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

[disbil]

Rodri is a one holding that midfield which made it difficult for the Argentines to gain possession of the ball and easily penetrate into their defense. He is the team leader and has shown that in several ways through his performance. He deserves it since Spain won the world cup. The golden gloves was also given to Unai Simon for that reason.

Rodri is crucial player for Spain how to control game play tempo and Spain full dominance with ball possesion, not high pressure for Lionel Messi during the fibal match and Spain only play with thwir tactical dominance with ball possession. During 120 minutes Lionel Messi not only difficult for scoring goal but also don't get moment controlling the games, Rodri become great leader for Spain team for controlling the games and make good tempo for defense or attacking.
Rodri become best player for the world cup 2026 and many expectation in the future will win ballon d'or? I think many people disagree but nnot close opportunity for him will get second Ballon D'or.

[Antotena]

I don't think any red cards were shown for the incidents at the end of the match. I can't quite remember. However, I saw that the Argentinian players were very angry. This anger isn't that important because they showed no presence in the match. If they had shown the same determination during the game, they might have won the match at the end of 90 minutes.

The Argentina emotions were at high level, like it was all in their faces, I think it's wrong for Spain players to rub it on their faces. Although, it wasn't all Spain players, some of them were annoying to my face. You won, congrats but rubbing it on Argentina players was a very bad thing to do and I don't blame the way Argentina players were trying to be aggressive towards them. I think a red card after the match is one of the useless thing to give by the way.

I am seeing some posts and articles about how Argentina sold this game to Spain, it may sound ridiculous right? But I think there is an atom of truth in what goes down that day. How come a team play their worst match in the world cup final, everything about that game felt strange, the team, the players and the way the coach was moving substituting players was not what we were expecting, it all strange to me till now.

[cande86]

But I think it will be difficult for him to represent his country in the upcoming World Cup given that he's getting older and his physical condition is declining, where it will make it hard for him to compete at the highest level in such a tournament.

Replacing them would be impossible, Messi because he has been the center of the Argentine game for years and another Messi does not exist, there will be more so the best thing would be to adapt his game to a football without Messi, Ronaldo i doubt he will play in the next World Cup given that he would reach the age of 45 but i am sure that in some way he will be part of it, and i am sure that he would like to see his Portugal win it even without him.

[letteredhub]

I do agree with the leniency by referees toward Argentina's players when it comes to the fouls called against them, while the same referee would present a card for much lesser fouls to their opponents. But that does not mean that they were actually helped by FIFA to reach the final. Argentina played some incredible matches and Messi took them to the final, but Spain was good enough to stop any attacks from Argentina in the final.

Ahahahaha, I don't even understand how you can write this seriously and not feel like you're lying to yourself!
Ahahahaha, "Yes, he shot him 10 times, but the victim didn't die from the gunshots but from blood loss"  

If the leniency @eaLiTy is agreeing to was what was shown to Argentina in a one game only then it would have made sense to argue that FIFA wasn't giving any form of support to Argentina progress in the World Cup but it was a different thing together. We saw how in all the games the officiating referees were ignoring many unfair plays of Argentina players while being strict on their opponent players. It couldn't be a coincidence that all the referees in each game would behave same in favour of Argentina.

If the FIFA hands weren't involved I think he would have called his referees to order for them to stop showing such leniency as you @eaLiTy calls it. Let not beat our conscience to silence from speaking the truth regardless of the personality involved.

[Arenga pinnata]

Rodri is a one holding that midfield which made it difficult for the Argentines to gain possession of the ball and easily penetrate into their defense. He is the team leader and has shown that in several ways through his performance. He deserves it since Spain won the world cup. The golden gloves was also given to Unai Simon for that reason.

Rodri is crucial player for Spain how to control game play tempo and Spain full dominance with ball possesion, not high pressure for Lionel Messi during the fibal match and Spain only play with thwir tactical dominance with ball possession. During 120 minutes Lionel Messi not only difficult for scoring goal but also don't get moment controlling the games, Rodri become great leader for Spain team for controlling the games and make good tempo for defense or attacking.
Rodri become best player for the world cup 2026 and many expectation in the future will win ballon d'or? I think many people disagree but nnot close opportunity for him will get second Ballon D'or.

Rodri is indeed a player who plays a crucial role on the Spanish national team. even at Man City, his role is hard to replace. Since 2019, he has been Man City’s most reliable defensive midfielder. In fact, we must remember that historic moment for Man City when they won the Champions League title. if I recall correctly, Rodri was the one who scored the winning goal for Man City in that UCL final. So it’s no surprise he was named the best player at the time. But it’s difficult to maintain that status as the best player. After all, he’s now 30 years old. His prime may only last a few more seasons.

But as for the Spanish national team, they have an extraordinary golden generation. They have the best players across every position.

[giorgione]

Ronaldo will remain a great player even though he wins the World Cup or not, he has proven himself a long time ago in different leagues, he lifted the champions league with Manchester United and also in Real Madrid, in this World Cup so many people were saying his not performing well but they forgot his 41 years old, I'm even surprised that he scored 3 goals in this concluded World Cup.
Messi is also a great player and he as set another legacy just like Maradona and I believe even if his not playing for the national team anymore they are going to do better, Argentina will keep playing better because they still have very good players and I'm very sure more players are going to come out in the future.

I think the same but on the contrary, by playing and being less decisive Ronaldo has meant that the rest of the team does not have to depend on him, almost as if he wanted to leave a prepared Portugal, Messi on the other hand has always been more central and free in Argentina and a lot depended on him, removing that player in my opinion will make the Argentine selection falter.

[cxtreenal]

The final was still full of tension but apart from this it showed an exaggerated level of unsportsmanship, even at the end of the match there were some episodes not worthy of two teams facing a World Cup final, several kicks and some pushing were thrown... tension and competitive malice are fine but there is still a tolerance that should not be exceeded.

There was tension between the players of Argentina and Spain during the match, especially some of the Argentine players who behaved unsportsmanlike. Enzo Fernández got red card for this attitude. After a long period of not being able to score, at some point in the match, both teams lost their temper and started attacking the opposing team and fouling them. To me, this kind of behaviour is normal in a match, but the kind of behaviour that happened at the end of the match is not at all appropriate for football.

[Ale88]

I don't think any red cards were shown for the incidents at the end of the match. I can't quite remember. However, I saw that the Argentinian players were very angry. This anger isn't that important because they showed no presence in the match. If they had shown the same determination during the game, they might have won the match at the end of 90 minutes.

The Argentina emotions were at high level, like it was all in their faces, I think it's wrong for Spain players to rub it on their faces. Although, it wasn't all Spain players, some of them were annoying to my face. You won, congrats but rubbing it on Argentina players was a very bad thing to do and I don't blame the way Argentina players were trying to be aggressive towards them. I think a red card after the match is one of the useless thing to give by the way.

I am seeing some posts and articles about how Argentina sold this game to Spain, it may sound ridiculous right? But I think there is an atom of truth in what goes down that day. How come a team play their worst match in the world cup final, everything about that game felt strange, the team, the players and the way the coach was moving substituting players was not what we were expecting, it all strange to me till now.

What are you even talking about? All the different fights that began after the match ended, were because of things the Argentinian players said of did. Spanish players were celebrating, they were enjoying the moment, why would they ruin the best moment of their life to say or do something stupid to the opponent? Unfortunately Argentinian players don't know how to lose, even the fact that they turned their backs to Spain during the celebration was incredibly offensive, I've never seen such a disrespectful act, especially considering the whole world was watching.

[Agbam]

Like I said above, they displayed how much of a scum and dirty side they're as a team. It went down to the assistant manager of Argentina hitting Daniel Olmo in the neck. They're bitter, disgusting and sore-losers. I will not be surprised in the slightest way if they do not get some level of suspension or strong penalties for their actions immediately Spain was declared winners. Lionel Messi also, the Captain, did nothing to hold back his teammates when they engaged in such ill treatments against their opponents.

I don't justify what the players or the officials from the Argentina national team did. But that kind of thing is very likely to happen because of the high expectations they already had for the final match. They were confident about winning the trophy before the final was even over. But they forgot that their opponent, Spain, is also tough. Really disappointed with their performance and the situation of losing. It messed everything up.

Argentina's unwavering fight in every match instilled confidence in them. Spain is a very good team, and Argentina forgot that. Spain winning the tournament without giving Argentina any chances once again showed everyone how good they are. This Spain, with its young and experienced players, will achieve even more success.

Argentina performed very well throughout the tournament, but in the final stage they took Spain very lightly. And we understood this very well by watching their performance. Argentina's poor performance in the final stage really disappointed everyone. Basically, Argentina was better than Spain in attack in every match before the final, but their attack in the final is so bad that it can't be accepted in any way. But that's the main thing, it's really impossible to say when a team's performance is going to be good or bad, even whatever it is the final match, and this final match is the proof.

Yes Argentina left an abysmal performance on the final of the World Cup but I wouldn’t put it like they took Spain lightly, I think they too came to compete but they were outplayed by the Spaniards the way the team was structured and the coordination, every one played their roles to perfection and the Argentines fire was snuffed out.

They couldn’t do anything and by restricting Messi from getting the ball the magician couldn’t pull anything off.
We saw how Spain dominated France who were favourites with all their creative and attacking talents.

Argentina didn’t have the best attack, they scored more goals because they needed to. Most of the goal scoring and creativity was pulled off by one man, so that’s not an attack you would call best.

[danadc]

many countries were happy as Spain who won the World Cup against Argentina, so even though Argentina is aggressive being the players that will not bring the cup back to them last season there are the one that won the last World Cup so nobody kicked against them, so I believe that people is very joyful as Spain defeated Argentina, so what I'm saying is that no matter how aggressive Argentina fans and players will be it cannot retrieve the winning so the World Cup has come to the end until the next tournament

In many European countries, they celebrated Spain's victory as if it were their own, and that's a very nice gesture. Now, I've seen that in some social media outlets they've said that everything was stolen, that Argentina knew they were going to lose, that everything was orchestrated. A video has come out where Messi says that they have to forget everything and play football, that they came out playing like they never do, a series of things, something like conspiracy theorists.

[Shadiq]

I am seeing some posts and articles about how Argentina sold this game to Spain, it may sound ridiculous right? But I think there is an atom of truth in what goes down that day. How come a team play their worst match in the world cup final, everything about that game felt strange, the team, the players and the way the coach was moving substituting players was not what we were expecting, it all strange to me till now.

The events of the match seemed a bit suspicious to me too. Later I came across articles about the events in the dressing room and during the match. Although I still have doubts about the authenticity of those articles. But I think there is definitely some mystery hidden in them. Spain is not a team against which Argentina cannot create at least one attack. Even in other matches where Lionel Scaloni would not have changed any players quickly, he made 5 changes very quickly and put important players on the sidelines.

But I think we should accept the defeat and accept that Argentina lost the match through a very bad performance. Whatever the real story is, as fans we should not worry too much about it. We can certainly discuss it by revealing some secrets, for now these articles are baseless.

[Out of mind]

But I think it will be difficult for him to represent his country in the upcoming World Cup given that he's getting older and his physical condition is declining, where it will make it hard for him to compete at the highest level in such a tournament.

Replacing them would be impossible, Messi because he has been the center of the Argentine game for years and another Messi does not exist, there will be more so the best thing would be to adapt his game to a football without Messi, Ronaldo i doubt he will play in the next World Cup given that he would reach the age of 45 but i am sure that in some way he will be part of it, and i am sure that he would like to see his Portugal win it even without him.

An alternative to Messi, the Argentine team may not have such an intelligent and legendary player in the next few years. Of course, better players will come to the Argentine team in the future, but a player like Messi may not come again. He is a player who has every achievement. When Messi leaves the Argentina team, the team will definitely feel his emptiness, and many fans will also decrease. However, the possibility of Ronaldo playing in the next World Cup is very high, although he is still very fit physically, so it is not yet possible to say exactly what will happen. However, if Messi wants, then there may be a possibility of playing in the next World Cup as no player has yet said whether they will play. However, in recent times, Ronaldo is still a legendary player for Portugal and if the team can become stronger properly, there is a possibility of them winning the next World Cup, although this is very unlikely.

[Shussainshah]

Some people seems to have started to see football pretty recently, i mean how someone can ask what is gonna be of Argentina without Messi impliying like they are gonna dissapear from top spot football, guys is still Argentina is not a country who only had a golden generation. I know for sure losing a player of that quality is gonna setback you a little but they still have a ton of players in top teams being between the best of the world like Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez, and what if Nico Paz become one of the greatest player in the upcoming years?

We can't consider Argentina without Lionel Messi. They are Argentina and without Messi this team can't even win any single trophy and if they qualified for worldcup they can survive the group stage matches. They have very good young talent player but the way Leo gather this team and united no other players can do that's.  Leo is the Core Heart Of Argentina if they lose they lose football and that's reality we need to accept that's.

Alot of Big name are also in Squad but I think nobody can replace Messi position.  Hope Leo can continue has career and play thr next worldcup in the 2030 and hope they win it and this will be the best farewell for Leo Messi.

[eaLiTy]

I do agree with the leniency by referees toward Argentina's players when it comes to the fouls called against them, while the same referee would present a card for much lesser fouls to their opponents. But that does not mean that they were actually helped by FIFA to reach the final. Argentina played some incredible matches and Messi took them to the final, but Spain was good enough to stop any attacks from Argentina in the final.

Ahahahaha, I don't even understand how you can write this seriously and not feel like you're lying to yourself!
Ahahahaha, "Yes, he shot him 10 times, but the victim didn't die from the gunshots but from blood loss"  

If the leniency @eaLiTy is agreeing to was what was shown to Argentina in a one game only then it would have made sense to argue that FIFA wasn't giving any form of support to Argentina progress in the World Cup but it was a different thing together. We saw how in all the games the officiating referees were ignoring many unfair plays of Argentina players while being strict on their opponent players. It couldn't be a coincidence that all the referees in each game would behave same in favour of Argentina.

Earlier in this thread, I explained why it is impossible for nine officials from different countries to collaborate and fix a match. Logically, it does not make sense.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5431360.msg66965191#msg66965191

If the FIFA hands weren't involved I think he would have called his referees to order for them to stop showing such leniency as you @eaLiTy calls it. Let not beat our conscience to silence from speaking the truth regardless of the personality involved.

I will simply explain this to new audiences, as these rumors and speculation are not new and they will continue with every World Cup.

I started watching the football World Cup in 1986. All the accusations and speculation were about FIFA and referees protecting Mexico because they were the host nation. The famous 'Hand of God' by Diego Maradona took place in that World Cup, and you cannot imagine the controversy that came from the English press.

Let's go to the 1990 World Cup. It was famous because Diego Maradona directly accused FIFA of conspiring against them to make them lose in the final, since they had defeated the host nation, Italy, earlier in the tournament. The final was a refereeing disaster, as the referee gave two red cards to Argentine players and awarded an unfair penalty. The same allegations against FIFA were present during that World Cup.

Let's go to the 1994 World Cup, the first World Cup I watched at home; previously, I used to go to clubs to watch these matches as television was not common back then. Diego Maradona was banned from the tournament for substance abuse. The entire media was speculating about FIFA targeting the most famous player, even though they had allegedly given him a pass to play in the early rounds. In the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Romário scored a goal which was clearly offside. All the controversy was about FIFA helping South American teams, and the same accusations were leveled during that World Cup.

Let's go to the 1998 World Cup. France was the hosting nation and Brazil were the favorites. The controversy was all about FIFA helping France reach the final, and right before the final itself, Ronaldo seemed off as he was clearly struggling. The conspiracy theories claimed that the French had done something to Ronaldo so they could win comfortably. Despite all the speculation, France won, but it was simply because of Zinedine Zidane. It later came to light that Ronaldo had suffered fits before the final, which was why he was unable to perform.

If I keep talking about all the speculation and controversy regarding match-fixing, you will find something after each World Cup, but I do not want to continue as anyone who has doubts will understand the point completely. This is the social media age and everyone has a voice, but it does not necessarily mean that this is the first time the world is talking about favoritism and these kinds of controversies.

[ndutndut]

Argentina's unwavering fight in every match instilled confidence in them. Spain is a very good team, and Argentina forgot that. Spain winning the tournament without giving Argentina any chances once again showed everyone how good they are. This Spain, with its young and experienced players, will achieve even more success.

Argentina performed very well throughout the tournament, but in the final stage they took Spain very lightly. And we understood this very well by watching their performance. Argentina's poor performance in the final stage really disappointed everyone. Basically, Argentina was better than Spain in attack in every match before the final, but their attack in the final is so bad that it can't be accepted in any way. But that's the main thing, it's really impossible to say when a team's performance is going to be good or bad, even whatever it is the final match, and this final match is the proof.

I disagree with your claim that Argentina underestimated Spain. This isn't an understatement, but rather Spain played exceptionally well throughout the World Cup, conceding only one goal. Spain even defeated teams of the caliber of Portugal, Belgium, and France in the knockout phase and didn't allow Argentina a shot for 120 minutes. So, I disagree with your suggestion that Argentina underestimated Spain. Argentina journey in the World Cup was remarkably easy facing only easy teams, and even winning with difficulty. Only in the semifinals did Argentina face a more equal opponent, England.

Spain was a team under De la Faunte because he was consistent with his tactics and philosophy. He even made Spain a team that was comfortable in possession, but combined it with fluid movement and the courage to progress. He also built movement off the ball a solid structure and a fierce counter press. De la Faunte succeeded in building a tactical foundation and an emotional bond with his players. He already knows the philosophy by heart because he has coached Spain from its players in the national team to their age groups.

[Nheer]

Some people seems to have started to see football pretty recently, i mean how someone can ask what is gonna be of Argentina without Messi impliying like they are gonna dissapear from top spot football, guys is still Argentina is not a country who only had a golden generation. I know for sure losing a player of that quality is gonna setback you a little but they still have a ton of players in top teams being between the best of the world like Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez, and what if Nico Paz become one of the greatest player in the upcoming years?

We can't consider Argentina without Lionel Messi. They are Argentina and without Messi this team can't even win any single trophy and if they qualified for worldcup they can survive the group stage matches. They have very good young talent player but the way Leo gather this team and united no other players can do that's.  Leo is the Core Heart Of Argentina if they lose they lose football and that's reality we need to accept that's.

Alot of Big name are also in Squad but I think nobody can replace Messi position.  Hope Leo can continue has career and play thr next worldcup in the 2030 and hope they win it and this will be the best farewell for Leo Messi.

I strongly agree. Everything Argentina has achieved was all because of Lionel Messi, without him it would have really been difficult to achieve all those things. Maybe the team would have operated differently since there is no one to build the around, maybe they would have a new player to rely on but this current Argentina team has nothing special if Messi is excluded they have been just a regular average nation.
Argentina do provide some quality players too but they are no where near winning a world cup trophy without Messi. They would go as far as the quarter finals or semi final but they can't reach the final. From the way Messi plays I don't think he can hold on much longer and continue to play, he can for a year or two but I don't think he can make it to next World Cup, it'd be difficult even if he wants to.

[PVequalNRT]

Argentina's unwavering fight in every match instilled confidence in them. Spain is a very good team, and Argentina forgot that. Spain winning the tournament without giving Argentina any chances once again showed everyone how good they are. This Spain, with its young and experienced players, will achieve even more success.

Argentina performed very well throughout the tournament, but in the final stage they took Spain very lightly. And we understood this very well by watching their performance. Argentina's poor performance in the final stage really disappointed everyone. Basically, Argentina was better than Spain in attack in every match before the final, but their attack in the final is so bad that it can't be accepted in any way. But that's the main thing, it's really impossible to say when a team's performance is going to be good or bad, even whatever it is the final match, and this final match is the proof.

I disagree with your claim that Argentina underestimated Spain. This isn't an understatement, but rather Spain played exceptionally well throughout the World Cup, conceding only one goal. Spain even defeated teams of the caliber of Portugal, Belgium, and France in the knockout phase and didn't allow Argentina a shot for 120 minutes. So, I disagree with your suggestion that Argentina underestimated Spain. Argentina journey in the World Cup was remarkably easy facing only easy teams, and even winning with difficulty. Only in the semifinals did Argentina face a more equal opponent, England.

Spain was a team under De la Faunte because he was consistent with his tactics and philosophy. He even made Spain a team that was comfortable in possession, but combined it with fluid movement and the courage to progress. He also built movement off the ball a solid structure and a fierce counter press. De la Faunte succeeded in building a tactical foundation and an emotional bond with his players. He already knows the philosophy by heart because he has coached Spain from its players in the national team to their age groups.

Argentina did not Underestimate Spain because they know the strong opponents Spain has been facing before reaching the final, Argentina did not face any strong team in this tournament from the beginning and the only strong team they face is England and it is because of Thomas Tuchel lack of confidence that make Argentina win the game, Argentina was never the favourite to win the World Cup and if they have not been favoured in some games they would have been eliminated since the round of 16, Spain is better than Argentina in any way and Argentina players did not expect the referee should be the person that do things in a fair way.

[Warkop]

Alot of Big name are also in Squad but I think nobody can replace Messi position.  Hope Leo can continue has career and play thr next worldcup in the 2030 and hope they win it and this will be the best farewell for Leo Messi.

Actually, if Messi announces his retirement, it is the most anticipated thing, what he has achieved has all been achieved and it is an extraordinary achievement in the eyes of his fans. This is not about rivalry but it is about how this farewell is not interfered with by issues regarding his competition with C. Ronaldo, I think the current World Cup is the most appropriate time to declare farewell to declare retirement.

[Unsoldier]

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

This is the best squad Spain has ever produced since 2010 that they won their first world cup. It's just 16 years interval before winning this one. This shows that Spain players are really good.

Of course, I didn't expect such an outstanding performance from Rodri in this world cup but he has proven to the world that he's the best midfielder currently, because he came back from injury and his performance and picked form again.

Personally, I prefer the Spain side from Euro 2024. I think that team was stronger than the current one—or if not stronger, definitely much more exciting to watch. Sure, Spain conceded more goals at Euro 2024, but their attacking play was simply beautiful. Lamine Yamal had a phenomenal tournament back then, whereas he wasn't quite as brilliant at the World Cup. I'll admit I was backing Spain during the Euros, but at the World Cup they played far too pragmatically, so I ended up supporting other teams.

[Adbitco]

Argentina did not Underestimate Spain because they know the strong opponents Spain has been facing before reaching the final, Argentina did not face any strong team in this tournament from the beginning and the only strong team they face is England and it is because of Thomas Tuchel lack of confidence that make Argentina win the game, Argentina was never the favourite to win the World Cup and if they have not been favoured in some games they would have been eliminated since the round of 16, Spain is better than Argentina in any way and Argentina players did not expect the referee should be the person that do things in a fair way.

Exactly, it's only because of the teams Argentina faced that made them reach the finals, even when they met teams like Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland, apart from the Cape Verde game that didn't have controversy, Egypt and Switzerland match was filled with controversy, at some point the match officials had to aid Argentina especially in that Egypt match. You score a goal and it's cancelled because of a previous foul to the build up, that's fair enough but that same rule didn't apply when it was Argentina that made the foul to scoring against Egypt, I'm not even going to talk about the previous fouls that the ref ignored purposely. The only top team they played against was England as you said, that match was free from controversy I must say, Argentina played well and deserved that win since England didn't want to play football.