Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 7. (Read 45014 times)

Normally these ages are such which some persons get to and would think of retirement in active foot ball and I don't think it's a bad one because at such age it's very definite that your efficiency would drop regardless of how much you try to train and make it look like it's not affecting the player but then it shows at some point because age isn't something we could just battle just with thinking it doesn't matter.

It's very true both players may still be able to play for their various countries especially if been called and they are still actively playing football and nothing is wrong I'd they choose to accept of turndown the call too but then what may not be proper would be keeping high expectations on these players as they are not going to be so efficient as we would want them to be as age is now a factor playing out on them, they may even not be able to play a complete game at that time and I think they wouldn't be playing all the matchs like they did in the last world cup.

Messi literally doesn't have anything to loose if he turns out not to win the world cup again moreover he's got one to his name already so it's more like he's actually got nothing to really fight for rather than just trying to help his country at this point try to defend a trophy they just got most recently but this doesn't mean he wouldn't be giving his best, he definitely will give his best to make sure the game comes is played well.

There is a big "if" and if these two players play in the 2026 World Cup we can't expect to see any of them having good performance and even they will have worse performances than we can see from them. It seems Ronaldo is still in the good shape and he can have a good performance for his team in the Saudi League but you just saw recently he played for Portugal and he couldn't make his team win the match.
But Messi is even in the worst situation in Inter Miami however he usually has good performances whenever he plays for Argentina just like we saw from him in the last World Cup when he won the trophy.
I guess the chance for Messi to be in the World Cup is a little but higher than Ronaldo for Portugal.

Would you like to place a bet? 

I don't believe that if the two of them go to the World Cup in '26 they'll be starters and play the full 90 minutes
Even though they're both legends, their physique can't keep up anymore, and apart from their physique the two of them can contribute a lot to their national teams with the experience they have in international and important competitions, there's no shame to start in the bench, they will be 41 and 38 years old in 2026
If you put them in for 45 minutes, for example, they'll certainly be able to deliver a much better performance than 90 minutes

I also think the same as you, personally I have always seen that things with these players are always very controversial, with the case of CR7, he is a player who will always be the best in everything, but in Qatar the friend and coach He did not want to put him in the game, something that caused a lot of indignation in Portugal, until now the Portuguese has not forgiven the coach for that, now he is currently in the team and is doing a very good job, although there are one or another player who criticizes him a lot And that can bring internal problems, especially Cancelo because he is a player who has basically given some statements that were not well received, apart from Messi and Argentina, things have gone much better, because Messi is a fundamental piece for the team, so Given these things, we are people who will always take for granted that he will have no problems being in the World Cup. The thing about CR7 despite his great performance is still debatable, many think that because of his age he will not perform, but I have see this does not affect him, his training regime is very strong and sometimes he has more speed than a 20-year-old player.

If Messi and Ronaldo both play for their national teams in next World Cup then honestly I wouldn't expect any of them to be on the bench. Because we are talking about the bests of our generation. 

These players have even become legends before they retire. I don't think they would like the idea of waiting on the bench and hoping their team to win the matches. However it isn't even certain if both of these players will be in the World Cup.

I doubt Ronaldo more because of his age now. He is still enjoying his game in Saudi Arabia now but maybe in the near future he would announce his retirement who knows.

I also think that the best thing to do is to always stop playing at your peak, to avoid the risk of tarnishing your career with bad performances or playing for small clubs.

What it seems is that they are trying to monetize their career for as long as possible, and will continue until the next world cup, they are still playing very well, a little less than in the past, due to their age, of course... but will they? Will they maintain the level? We still have almost 2 years until the next World Cup

You know. People knew these players and as superstar players who can have perfect performance and help the teams to win any game. People expect to see these heroes in the good form all the time but sometimes when they get old they can't have good performances anymore and this is not good for them when people see these players in the bad form.
That's why I said before that the best thing these two players can do is to get retire before the 2026 World Cup and let the people always remember them as legends, instead of playing for their teams, they can start coaching the younger players in the 2026 world cup and help their teams like that.

The only negative point about Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi is the current league they play in, I don't know if they will be able to maintain all their technical capacity playing in a league a little lower than what they were used to playing in the big clubs in Europe...

I don't know if the leagues they are playing in are competitive enough to make them play their best

I think maybe you are right and we are going to see both players again playing for their teams in the 2025 World Cup but the fact about both of them is what we saw in the game between Slovenia and Portugal. Ronaldo tried to do his best but he is not young anymore and Messi has the same situation.
It doesn't matter if these players play in 2026 or not but the fact about both players is we can't expect to see good performance from any of these players anymore. Maybe even they will have a weaker performance after these two years.
The best thing for Portugal and Argentina is to start using these two players as coaches instead of letting them to play. 

Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 and Lionel Messi is 36 mean at the time of the next soccer world cup which is going to hold in the USA in 2026 both will be respectively at the age of 41 and 38 with this age they are still doing good job and having enough games and playing so most chances we will have this mega event last for the Ronaldo and about Messi nothing is clear because he is doing good job and his body is also allowing him for having more games in future so we can expect his presence in international games for the Argentina which could be good for them and their fans as well.

He is absolutely right, because the Brazilian team has very good players and as you say, they are recovering, the fact of having a good coach can mean a lot to a team, of course we are talking about Brazil where the player can at least score up to 3 goals in a match if the opponent is careless.

So given these things it can be said that Brazil will always be one of the teams that will attract the most attention worldwide for its style of play , for its history and for what it can give , for what it is Worth, we know that it has had a World Cup qualifying so far Has been very bad , but be careful, because when Brazil is on a roll it becomes a steamroller, any team can be surpassed by the team, even Argentina, and the Copa América is getting Closer and closer, on some TV channels. Television is already counting down, and the Eurocup is also approaching, this is going to be very good.

Even these both are now at their prime but still most talked players around the sporting world which is indicating fans still love to talk about them and things are not going to change in near future with both will be available in 2026 world cup even they will be not like we have them in past with most chances we will have them as substitute and or for the one half but still this could be good booster for their teams and things could be also entertaining for the soccer fans.

After these two we are not having any solid impact player like them in future which is making things some unfavourable but still this all will be gone ahead, and we will have now soccer as at his peak because now we are entering in new era which is surely going to have new stars but not like we have in past era.

Without a doubt they will go to the World Cup, only a serious injury would take them out of this tournament...

This will probably be the last World Cup for both of them, so we end a generation of football legends, they are the last remnants of the generation of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zidane, Beckham, Pirlo and many others

Now we have a new generation of players, but I can't imagine any of them in the future as a football legend like the generation I mentioned.

People love to talk about both players, even those who don't like soccer know both of them, in every part of the world hehe

In my humble opinion, talking only about the 2026 World Cup, the two players could participate, but not playing all the time and perhaps not even as starters
They could be the player with the most experience, to give morale to the team, to help the new players, to come on in the second half or play a few minutes, take free-kicks, penalties etc
And I've seen several teams that have used this tactic

That's my bet for both of them to go to the '26 World Cup

It is a say that a tree cannot make a forest. This is why I don't see Ronaldo as a savior at his age, unlike when he was much younger, with speed and accuracy. If it happens that he plays in 2026 world cup, his performance would not change anything if he does not have good players around him.

If these two rivals would be playing in the next world cup, it is will add a little flavor to the world cup, but I believe that we have youngsters that is their turn to shine.

Thanks for the detailed explanation about it. It is clearer now.    As long as he is good at doing his job it is a nice deal for Brazil then.

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Will we even see Messi and Ronaldo in World Cup 2026 for certain?    I have seen Messi playing in the qualifiers though. Maybe we would see him in the main tournament as well. However I can't be so sure about Ronaldo. He is going to be 41 or maybe even 42 years old then. I doubt that he wouldn't retire until then.

Even Zlatan retired at the age of 41 if I'm not wrong about the age. Maybe Ronaldo wouldn't find the energy in himself to play one last World Cup before retirement but let's see.

Shin Tae-yong has really proven that he has indeed done good job, and this success in the away win against Vietnam has made Shin Tae-yong considered savior coach for Indonesian football.
In addition, Shin Tae-yong really prioritizes the quality of skill in including every Indonesian player in the national team nicknamed the Garuda squad, and the presence of several other players of Indonesian descent who come from abroad such as the Netherlands makes the Indonesian national team far superior.
Now Indonesia has many experienced and great players, this will help Indonesia achieve every victory in the future, even though they may not guaranteed actually qualify, but at least they have proven their hard work and self-confidence which is balanced with satisfactory results.
Hopefully in the next match they can achieve another surprising result, Iraq feels impossible to beat but if there is luck and surprise comes then all Indonesians will cheer happily.

Philippines is team that is currently at level below Indonesia and thus it can be concluded that Indonesia will win easily against the Philippines.
Indonesia in all respects has superiority on paper and this is the reason why Indonesia is far superior to the Philippines.

I saw in this thread people were talking about Ronaldo and Messi playing in the 2026 World Cup. But I think the recent games we see will definitely change our minds, Ronaldo couldn't save his team. In fact, Ronaldo played in the game against Slovenia for the Portugal national team in which they lost the game with a 2-0 result, but he couldn't do anything and he couldn't help the team. However, was very mad in this match and he said the referee was guilty for this result.
Now we understand why people keep saying one player cannot save the whole team even if that player is a true superstar but one player cannot do anything by himself. Also, this is another reason to say Ronaldo is old and he can't have good performances like his old days and he can't even help his team in the 2026 World Cup or the other tournaments.

Most of the developing countries are suffering from many problems with their sports policies are also not good which are not creating room for the development in the game even good chance of grooming, but things have never been ideal too much corruption and political influence are hurting them badly.
FIFA is trying his best for the development of this game in Asian region which is the biggest market by population but right now things are not going as they needed which is big setback for them with internal issues are also creating no chance of development even few countries are having good leagues which are good for them with they can get good talent which is surely going to increase quality and popularity of the game in this region.

Are you referring to the Indonesia vs Vietnam match or other Asian qualifier matches? I don't think you can calculate their love for football from their results tho, unless they spare no effort to run or make a decent pass in a match. In my country, I don't feel like supporters' love towards their national team is gone, the problem is the federation in charge made too many mistakes that affect the quality of the national team. Not sure if this will ever improve, I guess time will tell whether the good track record is sustainable or not.