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

[Stavri]

everyone knows Spain is good at keeping possession in midfield. France have to crowd the midfield to clog up or cut off their passing lanes...

its probably too late but this actually could have been an easy win for France...

It’s unbelievable that France is losing to Spain, I really didn’t expect this, especially since the bookmakers had the French as heavy favorites. De la Fuente has adopted a tactic of attached Rodri to Olise, and right now it’s paying off because Olise isn’t touching the ball and is managing to shut down France’s offense. It’s a really clever move. Now Deschamps will have to play catch up and come up with something new to surprise the Spanish in turn.

France had only 1 shot on target. i think this stat alone sums up yesterday's match perfectly.
teamwork completely shattered star studded, individual play. Mbappe, Dembele and Olise all played their worst game at the same time...

[Zackz5000]

The Argentina vs. England match is sure to be a high-intensity affair. I’ve been following their head-to-head history, and their matches have always been heated and fierce. The moment that remains most vivid in the memories of English fans is, of course, Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. That’s why, when I see Argentina facing England in the semifinals, I’m reminded of that moment in history. Although, of course, it’s impossible for that incident to happen again now that VAR is in place, I can still imagine that this match will be thrilling. I’m rooting for Argentina to advance to the final.

The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

[Warkop]

France has dominated and won every previous match in the World Cup. Their attack is the strongest attack in this World Cup. Even so, their performance in this match was completely disappointing.

Spain played brilliantly. Especially because of their match strategy, the French players were helpless. The Spanish players controlled the match. Even then, France was able to make several strong attacks. The Spanish goalkeeper made some great saves.

Honestly, I never imagined that I would see France in such a bad situation. But both teams were strong. Both gave their best effort in this match.

I was also one of those who expected France to beat Spain. I didn't think it would be an easy victory, but I believed France were the stronger team and capable of getting the job done.

At the same time, it wouldn't be fair to call Spain's win a major upset. They're an outstanding team with an incredible unbeaten run, and once again, De la Fuente has proven that he's a top-class coach. I'd also love to see Spain go on and win the final.

Everyone was fooled by social media opinions that France was superior, and that was all nonsense. There was no impressive performance from the first half to the second, it was a complete failure. The French midfielders, who lacked tactics, seemed confused and at a loss against Spain's strong defense.

Unfortunately, French coach Didier Deschamps didn't include N'Golo Kanté in this match. We know that N'Golo Kanté is adept at winning the ball back, and France really needs him in their midfield. However, Didier Deschamps, a coach who knows better when a team is stuck, didn't do that.

I admit that Spain played consistently and systematically throughout and across all lines!!

[B-BossMan]

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.

I was so much confidence that France will win Spain, even though I saw their first goal I still don't have confidence that they will win because I believe that there is still more time to play and with the pressure France was mounting on them it actually looked promising. I don't have anything to say rather than to congratulate Spain for making it to the final after a very long time since 2010. Right now Spain i just waiting for their opponent Argentina and England.

The remaining match between England and Argentina will be a very interesting match to watch, because I will say that Argentina I have meet strong opponent since they start this competition, it is going to be a challenge for them but despite that I still have hope that they will win because of the favours they are receiving from the beginning of the competition.

You know the main problems of the France losses was thier Defenders and the Midfielders, well the Olise had a very quiet game even from his standards he actually has an accurate game plays, because has the quality to change the narration of the match, same goes to the Mbappe, but what I noticed in that game was over confidence, France has a very higher hype by fans and and everyone was expected to see a good result, but they fumbled at the end of it, the game's difference was clear throughout that match, even if you have a good reputations from the previous matches, when it comes to knockout stage in football, you don't works or played based on your past standards because the opponent may comes with different gams patterns. And am expecting that patterns in England and Argentina.

[giammangiato]

You know the main problems of the France losses was thier Defenders and the Midfielders, well the Olise had a very quiet game even from his standards he actually has an accurate game plays, because has the quality to change the narration of the match, same goes to the Mbappe, but what I noticed in that game was over confidence, France has a very higher hype by fans and and everyone was expected to see a good result, but they fumbled at the end of it, the game's difference was clear throughout that match, even if you have a good reputations from the previous matches, when it comes to knockout stage in football, you don't works or played based on your past standards because the opponent may comes with different gams patterns. And am expecting that patterns in England and Argentina.

I'm happy about this too, France started at 1000, confident of winning the match as if Spain would be child's play, instead they realized (too late) that the right spirit was not the mocking one to have against Spain, but one had to be very careful and respectful against an opponent who apparently seemed inoffensive, instead of it is proven a very tough match for them.
Spain had more possession, they had the same shots on target as the French but they were able to exploit their chances correctly and defended well. In football, the one who deserves wins, not the one who swells his chest.

[paco92x]

France had only 1 shot on target. i think this stat alone sums up yesterday's match perfectly.
teamwork completely shattered star studded, individual play. Mbappe, Dembele and Olise all played their worst game at the same time...

That was a superb display of tactical thinking by De la Fuente; simply put, it was a battle of the managers, and one outsmarted the other. Deschamps had absolutely no response to Spain's style of play. He should have adjusted his tactics, brought some extra firepower into the midfield, and tried to throw Spain off balance. Instead, he just made straight swap rotations that contributed absolutely nothing to the game.

[banana33]

So if they liked it and the results were good for them financially and viewership, and they plan on increasing yet again, then I would not blame them because they did it once and it was good, so they may test the waters for some more. However, they gotta be careful, maybe make the group number bigger, so teams do not play way mor games, if every team plays either zero more games or just one more game, then it's fine.

the idea is not bad, there are teams that deserve to participate in the world cup, but this then leads to a degradation of the competition, i understand that there are many important players who were left out and this was very sad for some of them and it is not fair, to have teams that are poor.

[mandown]

France, a favorite for many around the world, was eliminated after failing to put up any real fight against Spain.
I would say the defining moment of the match was the incident involving Mbappé and goalkeeper Simon in the 85th minute.
Spain's style of play really frustrated France; I cannot recall a single scoring chance for the French side.
Mbappé finished the tournament with 8 goals. Currently, Messi is the top contender for the Golden Boot. If he manages to score against England today, he will likely finish the World Cup as the top scorer; Messi holds the advantage right now, having one more assist than Mbappé.
Kane and Bellingham are on 6 goals, but I do not think they will overtake Messi.

[Agbam]

You know the main problems of the France losses was thier Defenders and the Midfielders, well the Olise had a very quiet game even from his standards he actually has an accurate game plays, because has the quality to change the narration of the match, same goes to the Mbappe, but what I noticed in that game was over confidence, France has a very higher hype by fans and and everyone was expected to see a good result, but they fumbled at the end of it, the game's difference was clear throughout that match, even if you have a good reputations from the previous matches, when it comes to knockout stage in football, you don't works or played based on your past standards because the opponent may comes with different gams patterns. And am expecting that patterns in England and Argentina.

I'm happy about this too, France started at 1000, confident of winning the match as if Spain would be child's play, instead they realized (too late) that the right spirit was not the mocking one to have against Spain, but one had to be very careful and respectful against an opponent who apparently seemed inoffensive, instead of it is proven a very tough match for them.
Spain had more possession, they had the same shots on target as the French but they were able to exploit their chances correctly and defended well. In football, the one who deserves wins, not the one who swells his chest.

This game against Spain exposed a lot of truths about football and France in this World Cup. Team performance always beats individual performance any day anytime. Let’s go back to how PSG were able to win the Champions League back to back: Team Spirit, and compact play.

France depended a lot on individual brilliance and when this guys were locked out it became a problem for team to create an opportunity. Spain completely choked the game out of them, it felt like a training session most of the time. It wasn’t the fault of defenders or midfielders, it was how the team was set.

And kudos to the sharp wit of Unai Simon he has proven why he’s still the no.1 choice goalkeeper for the National Team ahead of David Raya and Joan Garcia

[The Founding Titan]

The Argentina vs. England match is sure to be a high-intensity affair. I’ve been following their head-to-head history, and their matches have always been heated and fierce. The moment that remains most vivid in the memories of English fans is, of course, Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. That’s why, when I see Argentina facing England in the semifinals, I’m reminded of that moment in history. Although, of course, it’s impossible for that incident to happen again now that VAR is in place, I can still imagine that this match will be thrilling. I’m rooting for Argentina to advance to the final.

The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

England will finally show us whether Argentina has been playing fair or whether FIFA had been behind their success all along,  however way it ends though that match is going to be epic with both teams having elite players playing for them, Spain has been able to move on to the finals so this game will determine who they will be playing against; England or Argentina.
At least this world cup will come to and end and we can finally start looking at the leagues that we've been expecting, the champions league especially.

[Iranus]

..

France didn't make it, the disaster occurred when the France defender let himself be fooled by Yamal, by a boy.
A mistake they paid for with a penalty shot perfectly by the Spaniard, 100% goal rate from the penalty spot, a monster.
Spain deserve it.

The first goal was a big mistake for France. Spain got an unexpected penalty. It was not  a bad tackle. France had to  concede the first goal because of a mistake by the defender. We know that  Spain's defense is very strong. When they managed to score the first goal, it was very difficult for france to equalize the match. Then when France conceded the second goal, I was sure that spain would win this match. Even after scoring  the second goal, Fuente rested his  key players in the attack. They didn't try to score any more. Let's see  which team between England and Argentina qualifies for the final today. I am waiting forf the Spain vs Argentina final.

[Ojima-ojo]

Spain won the match 2–0, having played the superior game. One might wonder if Spain would still have won had Lucas Digne not made that mistake in the 20th minute—which conceded a penalty—but in my opinion, Spain would have won regardless.
France did not produce a single shot that stood out by the end of the match.
No scoring chances created by them stuck in my memory.
Had Spain focused on attacking after the score reached 2–0, they might well have found one or two more goals.
Spain advanced to the final—a well-deserved achievement.

Spain made good use of the penalty advantage and that early set back really affected the France team confidence and coordination in the match, almost the whole game became a struggling time for them, but then this is football.


Spain was projected to lose based on assumptions of sport fans but they were prepared to face the opennent knowing very well their strength, so incidence pave the way for Spain winnings.

[sotelorene]

France had only 1 shot on target. i think this stat alone sums up yesterday's match perfectly.
teamwork completely shattered star studded, individual play. Mbappe, Dembele and Olise all played their worst game at the same time...

That was a superb display of tactical thinking by De la Fuente; simply put, it was a battle of the managers, and one outsmarted the other. Deschamps had absolutely no response to Spain's style of play. He should have adjusted his tactics, brought some extra firepower into the midfield, and tried to throw Spain off balance. Instead, he just made straight swap rotations that contributed absolutely nothing to the game.

The manager was just a human being like you, he could not possibly know everything as human thinking is limited i mean he has been using this pattern to win matches in this world cup but the fact that it does not favored him yesterday does not mean he is not good or it does not mean he did not do his best. however, this is football and it is game of lose or win, one team will definitely win and Spain was very lucky and fortunate yesterday and judging their performance they deserved it and they have won France 3 times now in a row.

[davis196]

The first 20 minutes of the match between Spain and France were kinda boring. The penalty for Spain pretty much decided the outcome. For some reason, the French players had no idea how to create goal opportunities and how to score a goal. Dembele and Barcola were totally neutralized. Mbappe had to put in a lot of effort, but wasn't effective at all. Spain had control over the game after the penalty and it was obvious that France cannot score a goal. I have no expectations about how the match between England and Argentina would end. Both teams seem equally strong and both teams have world class players. I really want Argentina and England to score lots of goals and maybe reach the penalty shootout phase.

[EarnOnVictor]

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.

I believe France would beat any opponent in their way to clinch to the third position, as that will be their last card to bear something good in this world cup. I had so much hopes in France, but I knew it would not be easy at all because Spain is a strong team too, and they have a powerful defense at the same time. A round of applause to France though, they did well in this world cup, far better than Spain, until the two met. Well, it has happened, it can't be reverse, and it is beautiful witnessing such a massive display where the better side was eventually revealed.

[Jossque]

France didn’t play very well against Spain, and Spain managed to defeat France to advance to the final. Spain dominated the match by applying pressure from the first half onward and scored a goal on a penalty kick to close out the first half with a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Spain extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal by Pedro Porro, effectively sealing the victory. Although France increased their pressure in the final minutes, they were unable to score and were eliminated. To be honest, I was expecting France to win, but Spain defeated them.

[eaLiTy]

~
The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

Fueling the speculation and media chatter about FIFA and referees favoring Argentina and Messi, Ismail Elfath is the referee for this semi-final match. He is actually one of Lionel Messi’s preferred officials, so Argentina got exactly who they wanted for this important match.

Elfath was an official during the 2022 World Cup Final and the 2023 Leagues Cup Final—and Messi's teams have won every single match he has refereed.

[Tmoonz]

The Argentina vs. England match is sure to be a high-intensity affair. I’ve been following their head-to-head history, and their matches have always been heated and fierce. The moment that remains most vivid in the memories of English fans is, of course, Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. That’s why, when I see Argentina facing England in the semifinals, I’m reminded of that moment in history. Although, of course, it’s impossible for that incident to happen again now that VAR is in place, I can still imagine that this match will be thrilling. I’m rooting for Argentina to advance to the final.

The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

If there's no controversy in tonight game between England and Argentina if there's no bias officiating trust me this will be the end of the road for Argentina, no doubt we've seen the last of surprised winning last night in France and Spain match we ain't seeing it again this, unless there's a controversy because it's no more a tale that since this year FIFA world Argentina has been under the protection of FIFA, so if only they are not being bias in tonight game I'm very much certain England is winning Argentina to night, probably England will win this year FIFA world cup trust me.

[sergiorus]

~
The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

Fueling the speculation and media chatter about FIFA and referees favoring Argentina and Messi, Ismail Elfath is the referee for this semi-final match. He is actually one of Lionel Messi’s preferred officials, so Argentina got exactly who they wanted for this important match.

Elfath was an official during the 2022 World Cup Final and the 2023 Leagues Cup Final—and Messi's teams have won every single match he has refereed.

Even if this kinda speculation has some basis beneath it, considering the way Argentina played so far even against very low class teams like Cape Verde, and the way Spain played against what was thought of as the strongest team in the world, I think no amount of referee help can save Messia and Argentina from getting beaten by the Spanish.

Frankly it could be the most undeserved semi-final in the history for them, Argentina shouldn't have advanced that far.

[Antotena]

The VAR has been favoring Argentina or have you forgotten? This game is going to be an exciting one it will be as tough as the final we had a surprising result yesterday where the Spanish side eliminated France 2-0 unexpectedly to be in the final. Argentina is the defending Champions they have been lucky with the help of FIFA to be in the semi final i believe that England is the first strong side they will be facing in this World Cup if they can win England they can win the World Cup again.

You are one of the few people I do wonder how you got up in rank to ever think of something like this. How VAR favour Messi? What kind of decision making is this? You should admit that you are a Ronaldo fan then I will understand your statement properly, you guys don't have to say unreasonable statements before you try to make any arguments regarding Messi, he has proved to be the alpha of Argentina but you people don't know how to accept it.

If Argentina goes with England and have one goal and they don't win the match, I will be happy, he will win the highest goal scorer and he has a trophy waiting for him to home. The best of y happiness is the fact that Ronaldo journey ended right with Spain and he never ever touch the world cup. To even say Yamal got to the world cup finql before him is enough happiness that everyone want.