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

[Frankolala]

I'd say that as a strategy it really leaves a lot to be desired. You're Argentina and you're the reigning world champion, your strategy is to go to penalties and try to win it hoping for luck? I don't think that's the strategy they wanted to use, rather I think Spain completely caged them! They were able to play whatever game they wanted! You can see that clearly from the match statistics.

Dear Ace, you are absolutely right! Argentina didn’t need to adopt such a defensive tactic in the hope of taking the match to penalties, or perhaps they wanted to go all out in the final 10 minutes to score a goal and put Spain under pressure, but instead their plans were distroied. Given its history, Argentina must play openly from the start, without fear. This mistake, however, doesn’t change my opinion of Scaloni, whom I consider a great manager, and the "Scaloneta" when it works is a brilliant style of play.

Argentina's plan before the start of the game wasn't to defend and wait for the penalty shootout to try their luck. They had to adopt that approach after they saw they were completely outplayed by the Spaniards who controlled the whole 90 minutes of normal time. Argentina couldn't even register a shot on target so to them, taking the game to penalties will give them a 5-50 chance of winning the game.

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

[Odusko]

now the question is was it really a big mistake for Messi to have played in this world cup? Because he's been taunt for all kind of scandals and that's not really good for his status.

He is a big star in world football. His talent has to be acknowledged, and even to this day, we can see his high-accuracy passes. He's not as agile as he was in his prime. But the public can't judge him like that. We know football is not just mere entertainment. There are many aspects that also represent certain interests. Messi will be fine with whatever happens in the media.

Messi is being targeted for this scandals, and this can be forseen right from the competition and the world cup scandals have star escalating since the match between Egypt 🇪🇬  and Argentina 🇦🇷, this is where this whole taunts started from amd to the final match with spain 🇪🇸  it was a disappointment for Argentina when they were faced with a stronger more tactical opponent innthe finals like Spain, so whatever controversy that come along now ks irrelevant as far as the Messi led Argentina dis not win the world trophy.

[W Jr.]

now the question is was it really a big mistake for Messi to have played in this world cup? Because he's been taunt for all kind of scandals and that's not really good for his status.

He is a big star in world football. His talent has to be acknowledged, and even to this day, we can see his high-accuracy passes. He's not as agile as he was in his prime. But the public can't judge him like that. We know football is not just mere entertainment. There are many aspects that also represent certain interests. Messi will be fine with whatever happens in the media.

Messi is being targeted for this scandals, and this can be forseen right from the competition and the world cup scandals have star escalating since the match between Egypt 🇪🇬  and Argentina 🇦🇷, this is where this whole taunts started from amd to the final match with spain 🇪🇸  it was a disappointment for Argentina when they were faced with a stronger more tactical opponent innthe finals like Spain, so whatever controversy that come along now ks irrelevant as far as the Messi led Argentina dis not win the world trophy.

It's really pointless to talk about this anymore. Because the final has been played and Spain won. Moreover, they played so well in the final that Argentina couldn't do anything. I know the Argentinian players are upset about losing the cup, but I don't believe Argentina was protected by the referees in every match. Of course, there were controversial decisions, but the weak performance of their opponents also played a role. Egypt couldn't maintain their lead despite going two goals ahead. I think the Egyptian defense should be blamed here, not the referee.

[Zoomic]

now the question is was it really a big mistake for Messi to have played in this world cup? Because he's been taunt for all kind of scandals and that's not really good for his status.

He is a big star in world football. His talent has to be acknowledged, and even to this day, we can see his high-accuracy passes. He's not as agile as he was in his prime. But the public can't judge him like that. We know football is not just mere entertainment. There are many aspects that also represent certain interests. Messi will be fine with whatever happens in the media.

Messi is being targeted for this scandals, and this can be forseen right from the competition and the world cup scandals have star escalating since the match between Egypt 🇪🇬  and Argentina 🇦🇷, this is where this whole taunts started from amd to the final match with spain 🇪🇸  it was a disappointment for Argentina when they were faced with a stronger more tactical opponent innthe finals like Spain, so whatever controversy that come along now ks irrelevant as far as the Messi led Argentina dis not win the world trophy.

Why do I feel like there no serious issue about all ge reports that Lionel Messi is targeted but are simply amplified by his fans to create chaos where there's none?

Football is a game where you must face criticism and I think football fans simply voice out what they assumed were unjust decisions during the FIFA World Cup, that's in the past now, but dwelling in them will not change the fact that some of the decisions in Argentina games were unfairly in their favour.

It's time to move on from those gossips.

[Wake Up]

I'd say that as a strategy it really leaves a lot to be desired. You're Argentina and you're the reigning world champion, your strategy is to go to penalties and try to win it hoping for luck? I don't think that's the strategy they wanted to use, rather I think Spain completely caged them! They were able to play whatever game they wanted! You can see that clearly from the match statistics.

Dear Ace, you are absolutely right! Argentina didn’t need to adopt such a defensive tactic in the hope of taking the match to penalties, or perhaps they wanted to go all out in the final 10 minutes to score a goal and put Spain under pressure, but instead their plans were distroied. Given its history, Argentina must play openly from the start, without fear. This mistake, however, doesn’t change my opinion of Scaloni, whom I consider a great manager, and the "Scaloneta" when it works is a brilliant style of play.

Argentina's plan before the start of the game wasn't to defend and wait for the penalty shootout to try their luck. They had to adopt that approach after they saw they were completely outplayed by the Spaniards who controlled the whole 90 minutes of normal time. Argentina couldn't even register a shot on target so to them, taking the game to penalties will give them a 5-50 chance of winning the game.

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

We saw the kind of football we're already used to in Spain. They showed it again against Argentina. Regardless of the opponent, Spain dominated possession throughout the tournament. Even in Argentina, despite reaching the final, possession was almost nonexistent. Spain controlled the game for most of the match. They even managed to win, albeit in extra time. They are now the reigning World Cup champions. Argentina, the previous World Cup champions, relinquished the title to Spain in the final. We watched a great match, and Spain, who played very well against big teams throughout the tournament, won the trophy.

[püsür]

I noticed that some people found the third-place game rather bad. A third-place game could only be enjoyable if played like this – and that’s exactly what happened. You’ll only come across things like man-to-man marking, cautious play and concentration if there’s a major prize at stake. If the chance of winning the title has vanished and the players from both teams have taken to the pitch reeling from the devastation of having let a major prize slip through their fingers, the only thing that will make that match entertaining and good is the players actually enjoying themselves. Otherwise, we’d be watching players strolling about the pitch, too lazy to run, passing the ball back and forth to kill time; we’d see one, at most two goals, or we’d fall asleep whilst trying to watch it.

[Iamgoat]

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

Since the day I discovered Spain for their passing skills, I believed it will be extremely difficult to have a club which will supersede them. The team player among those players were one of its kind. In fact if you don’t want to be biased in any way, the you must cut their onions for them because those boys held Lionel Messi and his team to a defeat and as it was in such game if you want to know they were actually going to win again and again, fix a match among them, Spain will still win because their defense is one of a kind.

[Ndabagi01]

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

I never viewed it in that format even before the final game was played. If you’ve been following up the Spain game especially their most recent game before the finals against France, look how they dominated the game and even when they were winning the game, they were still in possession of the ball with no chance for the France team for any counter attack.

Argentina does the opposite against England and if we are to look back at how they came this far in the competition, you can as well see that Spain had a much better path and had no doubt of not reaching the finals unlike Argentina that always do the comeback to get their way through in the final minutes. Spain controls the midfield in all of their matches and they proved it to the Argentine team even in the finals to lift the trophy.

[SPIDERMAN008]

I noticed that some people found the third-place game rather bad. A third-place game could only be enjoyable if played like this – and that’s exactly what happened. You’ll only come across things like man-to-man marking, cautious play and concentration if there’s a major prize at stake. If the chance of winning the title has vanished and the players from both teams have taken to the pitch reeling from the devastation of having let a major prize slip through their fingers, the only thing that will make that match entertaining and good is the players actually enjoying themselves. Otherwise, we’d be watching players strolling about the pitch, too lazy to run, passing the ball back and forth to kill time; we’d see one, at most two goals, or we’d fall asleep whilst trying to watch it.

You are right that there was no pressure on anyone in this match. It was one of the most entertaining matches of this World Cup. England won 6-4. A total of 10 goals were scored by both sides in a match, but that is unbelievable in a game like the World Cup. Firstly, both teams missed out on winning the World Cup. Secondly, it was not a knockout match that would have created any fear that they would be eliminated if they lost, they were able to play completely independently. England's big achievement was that they were able to use the opportunities relatively well. I liked Saka's hat-trick. And the reason why the number of goals was so high is because both teams were attacking teams. I thought France would lose by a larger margin, but they are trying to make a comeback quite well. However, England also score goal at the last moment. If such a match were seen in the final where the number of goals of both teams would be more, it would have been more enjoyable. However, it is not possible to see such a match in the final. Because at that time the players are under a lot of pressure.

[danadc]

I noticed that some people found the third-place game rather bad. A third-place game could only be enjoyable if played like this – and that’s exactly what happened. You’ll only come across things like man-to-man marking, cautious play and concentration if there’s a major prize at stake. If the chance of winning the title has vanished and the players from both teams have taken to the pitch reeling from the devastation of having let a major prize slip through their fingers, the only thing that will make that match entertaining and good is the players actually enjoying themselves. Otherwise, we’d be watching players strolling about the pitch, too lazy to run, passing the ball back and forth to kill time; we’d see one, at most two goals, or we’d fall asleep whilst trying to watch it.

It's a match that's not even worth playing while drunk, I don't know why it exists, it's like you say, it's a boring, pointless match, it's a bland match, it has no flavor or emotion, it should only be 1st and 2nd place, nothing more, besides, in history only the first places are remembered, the 3rd places are not even seen, if only 2nd place is already seen as something bad, what matters here is 1st place.

[Olatundespo]

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

Since the day I discovered Spain for their passing skills, I believed it will be extremely difficult to have a club which will supersede them. The team player among those players were one of its kind. In fact if you don’t want to be biased in any way, the you must cut their onions for them because those boys held Lionel Messi and his team to a defeat and as it was in such game if you want to know they were actually going to win again and again, fix a match among them, Spain will still win because their defense is one of a kind.

Spanish team's passing skills are great and their defense is also very strong. Although I consider Argentina to be a very strong opponent, Spain's players are the best in the world in terms of ball control. They played with different tactics in each game of the World Cup. The Spanish players performed to that extent based on the experience and skills of the opposing team.

Those who say the World Cup match was rigged do not know much about football. Argentina did not have the ability to compete with Spain because the Spanish players were so aggressive. Players like Messi or Julián Alvarez or Martínez of the Argentine team did not have any good chances to score.

[satscraper]

Goal came at the last minute, but they had sole possession of the ball. Spain were very consistent and maintained that consistency throughout the World Cup tournament. They put a lot of emphasis on winning. Not only did they strengthen their defense, but Spain played equally in every department and maintained their superiority.

Every player was ready in his position and put in an impressive performance. Despite being so strong, Argentina could not score a goal or even make a strong attack on target.

In essence, Spain's performance in the final was truly impressive. They gave the Argentine players absolutely no room to build a proper attack.

I think this is because Messi didn't appear in the starting lineup. Playing in the second half is not the same as playing full time. Had he played from the beginning, he would have drawn the focus of Spain's defenders, which could have allowed Argentina to score during FT, and then who knows what could have happened in injury time. Argentina lost their potential to become champions for the second time in a row.

What?… are you sure you know what you’re saying or there’s a different match you’re talking about. I guess you didn’t watch the World Cup final. Messi played from the beginning of the game till the end of the game. Spain just were a better team and marked Messi off the pitch by stopping balls from getting to him and when Spain were in possession there was nothing Messi could do. Argentina basically played with 10 men throughout the tournament and only played with Messi during attacks.

Sorry for being wrong. Actually, I was watching the match from the second half when I entered the local pub, and someone told me that Messi was not on the pitch when the match started. I don't know whether he was kidding or joking, but I took his words at face value and it was imprinted on my mind. I didn't read the press afterward because I was very upset with Argentina's loss. Once again, sorry for misleading you and everybody else.

[Iamgoat]

Spanish team's passing skills are great and their defense is also very strong. Although I consider Argentina to be a very strong opponent, Spain's players are the best in the world in terms of ball control. They played with different tactics in each game of the World Cup. The Spanish players performed to that extent based on the experience and skills of the opposing team.

Those who say the World Cup match was rigged do not know much about football. Argentina did not have the ability to compete with Spain because the Spanish players were so aggressive. Players like Messi or Julián Alvarez or Martínez of the Argentine team did not have any good chances to score.

The strategy for Spain was teamwork. They leverage the power of team work to create opportunities for their forwards while keeping the defense re-enforced. This is what strategy is all about in the style of ball played by Spain so they needed not to worry too much about the effect of players like Messi while keeping close tabs with him. The players knew their positions and were confident in each of the players in the game. Why I see it more as a team work than anything else was also because they did not play a preferential game where Lamine Yamal will be seen as more important than another player who could make a goal like we saw with the goal of Ferran Torres.

[Rabata]

I'd say that as a strategy it really leaves a lot to be desired. You're Argentina and you're the reigning world champion, your strategy is to go to penalties and try to win it hoping for luck? I don't think that's the strategy they wanted to use, rather I think Spain completely caged them! They were able to play whatever game they wanted! You can see that clearly from the match statistics.

Dear Ace, you are absolutely right! Argentina didn’t need to adopt such a defensive tactic in the hope of taking the match to penalties, or perhaps they wanted to go all out in the final 10 minutes to score a goal and put Spain under pressure, but instead their plans were distroied. Given its history, Argentina must play openly from the start, without fear. This mistake, however, doesn’t change my opinion of Scaloni, whom I consider a great manager, and the "Scaloneta" when it works is a brilliant style of play.

Argentina's plan before the start of the game wasn't to defend and wait for the penalty shootout to try their luck. They had to adopt that approach after they saw they were completely outplayed by the Spaniards who controlled the whole 90 minutes of normal time. Argentina couldn't even register a shot on target so to them, taking the game to penalties will give them a 5-50 chance of winning the game.

Initially, I thought that Argentina are good at passing the ball to themselves and being in control of the ball possession but when they clashed with Spain, it became the opposite. Spain locked the midfield and their defense which gave the Argentines no chance to workout anything in their attack. It was a complete rundown.

We saw the kind of football we're already used to in Spain. They showed it again against Argentina. Regardless of the opponent, Spain dominated possession throughout the tournament. Even in Argentina, despite reaching the final, possession was almost nonexistent. Spain controlled the game for most of the match. They even managed to win, albeit in extra time. They are now the reigning World Cup champions. Argentina, the previous World Cup champions, relinquished the title to Spain in the final. We watched a great match, and Spain, who played very well against big teams throughout the tournament, won the trophy.

Spain's performance in this World Cup was truly extraordinary. The team performed brilliantly in every match from the group stage to becoming the champion. After defeating Portugal in the Round of 16, they defeated Belgium again in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, the team competed against France and won. Seeing the way they won against France, it was assumed that they were the ones who deserved to win the World Cup trophy. The performance they showed against strong teams in succession certainly reminds us that Spain is not a weak team. On the other hand, although Argentina is a strong team, they were relatively had weak opponents in the previous matches they competed against. Above all Spain's performance was comparatively much better. That difference was also reflected very well in the final match. Targeted shots and ball possession in every aspects Spain was much better than Argentina.

[Yabani]

Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic has brought his refereeing career to a close at the age of 46.
He made this decision after officiating the World Cup final, effectively ending his career at the very top.
He had officiated that final match excellently. He was a referee I admired; he had also officiated the Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe league match in Türkiye.
I wish Vincic success in his future endeavors.

[Sarah Azhari]

The 2026 World Cup will be Messi’s last. Although Messi has not yet decided whether the 2026 World Cup will be his last, given that he is approaching retirement age, it seems unlikely that he will be able to play in the 2030 World Cup. Both Argentina’s coaches and fans surely realize that it will be impossible for Messi to play in the 2030 World Cup. This is certainly something Scaloni has already considered for the future, as Argentina’s style of play will inevitably change completely without Messi.

Without Messi, the Argentina team will be much weaker in the future. Because having Messi in the team means having his passing, dribbling and goal scoring ability. In addition, the incredible assists he makes and his contribution to goal scoring may never be replaced by anyone. The Argentina team has not yet found a replacement for Ángel Di María. Although there are many good players in the Argentina team. But the position of an experienced player like Di María has not yet been filled. And if Messi retires and he is forced to, which is because it is almost impossible to play football at that age. In that case, it will be a big bad news for the Argentina team. Even then, if they can change their planning and strategy and perform well, then it will definitely be good for the Argentina team.

Of course, Messi’s absence will have a major impact on the Argentine national team’s performance in the future. No single player is capable of replacing Messi’s role on the Argentine team. Both the coach and the Argentine people are well aware that Messi will soon retire from soccer. However, at least Argentina still has some great talents on the team. Although their roles are different, with the talented players currently on the roster, the Argentine team won’t be too bad, at the very least.

[WatChe]

Of course, Messi’s absence will have a major impact on the Argentine national team’s performance in the future. No single player is capable of replacing Messi’s role on the Argentine team. Both the coach and the Argentine people are well aware that Messi will soon retire from soccer. However, at least Argentina still has some great talents on the team. Although their roles are different, with the talented players currently on the roster, the Argentine team won’t be too bad, at the very least.

Messi no doubt is one of world's greatest footballer but Argentina has history of producing great names in football and I am sure they have talent available to fill the gap after Messi retirement. Its probably the last world cup of Messi since he is already 39 but he is fortunate enough to be part of winning world cup squad in 2022. There are many great names in history of football that played great football but were not able to help there country in winning the FIFA world cup title like CR7.

[yourmamam]

~Snip~

honestly It's funny how some Ronaldo fans always look for a way to criticise Messi.

Ronaldo?s fans hate Messi because Messi has already won the World Cup. That?s why they look for ways to keep criticizing Messi, even if it?s in a silly and unreasonable way. i sometimes laugh at the behavior of Ronaldo?s fans on social media who bash Messi. Sometimes i find myself thinking, ?What?s wrong with Ronaldo?s fans?? It seems so ridiculous, and it seems like many of them don?t even understand soccer. they?re just blindly fanatical.

They always make comparisons between Ronaldo and Messi, and they will continue to do so! And they criticize each other, but that doesn't change the fact that they are two of the best players in the world. Now they criticize Messi just because he lost this World Cup, but one player alone doesn't make a team. And he has at least won one World Cup, so there's little to criticize; he's achieved his goals.

[Volgastallion]

Of course, Messi’s absence will have a major impact on the Argentine national team’s performance in the future. No single player is capable of replacing Messi’s role on the Argentine team. Both the coach and the Argentine people are well aware that Messi will soon retire from soccer. However, at least Argentina still has some great talents on the team. Although their roles are different, with the talented players currently on the roster, the Argentine team won’t be too bad, at the very least.

Messi no doubt is one of world's greatest footballer but Argentina has history of producing great names in football and I am sure they have talent available to fill the gap after Messi retirement. Its probably the last world cup of Messi since he is already 39 but he is fortunate enough to be part of winning world cup squad in 2022. There are many great names in history of football that played great football but were not able to help there country in winning the FIFA world cup title like CR7.

Well after what happened after the Qatar 2022 world cup im not confident enought to say is his last world cup, and mind yes in a rational way is nearby to impossible to see him playing another one at 43 years, but if we go back no one think that both Cristiano with 41 and Messi with 39 were gonna play this last world cup and they made it, so.... i dont know.

(cristiano WC yes is over 45 is so much).

[Saltysugar99]

They always make comparisons between Ronaldo and Messi, and they will continue to do so! And they criticize each other, but that doesn't change the fact that they are two of the best players in the world. Now they criticize Messi just because he lost this World Cup, but one player alone doesn't make a team. And he has at least won one World Cup, so there's little to criticize; he's achieved his goals.

Those who don't like Messi are the ones who started criticizing him only for losing the World Cup. Apart from that, Messi played quite well in this World Cup individually. There is nothing negative in his individual performance. He played quite well. His number of goals is also more than anyone else in his team , his assists were also more. And he won the 2022 World Cup final, which is a big positive for him, which has taken him to a much higher level than all the other players. But if we talk about Ronaldo, then before 2020, Ronaldo and Messi could be compared. But since then, Ronaldo's performance has been getting worse, in between Messi won the World Cup final, this time he played another final. Overall, Messi has now reached a point where he is much higher than Ronaldo. He is now beyond reach. It is uncertain when a player like Messi will be found again.