⚽ FIFA World Cup 2030: Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay ⚽

[Ale88]

Brazil's national team has been in a deep crisis for many years now. Back in 2014 when they lost 1:7 to Germany at home, the squad was more than decent.

I think it's not only Brazil that is in the shit but teams like Italy and Germany are also among the teams that drastically reduced in performance for over 10 years now. As for the 1:7 defeat Brazil suffered against Germany is 2014 World Cup, i don't even know how that happened because as far as I can remember, they didn't even had any red card to say that was the what led to that huge defeat.

You guys mentioned 3 national teams that, in my opinion, all have one thing in common: they lost their identity. Brazil doesn't play like Brazil anymore, they "Europeanized" their game style and they lost their magic; Italian teams are playing with more and more foreigners; and the German team is full of second-generation players. Of course I'm oversimplifying but if we take a look of these teams 20 years ago and now, these are the first big differences I can notice. They all had a switch for the worse, and the (non) results are visible.

[HustleZ]

You guys mentioned 3 national teams that, in my opinion, all have one thing in common: they lost their identity. Brazil doesn't play like Brazil anymore, they "Europeanized" their game style and they lost their magic; Italian teams are playing with more and more foreigners; and the German team is full of second-generation players. Of course I'm oversimplifying but if we take a look of these teams 20 years ago and now, these are the first big differences I can notice. They all had a switch for the worse, and the (non) results are visible.

It’s true, they lost their own identity for worse in the search of becoming a better version of an already great team. That’s what happens when you dont appreciate things the way they are and try to bring change even when not needed, brazil doesn’t play with that kind of magic anymore, italy and Germany dont play that fiercely as they once played so yeah, one should not bring unnecessary changes to something that is already performing well enough in its natural state, but it could also be that these teams failed to evolve with time and now the world of football demands more, and they got confused in what to do to an extent they lost their own style.

[puloweh555]

There's no doubt about that, but Brazil, with the players they have now, isn't the same. Maybe you don't see the players at their best right now because of their current situation. The only star was Neymar Jr. Now we have to wait for the new generations to bring back that beautiful game everyone wants to see again.

I miss the football of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, as well as the beautiful football Ronaldinho displayed, making everything look so easy.

Even in the times of Neymar the team was already starting to look very pale. Besides, he wasn't a leader. Talentless, of course, but he couldn't lead the team that was nowhere near his level.

But I stand by my opinion that it's mostly philosophical problem. They still have decent players now but they lost their ''Brazilian'' football style and they cannot compete with the Europens in European football style. We saw that very well in the match against Norway.

If you say that Brazil is currently very weak and has even lost its identity, that's true. But if you say Neymar is not talented and failed to lead Brazil, I think that's not quite right. After Brazil golden era, Neymar is the only very talented Brazilian player, but he has experienced something like a curse in Brazil because he always gets injured in major tournaments with Brazil.

Neymar often gets injured while playing for Brazil in the World Cup, even getting injured in four World Cups. In the 2014 World Cup he got injured, in 2018 the same thing happened, in 2022 again he got injured, and in the 2026 World Cup he also got injured. Not only in the World Cup, he was also absent in two Copa América tournaments in 2029 and 2024 due to injury. It's because he keeps getting injured that he hasn't been able to do much with Brazil, let alone lead them to win titles.

[sergiorus]

There's no doubt about that, but Brazil, with the players they have now, isn't the same. Maybe you don't see the players at their best right now because of their current situation. The only star was Neymar Jr. Now we have to wait for the new generations to bring back that beautiful game everyone wants to see again.

I miss the football of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, as well as the beautiful football Ronaldinho displayed, making everything look so easy.

Even in the times of Neymar the team was already starting to look very pale. Besides, he wasn't a leader. Talentless, of course, but he couldn't lead the team that was nowhere near his level.

But I stand by my opinion that it's mostly philosophical problem. They still have decent players now but they lost their ''Brazilian'' football style and they cannot compete with the Europens in European football style. We saw that very well in the match against Norway.

If you say that Brazil is currently very weak and has even lost its identity, that's true. But if you say Neymar is not talented and failed to lead Brazil, I think that's not quite right. After Brazil golden era, Neymar is the only very talented Brazilian player, but he has experienced something like a curse in Brazil because he always gets injured in major tournaments with Brazil.

Neymar often gets injured while playing for Brazil in the World Cup, even getting injured in four World Cups. In the 2014 World Cup he got injured, in 2018 the same thing happened, in 2022 again he got injured, and in the 2026 World Cup he also got injured. Not only in the World Cup, he was also absent in two Copa América tournaments in 2029 and 2024 due to injury. It's because he keeps getting injured that he hasn't been able to do much with Brazil, let alone lead them to win titles.

Oh sorry, my bad, for some weird reason I wrote "Talentless" when I, of course meant "Talented".

Of course he was very talented, but the rest of my writing was exactly what I thought: he was not a leader and he needed both partners of approximately his own level and mentally strong leaders/a captain who would keep the team's spirit up.

He had all that at Barcelona which explains his tremendous success there, but at Brazil, even though he managed to become the best goal scorer, he simply couldn't lead the whole team to trophies on his own.

I would say more or less the same about Oscar too.

[Daniel91]

There's no doubt about that, but Brazil, with the players they have now, isn't the same. Maybe you don't see the players at their best right now because of their current situation. The only star was Neymar Jr. Now we have to wait for the new generations to bring back that beautiful game everyone wants to see again.

I miss the football of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, as well as the beautiful football Ronaldinho displayed, making everything look so easy.

Even in the times of Neymar the team was already starting to look very pale. Besides, he wasn't a leader. Talentless, of course, but he couldn't lead the team that was nowhere near his level.

But I stand by my opinion that it's mostly philosophical problem. They still have decent players now but they lost their ''Brazilian'' football style and they cannot compete with the Europens in European football style. We saw that very well in the match against Norway.

If you say that Brazil is currently very weak and has even lost its identity, that's true. But if you say Neymar is not talented and failed to lead Brazil, I think that's not quite right. After Brazil golden era, Neymar is the only very talented Brazilian player, but he has experienced something like a curse in Brazil because he always gets injured in major tournaments with Brazil.

Neymar often gets injured while playing for Brazil in the World Cup, even getting injured in four World Cups. In the 2014 World Cup he got injured, in 2018 the same thing happened, in 2022 again he got injured, and in the 2026 World Cup he also got injured. Not only in the World Cup, he was also absent in two Copa América tournaments in 2029 and 2024 due to injury. It's because he keeps getting injured that he hasn't been able to do much with Brazil, let alone lead them to win titles.

I agree with you that Neymar is a great footballer whose career was ruined by injuries. However, Neymar never lived a real sports life and trained hard and in some way did not fully use his "God-given" extraordinary talent, which is a great shame.
As for Brazil, considering their talent, football history and dedication to football, and the quality of the team, it is truly incredible that they have been waiting for a new world cup title since 2002, a quarter of a century.
It seems to me that the problem is not the quality of the players, but that the team spirit has been lost and that the players have become more important than the coach.
In the last few World Cups, Brazil did not play as a team but mainly relied on the individual qualities of the players and it was always expected that one of their stars, like Neymar, would decide the match, which is a wrong approach that did not bring the expected result.
Ancelotti will obviously have a very difficult task to return Brazil to the "old glory paths" and I am not sure how much patience the Brazilian Football Federation and the fans will have with him.
Currently, Spain is playing like Brazil used to, very beautiful and effective football and they are currently unstoppable.
Considering that the next World Cup is being played on their home soil, I simply don't see anyone in Spain who can stop them in their quest for a new world title.

[EarnOnVictor]

You guys mentioned 3 national teams that, in my opinion, all have one thing in common: they lost their identity. Brazil doesn't play like Brazil anymore, they "Europeanized" their game style and they lost their magic; Italian teams are playing with more and more foreigners; and the German team is full of second-generation players. Of course I'm oversimplifying but if we take a look of these teams 20 years ago and now, these are the first big differences I can notice. They all had a switch for the worse, and the (non) results are visible.

Who told you that Brazilian team "Europeanized" their playing style? I doubt that. All I see are bunch of incompetent players who are lesser than the former teams. The same thing is applicable to Germany and Italy, as Italy is the worst of them all, while Brazil is still better than the current Germany. You see, talents are not the same, and if the most exceptional team played for a nation this moment, that doesn't mean they can carry that forward; talents are individual. I will blame it on their football agency and coach for not discovering or selecting the right talents due to one reason or another. That's on them!

[m4r1o]

Right now Brazil is the 6th ranked team in FIFA. But if we look at their team then we can see it they almost lost their legacy because from the last two World Cup tournament we can clearly see them that they didn't even recognize into any big stage of the tournament. Despite in past they were absolutely amazing but right now they are absolutely disgusting.... I don't know why.. maybe due to some management problem like their staff members are not even bothering to pick so talented players.....

Besides that currently they haven't even any world class players at their team sheet and probably this reason behind their hazzy display. Brazil need a strong players who can assist his team in difficult situation in field such as Neymar, Ronaldinho R9 etc.

It's sad that a club as renowned as Brazil, known primarily for the talent it has produced every year since football began, has struggled so hard to build a team capable of dominating domestic and international matches.

[bastisisca]

Messi played quite well in the World Cup. And it would be wrong to say that only Messi performances  badly against Spain. The entire Argentina team played badly against Spain. None of the Argentina team's strategies worked. And Messi alone tried his best for a team, but where the performance of the entire team is getting worse, Messi alone could not do much better . And I will not say that Ronaldo is performances  badly now. Ronaldo's performance in the World Cup was not that good. Even though Ronaldo played for Portugal, Ronaldo may have created some distance from the entire Portugal team. The way the entire Argentina team likes and respects Messi, is not seen much in Ronaldo in portugal . The position that Messi has created now through his individual talent is truly extraordinary. It would not be right to compare anyone with him now. Ronaldo is greatest player , but we have to accept that he cannot surpass Messi. There is really no need to criticize it.

I believe Messi didn't do much in the final against Spain, nor did Argentina as a whole. So we can't give credit to the Argentine national team, just as we can't give credit to their captain. However, they found themselves in the final, playing a match that from the start seemed to lean toward a favorite.

[kennycryptoitalia]

There is no opportunity to criticize Messi's performance yet, I think Messi announced his retirement from the national team while he was in great form, which was a great decision on his part. In the last World Cup, he played better than the young players of the 48 teams, it would not be wrong to say that about any player. If he had played well against Spain or had won the final, then there is no doubt that he would have been selected as the best player of the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the one who is being criticized the most now. I think this is not right, he is a legendary player and his role in the team is still important. There is no doubt that his performance has deteriorated due to age, he can still be kept out of criticism. Being a legend, our expectations from him are a little higher, which he is not able to fulfill now. I think that announcing his retirement from the national team will be the best decision for him.

Cristiano Ronaldo isn't the one being criticized the most right now. Cristiano Ronaldo has always been the one being criticized the most, because he's a player who can seem selfish and annoying due to his personality, but at the same time has many fans and many people who admire him, while Messi is seen more as FIFA's protégé and therefore receives less criticism.

[giorgione]

In my opinion,I will say the team is built on Messi all these while and now that he will be retiring, they will need to seriously make a lot of changes and the players will need to quickly adapt to it and make the right changes quickly, because many players will have new roles and many things are going to change now that Messi is going, what matters is the ability of the team to adapt to the new system  to make sure that their consistency and performance doesn't reduce at all.

I don't think this has ever been a secret, because the entire Argentina team relies on Messi. All passes go through Messi, just as the national team coach desires. Messi is the player who establishes balance on the pitch and, in fact, is the only player free to roam the pitch as the situation dictates.

[changaa]

Yep, the squad was very strong too. Neymar wasn't playing due to injury but Oscar, Marcelo and others were in their prime form.

I suppose this is where the crack caused by Brazilians trying to ditch their Brazilian style for more disciplined European style was fully exposed. They basically tried to play German football against the Germans.

That's true as well but that's mostly due to the lack of world class players. I believe it's temporary although I don't know what causes that.

It seems to me, from what I've seen, that Brazilians lost their style of play when they decided to abandon the typical Brazilian jogo bonito, that is, the ability to have fun on the pitch while playing football. Once the Brazilian identity disappeared, so did their personality on the pitch.

[danadc]

These are undoubtedly legends of the Brazilian national team, but time moves on, giving new players a chance to prove themselves even though the bar set by previous squads is incredibly high. We might not see new young stars emerge even by 2030, though I certainly hope for the best. To be honest, football has changed specifically, the strength of various national teams that were previously unheard of has grown to the point where they are now reaching the World Cup knockout stages. Consequently, teams like Brazil, Uruguay, and others must exert tremendous effort just to hold their ground, let alone make progress.

Yes, and there's a big problem. In the youth academies of countries like Brazil and Argentina, where very good players and stars emerge, they don't have much financial support. When they're offered contracts in Europe, they don't think twice; they go. First, for the money, and second, for the fame the players acquire. Football in Europe is very developed because they invest in their academies and believe in their next generation of players. In fact, if they take them as children, they can naturalize them to bring them to their countries.

[banana33]

Do you mean that FIFA is giving Argentina an advantage to win because Messi is the best player in the world? If you think so, then you are definitely wrong. Because Argentina was never given an advantage because of Messi. If we look at Mbappé, we will see almost the same picture, why did they not win and if Argentina was given an advantage, then why did Argentina not win this World Cup? Argentina was never given an advantage, rather they were able to reach this far through their own merits.

FIFA may have been neutral and Argentina very lucky. We can also look at it that way, considering the ease of the group Argentina had compared to other teams, and considering the refereeing decisions that were in favor of, and not against, Argentina. These are various situations that we can view positively or negatively depending on the factions we represent.

[Adbitco]

Do you mean that FIFA is giving Argentina an advantage to win because Messi is the best player in the world? If you think so, then you are definitely wrong. Because Argentina was never given an advantage because of Messi. If we look at Mbappé, we will see almost the same picture, why did they not win and if Argentina was given an advantage, then why did Argentina not win this World Cup? Argentina was never given an advantage, rather they were able to reach this far through their own merits.

Through their own merits as you say, that's really wonderful from you. It's either you have chosen to be biased or you're just playing ignorant to facts on the table. Let's keep 2022 WC apart let's focus on this very world cup that ended few months ago. Do you know that Argentina committed the most fouls in the tournament? 4 nations played the same numbers of matches which is 8, that's Spain, Argentina, England and France. I put this out here so you don't give the excuse of other teams were eliminated, these 4 teams played the same numbers of match. Like I said, Argentina committed the most fouls in the competition but received the least number of cards, Argentina got away with several cardabable offenses. Same Argentina, goals were cancelled in favour of Argentina where's Argentina committed the same offence and it was allowed for them. Spain made sure there was no room for robbery, you're asking why Argentina didn't win the WC, his can you win a match that you had zero shot on target, how will referee think of favouring you when you couldn't get to the opponents 18 yard box?

[cxtreenal]

There is no opportunity to criticize Messi's performance yet, I think Messi announced his retirement from the national team while he was in great form, which was a great decision on his part. In the last World Cup, he played better than the young players of the 48 teams, it would not be wrong to say that about any player. If he had played well against Spain or had won the final, then there is no doubt that he would have been selected as the best player of the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the one who is being criticized the most now. I think this is not right, he is a legendary player and his role in the team is still important. There is no doubt that his performance has deteriorated due to age, he can still be kept out of criticism. Being a legend, our expectations from him are a little higher, which he is not able to fulfill now. I think that announcing his retirement from the national team will be the best decision for him.

Cristiano Ronaldo isn't the one being criticized the most right now. Cristiano Ronaldo has always been the one being criticized the most, because he's a player who can seem selfish and annoying due to his personality, but at the same time has many fans and many people who admire him, while Messi is seen more as FIFA's protégé and therefore receives less criticism.

Messi is being criticized, especially since the World Cup. Messi has fans all over the world, but when FIFA officials show more favoritism towards Messi's home country, fans from other countries have taken a stand against unfair decisions. I wouldn't call it criticism, I would call it revealing the truth. Making a fair thing unfair is a crime. If you speak in favor of his unfair decision, it will be equivalent to hiding the truth.
You can criticize Cristiano Ronaldo. You can criticize him for one reason, which is for not pulling his home country to a respectable position, but he cannot do anything alone. We have to realize the reality that Portugal as a team is not that strong. In terms of individual performance, a player who is equal to Cristiano Ronaldo is rare in world football at the moment.

[cande86]

Messi's role in the 2026 World Cup will be indelible. He has played very well, as we've seen. He helped directly with 12 goals in the World Cup to this day, with 8 goals and 4 assists at the age of 39. In the tournament, he was second to Mbappe in the number of goals he scored. I don't say he didn't sacrifice a great deal of patience and effort in getting Argentina to the final. However, without Messi, "Argentina would not have been able to pass the Round of 32 or the group stage" makes it seem as if Argentina is completely immobile without Messi. Maybe Scaloni would have been able to make a separate change to the system without Messi. Messi's impact in Argentina is tremendous. But it's not clear exactly which round the team will be able to go to if he's cut.

Messi certainly deserves credit for proving himself to be a player in a different league than his teammates and the teams he faced, but it's also true that the Argentina teams he faced were among the weakest in the entire World Cup squad. So let's say their chances of reaching the final were easier.

[Ale88]

You guys mentioned 3 national teams that, in my opinion, all have one thing in common: they lost their identity. Brazil doesn't play like Brazil anymore, they "Europeanized" their game style and they lost their magic; Italian teams are playing with more and more foreigners; and the German team is full of second-generation players. Of course I'm oversimplifying but if we take a look of these teams 20 years ago and now, these are the first big differences I can notice. They all had a switch for the worse, and the (non) results are visible.

Who told you that Brazilian team "Europeanized" their playing style? I doubt that. All I see are bunch of incompetent players who are lesser than the former teams. The same thing is applicable to Germany and Italy, as Italy is the worst of them all, while Brazil is still better than the current Germany. You see, talents are not the same, and if the most exceptional team played for a nation this moment, that doesn't mean they can carry that forward; talents are individual. I will blame it on their football agency and coach for not discovering or selecting the right talents due to one reason or another. That's on them!

Who told me? Just look at the games. And nowadays many promising Brazilian players move to Europe as soon as they turn 18 years old, so they don't really spend a lot of time playing in a Brazilian environment. Check online, several former Brazilian players complained about this change.

Regarding Italy being the worse, well, it depends how you look things: Italy missed the WC qualification since 2018 and yet is the only national team among those we mentioned that won a title, the 2021 Euro Cup. So Between taking part at the WC just to be eliminated immediately after the group stage and winning a continental title, well, I prefer the title.

[HustleZ]

Messi certainly deserves credit for proving himself to be a player in a different league than his teammates and the teams he faced, but it's also true that the Argentina teams he faced were among the weakest in the entire World Cup squad. So let's say their chances of reaching the final were easier.

Easier than who? It seems like you are comparing to a specific and team and that’s why you are biased. The WORLD CUP is a tournament designed that all the top countries around the world perform in it and if Argentina is comparatively stronger then the credit should go to Argentina for being strong not other teams to be weak, but if you go down your own argument then yeah it was easier but was England also an easy opponent? I think beating a team that went through the “harder” path is equal to going down the “harder” path. But yeah however it is, reaching a worldcup final is not a piece of cake.

[Xackie]

Messi certainly deserves credit for proving himself to be a player in a different league than his teammates and the teams he faced, but it's also true that the Argentina teams he faced were among the weakest in the entire World Cup squad. So let's say their chances of reaching the final were easier.

Easier than who? It seems like you are comparing to a specific and team and that’s why you are biased. The WORLD CUP is a tournament designed that all the top countries around the world perform in it and if Argentina is comparatively stronger then the credit should go to Argentina for being strong not other teams to be weak, but if you go down your own argument then yeah it was easier but was England also an easy opponent? I think beating a team that went through the “harder” path is equal to going down the “harder” path. But yeah however it is, reaching a worldcup final is not a piece of cake.

They keeping saying Argentina got easier teams as if , they were the ones that begged fifa to give them those teams. This same cape Verde drew Spain and Uruguay in the Wold world, now they have forgotten that Argentina supposed to face Uruguay in the Round 32.  They got Egypt in R-16 and was supposed to also face Portugal in the quarter finals(but Portugal messed up and ended up being second). So why are these Ronaldo fans always crying that Messi got an easier opponents , whereas their goat Uzbekistan,Dr Congo and Colombia but still ended up being second.

[Volgastallion]

Im just reading the name of this thread and im already getting angry, what a disaster is becoming football and FIFA more.

How we can take it serious, a world cup ""organized"" by 6 countrys is a complete joke.

And now im reading the news about the 3 teams coming from south america are gonna have a free ticket to this world cup when they are not gonna put any stadium for it, plus why Paraguay is also getting it? Argentina and Uruguay as far as i know is because of the century conmemoration but Paraguay for what?

Worst of all is they are gonna keep playing the qualy but for nothing since they are already qualified, what a complete joke.