to one of the top 3 best teams in the world. Messi could become the top scorer, he already has 8 goals. Kane and Bellingham still have a chance, but they must score 2 more goals.

[eisen33]

Spain has secured their place, officially France is out, the circle is closing in on any finalists for this World Cup.
I honestly don't understand on what basis they were giving France as favourites, especially considering the fact that Spain won a lot against France.

With today's match we will find out who will be in the final, although i believe it will be a final between Spain and Argentina.
.

There were far fewer people who believed Spain would win than those who were confident France would. I'll say I was also on the side of those who were confident France would win. And up until Spain scored the penalty, I'll say France played much better, and I thought they could win this match. But after Spain took the lead, France started playing noticeably worse. And after the second goal, Spain completely took control of the game, and France couldn't do anything about it. It was rather unexpected, it was surprising to see France fail to score a single goal all match. Congratulations to Spain on reaching the final.

[SFR10]

England is not a team to be underestimated; they might defeat Argentina in the semifinals.

I agree... Even with the fitness doubts & injuries that they have, they can still cause a lot of trouble for the aging Argentinian national team, so I'm predicting a high-scoring draw in normal time and an England win in extra time ^{[BTTS is probably the safest bet for this match (over 2.5 is also a good one)]}.