Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 123. (Read 62943 times)

To be honest, even if Messi plays in the next World Cup in 2026, I don't think if we can expect to see a good performance from this player because Messi is not going to be in good form anymore and even if we consider him as a legendary player, he still can't have the same performance, I think the bet thing he could do was to get retired from the national games before 2026.

Interestingly enough, perhaps that was one of the factors behind Ancelotti willingness to accept the job and leave his managerial seat at Madrid. The difficulty of managing the National Team for every coach lies in the selection of players who will be called up, not in the number of matches and the busy schedule. I agree with you that this job is good for people who are planning their retirement.

I think the golden generation in the Brazilian national team will never end, new phenomenal seeds like Neymar will always emerge. In fact, I miss someone like R9, everything looks easy when there are players like him on the field. On the other hand, even though Brazil current situation is not good, considering that there is still quite a long time available, they can improve the situation for the better in the future.

Brazil does look for a new manager that much is known, biggest name that is going around is Ancelotti, not sure if he still wants to manage because there are rumors of him wanting to retire, but if he does want to continue, then getting a national team is the best for retirement type of person, you get like 10-15 games a year with that team that's it, instead of 50-60 games with a club. This is why I honestly believe that it could be very well for Ancelotti to take place at Brazil.

Plus, even in a scenario where the worst could happen for Brazil on the short term, they are a football culture nation and they will continue to produce great talent and they will be fine, even in an issue for them now, could be solved very easily later on when the time comes, maybe this generation is not that great and the one that comes after this will be better. ıts true that they are not the Brazil we know from 10-20 years ago, but maybe they will be the best nation in another 10-15 years, who knows?

Ok I had a quick look and the interview he gave there on the Star+ documentary seems to be trustworthy. I didn't watch it, but assuming it is true these statements are quite interesting as he never said it so clearly and never gave a hint to what is on his mind about the upcoming international tournaments. I think it is great news if he stays fit. It would be an enrichment for the World Cup and when he doesn't play all games, it doesn't matter. Having him around one more time is great and I believe Ronaldo will be there, too. 

I think it will be out of place to compare a defender to a striker, Messi is still a key player provided he still players for the national team, he is still very much optimal with his performance and possibly would be allowed to captain the team if need be because of his abilities.

The fact that they won a game with or without him does not in anyway make him less of a key player, his presence alone in that team is such a big influence that can't be undermined by the fact that there are other younger players doing well already, it's normal that various erra comes and aswell pass but it still doesn't displace the relevance of the previous, the rising of new stars in the team is a norm that should be encouraged just like before Messi were others. Conclusively provided Messi is still a player in that team he remains key to them, winning match in his absence does not dispute that and it's really a good thing the team is becoming this strong.

I see that there are MANY Messi fans here and they're anxious to know if he's going to play in 2026 or not hahaha
Here's a very recent news item where the player himself admits the possibility of playing in the 2026 World Cup



Source

Make your bets 

Argentina and Uruguay are probably the best teams in the South American qualifier this time around.

Brazil is definitely not the classical Brazil that we all love.

Since winning the World Cup is so hard, it wouldn't be a surprise if they don't win it again. But which team do you think would be strong enough to win the title? I am quite sure that the vast majority will go with France, but I was taught a lesson last time because I was very confident that France would win the final game against Argentina. But I wasn't wrong for the first time. Guessing who is going to win a World Cup title is a losing game because chances are low that someone gets it right. My guess would again be France because I think they have the best chances, but that doesn't mean they are above all other teams.

If Messi keeps playing until 2026, there is a high chance for this player to play in the next World Cup in 2026 and he can get into another World Cup with his team but I don't think this time Argentina will achieve the title of the next world cup against so maybe getting retired before next world cup can be a wise move from Messi.

I think it is more of a mutual dependency as Messi loves the game and wants the excitement that the Argentinian team can give him. The Argentinian people of course. Messi is a genius that can produce special moments in a game every time, but his game becomes more about passing the ball spaces that nobody else can identify that quickly and then serve as precisely. He is also more about free kick goals. His dribbling skills will decline in speed within the next 3 years I think, but I would still appreciate to see him play. With the role he has in the team, 38 years doesn't sound like too high of an age to still play a World Cup.

He is still a key player even he is not the same as King Messi a few years ago, any teams against Messi team will set up the defense strategy to mark him.

Argentina still needs Messi for at least 2-3 years ahead and he will always become a key player there, maybe he will retire after the World Cup 2026.

Confidence is exercised in all round specifically when we win heavily from the system. I ensure I always try my possible best to bet on the winning team, and not settle for lesser results simply because my favorite club is playing against a top side. Argentina winning the world cup was a great shock to most people, who could believe they will become winners, definitely not after hyping other countries like France and Brazil to lift the world cup. Featuring in the finals is a big dream for every players. Argentina won the 2022 Qater world cup with amazing performance from the players and Leo Messi is put infront for the champs.

Messi is indeed a big factor and their idol, but you can't call him their key player anymore, several others are performing as good as him lately, Otamendi, being a defense, was the one who scored against both Brazil and Paraguay, likely the two harder games Argentina actually won in these qualifiers (still, the harder one for Argentina was their defeat against Uruguay, they were overwhelmed)
I think today's Argentina can defeat Brazil or France even without Messi

Brazil still has big chance of qualifying and indeed they could produce surprising results that make us perhaps not believe what they are doing.
For now, perhaps Brazil can still be said to be at the bottom or team that can be beaten by other big teams, but in the next match no one knows what it will be like.
But for now Brazil is being coached by Fernando Diniz who is temporary coach who will probably only be in charge if Ancelotti actually comes with an official agreement for Brazil.
It just that looking at Brazil development while competing in the World Cup, they managed to become one of the most successful teams by winning 5 titles.

Of course, the favorite for Argentina is really quite big because Argentina is team that really cannot be underestimated, even the surprise they give can be truly shocking.
Like in the 2022 World Cup, they managed to take the lead from the start but in the end ended in draw and had to shoot out on penalties. In this penalty match, Messi and his colleagues gave big surprise by winning the match against France.
But for the 2026 World Cup, Argentina appearance will be very different because it is certain that their idol or key player Messi will not be able to defend Argentina in that event. But several rumors are circulating that there is one condition that has been put forward if Messi wants to appear at the 2026 World Cup namely Argentina must win the Copa America in 2024.

Brazil sometimes always comes with surprises with the way they played their match, if we are to start with the mentioning of countries that may not qualified then we may not even include Brazil because one would have not taught about this with them, Brazil need to be steadfast in their performance, this is not what they will be hot and sometimes turn cold and keep disappointing like others do.


Am always proud of Argentina and in most time i play my bet, i always include their performances into consideration and choose them to constitute my bet, beca am having the confidence in them to alwa go far till the finals by all means.

I hope Ancelotti really takes up his managerial job in charge of the Brazilian national team, of course by waiting for his contract to expire with Real Madrid. In terms of experience at club level, I am quite sure that Don Carlo can improve Brazil performance, but we have not seen him manage any National Team in his career, this will be an interesting experience for him, and maybe after that he will decide to retire from coaching.

On the other hand, leaving Madrid was a mistake, he could achieve success in every competition, but as I said earlier, Ancelotti needed something new, yes a new challenge at a different level. The Copa America and World Cup will be a challenge for Ancelotti if he takes this job, I am sure he can achieve success there.

Yes, I also think that the coaching is a problem for Brazil. The tactics are really not working right now.  So either they change the tactics or the brain in someone new who can actually bring in better results with newer and improved tactics. We all know that they are expected to bring in Anchelloti as the new coach of Brazil pretty soon. But for that, they will have to wait till the La Liga season is over.  And I hope it is not going to be too late by then. Because of the way Brazil is performing right now, it does not give anyone much confidence about them.

Yes!
FIFA has "capricious" the number of places for teams that will qualify for the World Cup and I also doubt that Brazil will be left out of them, but it is undeniable to say that Brazil is in one of its worst moments....
After losing to Colombia and Argentina, Brazil fell to 5th place in the FIFA rankings, was overtaken by England and Belgium and reached its lowest position since August 2016.

I hope that under the command of a new coach in the next stage of the qualifiers, Brazil can recover these points and start playing well again and not just "qualify".

Out of curiosity... here is the FIFA top 10 ranking:

• Argentina: 1855.2 points
• France: 1845.44 points
• England: 1800.05 points
• Belgium: 1798.46 points
• Brazil: 1784.09 points
• Netherlands: 1745.48 points
• Portugal: 1745.06 points
• Spain: 1732.64 points
• Italy: 1718.82 points
• Croatia: 1717.57 points

But we expect a lot better performance from a team like Brazil right? So maybe even though they somehow achieve what they want to do, which is qualifying if they do not do it convincingly, probably they are not performing as they should. And I think that in itself is a problem. Maybe they are performing well enough. But the question is how good as well enough? They definitely have lost matches that they shouldn't have. Qualifying for any competition should not be a problem for a club like Brazil. But right now that is exactly what has been happening.

Maybe we were expecting to see a much better performance from Brazi based on what we saw from this team in the past and especially in the past World Cups because Brazil is the most successful team in this tournament all the time. But even a team like Brazil will have bad days, it's the time for this team to try to find better coaches and change the team.