Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 213. (Read 57724 times)

I thought I would briefly talk about the state of FIFA finances. Qatar 2022 was not well received by the fans, but it was immensely profitable for FIFA. At the end of 2022, they reported that they had $3.97 billion in reserves, and the revenues for the 2022-25 cycle was estimated at $7.6 billion (the vast majority of it coming from Qatar 2022). For the next cycle (2026-29), the FIFA revenues are projected to rise to $11 billion (with most of it coming from the FIFA world cup of 2026). This includes broadcast revenue of $4.26 billion and marketing revenue of $2.7 billion. During Qatar 2022, ticket sales alone accounted for $929 million.

https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/fifa-reserves-at-4-billion-after-world-cup-more-to-come-in-2026/article66511381.ece

Portugal without Ronaldo at the moment, would be much sharper. imagine, there were Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, and their younger generation Goncolo Ramos. unfortunately, they don't have much of a chance with Ronaldo around. see, how about when they played against Switzerland in 2022 Qatar cup. they won a landslide, 6-1. now if they are paired, they will be very sharp for the front line. for midfielders, or wings, there are Bruno Fernandez, Bernaldo Silva, Rafael Leao. for defenders, there are Jaoco Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Diogo Dalot, Danilo, Mendes. with this player alone, it is enough for Portugal to be strong.
So, the problem is now with the coach and how the coach finds an effective system for this squad.

If I have to compare with Argentina, in terms of team quality, Portugal is ahead of Argentina. "without Messi" let's compare it with Argentina, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, not so sharp up front. we can see when they play in their respective clubs. maybe lucky for Alvarez, because he is at a great club with City. for midfielders only two names appeared, Enzo, Mac Allister, the rest I don't know. for defenders, there is Lisandro Martinez, he is very talented, Romero?  not too bad, the rest is a normal player. So if we compare individual strengths, it is clear that Portugal has more quality than Argentina.

By the way, this comparison is for the current squad. the rest, Messi and Ronaldo are players who have entered retirement age. Anyway, I'm a big fan of Argentina.

World cup is not the place to show talent by young kids, it is time to put the best players in and if a player is old and still plays better than any other alternative then they will be called up. I think Ronaldo and Messi could be exceptions in that regard, they can be terrible and still called because they are loved like gods in their own nations, and not like they are terrible so far neither, maybe can become terrible by the time this world cup starts though.

At the end of the day, we are going to see older players if they are still better. I rather have a 37 year old Modric instead of some 20 year old who won't be of any help, what sense would it make to get that player, it is not a place to improve your reputation.

There is no need to think like that about a player even if that player is Ronaldo and he achieved many titles, A few years ago when we had stars like Ronaldinho we were thinking there will no player with high performance like him and he should play for his team even is he is old but not brazil got Neymar who is a superstar player for his national team, it will take some time but in the end, the young player should have the chance to show a better performance.

@Daniel91 Ronaldo isn’t irreplaceable but for now Portugal should keep him around, and let the younger player’s learn from him before they decide to permanently replace him. Also whenever he’s replaced I believe that he should be given a role within the Portugal team and it could probably be a consultant role where he could give advice to the young player’s, and lastly I’m sure that we’ll soon discover his replacement as they’ll start to prepare for future tournaments.

I wouldn't really use such big words like mentioning the fact that no one can replace Ronaldo. We thought the same about some other football greats in the past like Eusebio, Di Stefano, Puckas, Pele, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Brazil's Ronaldo and nowadays Ronaldo and Messi.
Every football era has its football greats and can we really say that Ronaldo was a better football player than Eusebio, Pela or Maradona?
I don't think we need to worry about football, in every age new football greats appear and the old ones fall into oblivion.

Obviously experience comes with age how can you expect younger players to come at level of Ronaldo,  he is the king and he'll ever be because of his experience  age and game .
No one can replace him for a long time in football world but yes many good footballers came into light during fifa world cup and In next world cup they'll be polished more and they'll show more good performances.

That's true but you may not believe it, since there are many old players like Ronaldo playing for their national team there is less chance for younger players to have a chance. However, currently, Ronaldo can't show any good performance, and even yesterday in his Abarian team the fans were unhappy, the reason why we usually talk about Ronaldo and other old players is just because of their reputation they have not their performance anymore.

That is definitely not true. You are claiming that Ronaldo is the reason why these players are not getting chances. It is the other way around. During Qatar 2022, the Portuguese coach (Fernando Santos) humiliated Ronaldo by not including him in the starting XI. The younger players performed well during the first match (against Switzerland, which they won by a massive margin of 6-1). But the tactic failed against Morocco during the Quarter-finals, and they lost the match 1-0. The younger players first need to perform consistently, before they talk about replacing Ronaldo.

Portugal have many young talented player but they not brave give them chance get regular position and prefer keep hold on with Cristiano Ronaldo, I think is difference between Portugal and Argentina where not problem give chance for all player and not depend on Lionel Messi only. Many Portugal young talented have quit well performance and playing well with their team like João Félix and Rafael Leão but less minutes playing and Portugal most priority for Cristiano Ronaldo make it difference why Portugal can't get good achievement in several competition from World Cup until EURO.

They are just illogical persons who prioritize unclear assumptions so that they reject Israel and will fight against Israel's coming to Indonesia to participate in the U20 World Cup so that FIFA makes this decision. But the decision has been made and now Indonesia can only feel disappointment and feel the losses they get.
Indonesia had sent an important figure in its government to meet with FIFA representatives so that they could compromise again to discuss the revocation of Indonesia as the host but that was only in vain because the decision made by FIFA was legal and determined.

No one knows, friend, why FIFA did not give the same sanctions to Israel as FIFA gave punishments to Russia, what is clear is that this has become a debate and there is a sense of distrust of FIFA and considers it unfair in giving decisions.

The case with Argentina is different from that of Portugal. Argentina has an enormous pool of talented players, and already youngsters such as Julián Álvarez, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández are performing well at the international level. The case with Portugal is different. They were always a one-man army led by Ronaldo and once he retires he will leave behind a huge vacuum that none of the younger players will be able to fill. They have a few youngsters like João Félix and Rafael Leão. But I have found these players to be very inconsistent.

I think in the case of Messi it also come down to what the people in Argentina want. Soccer is like a religion there and if you are the coach who has to decide whether to take Messi with you or not, I think it needs quit some guts to decide against it if generally Messi agrees to go for it one more time. It's a different case if Messi either retreats or if he is so bad that you couldn't justify at all to take him to the World Cup. But what are the chances that he really is so bad? Even if you put him on the bench, I think it can't be wrong to bring him on for half an hour, depending on what the situation in the game is. But if you are one goal behind and you can bring him on and you get a free kick, you are going to be happy you have him on board.

I agree with you, Silberman. Ronaldo and Messi may have been perfect players and they did shine as stars, but as they age, their performance may decline.

Messi chances of participating are probably higher since he was the captain of the winning side in 2022.

which other players you think have big chances of participating?

Well, I did not even know that there was a ban on alcohol on certain states in the India. The more you know.
Also, I agree and alcohol is not the root of evil, but rather people are (together with the bad ideas and intentions one can have).

I was in charge of the world cup, I would allow foreigners to have the beverages they like, honestly. It is okey muslin people have their culture and traditions, but we also have and it would be good if we could respect each other's decisions, and the commerce of beer could actually bring more people towards events held in countries where there majority are muslin.

I think there is a difference between people and their sizes as well. For example many people think that it is sexist to say that women can get drunk quicker, well obviously if you compare a guy who rarely drinks vs a girl who constantly drinks, the girl will last longer.

But if you take a girl who never drinks and a guy who never drinks, the guy has a size advantage most of the time, when you imagine a girl and a guy, you imagine a guy being bigger most of the time ,that's the average size comparison. So if you are a tall heavy bodybuilder guy, drinking a few beers will do nothing to you, like drinking water, but if you a tiny person, like 4'11 or something with 100lbs weight, then I am sorry but even 2 beers could get you drunk.

I don't know for sure whether they are still playing in the World Cup or not, because we all know that previously many speculated that the Qatar World Cup would be the last World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Maybe we'll have to see how it plays out, because it's a long time before the World Cup is actually held. 2 or 3 years is a long wait, and we don't know whether they will announce their retirement soon or not, because the possibility is also very large.

I think the same, even if Messi had a drop on his performance due to his age or an injury, if I was the coach of the Argentinian national team and I was given the choice between bringing a player which may not even play or Messi, I will pick Messi, as not only he could always change a game with a single play of his, but when we add the leadership he has, he could easily help his teammates and give them some advice even if he was not on the field.

Ronaldo is in any case motivated to participate. At the last World Cup he seemed to have passed completely, was almost not used at the tournament. After that he just participated in the qualifying matches for the European Championship. It is difficult to determine whether he will play. After all, if we are going to play the World Cup then we will be 3 years further then you will have reached an age physically that it will be almost impossible to play football at a high level. Just look at Ibrahimovic, he still has a nice level, but he will not reach the old level. Ronaldo is one of the fittest players of his age out there. That helps of course.

We are talking about an event that is scheduled to take place after 3 years from now. In case of Ronaldo, I am 99% sure that he will not be participating. For all practical purposes, he has moved to Saudi Arabia and Euro 2024 (in case Portugal manages to qualify) maybe his last major tournament for Portugal. In case of Messi, I am a bit more optimistic. As the captain of the winning side in 2022, it is his responsibility to defend the trophy in 2026. So the chances are higher that Messi will participate in FIFA World Cup 2026.