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

[Issa56]

What a fantastic final we’re in for.
Argentina v Spain is set to be a thrilling final; to be honest, I didn’t expect Spain to make it this far, but I’ve had to change my mind.

The final is going to be a interesting one, but I didn’t expect Spain to get to the final, I was thinking France were going to defeat them in the World Cup semi final, but Spain ended up surprising most people in the match, and they qualified for the final. The final is just a match which I think is going to be difficult to predict, the two teams are going to do everything to win the final, and they both are having strong squad. I feel people that are going to place bet in the match will have to be very careful, they have to gamble responsibly. Messi fans are going to be supporting Argentina in the final, and Ronaldo fans are going to be supporting Spain in the match.

[Adiljutt156]

Congratulations to Argentina, i’m really amazed with their fantastic performance tonight. Their determination, fighting spirit and teamwork has really showed up at last. Am wishing you all the best as you guys are preparing for the biggest match coming up, I hope and pray that this final match  be another unforgettable and memorable  victory in  Argentina’s football history.

The shots of Argentina national football team were more in this match and these were  14 in this match and  6 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 64 percent in this match and they gave their all effort to win this match but Messi Could not do any goal in this match and he tried his best to do goals in this match.  The passes of that team were more in number and these were 578 and pass accuracy of that team was 93 percent in this match. The shots of England national football team were less in this match and these were 6 and 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 36 percent in this match and only one player of that team did goal in this match.

[slapper]

~

I think most forum members agree that both Argentina and Spain are very strong football teams. The two finalists have roughly equal chances of winning, so a draw is entirely possible!

In that case, the champion will be decided in a penalty shootout. And we'll see a duel between two incredible goalkeepers like Unai Simon and Emiliano Martinez! It will be like a machine gun duel from the Civil War, with one machine gun firing at another, and one machine gunner facing off against another. In such machine gun duels, the calmest and most composed fighter usually wins. 💥

Therefore, I wouldn't discount Unai Simon. Yes, he's not as skilled at improvising as Emiliano Martinez. He has a completely different temperament... However, he defends his goal with the calm of a chess grandmaster.  In my opinion, he will be a very difficult opponent for the Argentine footballers.

Messi is in the lead in the tournament for chances created, dribbles completed. Has more assists than nearly any one else. This is supposed to be the part where the old guy fades into the background and the young guys carry it. He did not get that memo apparently. I have seen him play against England. What is going on? Like at 39 I can barely wake up without something hurting. And this man is running the show at a World Cup final. No one is talking about the halftime show being 30 minutes this year, either. That sounds small but for guys like Messi and Otamendi (who is 38 btw_ that extended break is genuinely brutal. There are different ways to cool muscles down. The average age of Spain's team is 26 years. They restart fine. Argentina's vets start up as cool engines.

And then there is the Falklands thing. The England banner following the match. The UK government is calling on FIFA to investigate. Potential suspensions before Sunday. I have no idea how that plays out.

The goalkeeper duel is no joke and a topic for discussion. I believe Sunday is more than this, however. A sense of the final page of a book. Whatever happens (Spain winning their second ever final or Argentina going back to back) neither of those things will feel small in ten years. I just hope Messi gets to finish the right way. This is the most human thing I have of this whole match.

[Baki202]

This current world cup has make me look at the early goal as something that is not a progress, because most of the countries that scored early goal were not able to move to the next stage because just as you said, it is so wrong for the  team to be defending one goal at the early stage of the time which I also believe that is the reason why England could not be able to make it to the final. Argentina have found their way to the final to face Spain, Spain will have more fans this time around because almost all the Cristiano Ronaldo's fans will be supporting Spain.

And a lot of things have happened in the World Cup because look at what happened yesterday when England was leading with a goal and within how many minutes Argentina was able to equalize and still add another goal, and I was surprised because all I expected was that Argentina was going to go home and see who eventually went home yesterday, and we were all hoping that Messi would go home.

I was pained yesterday because all our hope was on England to make us proud, but they ended up disappointing us, and a lot of teams have just disappointed us. Look at France. We told the boys that they are going to win the World Cup, and the way things are going, I just hope it's not what I'm thinking—that Argentina is going to win the World Cup—because I won't lie, I won't be happy at all.

[ASloveapg]

What a fantastic final we’re in for.
Argentina v Spain is set to be a thrilling final; to be honest, I didn’t expect Spain to make it this far, but I’ve had to change my mind.
I’ll be supporting Argentina and I hope that the greatest player of all time wins his second World Cup as the undisputed star of the tournament.

At the moment, most will be in favor of Argentina, but since it is the final, anything can happen here. But there is no doubt that the game is definitely going to be very exciting. Because Spain has reached the final by defeating a superpower in the semi-finals like France, where we did not expect them to survive in the semi-finals and reach the final, the way Spain defeated a team with a high superpower like France, it was a truly surprising performance. So it is not that Argentina can easily win against Spain, because it is the world cup final match. the possibility is definitely in Argentina's favor, but Argentina will have to work very hard to win.

[Byebyebtc]

What a fantastic final we’re in for.
Argentina v Spain is set to be a thrilling final; to be honest, I didn’t expect Spain to make it this far, but I’ve had to change my mind.

The final is going to be a interesting one, but I didn’t expect Spain to get to the final, I was thinking France were going to defeat them in the World Cup semi final, but Spain ended up surprising most people in the match, and they qualified for the final. The final is just a match which I think is going to be difficult to predict, the two teams are going to do everything to win the final, and they both are having strong squad. I feel people that are going to place bet in the match will have to be very careful, they have to gamble responsibly. Messi fans are going to be supporting Argentina in the final, and Ronaldo fans are going to be supporting Spain in the match.

It does seem like a match that Argentina will clearly win. But Spain in the other hand is also a very strong team, looking at the performance of these both countries you will come to understand that Argentina some how seems better, they are aggressive in taking back possession on the ball, one opportunity created (mostly by Messi) will definitely be capitalised on to get a win.
Argentina is a team that can score 3 goals under 15 minutes, that alone is something to be worried about

[nikola22]

I came across predictions for the World Cup semifinal matches from various AI systems. their predictions seem fairly reasonable but the beauty of football is that the results can be quite unusual.


we'll be able to compare in a couple of days to see which AI performed best.

it's time to sum up these semifinal predictions. not a single AI predicted correct final scores in any match.

the best performer was the PW AI which predicted Spain and Argentina would advance. ChatGPT, Gemini and Deepseek didn't predict anything correctly. Claude and Grok correctly predicted Argentina would advance.

[pawel7777]

The odds (from Winna.com) for the final game on Sunday are:
To win the Cup:
Spain: x1.68 - Argentina: x2.12

Regular time result:
Spain: x2.26; Draw: x2.96; Argentina: x3.50

I'm a bit surprised as I expected Argentina to be a slight favourite, but I can see the reason why it's the other way around. Spain delivers results and the way they handled France was truly impressive.
Messi and the team will have to play at their absolute best if they want to defend their title.

[Stavri]

The odds (from Winna.com) for the final game on Sunday are:
To win the Cup:
Spain: x1.68 - Argentina: x2.12

Regular time result:
Spain: x2.26; Draw: x2.96; Argentina: x3.50

I'm a bit surprised as I expected Argentina to be a slight favourite, but I can see the reason why it's the other way around. Spain delivers results and the way they handled France was truly impressive.
Messi and the team will have to play at their absolute best if they want to defend their title.

there is one elite tier thing Spain does in their game. the constant rotation of dynamic players, stretching the pitch and breaking the press... Stretching the play. Dynamic players are constantly making runs into space, winning the game by mastering off the ball movement even when they have possession.
i think they can easily bypass the press applied by Argentina's aging squad.

[laspol65]

Congratulations to Argentina, i’m really amazed with their fantastic performance tonight. Their determination, fighting spirit and teamwork has really showed up at last. Am wishing you all the best as you guys are preparing for the biggest match coming up, I hope and pray that this final match  be another unforgettable and memorable  victory in  Argentina’s football history.

The shots of Argentina national football team were more in this match and these were  14 in this match and  6 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 64 percent in this match and they gave their all effort to win this match but Messi Could not do any goal in this match and he tried his best to do goals in this match.  The passes of that team were more in number and these were 578 and pass accuracy of that team was 93 percent in this match. The shots of England national football team were less in this match and these were 6 and 3 shots were on target and possession percentage of that team was 36 percent in this match and only one player of that team did goal in this match.

Argentina did not perform well at the beginning, they attacked heavily at the end, putting so much pressure on England that England was playing a defensive role. Taking advantage of this situation, Argentina attacked heavily and started to score goals. However, if England had not played a defensive role, the game would have been more competitive,
Argentina was desperate to score goals. This match was a tough competition where each team was trying to win, but in this case, Argentina was able to win with their best effort. The game went into extra minutes and was able to secure the final.

[Stalker22]

At the moment, most will be in favor of Argentina, but since it is the final, anything can happen here. But there is no doubt that the game is definitely going to be very exciting. Because Spain has reached the final by defeating a superpower in the semi-finals like France, where we did not expect them to survive in the semi-finals and reach the final, the way Spain defeated a team with a high superpower like France, it was a truly surprising performance. So it is not that Argentina can easily win against Spain, because it is the world cup final match. the possibility is definitely in Argentina's favor, but Argentina will have to work very hard to win.

What are you on about, man, Spain is not that big of a surprise when you pay any attention to European football.  They are current European champions, for Gods sake!  Have you not fucking been keeping track of who has beat Germany in quarters, France in semi-finals, England in Euro 2024 final and on the whole dominated Euro 2024.  

And by the way, since this is a gambling forum, have you checked the odds at the bookies?  Who is the real favorite there?

[Forsyth Jones]

In the game against England, first half they've just tried to bully each other, I thought they all just wait for the free kicks at the end. Surprisingly after about minute 65-70 Argentina started to play, but that was because England went all defense and Argentina's coach has done some interesting changes to favor the attack.

Spain has a very good defense and they move the ball very well and precise. But if Argentina is, by some chance or mistake, allowed again to do some similar move, even Spain will not be able to stop them. I do wish it's gonna be Spain turn this time to win the World Cup, but they have to outsmart Argentina and also not be afraid of their fouls. And yeah, if they wait for the end, that's a lottery of luck.

Imho the chances are pretty close for one or another, though.

Argentina is lethal, they are experts at finding gaps in the defense, even under the pressure of imminent defeat, as was the case in this game against England. Spain, on the other hand, has a quick passing and is very well-coordinated, it will be a tough game to predict. I was almost certain Argentina would reach the final, and France too, but they fell to England, although I haven't watched many of Spain's games in this cup, I've heard great things about how strong Spain has been since the group stage. A very close game full of goals is expected (just like the 22 final).

I am not sure what you meant by surpassing Pelé; if you are talking about legacy, they are both legends of the sport. In my view, Argentina depends heavily on Messi to score or to create opportunities with his precise passing. His eight goals and four assists came at crucial times. This means that if Argentina wants to win, they will need yet another magical performance from him to secure the title.

Yes, they are always looking for Messi, who is the star of the team, but I see Argentina as strong even without Messi, after all, this could be his last Cup.

[bangjoe]

I wanted to support Spain but for some reason my heart always thought that Argentina would definitely get another win with what happened in the previous games even though they lost they could fix the situation very easily, and some of the controversies that we had heard-with in the media, and it really disturbed my clarity of mind in supporting the team in this World Cup.
So as much as I think I want to support Spain but Argentina is definitely winning, this is really not clear in my mind, I better not bet it seems.

[retreat]

This I was telling someone earlier today, I even made a post about it on this thread earlier, I see a lot of people criticizing England for the decision of the coach yesterday. I’m not among those that are criticizing the coach, because when they did it against Mexico nobody said it was a bad tactics. The team was praised and the English media sang the praises of Tuchel, but today he’s a bad coach, people can forget so quickly.  Which team wouldn’t be scared of playing against Messi the GOAT and want to protect their team lead.

If they had played more aggressively, as Cape Verde did, their losses might have been acceptable; however, after scoring a goal, they tended to play defensively, allowing Argentina to maximize their attacks. They switched to a defensive strategy too quickly, even though they lacked defenders capable of withstanding Argentina's attacks, and it became clear that Tuchel's decision proved detrimental for them, enabling Argentina to score two goals in quick succession. Any team that plays like this deserves to be eliminated because it's just so cowardly.

[Ndabagi01]

What a fantastic final we’re in for.
Argentina v Spain is set to be a thrilling final; to be honest, I didn’t expect Spain to make it this far, but I’ve had to change my mind.

The final is going to be a interesting one, but I didn’t expect Spain to get to the final, I was thinking France were going to defeat them in the World Cup semi final, but Spain ended up surprising most people in the match, and they qualified for the final. The final is just a match which I think is going to be difficult to predict, the two teams are going to do everything to win the final, and they both are having strong squad. I feel people that are going to place bet in the match will have to be very careful, they have to gamble responsibly. Messi fans are going to be supporting Argentina in the final, and Ronaldo fans are going to be supporting Spain in the match.

Both of the teams that made it to the finals are not the teams I was expecting to reach the finals. Using the stats of both teams from how far they’ve come in this competition, you would not be convinced easily that both teams will reach the finals. In the finals, I don’t have a preference, neither do I know the team that stands a better chance for the title. We will have to see how they play in the finals, because they’ve been so really looking like teams that made it this far through luck. I know both teams will show their best forms in this finals, but I still expect them to make it competitive to watch. Even in the third place playoffs, both teams will really get to face each other with a lot of competitiveness, but in all, the better teams gets to prevail.

[sergiorus]

What a fantastic final we’re in for.
Argentina v Spain is set to be a thrilling final; to be honest, I didn’t expect Spain to make it this far, but I’ve had to change my mind.

The final is going to be a interesting one, but I didn’t expect Spain to get to the final, I was thinking France were going to defeat them in the World Cup semi final, but Spain ended up surprising most people in the match, and they qualified for the final. The final is just a match which I think is going to be difficult to predict, the two teams are going to do everything to win the final, and they both are having strong squad. I feel people that are going to place bet in the match will have to be very careful, they have to gamble responsibly. Messi fans are going to be supporting Argentina in the final, and Ronaldo fans are going to be supporting Spain in the match.

Both of the teams that made it to the finals are not the teams I was expecting to reach the finals. Using the stats of both teams from how far they’ve come in this competition, you would not be convinced easily that both teams will reach the finals. In the finals, I don’t have a preference, neither do I know the team that stands a better chance for the title. We will have to see how they play in the finals, because they’ve been so really looking like teams that made it this far through luck. I know both teams will show their best forms in this finals, but I still expect them to make it competitive to watch. Even in the third place playoffs, both teams will really get to face each other with a lot of competitiveness, but in all, the better teams gets to prevail.

What do you mean not the teams you were expecting to be in the final?

I understand France was the most expected team to reach the latest stage but Spain and Argentina were closely following as 2nd and 3rd main favourites.

Portugal was a bit of a surprise but I genuinely don't understand how one can be surprised that the current World Champion team and the current Euro Champion team are playing in the final match.

[Rgram]

Believe me, this guy is having the very best of what might turn out to be his last World Cup in his career. His career has being amazing and he’s being phenomenal in this tournament, more than we can say for anyone else since, Mbappe got kicked out by France. He was the only one tailing Messi and now, we just need him to score in the finals and that would be the cherry on top of his career.
England gifted the finals to Argentina and they now look the more ready to win it.

[juttsab@]

Argentina won thanks also to Messi's work which should never be taken for granted, in fact he made two assists for two fantastic goals, this is also something to consider in addition Tuchel played his chance really badly, putting all the defenders possible and in the end Argentina scored.

Argentina is in the final back to back finals for Messi. After beating England by 2-1. In the first half Argentina kept 55% possession but not great attacking from both sides so the first half ended 0-0. In the second half Gordon scored a goal for England in the 55th minute after that goal they became defensive and Argentina kept on trying again and again until Enzo Fernandez scored a brilliant goal in the 85th minute what a shot by him. In the added minutes 90+2 Martinez scored a header and led Argentina to the final.  Messi was named as player of the match. Now Argentina is going to face Spain for a title game and England is going to face France for the 3rd place match.

[HelliumZ]

The odds (from Winna.com) for the final game on Sunday are:
To win the Cup:
Spain: x1.68 - Argentina: x2.12

Regular time result:
Spain: x2.26; Draw: x2.96; Argentina: x3.50

I'm a bit surprised as I expected Argentina to be a slight favourite, but I can see the reason why it's the other way around. Spain delivers results and the way they handled France was truly impressive.
Messi and the team will have to play at their absolute best if they want to defend their title.

The betting odds seem to suggest that Spain is the favourite over Argentina and the statistics suggest that in the past, all the matches have been equally won, lost and drawn. However, France has the best defence in this World Cup so far, which no team like France has been able to attack and Spain has conceded just one goal in seven matches so far in the 2026 World Cup. The statistics for this year's World Cup suggest that Spain is the favourite over Argentina and no team will concede a single point to any other team in the final.

[pawel7777]

I came across predictions for the World Cup semifinal matches from various AI systems. their predictions seem fairly reasonable but the beauty of football is that the results can be quite unusual.


we'll be able to compare in a couple of days to see which AI performed best.

it's time to sum up these semifinal predictions. not a single AI predicted correct final scores in any match.

the best performer was the PW AI which predicted Spain and Argentina would advance. ChatGPT, Gemini and Deepseek didn't predict anything correctly. Claude and Grok correctly predicted Argentina would advance.

I guess AI's predictions are as good as anyone else's.
I wonder if the author of those posts used any dedicated tool, or just asked in a normal chat, and whether or not he prompted for AI to consider statistics of the past games.

At this level of competition, predicting outcomes is the hardest. All teams are from the top shelf and there aren't that many recent head-to-head results or games against common opponents that could be taken into consideration.
I think most of us would have also pointed to France and England as favourites.