FIFA 2026 World Cup/Ticket Discussion Thread.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Portugal is the heavy favorite against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I’m hoping Portugal wins the match. This might be one of the World Cup matches I don’t think will end in a draw. Portugal should easily advance from this group as the leader. They might struggle against the Congo in the first half, but I think they’ll ultimately secure the victory. They’ve had a good preparation period and won both of their friendly matches 2-1.

That is how we all saw some games to be but at the end look at what we've got, Spain surprised us so we shouldn't give Portugal that 100% winning because from how we have seen where the smaller side go against the bigger side it doesn't end as we expected, shocking moments do happen so I think that this game is never going to be easy for Portugal. We saw what happened to Switzerland, Spain and some other countries that ended in a surprising draw, this could be one of those games, in as much as Portugal are seen as the favorite it still doesn't guarantee them to get the upper hand in that group like they can't dominate it completely, for me is only Germany that have acted like a bigger side in their group.

[satscraper]

Phew! At long last my bets paid off because both Argentina and France won. In total I have 4 losing and 3 winning bets, but today I expect Portugal to win, which should equalize my winning and losing bets in number , though not in money, since losing bets always beat winning ones in that respect. I need more winning bets to support my bankroll.

[meser#]

Argentina-Algeria match started with goals, but both were disallowed for offside. First, Messi scored in the 5th minute, but VAR intervened. Then Algeria scored in the 8th minute, and VAR intervened again. Both goals were ruled offside and therefore invalid.

Messi scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup. It would have been four goals, but his first was disallowed for offside, which was the correct position. Algeria tried to be effective but couldn't capitalize on their chances. Argentina made an impressive start to the World Cup.

[Accardo]

Belgium-Egypt match just finished, and as expected, it ended 1-1.
Lukaku came on and had a big impact on the equalizer.
The match ended 1-1. Also, European teams are struggling to win, which is another point that caught my attention.

Lukaku's goal, a struggle so close in between two strong defenders, showed up later to be an own goal, but on a closer look, it appeared like the tip of his toe, pushed the ball to the left corner of the net, his slight kick on the ball, brought back smiles to the pain filled face of his country men. Belgium was strong, more like the Pharaohs, additional opportunities, made from both teams were missed. Jeremy Doku did find a way in the left flank, but Ahmed Fatouh intercepted his progress, the right flank was enabled and the Belgium side took the opportunity of equalizer with the strong effort of Lukaku.

[yenerbatmaz]

I was able to watch the first half of the France-Senegal match, and in that first half, Senegal was the more effective side. France had neither attacking effectiveness nor chances. One of Senegal's shots hit the post.

I thought Senegal would get at least one point, but when I woke up this morning and saw the score, I was surprised. France won the match 3-1. The last two goals came in the last 5-6 minutes after the score was 2-0. The second half was better, but I didn't get to watch it.

[Alex077]

Spain was not productive at all in this match. They looked for goals with long-range shots. They might have lost the match in the final moments. Cape Verde had chances in those minutes but couldn't convert them. The match ended 0-0, a huge surprise.

It is true that Spain dominated ball position throughout the match. But there was no sign of finishing in the box. Such low-clip or defensive trap is an eternal curse in the opening matches of the World Cup. At the start of the match I placed with a -1.5 handicap over Spain and burned out. Cape Verde defended verry well and took that one point no doubt.

Germany and France are my second and third favourites in this 2026 FIFA World cup  and either one of them will surely win the trophy because of the kind of attackers they have currently

I respect your skill of this attack line. But in this tournament it is too  risky to make sure win type bets. France is already suffering from injuries. And Europe's big teams are also losing point, llike that 0-0 draw in Spain and 1-1 in Belgium. Squad depth or backup players could help a lot. But the hustle and bustle of the club season and the fatigue of this jumble of early group stage matches is a stark fact. Actually I could feel very well now how it feels to be wasted at the end of the day if you create a lot of hype just by looking at the strength of the name or the talent.

[mandown]

I think Iraq put up a very good fight against Norway. Even after falling 1-0 behind, they managed to equalize, but a back pass from the defense to the goalkeeper, followed by pressure from Haaland, resulted in a huge mistake by the Iraqi goalkeeper, and Haaland scored the second goal to make it 2-1. Iraq is competing in the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. Haaland came very close to scoring a hat-trick. Norway is also in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Norway beat Iraq 4-1.

France will finish first in this group, but I don't know if Senegal or Norway will finish second, but the best third-placed team will advance.

[Sexylizzy2813]

After watching Messi play it makes me feel like after he retires football will never be the same again, imagine how he played like the game doesn't need much force to get the job done, getting the first hat trick on his first game is something we really need to applaud him for, after the first goal was disallowed due to offside he never stopped there but continue pushing to get his teammates ahead and it was so unfortunate that Algeria could not defend and score after the way they handled the game, too bad for them.
I'm not tipping Argentina to win this edition of the world cup but they have what it takes to get to the finals, the build up from the back to making it count and the way they defend is on another level, without Messi I think they can still be a problem for other nations in the World Cup or any other international competition, this team has never been a one man show and it has been the contribution of the whole squad.

[iamsange]

I was able to watch the first half of the France-Senegal match, and in that first half, Senegal was the more effective side. France had neither attacking effectiveness nor chances. One of Senegal's shots hit the post.

I thought Senegal would get at least one point, but when I woke up this morning and saw the score, I was surprised. France won the match 3-1. The last two goals came in the last 5-6 minutes after the score was 2-0. The second half was better, but I didn't get to watch it.

All the goals came in the second half, and Mbappé was also outstanding in that match. Olise also provided the best pass to Mbappé, which helped France win decisively against Senegal. But there was another interesting match: Argentina vs. Algeria, because Messi scored a hat trick in that match, and they won decisively against Algeria, even though they aren't exactly strong football-wise. And I am also looking forward to other matches like Portugal and matches from the English team in the near future because both countries also have quite unique abilities from each of their players.

[Yabani]

We've started to enjoy the World Cup a little more now that matches involving teams like France and Argentina have been high-scoring. The matches played a couple of days ago were a complete disaster. Norway's, France's, and Argentina's matches were both exciting and high-scoring. Today, Portugal has a match. I expect that one to be high-scoring as well.

[Synchronice]

Argentina-Algeria match started with goals, but both were disallowed for offside. First, Messi scored in the 5th minute, but VAR intervened. Then Algeria scored in the 8th minute, and VAR intervened again. Both goals were ruled offside and therefore invalid.

Messi scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup. It would have been four goals, but his first was disallowed for offside, which was the correct position. Algeria tried to be effective but couldn't capitalize on their chances. Argentina made an impressive start to the World Cup.

Just imagine how fantastic it would be if his first goal wasn't disallowed and instead of hat trick, he would score a poker. Honestly, it was an amazing match, it always bring me joy to watch Messi and it was amazing to see these goals from him. The guy is 38 years old and did his hat trick in the Argentina's first match on the World Cup.
Just think about it. This was the match between Argentina and Algeria. Argentina won by 3:0 and all of these 3 goals were scored by one man, who is 38 years old. What does this mean? It means that he is in a great shape and he is there to win the world cup (at least I hope). Age is just a number sometimes...