FIFA 2026 World Cup/Ticket Discussion Thread.

[Stormisover]

Hear me out before you shot my theory, at the moment all upsets are happening against African teams.. what are the odds that the worldcup can actually go to that continent.. Spain was held, Portugal held, France had to really work for it and the drama is still coming trust me  semi finals am banking on 2african teams to challenge for this prestigious title while Europe and S. America will be the continents to beat.

With the way things are going in this tournament, I don't have any other choice than to agree with you, like the unexpected is really happening in this world cup, I never in any day thought any African teams could pull off such amazing performance, based on the group they find themselves, the one that surprises me the most is that of DR Congo against Portugal like it was really unexpected, despite the the fact I'm rooting for Portugal to win this year world cup, I must commend Congo for that wonderful performance, if you say to African countries will make it to the final I won't doubt.

[Jossque]

The match between England and Croatia was perhaps one of the best matches played in the World Cup so far. It was a very closely fought encounter. Both teams battled fiercely in this match to finish top of the group, but England emerged victorious. England created more chances and were the side that deserved to win.

[GiftedMAN]

Czechia vs South Africa. Czechia to win or draw

<snip>

What is your prediction?

After Czech scored an early goal to take the lead, I thought they were going to win the match. Too bad the match ended in a draw. I wanted South Africa to lose the match. They would have been the first African side to be knocked out of the WC. Now, they have to battle it out with South Korea, but I'm not sure they can secure a win, which is what they need to get to the next round.

South Africa was very good in their performance today. In the early minutes of the game they played like they had no motivation but immediately Czechia took the lead the motivation came out of South Africa they mounted so much pressure until they got an equalizer which keeps them to play the last game if they would have been the first team to be eliminated in the world cup. South Africa deserved to win the game it you look at their performance in the second half but since they got a draw they should be proud of themselves and be ready to fight in the next game.

[lombok]

The match between England and Croatia was perhaps one of the best matches played in the World Cup so far. It was a very closely fought encounter. Both teams battled fiercely in this match to finish top of the group, but England emerged victorious. England created more chances and were the side that deserved to win.

This is really thrilling match and it can be termed one of the most exciting matches of the tournament. The fan of football will definitely be excited to watch the speedy action of the two team. England could outwit their foes and gave a great performance with well planned strategies. They were a just word to their performance on the pitch.

[Jossque]

Ghana struggled to beat Panama. To be honest, I didn’t expect them to find it so difficult because, in my view, Ghana’s squad is stronger than Panama’s. However, it was a very close match; in fact, one could even say that Panama created more chances. With this victory, Ghana have improved their chances of finishing at least in the top three of the group. I don’t think they’ll be able to pick up any points against England or Croatia.

[Ndabagi01]

With the way things are going in this tournament, I don't have any other choice than to agree with you, like the unexpected is really happening in this world cup, I never in any day thought any African teams could pull off such amazing performance, based on the group they find themselves, the one that surprises me the most is that of DR Congo against Portugal like it was really unexpected, despite the the fact I'm rooting for Portugal to win this year world cup, I must commend Congo for that wonderful performance, if you say to African countries will make it to the final I won't doubt.

Many African countries have been playing a much more better football that they’ve always played in the past. So I’m also rooting for many African teams to make it far in this competition and not get to be eliminated easily. This World Cup is totally different and not only African teams are making a lot of changes in their performance, but also other smaller countries are coming up and making it very hard for bigger teams to prevail against them easily.

Portugal really shocked us but I’m very certain that they’ll bounce back better in their next match. No group is looking safe for now, but after the round 2 games are over, we may get to see a clearer view of all the teams and how they plan to undertake their next games to stand a good chance for the next round of the competition.

[Giwagi56]

Ghana struggled to beat Panama. To be honest, I didn’t expect them to find it so difficult because, in my view, Ghana’s squad is stronger than Panama’s. However, it was a very close match; in fact, one could even say that Panama created more chances. With this victory, Ghana have improved their chances of finishing at least in the top three of the group. I don’t think they’ll be able to pick up any points against England or Croatia.

You see Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast this team are very strong and I them qualifying for the next round of the World Cup because they have the energy to do that, i did not expect Ghana to win the game because Panama is also strong and they can do anything to win the game but one thing that make the game look like that without too many goals is because both teams play a good defensive game and Ghana use the opportunity they have to score a goal and lock the defense.

Semenyo get the man of the match but he did not deserve it for me because there are many Ghana players that have a very good game including the goal scorer, Ghana is one definitely going to make it to the next round if they perform well in their next game because they will have six points and will have a good chance of making it to the next round even if they can not win the trophy.

[Iamgoat]

Football in Africa has developed immensely in recent years, and African teams are now often coached by experienced Europeans. The competition to qualify for the World Cup is incredibly high there. I can easily see an African team making it to the semifinals, but in my view, having two African teams in the semifinals won't happen. No matter how much the level of football in Africa has risen, it is still a long way off the European or South American standard. Judging by the first round of the World Cup, the African sides are looking decent, but there are still two rounds left, and only after they are played can we truly assess the real strength of the African national teams.

This is not criticism, it's just my opinion.

Two issues with Africa, one of the their major problems for most African teams is they do not view football as a point where they can make good money from and should invest heavily into hence why they don’t put in the kind of efforts other teams put in their teams and this is mainly contained in their pure employment of good and well experienced coaches and the wages being given to the players too. Hardly will you find our African teams investing heavily on the quality of managers they employ. Undermining how significant the role of managers are in the success of teams in football.

[Dump3er]

Football in Africa has developed immensely in recent years, and African teams are now often coached by experienced Europeans. The competition to qualify for the World Cup is incredibly high there. I can easily see an African team making it to the semifinals, but in my view, having two African teams in the semifinals won't happen. No matter how much the level of football in Africa has risen, it is still a long way off the European or South American standard. Judging by the first round of the World Cup, the African sides are looking decent, but there are still two rounds left, and only after they are played can we truly assess the real strength of the African national teams.

This is not criticism, it's just my opinion.

Two issues with Africa, one of the their major problems for most African teams is they do not view football as a point where they can make good money from and should invest heavily into hence why they don’t put in the kind of efforts other teams put in their teams and this is mainly contained in their pure employment of good and well experienced coaches and the wages being given to the players too. Hardly will you find our African teams investing heavily on the quality of managers they employ. Undermining how significant the role of managers are in the success of teams in football.

Are you talking about club football? This is not just solved by a lot of money, this is about large scale programs including many things. The biggest problem in my opinion is that Africa has some great talent and these great talents see a better future for themselves if they go to Europe, play for the top clubs if they can make it and if they can only make it to a midfield club in one of the top leagues, they have a fantastic life, can send back tons of money to their families, and live a great life in Europe. They usually leave Africa quickly, correct me if I am wrong. What incentive would Mo Salah or Sadio Mane have to stay in Africa? It is not enough to have one or two good club teams. Emulating the European or even South American football infrastructure with all the required elements, I think it would take 50 years at least. Saudi Arabia isn't getting it done. Everyone here thinks they are, but they are not. They are just throwing their money at some superstars, but this doesn't really change much for Saudi Arabia itself except for the fact that they have some attraction for their fans.

Regarding national teams, Africa has some great teams. Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast and you can see that at a World Cup, DR Congo can fight down Portugal in a match. They won't win multiple times if they play ten times against each other, but in one match they can. I think Europe is too tempting for the top African talents. Are there many good African players who go to South America?

[Sexylizzy2813]

Tonight will definitely be a nightmare for Qatar because there's no way they're going to escape this humiliation and I believe Canada to score more goals in the second half, currently we have 3nil on the score board and a red car, what else are the Qatar players going to doin the remaining part of the second half? Defend till FT? Is never going to happen that Canada will not score more than 3 goals in the remaining 45'mins, for me I'm expecting another red card because the Canadians are good at commiting their opponent in this encounter.

[juttsab@]

The match is over, and the result didn’t live up to expectations. Portugal, the favorite in this match, was held to a draw by the DR Congo team. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that their defense was very difficult to break through, moreover, in my observation, Portugal played at a fairly slow pace.

Portugal could have made their game more beautiful if they wanted to. Portugal's game lacked the excitement of the World Cup. Their positioning, pass accuracy, and ball control were good, but according to the team's name, the game should have been more exciting. In the Portugal vs DR Congo match, Portugal was the favorite and I was expecting a victory. But the match turned into a draw.

As a football fan, such a performance cannot be expected from a team like Portugal. After watching Argentina's rhythmic match yesterday, a confidence started to build towards Portugal's match. If the rest of the players had assisted Ronaldo more, the match would have been more exciting, although Ronaldo missed several shots.

Dr Congo gets a point against Portugal in their WC opener. In the first half J.Neves scored an early header in the 6th minute and gave Portugal a lead . 80% possession and only 2 shots in the first half by Portugal. In the dying minutes of the first half Dr Congo scored an equalizer in the 45+5 by Wissa despite  20% possession they created 1 big chance and scored  a total of 6 shots in the first half. In the second half again Portugal kept 69% possession, 0.58xG, 1 big chance created and a total of 5 shots but didn't get what they wanted. J. Neves was named as player of the match for Portugal.