Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 193. (Read 62822 times)

That was the back when Ronaldo joined Saudi league as well. Nobody watched that league at all, nobody even knew the names of the teams, and aside from maybe like top 3 or 4, people still do not know the names of them all, I can name 10+ clubs in all big 5 leagues, but can't name 5 clubs in Saudi Arabia, but last season I watched all the highlights of games Ronaldo played in, which shows you how it works.

Same will definitely happen with Messi, some people will watch all MLS games, some people will watch all Miami games, and some people will watch just the highlights of Miami games but in the end the amount of people who will watch games in the USA will rise up like crazy and there will be a lot more viewers globally at the same time.

I don't think that Messi needs any money at all and at a certain moment it doesn't really matter if you have 300 million or 400 million. Saudi will have offered a lot more for sure, but I think Messi mainly made the decision for his family also.

I am absolutely with you on this one, but I mentioned somewhere else that I don't really believe he will be that much worse off. The deals with Apple and Adidas have secured him a share in their revenue that is somehow related to him. Now consider the two different scenarios from that perspective only: he goes to Saudi Arabia and makes 500 million a year or he goes to Inter Miami and makes 100 million per year plus those revenue shares. The US market is huge and several basketball players have become billionaires not because of their salaries, but because of these revenue participation contracts. I don't know the details obviously, but something is telling me that Messi is no worse of conquering the US market with Apple and Adidas backing him. That contract he signed is most likely a gold mine for decades to come, not for two years. How many US people would buy a Messi shirt when he plays in Saudi Arabia? How many US people would buy a Messi shirt when he finally becomes part of the MLS? It is also about proud and happiness that he is there, he will appreciate the value of the sport in general over there. People are going to watch him and the best part? Most of the Saudi fans will buy his shirt anyway even if he plays in the MLS. Or maybe I am wrong on this one because now they dislike him and out of principle don't buy it, possibly. But the US market will make him rich. Like, rich in a category where he still counts as "poor".

I understand the logic, I would prefer Miami over Saudi as well, but it sort of depends on the money as well. Messi has a lot of money, we know that much and that's alright and I think he doesn't "need" money.

However, if one offer was 100 million a year and the other was 1 billion a year, that sort of changes things for me. Obviously I am not a rich person, so I do not have the luxury of saying "as long as I have peace of mind, 100 million is better" and like I said before Saudi Arabia is a nation that has very different cultural values than west, and Messi grew up in Spain, very different in that regard culturally, very close to Miami with a lot of Hispanic people there. So I think that mainly played a big role in his decision, more than money did.

Be it family, be it business or be it anything else, I think for us fans it is also cool to have a player like Messi play in the MLS because it makes it more attractive to watch it sometimes. In my case I don't follow the MLS, but now I will have a look every now and then and see how Messi is doing and as I said before, he will be a great catalyst for the American soccer fans and those who are about to become one with respect to the World Cup 2026. Messi going to the MLS is a true blessing for fans around the world as it will contribute to an even better World Cup. Players like him and Ronaldo have enormous influence on so many people around the world that it can only be good for the sport if they keep promoting it in different places.

Playing for the national team is not that rewarding in terms of finances, but most of the players give priority because of a sense of patriotism. You can't ask anything more from Messi, because he has already proved his patriotism by winning the world cup for Argentina after a long gap of three and half decades. Now it is the turn of some of the younger players to take that responsibility. And Argentina has no shortage of talent. Some of the younger players performed exceptionally well during Qatar 2022, including Alexis Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez and Rodrigo De Paul.

It's difficult to stay on top at such an age, and forcing a 39-year-old player to stay in the squad later might be detrimental because Argentina has other talents who can also make a contribution at the upcoming World Cup, indeed Messi is not like most footballers run for the ball and with his style of play maybe he can still play effectively to help the country for the World Cup, but anyway, there is still around 3 years to make things change, so we'll see later whether he plays or not. But when it comes to keeping Messi in the Argentina squad so they can defend the title it will be different and it is difficult to predict whether they will be able to do it or not.

The only way that I'm expecting to see Messi in the 2026 World Cup is through an ad 

And I'm sure he'll make more money from that than actually playing

Messi has already announced that he will not be a part of the 2026 World Cup, right?

https://www.republicworld.com/sports-news/football-news/messi-confirms-his-plans-for-fifa-world-cup-2026-retirement-articleshow.html

The Argentine management is still hopeful of convincing him to take part in the tournament, but I don't think that they will be able to do so. I guess Messi doesn't want to end up like Ronaldo, who endured a lot of humiliation during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. There is no dearth of talent in Argentina and a lot of younger players are there who can replace Messi. But then, Messi was a legend and those who are going to replace him will find it extremely hard to fill the vacuum.

I think Messi retired a bit early as for me going playing in USA means retirement for a player of his caliber.However it is also true that he will be 39 years old in the next World Cup and for many players this is quite an old age to be playing in big event like the World Cup.For me though Messi can be still of a great assist to Argentina in the upcoming World Cup so he should not exclude himself from the national team,he should leave that option open so if he feels like coming back for the upcoming World Cup and if he is in a good form even at 39 years of age he should come and play with the national team.As for the team he choose he choose a better team than Cristiano did as USA has a more quality national soccer league compared to Saudi.

Honesty since Messi is 36 years old and he did choose Inter Maimi to have a life with peace also left the Argantina's national team, I think Messi wants to stay away even from the world cup, however, even if he wants to stay in the next world cup he will be much older and playing at 39y for any player can't be easy even for a player.

countries where soccer is not widely played, do not have many large soccer stadiums, for this reason that when they apply to organize the world cup they are obliged to spend a lot of money in the construction of many stadiums, and with that it is not only the construction of stadiums, they are obliged to build roads that will give access to the stadiums, they will have to build hotels near the stadium, so all these things they need to build make them spend a lot of money. while for a country that already has soccer games at a very high level, and already has many stadiums with great capacities, they are not going to spend a lot of money on organizing the world cup

I remember that when south africa organized the world cup they already had some stadiums but they had to modernize them to suit what fifa wanted. in the case of the next world cup, i think that mexico will have to build more modern stadiums or modernize the ones they already have, the usa will also have to have good stadiums. I don't know if Canada has many big stadiums or not. but one thing for me is clear that the world cup in canada - mexico - united states will be a good thing, they are countries that have customs that many people like so they felt good in these countries

Messi will not be the only player to have reacted to how the PSG fans treat their players. Players like Neymar and Mbappe have sometimes pointed to want to leave because of how uncomfortable they were. The owners of the club need to work to improve that and change that narrative against the club so that other big players will not become discouraged moving to the club in the future. Messi is a big player and him making statements about how uncomfortable the fans of PSG made him feel can have a big influence on how some other players will begin to see the club. With him now at Miami, it is a new chapter for him.

That's not the case anymore: Lionel Messi rules out playing at 2026 World Cup

Thinking that this decision might be sudden and hasty, I'm still looking forward that he'll be with his mates and play as the defending champions in the upcoming 2026 World Cup that will happen in North American countries. The national team will surely miss him if he will not play with them anymore in the said event and I don't think that they will just agree without having any serious discussion because I know that Messi can't just leave his mates suddenly.

Yes, it was his decision, whatever the background to his decision, actually we don't have the right to fully know because it is indeed part of privacy if the player doesn't want to say and only says what he wants to say.
Now that Miami is his new place, I just hope he can play as expected, or in the sense that he won't have the same problems he had before at Paris Saint Germain when the Paris Saint Germain fans turned their backs on him.
It could happen, but I don't think it will happen the second time in the last 2 seasons.

Messi could choose Saudi teams to earn more money or he could choose European teams like Barcelona to play in a team where they can get back home to where he started his career and he could also have the chance to earn more achievements with Barcelona but instead of choosing between money and home he did choose his family and that's why he came to America to live where he can take a rest with his family, That's why he even quit the national team temporarily to avoid any stress, take some rest and have more time to spend with his family.

And to be honest if I had the choice between playing in Miami and making a lot of money and playing Saudi Arabia and making a lot of money, I know what I would do.

As Messi said he is looking forward to this time and I believe him every word. The great weather and people he gets along with like Beckham and now it seems that also other former Barcelona players come to the MLS.

For the US it is great news as well with their view pointed towards the World Cup 2026. Having Messi in their national league is the best that could happen to them as he will get the show going from now on.

As I said before, we know what other reasons are behind his decision, and that is indeed his right. If you feel that there is a business behind his decision, then that is very reasonable because he will definitely think about business when he really quits the world of football.
Precisely this is a great step for a player to do something that will make money when he retires from football. and it seems that all the players do this too, yes they start pioneering careers in business to prepare everything they need in old age. And with the great name he has of course it helps him in developing and realizing it.

There is some natural limit to the infrastructure requirements for a country of the size of Qatar. But if a small country like that hosts a World Cup and wants to impress the worldwide audience, there is no need to say that they are spending a lot of money that they would not spend on infrastructure otherwise. They are not hosting a World Cup every few years and would need additional infrastructure permanently. KTChampions correctly said that there was no shortage of anything that was publicly talked about and yet they spent hundreds of billions toward infrastructure upgrades and improvements. Workers began dismantling stadiums in December 2022 already and while there is no need to dismantle any additional streets, it doesn't mean that new streets or hotels still have been built for the only purpose to serve guests during the World Cup. 

Spending on infrastructure for the country really can not be considered spending on hosting the World Cup, but if this infrastructure is redundant at normal times (when there is no influx of tourists)? After all, before the World Cup, I didn't hear that there was a shortage of roads, electricity, hospitals or anything like that in Qatar. This means that additional spending on infrastructure was necessary and they can still be taken into account as spending on holding the World Cup.