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

[BlackBoss_]

I don't know, I hope you are right but, historically, unfortunately many times the teams don't care too much about the third place. Oftentimes they don't give their best performance and the managers give space to the players who played less during the competition. I disagree with this because I do think it's important to win this match but at the same time I can also understand that mentally for the players is difficult because you're still processing your elimination and the fact that you didn't qualify for the real final.

You are so right. Players went through hard times with a long season with their clubs, matches in this World Cup till the semi final matches where they wanted to win but failed eventually. Then they all have to start this 3rd place match with exhaustion from both physical body to their mentality and surely it's not easy for players. Most of them likely want to go home, enjoy their holidays, forget about defeats in semi finals and recharge energy for a new season. Winning or losing a 3rd place match is not so important with them.

Especially both France and England are not underdogs, so playing a 3rd place match is not like a milestone for them. It's different with importance of this match for an underdog national team like Morocco in World Cup 2022.

[laijsica]

I'd love to have the correct score for the 3rd place game between France vs England, who's going to come out tops in this encounter, would it be Mbappe's men or Harry Kane's men? And what are your predictions (correct score)?

I am excited about the result of the third place match because no team is better than any other. Both teams have already proven that they are one of the strongest teams in the world by playing in the semi-finals. Those who watched the match between Spain and France might believe that they played the opposite game to what France played before. The team was so sluggish that they could not score. Spain was able to successfully complete their mission and qualify for the final.

Analyzing the performance of the England team, they played and fought well against Argentina. The Argentina team is really strong and has the ability and morale to take on the talented players they have.

I personally think that England will win the third place match between England and France.

[yudi09]

I am excited about the result of the third place match because no team is better than any other. Both teams have already proven that they are one of the strongest teams in the world by playing in the semi-finals. Those who watched the match between Spain and France might believe that they played the opposite game to what France played before. The team was so sluggish that they could not score. Spain was able to successfully complete their mission and qualify for the final.

Analyzing the performance of the England team, they played and fought well against Argentina. The Argentina team is really strong and has the ability and morale to take on the talented players they have.

I personally think that England will win the third place match between England and France.

England should have been able to defeat Argentina and advance to the final against Spain, given France’s loss in the semifinals—as all claims regarding France’s performance were disproved by Spain’s quality of play.
This bronze-medal match between France and England is intriguing but not a surprise, since neither France nor England are underdogs who made it to the semifinals—unlike in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
If both teams are great, does France deserve to win this given the odds offered by the bookmakers?
I’m support for England.

[alankasman]

Snip.

England should have been able to defeat Argentina and advance to the final against Spain, given France’s loss in the semifinals—as all claims regarding France’s performance were disproved by Spain’s quality of play.
This bronze-medal match between France and England is intriguing but not a surprise, since neither France nor England are underdogs who made it to the semifinals—unlike in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
If both teams are great, does France deserve to win this given the odds offered by the bookmakers?
I’m support for England.

On the one hand it's true that England could have beaten Argentina at that time but in my opinion after watching the match they immediately adopted a defensive strategy after scoring a goal in the first half. If they had continued playing the same way as before they scored I think they are now in the final phase so it's natural for Argentina to advance to the final. In their matches against England they always performed quite well until they managed to score a goal to equalize the score to 1-1. They continued to play an attacking game with the aim of adding another goal before normal time was up and they succeeded because at the end of extra time they managed to secure the victory with a header from Lautaro Martinez assisted by their superstar Lionel Messi.

The match for third place I think is a normal match because they have surrendered to what they did in the semifinals meaning it doesn't mean they didn't fight for third place but they will accept whatever the result is in the match because their goal is clear to qualify for the final round only they in this world cup have to admit the greatness of the two teams that are currently in the final party and I am a little disappointed with France's game during the semifinal round in this world cup where before the semifinal round they were always consistent in playing a pretty good game so that at this time many bookies believe that France this time will be in the final round but in fact they failed because the game they did when facing Argentina was not as usual one of their mistakes in the match against Argentina was that their midfield was not alive so many players were confused in giving the ball to the players who were usually dominated by the midfield.

[SPIDERMAN008]

England should have been able to defeat Argentina and advance to the final against Spain, given France’s loss in the semifinals—as all claims regarding France’s performance were disproved by Spain’s quality of play.
This bronze-medal match between France and England is intriguing but not a surprise, since neither France nor England are underdogs who made it to the semifinals—unlike in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
If both teams are great, does France deserve to win this given the odds offered by the bookmakers?
I’m support for England.

France will win the match between France and England. There is a lot of logic and reason behind this. Because after England score a goal, they start playing completely defensively. In this opportunity, France will create enough pressure that will give them a chance to score. And if France score a goal early on, then I think the goal difference will be more at full time. And France unfortunately lost by Spain because Spain's amazing passing completely broke their defense.

[Berry2d]

I don't want Argentina to win the world cup again I want Spain to win the world cup, but I cannot predict who is going to win the world cup it is actually unpredictable because Argentina and Spain are both in the same form, but honestly I want Spain to win it this time around they deserve it more than Argentina since Argentina has already lifted it in the last world cup, so Spain are the ones I am supporting, Spain should put everything they have in this world cup all the team members should be serious with the match from the beginning till the end they should not give in to weakness if they really want to lift the world cup.

Spain is going to face Argentina in the WC26 final. Back to back finals for Argentina and Messi last time they did it can they do it again against Spain champions of Europe. Champions of Latin America are going against champions of Europe. They both have done an incredible job in the semifinals. Spain knocked out France the favorites to win the WC and Argentina fought back for their position in the final against England to face Spain in the final. If we look at it statistically Argentina has more experienced players than Spain but last time they did an incredible job against France in Semifinal. Spain has young players who are playing their first ever WC like lamine yamal. But if i have to pick one I would go for Spain their chemistries are unmatched.

Spain did an excellent job in eliminating France the most favourite team to win the ongoing world cup without stress and if they could maintain in such spirit winning Argentina will be the easiest task for them in the final.
If not for the fact that football is an unimaginable game,  i would have said that this trophy belongs to Spain because I don't think Argentina has what it takes to face Spain in the  final because after the group most of there wins where not clean and fair.
 In terms comparison Spain is way much better than Argentina in all rectification but only made it  against Egypt by poor officiating by the referee and excluding such they won't be able to face Spain in the final

[Berry2d]

I don't want Argentina to win the world cup again I want Spain to win the world cup, but I cannot predict who is going to win the world cup it is actually unpredictable because Argentina and Spain are both in the same form, but honestly I want Spain to win it this time around they deserve it more than Argentina since Argentina has already lifted it in the last world cup, so Spain are the ones I am supporting, Spain should put everything they have in this world cup all the team members should be serious with the match from the beginning till the end they should not give in to weakness if they really want to lift the world cup.

Spain is going to face Argentina in the WC26 final. Back to back finals for Argentina and Messi last time they did it can they do it again against Spain champions of Europe. Champions of Latin America are going against champions of Europe. They both have done an incredible job in the semifinals. Spain knocked out France the favorites to win the WC and Argentina fought back for their position in the final against England to face Spain in the final. If we look at it statistically Argentina has more experienced players than Spain but last time they did an incredible job against France in Semifinal. Spain has young players who are playing their first ever WC like lamine yamal. But if i have to pick one I would go for Spain their chemistries are unmatched.

Spain did an excellent job in eliminating France the most favourite team to win the ongoing world cup without stress and if they could maintain in such spirit winning Argentina will be the easiest task for them in the final.
If not for the fact that football is an unimaginable game,  i would have said that this trophy belongs to Spain because I don't think Argentina has what it takes to face Spain in the  final because after the group most of there wins where not clean and fair.
 In terms of comparison Spain is way much better than Argentina in all rectification but only made it  against Egypt by poor officiating by the referee and excluding such they won't be able to face Spain in the final

[mandown]

The third-place play-off takes place tomorrow. The team finishing third will win $29 million, while the fourth-placed team will receive $27 million.
All eyes will be on Mbappé tomorrow.
His main goal will be to become the top scorer of this World Cup.
If I were to place a bet on tomorrow's match, I would choose the "over 3.5 goals" and "Mbappé to score" options.
I expect at least two goals from Mbappé.

Mbappe will definitely score 1-2 goals in this match. I wouldn't say for sure, but he'll try, as he does in every match. The prize money isn't that big between 27 million and 29 million it's quite close. However, finishing third brings more prestige for the teams, so they'll fight for it. I think France will win; they deserve it more than England in this tournament. I hope both teams fight to win for the entire 90 minutes and never stop.

The champion team will receive $50 million, while the runner-up gets $33 million, the third-place team $29 million, and the fourth-place team $27 million.
Messi and Mbappé are tied on goals for the Golden Boot, but Messi has two more assists.
If his teammates support him well tomorrow, Mbappé could even score 3 or 4 goals.
I expect Mbappé to finish as the top scorer. I do not expect Messi to score in the final match; even if he does, he won't score 2 or 3 goals.

[blomen]

The champion team will receive $50 million, while the runner-up gets $33 million, the third-place team $29 million, and the fourth-place team $27 million.
Messi and Mbappé are tied on goals for the Golden Boot, but Messi has two more assists.
If his teammates support him well tomorrow, Mbappé could even score 3 or 4 goals.
I expect Mbappé to finish as the top scorer. I do not expect Messi to score in the final match; even if he does, he won't score 2 or 3 goals.

i definitely don’t think messi will have a quiet final. he’s contributed to his team with either a goal or an assist in every match leading up to this point, and i think he could be the star of this final, just like he was in the 2022 final. in that final in france, mbappé also played very well, especially with his two consecutive goals, but mbappé was solid throughout the entire tournament. lamine yamal, who’s currently being touted as messi’s rival, isn’t nearly as good in this tournament.

i don’t think there will be that many goals in the third-place match. i think mbappé might score just one goal. it would be a miracle if he scored 3 or 4.

[cyberninja2]

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Spain is going to face Argentina in the WC26 final. Back to back finals for Argentina and Messi last time they did it can they do it again against Spain champions of Europe. Champions of Latin America are going against champions of Europe. They both have done an incredible job in the semifinals. Spain knocked out France the favorites to win the WC and Argentina fought back for their position in the final against England to face Spain in the final. If we look at it statistically Argentina has more experienced players than Spain but last time they did an incredible job against France in Semifinal. Spain has young players who are playing their first ever WC like lamine yamal. But if i have to pick one I would go for Spain their chemistries are unmatched.

Spain did an excellent job in eliminating France the most favourite team to win the ongoing world cup without stress and if they could maintain in such spirit winning Argentina will be the easiest task for them in the final.
If not for the fact that football is an unimaginable game,  i would have said that this trophy belongs to Spain because I don't think Argentina has what it takes to face Spain in the  final because after the group most of there wins where not clean and fair.
 In terms of comparison Spain is way much better than Argentina in all rectification but only made it  against Egypt by poor officiating by the referee and excluding such they won't be able to face Spain in the final

That's true, because in one way they have more teams with good reputations. When I saw and understood what you said I immediately said that it was absolutely true. Unlike Argentina they have only faced teams in the top 10 only England and they have never faced a team in the top 10 before. Therefore Spain's path is more difficult than Argentina's.

This time in the final I am more confident in them Spain even though it is not my favorite team but I see their strength starting from the group stage they are always consistent in playing the match especially the teams they face are many teams that occupy the best standings so they are able to beat teams that are sometimes in the top ten of the FIFA rankings so I am more confident in Spain than Argentina which only had an equal opponent in the semifinals and that was the only team that occupied the top ten of the FIFA standings and previously they only played against children's teams.

[Mask.x]

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Spain is going to face Argentina in the WC26 final. Back to back finals for Argentina and Messi last time they did it can they do it again against Spain champions of Europe. Champions of Latin America are going against champions of Europe. They both have done an incredible job in the semifinals. Spain knocked out France the favorites to win the WC and Argentina fought back for their position in the final against England to face Spain in the final. If we look at it statistically Argentina has more experienced players than Spain but last time they did an incredible job against France in Semifinal. Spain has young players who are playing their first ever WC like lamine yamal. But if i have to pick one I would go for Spain their chemistries are unmatched.

Spain did an excellent job in eliminating France the most favourite team to win the ongoing world cup without stress and if they could maintain in such spirit winning Argentina will be the easiest task for them in the final.
If not for the fact that football is an unimaginable game,  i would have said that this trophy belongs to Spain because I don't think Argentina has what it takes to face Spain in the  final because after the group most of there wins where not clean and fair.
 In terms of comparison Spain is way much better than Argentina in all rectification but only made it  against Egypt by poor officiating by the referee and excluding such they won't be able to face Spain in the final

That's true, because in one way they have more teams with good reputations. When I saw and understood what you said I immediately said that it was absolutely true. Unlike Argentina they have only faced teams in the top 10 only England and they have never faced a team in the top 10 before. Therefore Spain's path is more difficult than Argentina's.

This time in the final I am more confident in them Spain even though it is not my favorite team but I see their strength starting from the group stage they are always consistent in playing the match especially the teams they face are many teams that occupy the best standings so they are able to beat teams that are sometimes in the top ten of the FIFA rankings so I am more confident in Spain than Argentina which only had an equal opponent in the semifinals and that was the only team that occupied the top ten of the FIFA standings and previously they only played against children's teams.

The final between Spain and Argentina this is a tough competition between Messi and Lamine Yamal but I think Spain defeat Argentina and win the 2026 final Now seeing which team will perform well in the final what’s your prediction.

[Sim_card]

Especially both France and England are not underdogs, so playing a 3rd place match is not like a milestone for them. It's different with importance of this match for an underdog national team like Morocco in World Cup 2022.

You're wrong mate. This is one of England best achievement so far in the world cup since 2018 which is eight years back because they have another opportunity to win a bronze medal since they failed in 2018 to finish on third. It's France that you will say that third place isn't a milestone but for England, it is.

[Zackz5000]

Especially both France and England are not underdogs, so playing a 3rd place match is not like a milestone for them. It's different with importance of this match for an underdog national team like Morocco in World Cup 2022.

You're wrong mate. This is one of England best achievement so far in the world cup since 2018 which is eight years back because they have another opportunity to win a bronze medal since they failed in 2018 to finish on third. It's France that you will say that third place isn't a milestone but for England, it is.

It's an achievement to come out 3rd in the World it's not easy honestly i know that every team wants to win the World Cup but this can't be possible it's only one country that can win it. France has been here not long, last World Cup They played in the final so they may not see it as something too big, England will celebrate it more if they wins it since it's been long they won the bronze medal.

[Iamgoat]

France will win the match between France and England. There is a lot of logic and reason behind this. Because after England score a goal, they start playing completely defensively. In this opportunity, France will create enough pressure that will give them a chance to score. And if France score a goal early on, then I think the goal difference will be more at full time. And France unfortunately lost by Spain because Spain's amazing passing completely broke their defense.

France was totally unlucky to have met with Argentina. If they had met with England in the semifinals I also think they would have scale through and there are chances Spain would have given Argentina a tougher ride. But the moment I saw it was Spain against England I knew England was gone but as for Argentina France, I thought France would do better than they did actually but what did they do, they disappointed us. It's not like I don't like Argentine players, I have nothing against them but my support always goes to the weak than the strong and in this whole competition looking at the team with the lowest world cup championship among them it is France but football is not played or judged with emotions, it is a show of strength, performance and experience and therefore the team with the biggest show of power and performance will definitely take the lead.

[Olatundespo]

Especially both France and England are not underdogs, so playing a 3rd place match is not like a milestone for them. It's different with importance of this match for an underdog national team like Morocco in World Cup 2022.

You're wrong mate. This is one of England best achievement so far in the world cup since 2018 which is eight years back because they have another opportunity to win a bronze medal since they failed in 2018 to finish on third. It's France that you will say that third place isn't a milestone but for England, it is.

It's an achievement to come out 3rd in the World it's not easy honestly i know that every team wants to win the World Cup but this can't be possible it's only one country that can win it. France has been here not long, last World Cup They played in the final so they may not see it as something too big, England will celebrate it more if they wins it since it's been long they won the bronze medal.

Third place is very important but many people do not want to give much importance to this match. Literally every team that has qualified for the World Cup is the best and talented and it is also important to give merit to those teams. France and England both need to win so they will play the match seriously and I will bet on France. England will have a better chance of winning because they performed well against Argentina in the previous match. France just need to come out to play to correct the mistakes they made in the semi-final and finish the World Cup mission with a win.

[Sim_card]

It's an achievement to come out 3rd in the World it's not easy honestly i know that every team wants to win the World Cup but this can't be possible it's only one country that can win it. France has been here not long, last World Cup They played in the final so they may not see it as something too big, England will celebrate it more if they wins it since it's been long they won the bronze medal.

The funny thing is that, they haven't won the bronze medal before in the history of football. They were there twice but lost the match. First was in 1990 against Italy and Italy won them 2-1. The second was against Belgium in 2018, they lost 2-0 to Belgium. This is the third time England will be in the third place match against France. It means that if they win it, it's gon be a big celebration and achievement for the English men because they won the world cup in 1966 at Wembley and since then, they have won any medal.

[JeffBrad12]

Source

Tomorrow, France will face England for third place in the World Cup. I think this match will be just as exciting as the final. Both France and England are currently in excellent form, so it's certain to be a very intense match. Furthermore, I don't know who will potentially win this match. But looking back at previous matches, I think France will probably have the upper hand. However, that's clearly not the main benchmark, as England is also clearly performing well.

So, I think the biggest potential is that this match will go to extra time, and it's even possible that it could go to a penalty shootout. But I don't expect that to happen, because I prefer these two teams to beat each other in normal time. Because that's clearly more exciting and enjoyable to watch. So, I really can't wait to see this match tomorrow, because it's sure to be very exciting.

Here i'm putting my stack for France. France with their trio will destroy England. However, i know this bronze game is still so bad for them and England. But i believe they will fight this for their honor and they can also give chance for Mbappe to have golden boots.
England is lacking of motivation to win this bronze game after they got defeated by comeback 2-1 against Argentina. You know such lost always made difficulty to comeback. So i believe France will take this opportunity.

France is having better squad than England. So they will end this world cup by finishing at 3rd. I think the better for England to push the surrend button.

[Hewlet]

I don't know, I hope you are right but, historically, unfortunately many times the teams don't care too much about the third place. Oftentimes they don't give their best performance and the managers give space to the players who played less during the competition. I disagree with this because I do think it's important to win this match but at the same time I can also understand that mentally for the players is difficult because you're still processing your elimination and the fact that you didn't qualify for the real final.

You are so right. Players went through hard times with a long season with their clubs, matches in this World Cup till the semi final matches where they wanted to win but failed eventually. Then they all have to start this 3rd place match with exhaustion from both physical body to their mentality and surely it's not easy for players. Most of them likely want to go home, enjoy their holidays, forget about defeats in semi finals and recharge energy for a new season. Winning or losing a 3rd place match is not so important with them.

Even with all these, it does not stop them from putting in their all into the game because getting a third place is not still a bad record considering that the last four teams they had to play against are still the best four teams in the world. they are professionals and fully understands how the game of football works. regardless the number of goals your opponent scores you, you still have to play till the end of the match and same is the case with playing for the third place. as for the outcome, it is going in the way of France because they have the better intensity to winning in that game.

[Solodoski]

England should have been able to defeat Argentina and advance to the final against Spain, given France’s loss in the semifinals—as all claims regarding France’s performance were disproved by Spain’s quality of play.
This bronze-medal match between France and England is intriguing but not a surprise, since neither France nor England are underdogs who made it to the semifinals—unlike in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
If both teams are great, does France deserve to win this given the odds offered by the bookmakers?
I’m support for England.

France will win the match between France and England. There is a lot of logic and reason behind this. Because after England score a goal, they start playing completely defensively. In this opportunity, France will create enough pressure that will give them a chance to score. And if France score a goal early on, then I think the goal difference will be more at full time. And France unfortunately lost by Spain because Spain's amazing passing completely broke their defense.

France supporters are too quick to start saying France will win against England. Tuchel caused this one. If not for his incompetence in making the right substitutions, France wont think England is an easy team for them to beat. England wont be playing defensively against France. England has seen the mistake they made with Argentina. Thomas Tuchel will be a fool to take the same approach against France if they start leading by a goal. After the interview with England players, it showed the players were not happy with the coach's decision.

[ZeroVinsonN]

That's why the decision isn't yours or even ours to make, the players played all that they could and Argentina came out on top, it might not have been the outcome some people wanted but it is what happened and now Argentina has moved up to the finals to play against Spain, it's going to be one of the biggest finals ever and I can't wait to watch it and see how it ends, I will be happy no matter the team that wins.

Well this was literally the outcome I expected and I would have been surprised if the game had ended in a 1:0. The game just proves the saying that never say it’s over until it’s over, because I know all England supporters had already concluded that it was actually over with England leading with one goal at 80+ minutes. At some point I was even wondering is Argentina intentionally wanted or planned to wait till that time before doing their magic, because all of a sudden it looked like they suddenly knew what they were doing, scoring 2 goals in less than 20 minutes with two tremendous assists from Messi…

It was a good performance from Argentina and they should do even better in the final but I wouldn't recommend letting Spain lead up until past 80 minutes, it might have worked for them to equalise and even win the match with England or like with Egypt but I doubt Spain will give them that opportunity so if they want to win they should make sure to not let Spain have the lead, at least not not up to that close to the end of the match.

Would actually be great if Spain manage to beat Argentina anyway, because personal, I am not supporting Argentina to win the world Cup again this season, they won it in the last World Cup that was played back in the year 2022, and here they are this year again..

And this is not like I have anything against Argentina any way, I am a big fan of Messi, I am just a kind of person that loves to see something like reward, world Cups, league titles rotate from one team to another yearly or seasonal, when one team wins the world Cup back to back from one season to the next season, it makes me feel like the whole tournament was less competitive, or maybe there was some kind of rigging somewhere..

Anyways, I know all of this makes absolutely no sense but well, that's just me any way, if Argentina win the cup again, good for them but I will support Spain..

I'm not a Messi fan or at least he is not my own personal best in football but that doesn't mean I'm going to be rooting for Spain to win, Argentina has a good team and they've shown their teamwork from the start of this tournament to this very last moment and while Spain has also been good themselves that is not enough reason for me to suddenly become their supporter, at this point in the tournament I don't really care for who wins anymore, I will watch the match and enjoy it regardless of the team that ends of winning.