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

[snipie]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

I recall that with Pele in Brazil and Maradona in Argentina. Any player can be replaced in a future era when there is good circumstances for that.
Messi is certainly an excellent player. Argentina players are good but they have a lot to learn whether professionally or to respect their opponents. Playing with a lot of negative emotions will not help them.
I read that some Argentina media created a list about the team of Argentina haters. That list contains every person criticising them or the referee who favored Argentina over them. They have to grow up seriously.

[KTChampions]

the Argentine players don't like violence but they have been, they are very aggressive and have always beaten their opponents, and they have clearly demonstrated that they don't know how to lose a football match, there is certainly a lot of competitive spirit and they want to win at all costs but this is not the case, you don't play like that.

If anyone still remembers 2022, they showed that they couldn't win with dignity. I can't recall a single team that could have embarrassed themselves so much with winning a tournament. So it only took two tournaments to prove to everyone that they were pathetic, both in victories and defeats. Many explain this by complexes regarding Brazil - Argentina has always been a secondary team in relation to Brazil, but still, considering that Brazil has not been able to win anything for 20 years, the current generation of Argentine players should be free of this complex.

[cxtreenal]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

After Messi retires, the Argentina team will be very lonely. There is no alternative to Messi yet. Such a talented player is very rare in the world. I think if he is physically fit, he should continue playing for more time.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 years old, he is still physically fit and can run full time. The same is true for Messi because he is still scoring goals and is physically healthy.

Currently, the Argentina team does not have many talented players. The players that are there are not capable of easily filling Messi's void. The team will have to wait many more years to win the World Cup trophy. They won the first World Cup trophy in 1978 and the second trophy in 1986. After that, they had to wait a long time and finally won the third trophy in the Qatar World Cup in 2022. This time, although they had the opportunity, they had to return home empty-handed.

[Decimetre]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

After Messi retires, the Argentina team will be very lonely. There is no alternative to Messi yet. Such a talented player is very rare in the world. I think if he is physically fit, he should continue playing for more time.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 years old, he is still physically fit and can run full time. The same is true for Messi because he is still scoring goals and is physically healthy.

Currently, the Argentina team does not have many talented players. The players that are there are not capable of easily filling Messi's void. The team will have to wait many more years to win the World Cup trophy. They won the first World Cup trophy in 1978 and the second trophy in 1986. After that, they had to wait a long time and finally won the third trophy in the Qatar World Cup in 2022. This time, although they had the opportunity, they had to return home empty-handed.

Messi still looks very fit to be talking about retirement at this point so even during the world cup, I wasn't seeing him as a player that can not perform in the next world cup when he will be 43 based on the performance that Ronaldo gave at his 41 years. Messi is still agile and hearty so he could play until the next world cup and he can then retire.

The first thing that may happen to Argentina side after Messi's retirement is that they will then discover that they don't have much true fan as most of the support they enjoy is because of Messi's fanbase, same thing that will happen to Portugal soon as Ronaldo could retire any moment.

About having good players, generations come and go and nations can always get a star at anytime. It may just take the team few years before they will get back to what they used to be because Argentina is a footballing nation and has produced good talents before just like the days of Maradona.

[fredericktaylor]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

Yes, Every player's style of play is not the same, their strong zones are different, so no one can ever take someone's place. So no one can ever take Lionel Messi place, his position will be remembered for a lifetime. Messi retirement from the team will indeed bring a big blow to the team but it will take time to cope with the big blow. With the change of time, new stars will be created in the team, time does not stop for anyone and this is the reality, so I hope that Argentina will return to its rhythm at some point even after losing Messi. We lost Messi, maybe no one can play exactly like Messi, but it is also true that better players will be created in the future.

[ChocolateBitcoinK]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

After Messi retires, the Argentina team will be very lonely. There is no alternative to Messi yet. Such a talented player is very rare in the world. I think if he is physically fit, he should continue playing for more time.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 years old, he is still physically fit and can run full time. The same is true for Messi because he is still scoring goals and is physically healthy.

Currently, the Argentina team does not have many talented players. The players that are there are not capable of easily filling Messi's void. The team will have to wait many more years to win the World Cup trophy. They won the first World Cup trophy in 1978 and the second trophy in 1986. After that, they had to wait a long time and finally won the third trophy in the Qatar World Cup in 2022. This time, although they had the opportunity, they had to return home empty-handed.

This was Argentina's last World Cup with Messi, Argentina will have to form a team without Messi in the next World Cup. Messi took Argentina to the final in this World Cup, but unfortunately they could not win the trophy. After this, Messi will not be there, so it is difficult to say how far this team formed without Messi will be able to go on the World Cup stage in the future. Although a team does not depend on only one player, but Messi was one of the most important for Argentina, so now it is a matter of seeing how far Argentina can go without Messi.

Argentina will have to be even tougher now, if they want to do something good in the next World Cup, Argentina will first have to fill the void of Messi, which is the biggest challenge now, I do not know if it will be possible at all, but now I think Julián Álvarez can fill the void of Messi a little.

[Gost ms]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

After Messi retires, the Argentina team will be very lonely. There is no alternative to Messi yet. Such a talented player is very rare in the world. I think if he is physically fit, he should continue playing for more time.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 years old, he is still physically fit and can run full time. The same is true for Messi because he is still scoring goals and is physically healthy.

Currently, the Argentina team does not have many talented players. The players that are there are not capable of easily filling Messi's void. The team will have to wait many more years to win the World Cup trophy. They won the first World Cup trophy in 1978 and the second trophy in 1986. After that, they had to wait a long time and finally won the third trophy in the Qatar World Cup in 2022. This time, although they had the opportunity, they had to return home empty-handed.

Although it will take a long time to fill Messi's void, I think that the Argentina team without Messi may not be as bad as we are considering. Of course, Messi's void will bring a bad time for Argentina, but it may not be as bad as we think in the long term. Because if we watch the Argentina team's game now, we will see that the entire game is centered on Messi and everyone has one goal, which is to push Messi forward. When Messi is not there, maybe the team will think about everyone and everyone will come together and create a trap.

Now Messi's retirement seems very logical to me. Because at the moment Messi is in a very good form and he is physically very strong, when he plays for a few more days, he may not be able to perform like he is currently and his performance may deteriorate a bit and then maybe Messi's current perception will not be there among everyone. So I think it is better to leave this place.

[xzone]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

Yes, Every player's style of play is not the same, their strong zones are different, so no one can ever take someone's place. So no one can ever take Lionel Messi place, his position will be remembered for a lifetime. Messi retirement from the team will indeed bring a big blow to the team but it will take time to cope with the big blow. With the change of time, new stars will be created in the team, time does not stop for anyone and this is the reality, so I hope that Argentina will return to its rhythm at some point even after losing Messi. We lost Messi, maybe no one can play exactly like Messi, but it is also true that better players will be created in the future.

I don't think Argentina can reach the World Cup finals again unless Messi is in the team. Whether old or young, Messi was a unique player, and we will never see another player like him.
For Argentina's success to continue, at least 2-3 more players need to shine. Otherwise, I don't think this team has the potential to reach the final. If Messi hadn't been here this season, I think they would have been eliminated much earlier

[Charcol]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

Yes, Every player's style of play is not the same, their strong zones are different, so no one can ever take someone's place. So no one can ever take Lionel Messi place, his position will be remembered for a lifetime. Messi retirement from the team will indeed bring a big blow to the team but it will take time to cope with the big blow. With the change of time, new stars will be created in the team, time does not stop for anyone and this is the reality, so I hope that Argentina will return to its rhythm at some point even after losing Messi. We lost Messi, maybe no one can play exactly like Messi, but it is also true that better players will be created in the future.

I don't think Argentina can reach the World Cup finals again unless Messi is in the team. Whether old or young, Messi was a unique player, and we will never see another player like him.
For Argentina's success to continue, at least 2-3 more players need to shine. Otherwise, I don't think this team has the potential to reach the final. If Messi hadn't been here this season, I think they would have been eliminated much earlier

You are talking as if Argentina has never reached the final without Messi. There is no doubt that Messi is a blessing for Argentina, in fact, Messi has brought Argentina a lot of success. So Messi's contribution should not be forgotten. But if Messi is not there, Argentina will not be able to go to the final again. You are actually saying this out of emotion and probably you are a huge fan of Messi. Argentina has reached the final without Messi before in 1930, 1978, 1986, 1990. Even if Messi retires in the future, Argentina will still have a good chance. Maybe then someone else will come to take Argentina forward.

[satscraper]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

Yes, Every player's style of play is not the same, their strong zones are different, so no one can ever take someone's place. So no one can ever take Lionel Messi place, his position will be remembered for a lifetime. Messi retirement from the team will indeed bring a big blow to the team but it will take time to cope with the big blow. With the change of time, new stars will be created in the team, time does not stop for anyone and this is the reality, so I hope that Argentina will return to its rhythm at some point even after losing Messi. We lost Messi, maybe no one can play exactly like Messi, but it is also true that better players will be created in the future.

I don't think Argentina can reach the World Cup finals again unless Messi is in the team. Whether old or young, Messi was a unique player, and we will never see another player like him.
For Argentina's success to continue, at least 2-3 more players need to shine. Otherwise, I don't think this team has the potential to reach the final. If Messi hadn't been here this season, I think they would have been eliminated much earlier

You are talking as if Argentina has never reached the final without Messi. There is no doubt that Messi is a blessing for Argentina, in fact, Messi has brought Argentina a lot of success. So Messi's contribution should not be forgotten. But if Messi is not there, Argentina will not be able to go to the final again

Who knows... Argentina's recent failure is mostly due to the fact that they stuck to the motto "play through Messi and he will do the rest." The last match showed such tactic no longer works. They could have won if they had not relied exclusively on Messi. Younger players move faster than he does. I particularly like Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez, who could be the core of Argentina's squad for the next World Cup.

[Iamgoat]

Without Lionel Messi Argentina wouldn't have reached the final. Messi scored total of 8 goals in this tournament and his assists helped his team to pass the difficult stages until they reached the final. Had it been Di Maria still play for them, their performance in the final wouldn't have been that poor because attack was their problem in that match. Honestly If Messi quits playing for Argentina, they will surely suffer for it until they will find someone that can play his role and in my opinion that will be very tough for now.

You are right in your submission. It will be difficult to find Messi’s replacement in Argentina for now if Messi decides to leave the team. This World Cup has further exposed your submissions and the weaknesses of the club in the absence of their most reliant player which is Messi. At lease the team was able to achieve the mark of winning their World Cup for the third time in the 2022 World Cup and their 7th World Cup appearances all together. This also tells they have finished as runners up on 4 different occasions.I doubt if they will be able to achieve these results anytime soon but let’s see how the next World Cup performance will be for Argentina.

[Pandorak]

Messi still looks very fit to be talking about retirement at this point so even during the world cup, I wasn't seeing him as a player that can not perform in the next world cup when he will be 43 based on the performance that Ronaldo gave at his 41 years. Messi is still agile and hearty so he could play until the next world cup and he can then retire.

Speaking of performance, it’s clear that Messi still has that agility, he’s still capable of dribbling past opposing defenders, even though his skills have declined slightly due to age but overall, he’s not much different from how he used to be.

Meanwhile Cristiano, who is slightly older than Messi, is also still performing quite well, his finishing is still solid, as evidenced by the fact that he and his team Al-Nassr, managed to win a trophy after years of waiting and his contribution to that victory was immense.

The first thing that may happen to Argentina side after Messi's retirement is that they will then discover that they don't have much true fan as most of the support they enjoy is because of Messi's fanbase, same thing that will happen to Portugal soon as Ronaldo could retire any moment.

It’s a given that the majority of Argentine fans are die hard Messi supporters, since Argentina is his home country, these fans naturally support him wherever he goes. The same goes for Portugal, with Ronaldo likely to retire from the national team soon, and i'm sure many Portugal fans will stop supporting the country once Ronaldo actually retires. Here are the potential real world impacts of the retirement of these two great soccer icons, there’s no doubt that a lot will change.

[Chilwell]

the Argentine players don't like violence but they have been, they are very aggressive and have always beaten their opponents, and they have clearly demonstrated that they don't know how to lose a football match, there is certainly a lot of competitive spirit and they want to win at all costs but this is not the case, you don't play like that.

If anyone still remembers 2022, they showed that they couldn't win with dignity. I can't recall a single team that could have embarrassed themselves so much with winning a tournament. So it only took two tournaments to prove to everyone that they were pathetic, both in victories and defeats. Many explain this by complexes regarding Brazil - Argentina has always been a secondary team in relation to Brazil, but still, considering that Brazil has not been able to win anything for 20 years, the current generation of Argentine players should be free of this complex.

I was so much disappointed with the way Argentina behave, because if all the teams that played World Cup and got eliminated behave the way Argentina did, honestly it will be a very big disappointment for the entire world. I was so much happy when Spain won the trophy, a lot of people were supporting Spain, based on what Argentina were doing from the beginning against the backing of the referee. Messi could not hold himself emotionally to the extent that he could not be able to separate fight after he noticed them, the most painful part which I hate with him, he was standing and looking at his colleague were exchanging words but he failed to solve the problem.

[püsür]

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.

He is the only figure to have reached the very pinnacle of football history and managed to make that standard the norm for almost 15–20 years. The fact that they lost to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final does not alter this reality in the slightest. Indeed, at the start of the tournament, the Vegas odds did not even list Argentina amongst the top four favourites. Moreover, for a 39-year-old Messi, this tournament was essentially a ‘house money’ situation in terms of the GOAT debate; he had nothing to lose and had already achieved everything he could. The fact that he’s still at an unfathomable level and single-handedly took the team to the brink of lifting the trophy is a separate matter. This debate was settled and completely closed for even the casual football fan who only follows the sport from tournament to tournament when he lifted that trophy in 2022. In fact, this would have been the case even if he hadn’t won in 2022.

[Adbitco]

Isn't this another form of gaslighting us? You dare come out to make a statement like this, you think people are crazy for after you guys at the end of this world cup. The shenanigans all of you happened to make during the last world cup which wasn't talked about enough, you guys brought the same behaviour to this world cup and still expect it to be less talked about again. Among all the 48 teams, you guys were the most violent and rule breaking but the officials let it slide for reasons best known to them. Argentina had the most foul committed with the least number of cards given prior to the finals, was the only team despite their cunning ways didn't have VAR against them not for once. The finals brought out all your behaviour and for once the referee decided to act accordingly without aiding you much and here you are crying that the world hates you. Funny Argentines

[Ale88]

i don't believe any other player in history could dominate a world cup like this at 39 years old. even Maradona couldn't do it at 30 nor Zidane at 34... even Pele didn't play in a world cup after 30.

imo what he has accomplished after the age of 35 alone makes him one of the greatest footballers in history.

I don't think it's correct to make comparisons among players who played in totally different football times. Nowadays many players are still playing at high level despite being 35-36 years old because there have been huge improvements in medicine, training methods, diets, personal trainers, etc etc. 25 years ago when you were 30 years old basically you're carrier was almost over. Somebody who was 32-33 years old was the same as someone being 40+ years old today.
And Zidane played a hell of a World Cup back in 2006, if France made it to the final, it was mainly thanks to him.

[Powerjumboo]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

There is really no alternative to Messi, Messi is one of them. We will see many players come and go, but maybe we will not find anyone like Messi. The Argentine team was lucky to have a player like Messi in their team. But I also believe that Argentina will be able to organize the team and if they try hard, they will definitely be able to take their team to a better position. But I hope that young stars will be created in the Argentine team and their position will be better.

[Silence Scream]

Messi can never be replaced because is Messi, but i feel like Argentina can fix the team and can find the way to play at high level as always, but the first years could be hard if they dont find a formation which suit and setled fast, but i have good hope on them since Nico Paz seems to be a young new star and they have some other young players who wants to write his own history.

There is really no alternative to Messi, Messi is one of them. We will see many players come and go, but maybe we will not find anyone like Messi. The Argentine team was lucky to have a player like Messi in their team. But I also believe that Argentina will be able to organize the team and if they try hard, they will definitely be able to take their team to a better position. But I hope that young stars will be created in the Argentine team and their position will be better.

Lionel Messi has become a player who has gone down in world football history. At the age of 39, he single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup final. If he had been on his best day, Argentina might have won the World Cup twice in a row. Messi also played magnificently in the previous World Cup. A player like him doesn't come along very often in football history, and we are truly lucky to have witnessed him live. Spain won the cup by beating Argentina in the final, but everyone was talking about Messi.

[Issa56]

After Messi retires, the Argentina team will be very lonely. There is no alternative to Messi yet. Such a talented player is very rare in the world. I think if he is physically fit, he should continue playing for more time.

I don’t know how Argentina are  going to be playing after Messi hangs his boot. Messi is one of the reason why they are still performing well, if not for Messi, I don’t really think they will have gotten to the World Cup final. Argentina will look for a way to improve their team when Messi decides to hang his boot, but it’s not really going to be easy for them, Argentina don’t really have much top players, and they really going to miss Messi after he hangs his boot.

Messi still looks very fit to be talking about retirement at this point so even during the world cup, I wasn't seeing him as a player that can not perform in the next world cup when he will be 43 based on the performance that Ronaldo gave at his 41 years. Messi is still agile and hearty so he could play until the next world cup and he can then retire.

If Messi will be playing the next World Cup before he will hang his boot, I don’t expect him to perform so well in the World Cup, Messi is already getting old, and we should know that age is just going to affect his performance. No matter how good a player can be, if he is getting older, his performance will definitely be dropping, so we should expect a decline in Messi performance by next World Cup.

The first thing that may happen to Argentina side after Messi's retirement is that they will then discover that they don't have much true fan as most of the support they enjoy is because of Messi's fanbase,

People don’t like Argentina so much, people like Messi, and most of the people you will see supporting Argentina are doing it because of the love they have for Messi, immediately Messi hangs his boot, Argentina supporter’s will reduce drastically because Messi is no longer playing for Argentina.

[icebar]

the Argentine players don't like violence but they have been, they are very aggressive and have always beaten their opponents, and they have clearly demonstrated that they don't know how to lose a football match, there is certainly a lot of competitive spirit and they want to win at all costs but this is not the case, you don't play like that.

If anyone still remembers 2022, they showed that they couldn't win with dignity. I can't recall a single team that could have embarrassed themselves so much with winning a tournament. So it only took two tournaments to prove to everyone that they were pathetic, both in victories and defeats. Many explain this by complexes regarding Brazil - Argentina has always been a secondary team in relation to Brazil, but still, considering that Brazil has not been able to win anything for 20 years, the current generation of Argentine players should be free of this complex.

Everyone plays to win but not everyone wins. There is a common word that there will be wins and losses in the game, so you have to be ready to accept any result. Argentina is a good team. They played well in this World Cup. The team lost very badly in the final and when they could not take this loss normally, their behavior was revealed. Not by supporting any team or opposing team, but if we think impartially, that incident was not expected particularly from the Argentina team. Despite being such a good team, I was very upset by the behavior on the field in the final. The team has reached the final, it is certainly appreciated but it is unacceptable that they will behave aggressively. Despite Argentina's behavior being so bad, Spain has shown a lot of patience. After all the influence of the players should be limited to the game.