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

[Different patterns]

I think this debate about if FIFA favored or tried to favor Argentina will finally rest because Spain are now the winners. Football isn't something we can fully grasp because the moment you feel you've understood it, something will come up and confuse your understanding. Argentina battled like every other team and the fact that people kept saying it was rigged was what baffled me because if you start rigging, you'd continue to when it matters most which is the finals but it was clear that Spain were the better side being that a team like Argentina couldn't register any shot on target.

I think the same too, they tried to give him a giant hand but in the end they came up against reality, the reality of a much stronger Spain even if they didn't have any attackers capable of putting it in.
this has always been a bit of a problem for Spanish football
excellent setters and players, but very few quality attackers

I agree with both of you; Argentina were given a huge helping hand in this World Cup. Mr Infantino did everything he could to get them into the final, but unfortunately for them, Spain were far stronger, and you can see that in the statistics too. They didn’t even let them have a single shot on goal! They were lucky the match didn’t end with more goals.

That match ended with more goals, just that the first goal was cancelled which I still don't know why, but it's obvious that Argentina struggled with national teams that are not up to their standard of play, to me if Argentina had played a national teams of top 10 in their knockout stages, they wouldn't have gone that far, if you look as the path that France, Portugal and Spain followed you will know that they really tried but Argentina played with 3 of African teams but still couldn't win convincingly. I am not saying African teams are not good but that Argentina have earned a reputation that they are and will always be considered the favourite in a game like that against any African team even though football happens at times, But they couldn't win convincingly, it was a war for them. The biggest team they met was England and Spain. But regardless I won't say, the world cup was rigged for them but they didn't do well too, it's the path they followed to the final that helped make it somehow easy compared to the other side of the path to final that was very deadly with strong and powerful teams.

[m4r1o]

But on the brighter side of things, (though I personally haven't confirmed that Messi will retire before the next World Cup) if Messi retires before the next world Cup, thats a good news as it will be good for both legends to retire same time, so that in the coming world Cup, both football teams and the rest of other teams of other nations will be at the same fair level with each other, this could make the next future world Cups more competitive and super interesting, or what do you guys think?

I agree with you, i don't think they will participate in the next World Cup, but i can say that Messi was fundamental for Argentina just as Ronaldo was, in fact i think that Ronaldo will participate in the 2030 World Cup, perhaps not as a player but he will certainly have a fundamental role, also to encourage the boys to give their best.

[Princess Leah]

That match ended with more goals, just that the first goal was cancelled which I still don't know why, but it's obvious that Argentina struggled with national teams that are not up to their standard of play, to me if Argentina had played a national teams of top 10 in their knockout stages, they wouldn't have gone that far, if you look as the path that France, Portugal and Spain followed you will know that they really tried but Argentina played with 3 of African teams but still couldn't win convincingly. I am not saying African teams are not good but that Argentina have earned a reputation that they are and will always be considered the favourite in a game like that against any African team even though football happens at times, But they couldn't win convincingly, it was a war for them. The biggest team they met was England and Spain. But regardless I won't say, the world cup was rigged for them but they didn't do well too, it's the path they followed to the final that helped make it somehow easy compared to the other side of the path to final that was very deadly with strong and powerful teams.

There's something about that final that makes me feel it's scripted, maybe Argentina got support from FIFA, allegedly. Maybe Argentina players were too aggressive in some match, but we can't deny that they're a good team and good at team work, it makes me confused as to why they played like they've never played football in their entire life in that final, am still suprised.

 Like how can Argentina not get any shot in full 90mins, think about it dear. I get shocked when I think about it cause it's not supposed to happen that way, the competition looks scripted, I feel that FIFA's trying to move on from Messi to Yamal, it was a perfect scripted stuff, no wonder Messi had to coincidentally bath a little kid, Yamal who's turned out to be the new star.

[aipercoin]

I don't understand why people will still continue to say things like this, if FIFA has been fixing it for Argentina since, why did they decide to stop in the final ? That's a very absurd claim, especially in this particular edition, if it was the previous World Cup, I wouldn't say much but this Competition aside from human incompetence, Argentina's matches was really fair.

I know they played a shitty game but still making it to the final is already a very big deal, atleast they didn't lose by more than 1 goal

I believe that a final in full view of everyone is decidedly more difficult to control, i don't know if there were any inconsistencies with Argentina but it's true that there were important favoritisms, so much so that in the match that mattered most they didn't even manage to get a shot on goal, who knows with a different group if they would have reached the final anyway.

[pewboy]

Let me remind you: Messi didn't even receive a yellow card for this foul, although it was a direct red card and, for example, Balogun received a direct red card for the same foul.

I very much agree with your statement, Argentina received some really obvious favoritism, they should have covered Messi's foul and then expelled it without mincing words but instead nothing, plus too many favorable events to make it too suspicious even for the most skeptical fans.

[Haunebu]

Lol at the people hyper focusing on the golden ball award when the real prize was claimed by Spain for their outstanding team game dominance throughout the entire tournament. I couldn't care less as to who wins the other awards frankly speaking.

Same logic applies to literally every sports tournament out there. Rodri won the golden ball which is good for him, but the true prize is the FIFA WC trophy which is all that matters at the end of the day to most people.

[liasbaa]

I don't understand why people will still continue to say things like this, if FIFA has been fixing it for Argentina since, why did they decide to stop in the final ? That's a very absurd claim, especially in this particular edition, if it was the previous World Cup, I wouldn't say much but this Competition aside from human incompetence, Argentina's matches was really fair.

I know they played a shitty game but still making it to the final is already a very big deal, atleast they didn't lose by more than 1 goal

I believe that a final in full view of everyone is decidedly more difficult to control, i don't know if there were any inconsistencies with Argentina but it's true that there were important favoritisms, so much so that in the match that mattered most they didn't even manage to get a shot on goal, who knows with a different group if they would have reached the final anyway.

It may seem pointless to discuss the inconsistency here, but in fact, all the teams in the group that Argentina was in were underdogs and far below in the FIFA rankings. I don't know how FIFA selects the teams for the group stage or if there is any manipulation here because there was no team in Group J that was in a strong position. Austria was ranked 22nd in the ranking, Algeria was ranked 29th and Jordan was ranked 63rd. From the entire group stage to the final semi-final, many FIFA officials implemented decisions in favour of Argentina in almost every match. Because of this, I had a strong feeling that Argentina would definitely take the trophy in the final, but due to the determination of the Spanish players, it was not possible. The Argentine attacking players were not given any opportunity to set the target and shoot. FIFA officials also did not have any opportunity to be biased.

[Solokan]

Even smaller teams like Cape Verde have made a splash at the 2026 World Cup, proving that increased participation doesn't mean all matches will be boring. One of the big advantages of a 32-team World Cup was that the group stage was relatively short and each match was more important. With 48 teams, the number of matches increased, making it difficult for many viewers to follow the entire tournament. For those who like to watch all the matches, it can be time-consuming and tiring. Then, many may start watching seriously only from the knockout stage. However, having more teams than that would greatly reduce the fun of the World Cup.

Not just Cape Verde. Most of the smaller teams left an impression. The ones that come to my mind right now are Curaçao, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Norway (you may wonder why I added Norway to this list. They played the FIFA World Cup after a lengthy gap of 28 years). It was fun watching teams such as Jordan, Uzbekistan and Haiti competing at the highest level. And look at the number of upsets we had. Norway managed to defeat Brazil, Paraguay defeated Germany and Cape Verde managed to hold the eventual champions Spain to a goal-less draw. All this was made possible only because of the expansion.  

with more countries participating in the World Cup, this certainly makes the World Cup matches more exciting Yes thereare indeed many surprises in the World Cup matches Yes as you mentioned the large number of teams participating ultimately contributes to the excitement of the world Cup tournament Indeed Cape Verde's ability to hold a draw is interesting and unique as Spain is now the champion of the world Cup And yes, some of the countries you mentioned are very interesting such as congo which was able to hold portugal to a draw In essence the large number of teams in theWorld Cup makes the world Cup matches very exciting

Now we have to wait four more years to watch the next World Cup and I hope the next world Cup will be even more exciting than the 2026 world cup

[CageMabok]

It has been unfair to Lionel Messi, because of course Messi has the right to receive the Golden Ball. However, in any case, Lionel Messi has the right to receive the award, but this is an injustice to FIFA, it is not possible to accept it because Rodri is not likely to receive the Golden Ball in any way, yet FIFA has given the award to Rodri. Whereas Messi has the right to receive this award.

I'm also surprised by this award, and it reminds me of Rodri receiving the Ballon d'Or, even though there were other players who contributed more to it. And now, it's happening again to Lionel Messi at the World Cup. While this is certainly uncontested because FIFA has already decided, most people know who deserves the award more when we look at the contributions of both players. But whoever wins the award deserves congratulations, even if we don't know how FIFA views the player.

[Cleanshit]

That match ended with more goals, just that the first goal was cancelled which I still don't know why, but it's obvious that Argentina struggled with national teams that are not up to their standard of play, to me if Argentina had played a national teams of top 10 in their knockout stages, they wouldn't have gone that far, if you look as the path that France, Portugal and Spain followed you will know that they really tried but Argentina played with 3 of African teams but still couldn't win convincingly. I am not saying African teams are not good but that Argentina have earned a reputation that they are and will always be considered the favourite in a game like that against any African team even though football happens at times, But they couldn't win convincingly, it was a war for them. The biggest team they met was England and Spain. But regardless I won't say, the world cup was rigged for them but they didn't do well too, it's the path they followed to the final that helped make it somehow easy compared to the other side of the path to final that was very deadly with strong and powerful teams.

There's something about that final that makes me feel it's scripted, maybe Argentina got support from FIFA, allegedly. Maybe Argentina players were too aggressive in some match, but we can't deny that they're a good team and good at team work, it makes me confused as to why they played like they've never played football in their entire life in that final, am still suprised.

 Like how can Argentina not get any shot in full 90mins, think about it dear. I get shocked when I think about it cause it's not supposed to happen that way, the competition looks scripted, I feel that FIFA's trying to move on from Messi to Yamal, it was a perfect scripted stuff, no wonder Messi had to coincidentally bath a little kid, Yamal who's turned out to be the new star.

No doubt a lot of individuals find it suspicious that Argentina 🇦🇷 was not able to even get a shot on target, which is strange. But that shouldn't be that the tournament was scripted.  Top nation teams have gotten a poor games before, most especially when the other side do press well and has a good possession. Football is game full of surprises always, let just accept it that Spain outplayed Argentina then assuming the result was Planned by FIFA. This types of results make football interestimg

[Zlantann]

I see that several media already working on finding out what was the issue. I saw a news the other day that FBI was discussing some possible money laundering thing done by AFA in the US. They are also talking about the banner thing which Argentine players had in their hand after the England match. I am a Brazil fan myself, and I have zero Idea why Messi did not win the Golden ball. Rodri did not scored a single goal, he did not assist a single goal during the entire World cup, how could he win the Golden ball? I am not sure how Golden ball winner is selected. I hope we hear the real news by someday. At least some players will speak out after a certain period of time.

People will always find fault in every decision FIFA makes. The award is not based on goals or assists of players because other areas are considered. Defensive midfielders are like the engine room of the team, and in most cases their efforts are unnoticed. They hardly score goals or give assists, but they control the game.

The winner of individual awards is determined by the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) and votes from accredited media, making it look fair. Although there have been past claims of manipulation, Rodri had a good competition. There would have been more complaints if it were awarded to Lionel Messi, since there were several accusations of special treatment.

[kennycryptoitalia]

..

FIFA, more than any other, is an institution for football but if i can say it has become more and more greedy, you don't add matches because you want to add teams to make it more exciting, but because you want to profit from it, the world cup has always had so many teams and now they want to increase the number, and they think they will do the same thing with the champions, the players will have no way to recover between one match and another.

[Zackz5000]

I think this debate about if FIFA favored or tried to favor Argentina will finally rest because Spain are now the winners. Football isn't something we can fully grasp because the moment you feel you've understood it, something will come up and confuse your understanding. Argentina battled like every other team and the fact that people kept saying it was rigged was what baffled me because if you start rigging, you'd continue to when it matters most which is the finals but it was clear that Spain were the better side being that a team like Argentina couldn't register any shot on target.

I think the same too, they tried to give him a giant hand but in the end they came up against reality, the reality of a much stronger Spain even if they didn't have any attackers capable of putting it in.
this has always been a bit of a problem for Spanish football
excellent setters and players, but very few quality attackers

I agree with both of you; Argentina were given a huge helping hand in this World Cup. Mr Infantino did everything he could to get them into the final, but unfortunately for them, Spain were far stronger, and you can see that in the statistics too. They didn’t even let them have a single shot on goal! They were lucky the match didn’t end with more goals.

That match ended with more goals, just that the first goal was cancelled which I still don't know why, but it's obvious that Argentina struggled with national teams that are not up to their standard of play, to me if Argentina had played a national teams of top 10 in their knockout stages, they wouldn't have gone that far, if you look as the path that France, Portugal and Spain followed you will know that they really tried but Argentina played with 3 of African teams but still couldn't win convincingly. I am not saying African teams are not good but that Argentina have earned a reputation that they are and will always be considered the favourite in a game like that against any African team even though football happens at times, But they couldn't win convincingly, it was a war for them. The biggest team they met was England and Spain. But regardless I won't say, the world cup was rigged for them but they didn't do well too, it's the path they followed to the final that helped make it somehow easy compared to the other side of the path to final that was very deadly with strong and powerful teams.

Argentina were lucky to get to that final before they get to that final England was the only better team they played and even the rest of the team they played they struggle to win some also was with the help of VAR and the referee. There final game against Spain clearly show that Argentina had nothing to offer in this World Cup tournament there performance was zero no goal on target after playing 120 minutes games this was unbelievable if i was told that Argentina will Play a 120 minutes game with no better shot on goal i won't believe it but Spain made them play less like they were nothing.

[Sexylizzy2813]

I think this debate about if FIFA favored or tried to favor Argentina will finally rest because Spain are now the winners. Football isn't something we can fully grasp because the moment you feel you've understood it, something will come up and confuse your understanding. Argentina battled like every other team and the fact that people kept saying it was rigged was what baffled me because if you start rigging, you'd continue to when it matters most which is the finals but it was clear that Spain were the better side being that a team like Argentina couldn't register any shot on target.

I don't think it would have ended as Spain won on the final day, imagine if they had given Messi the best player and maybe the player with the highest assists that's when you'd see comments and other videos of people complaining about the how rigged the world cup is. Well is still ok that it has finally come to an end, like what you said about Argentina fighting like they are hungry is true, they dominated all the teams they played against but only Spain and if you check Spain wasn't that promising even at some point I thought they might be eliminated but it happened differently.
For me I felt worried about the way they played, like what really happened? The whole Argentina squad was completely different, no special moves even Messi was off the game. So now that it has happened that Argentina didn't win the Internet space was a bit calm because Messi lost the World Cup.

[Black Mbaye]

I think this debate about if FIFA favored or tried to favor Argentina will finally rest because Spain are now the winners. Football isn't something we can fully grasp because the moment you feel you've understood it, something will come up and confuse your understanding. Argentina battled like every other team and the fact that people kept saying it was rigged was what baffled me because if you start rigging, you'd continue to when it matters most which is the finals but it was clear that Spain were the better side being that a team like Argentina couldn't register any shot on target.

I think the same too, they tried to give him a giant hand but in the end they came up against reality, the reality of a much stronger Spain even if they didn't have any attackers capable of putting it in.
this has always been a bit of a problem for Spanish football
excellent setters and players, but very few quality attackers

I agree with both of you; Argentina were given a huge helping hand in this World Cup. Mr Infantino did everything he could to get them into the final, but unfortunately for them, Spain were far stronger, and you can see that in the statistics too. They didn’t even let them have a single shot on goal! They were lucky the match didn’t end with more goals.

That match ended with more goals, just that the first goal was cancelled which I still don't know why, but it's obvious that Argentina struggled with national teams that are not up to their standard of play, to me if Argentina had played a national teams of top 10 in their knockout stages, they wouldn't have gone that far, if you look as the path that France, Portugal and Spain followed you will know that they really tried but Argentina played with 3 of African teams but still couldn't win convincingly. I am not saying African teams are not good but that Argentina have earned a reputation that they are and will always be considered the favourite in a game like that against any African team even though football happens at times, But they couldn't win convincingly, it was a war for them. The biggest team they met was England and Spain. But regardless I won't say, the world cup was rigged for them but they didn't do well too, it's the path they followed to the final that helped make it somehow easy compared to the other side of the path to final that was very deadly with strong and powerful teams.

Argentina were lucky to get to that final before they get to that final England was the only better team they played and even the rest of the team they played they struggle to win some also was with the help of VAR and the referee. There final game against Spain clearly show that Argentina had nothing to offer in this World Cup tournament there performance was zero no goal on target after playing 120 minutes games this was unbelievable if i was told that Argentina will Play a 120 minutes game with no better shot on goal i won't believe it but Spain made them play less like they were nothing.

A final between Spain and England might have been more enjoyable. However, Spain also put on a magnificent performance against France in the semi-final. They didn't let France play their game either, but they played even better against Argentina. Argentina couldn't do anything in the final. This will be a final they won't forget for many years, because Argentina showed no presence on the field for 120 minutes. Spain deservedly won the cup.

[Dunamisx]

I still like the way they did it like this, had it been the also recognizes Messi being the best to receive this award would have been another controversy again from those that never wish Argentina to take the cup, the internet have been saturated already with a lot of speculations about how the FIFA team shows it supportive hands over Argentina in winning the world cup final, but as for me I still prefer how this is being done without being sentimented.

[Black Mbaye]

I still like the way they did it like this, had it been the also recognizes Messi being the best to receive this award would have been another controversy again from those that never wish Argentina to take the cup, the internet have been saturated already with a lot of speculations about how the FIFA team shows it supportive hands over Argentina in winning the world cup final, but as for me I still prefer how this is being done without being sentimented.

I think this award absolutely should have gone to Lionel Messi this year because nobody expected such a World Cup performance before the tournament, especially now that he's almost 40. There were claims that Messi was only called up to Argentina because he's a legend. Messi showed how wrong that was with his performance. He was clearly his team's best player, and I think Messi was the best player of the tournament. However, due to the tradition of choosing the best players from among the World Cup winners, he didn't receive the award. I think Messi should have left this tournament with the best player award, even though they lost the final.

[xzone]

Lol at the people hyper focusing on the golden ball award when the real prize was claimed by Spain for their outstanding team game dominance throughout the entire tournament. I couldn't care less as to who wins the other awards frankly speaking.

Same logic applies to literally every sports tournament out there. Rodri won the golden ball which is good for him, but the true prize is the FIFA WC trophy which is all that matters at the end of the day to most people.

Rodri is very lucky to have made such a comeback after his injury; many footballers can't do that. Two years ago, when he got injured, many said he wouldn't be able to return to his old form, but now he's made his mark at the World Cup and won this award as one of his country's most important players.

There is no more important award for any country than winning the World Cup; Spain really played very well

[Ahli38]

But on the brighter side of things, (though I personally haven't confirmed that Messi will retire before the next World Cup) if Messi retires before the next world Cup, thats a good news as it will be good for both legends to retire same time, so that in the coming world Cup, both football teams and the rest of other teams of other nations will be at the same fair level with each other, this could make the next future world Cups more competitive and super interesting, or what do you guys think?

I agree with you, i don't think they will participate in the next World Cup, but i can say that Messi was fundamental for Argentina just as Ronaldo was, in fact i think that Ronaldo will participate in the 2030 World Cup, perhaps not as a player but he will certainly have a fundamental role, also to encourage the boys to give their best.

It’s time for them to sit out the next World Cup as they can now consider not pushing themselves too hard in that premier tournament. And they should entrust the next generation to compete for the countries they represent. But it seems the next World Cup will center on the players everyone’s talking about Mbappé or even Yamal. They are considered a generation similar to the rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. So I personally think that the next World Cup will be heavily focused on France and Spain. The rivalry between these two players has already become very apparent in several competitions they’ve competed in against each other. If these two countries were to face off in the next World Cup I’m sure the eyes of the world would be on them with great anticipation.

[KTChampions]

Rodri is very lucky to have made such a comeback after his injury; many footballers can't do that. Two years ago, when he got injured, many said he wouldn't be able to return to his old form, but now he's made his mark at the World Cup and won this award as one of his country's most important players.

There is no more important award for any country than winning the World Cup; Spain really played very well

Yes, at his age, many footballers don't return from such an injury (just like at a younger age), but the fact that Rodri was able to do so is encouraging. He was able to come back, help the Spanish team dominate the entire tournament and humiliate Argentina in the final, become world champion and the best player of the tournament, what could be better? I'm glad that the focus has shifted from Yamal to other players of the Spanish national team, for a while it began to seem that no one else was playing there except Yamal