Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 81. (Read 62798 times)

But Argentina coach previously stated that if Messi wants to be able to play in the 2026 World Cup then he must be able to lead Argentina to win the 2024 Copa America.
This is statement made by Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni to Messi and many people already know this because the statement came out several months ago.
It just that looking at the Copa America, Argentina is national team that has the potential to win it now and it is certain that Messi might be able to complete the challenge that has been given by Lionel Scaloni.
Moreover, Messi can no longer play well and Messi has shown really significant decline in performance, even though he helped Argentina win the Copa America and was included in Argentina squad for the 2026 World Cup, I sure many will be on the bench.

I'm sure the Argentine and Portuguese national team coaches would still bring Messi and Ronaldo if they didn't retire or get injured. Both goats have extraordinary appeal for the world cup. These two players also have a big influence on the mentality of the young players in their squad. They have a role more than just players. I think I'll be disappointed if one of them doesn't get called up. Unless Messi or Ronaldo decides to retire before the World Cup. The world cup is the birthplace of new legends. But I think the world cup is the right place if the two goats decide to retire.

Now soccer needs the best use of the Cristiano Ronaldo on commercial basis instead of having his performance or quality in the game because he is almost 39, and we can't expect anything good which is coming from him with Portugal is surely having no fair chance in Euro 2024 or World cup 2026 because they are having no quality which can compete with the top teams in the world which are going to be had better chance of winning titles in these events.

We are having few new generation players which are going to make their mark and things will be gone as it's going for the years, but surely we are going to have ups and downs for the few teams which currently depending on few players because they need to be had improved quality and new blood which will bring better results.

FIFA World Cup 2026 is surely going to have good mark in the USA as we will have few top players which will make their way in this region with their quality specially Messi, Ronaldo are well-known, but now it's time for the Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham which are future of the soccer in next decade.

I would say that it is not about competing with each other but more about the viewership that it gets for the historical situation it had. Ronaldo and Messi may not be good at all when they play in this world cup or even if they do, I am sure that if Messi wants to play then he will get to play because he won't be "that" old but Ronaldo would be way too old when he plays and he may not even be picked, it is said by Ronaldo fans that he is still scoring a lot so he should play but he is scoring at a very amateur league level so it is not really considered good for Portugal team.

I believe that even if both still manages to get called up and even start and play all 90 minutes against each other somehow, we will still see a lot of people watch it for historical meaning of it.

In the Portugal national team I think it is very difficult for this new young star to appear who will take Ronaldo's place, I can't see any replacement with at least 50% of his playing capacity, of course there are good players, but nothing like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Do you know any young candidates for his place? who will supply the team with his technical quality?

That's true, the World Cup has always been a stage for the birth of new talent in the world of football, veteran players like Ronaldo do attract attention, but the impact he can have on a team is no longer the same. Speculation about his future is still confusing, especially regarding continuing to strengthen the Portuguese national team at no longer young. Ronaldo presence is certainly in the spotlight, his fan base in America is also quite large, but there is no guarantee that the Al Nassr striker will strengthen the national team at the next World Cup. It's not an easy job to be the favorite team in an event as big as the World Cup. Portugal stands out because of the presence of Ronaldo and several players, not the entire squad. This is different from other national teams such as Germany, England or Belgium, Brazil and Argentina, where each line is filled by big names who have good reputations at club level.

I wouldn't want to see that which Messi does as noise because i. The real sense, it's not as it's just a show of love and his influence so it will be better to say Messi can actually have a better influence on the world cup if he's confirmed as a participant in the world cup just like seen in American cup as you did  mentioned, it will mean a whole lot and aswell serve the world cup a whole lot of good having Messi .

You are right in that this will give the US government an idea into the glimpse of what they should be expecting from the world cup because if only the American cup could pull this much Crowd from across the world then when it will be a world cup where they will be having both Messi fans and other fans all in a stadium, it will only mean massive capacity because they may be much more than the crowd they saw that day and it will be of economic benefits but will exert some form of pressure on basic social amenities so getting prepared ahead of the world cup is something they are going to get an idea into now.

Messi has actually made a whole lot of name for himself o we the years with his performance and achievements across his career since he has been able to achieve so much both nationally a s within the club's where he has played all his career aswell,this has contributed to his ability of been able to achieve all that love from fans and supporters which then seemed like noise which you called it but it's a good promotional grounds.

That's right, the Argentine national team coach and Portugal coach have to look realistically at how these two superstars will perform ahead of the World Cup. In terms of age, Ronaldo and Messi are no longer young, but the experience and mentality they have is really needed in their respective teams. Apart from that, coaches also shouldn't ignore potential young players, I think these two stars will not force their will if they don't get a call.

What is clear is that these two players are legends for their national team, every coach must confirm their readiness to participate, any coach certainly respects these two players. However, everything would be different if Ronaldo or Messi decided to retire, the World Cup would feel bland without the presence of they both.

What Fernando Santos did was actually very detrimental to the Portuguese national team at that time because they had to reserve great player like Ronaldo, after all, Ronaldo was goal machine for Portugal.
But after Portugal failure, Fernando Santos resigned and now Roberto Martinez is the coach replacing Fernando Santos, so I sure whatever Ronaldo does will not leave him on the bench much.
Roberto Martinez understands that Portugal really needs Ronaldo contribution and substituting him would be the same as big loss for Portugal, plus Roberto Martinez still really trusts Ronaldo for every important competition in which Portugal participates.
I sure Ronaldo will take good care of himself and he will not suffer anything that could prevent him from participating in strengthening the Portuguese national team.

Seeing Ronaldo contribution while being part of the Portuguese national team is truly amazing and he is the player with the record for most goals, until now no other player has managed to surpass Ronaldo record.
Plus, Portugal now has several other great young players who will provide excellent performance for the development of the Portugal national team in the 2026 World Cup.

This depends on the coach's decision, and the coach must also have a strong reason when they call up the players who will be part of the team for the World Cup. For example, Ronaldo and Messi, if the coach calls them just because of their big names then that is not wise in my opinion. They have to see what kind of game they have shown over the past 2 years, whether they deserve to be part of the squad or not.
However, if you look at their current performance, I think they still deserve to be part of the squad because they can also contribute to their current team. However, 2 years from now I cannot predict what they will experience, whether they will be consistent or not or maybe they will even make an official announcement that they will retire from their professional career. We'll see, because it's still a long time before we are at the 2026 World Cup. They are still doing the qualifying rounds for now.

The presence of Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup is not only needed by the Portuguese national team but also by the world cup organizers because he still has the attraction to bring in many spectators when his country competes.
Cristiano Ronaldo has never played in a club or league in America so many of his fans really want to watch him compete live even though his performance will no longer be the same as in previous years, but his fans must realize that Portugal is not the favorite team so this team may only qualify from the group phase but advancing to the next round is quite difficult for Portugal to achieve, even when in his glory days Ronaldo failed to bring his country to optimal performance in the World Cup, especially at his current age, but the World Cup will be the moment for the birth of a new star who will replace Ronaldo in the future.

Ronaldo's ambitions are known to everyone and he does not particularly hide the fact that he wants to get to the 2026 World Cup, although he does not express this directly: “first we need to take part in Euro 2024 and then, if health allows...”.
With Messi it is even more clear - he is even going to take part in the upcoming Olympics in Paris (an old man in a youth competition lol). It is obvious that he will also participate in the World Cup and I will not be surprised if we see another “deserved” Ballon D’or.

The relationship between current Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez is a strong proof that Cristiano Ronaldo will be included in the Portugal squad that'll participate in the next edition of the FIFA World Cup should the Portuguese superstar not retire from international duty when the next World Cup will be hosted. Another factor I think will stop Cristiano Ronaldo's inclusion in the Portuguese squad is if he won't be fit enough to play at that time. The 39-year-old striker is trying to make sure he wins the FIFA World Cup in his football career and will definitely be doing his best to stay fit enough to play in the next edition

I'm not sure if you are right. I think compared to Messi, Ronaldo got less chance to play in the 2026 World Cup. You should not forget that in Argentina they respect Messi too much even more than Ronaldo in his country.
I think if we are going to choose one of these players to play in the 2026 World Cup that player would be Messi, not Ronaldo.
In we saw Messi had some problems with Lionel Scaloni the coach of this team. but the reputation of Messi was about to even make Argantna to get Lionel Scaloni fired Because of one player in this team. While I don't think if Ronalod is in this situation in Portugal.

Ronaldo was included in the Portugal team for the World Cup 2022 but Ronaldo was "correctly benched" by the Portugal Manager at that time because he did not like Ronaldo attitude when playing against South Korea.
And the current Portugal Manager Roberto Martinez will definitely bring Ronaldo to the 2026 World Cup as long as he is not injured.
Ronaldo has states that he is interested in taking part in the 2026 World Cup before he retire from football in 2027 later.

I would include both if only as reserves on the team for the positive influence they might have on the younger less experienced members of the team.   I remember with Beckham his playing quite late into his thirties at the end of his career and eventually though not a player he was associated with the team for more training and support during a world cup.

  How useful are these roles is unknown but either way the core of the team will be newer players.  The threat of bringing on Messi for a short duration to perform a vital kick is surely worth something.

The rivalry might end after the 2026 World and we will just be recalling how these two icons added beauty to world football. We are not seeing much from them because both players are playing in two different less competitive leagues and we have not seen any recent games organized for both players. I just wish these two players would be allowed to entertain the world once more in the World Cup before they both retire from football.

Messi's place is guaranteed in the Argentine national team but Ronaldo might not have an automatic place in the Portuguese team. Even if they both come to the World Cup we would have to hope that they are in the same group or meet in one of the games maybe in the second round, quarter, semi or finals.

I am not sure whether they will feature in the 2026 world cup. In case of Ronaldo there is a higher probability, but let's not forget what happened in 2022. Ronaldo was not even included in the playing XI for some of the knockout matches. So if he was not included in 2022, what are the chances of the same happening again in 2026? And now coming to Messi, he doesn't seems to be a lot interested in playing in another world cup. He has achieved all that he wanted. So there is no point.

In fact, we have already talked about the possibility of Ronaldo retiring after the Qatar World Cup, but up to now he is still playing and his game is still quite good with Al Nassr. I'm sure the ambition is still there, but will it diminish over time or not. The reason is that it is 2 years away and we never know what will happen in those 2 years.

However, for now there are no signs that he will retire, because he is still enthusiastic about being with the Saudi club. He also contributed a lot to his club, so maybe he will stay for another 2 years, at least until the World Cup arrives.

It was interesting when Messi managed to win the World Cup trophy, which was a trophy he had never won, and that made him complete his achievements while playing football. Now it's Ronaldo's turn who hasn't been able to get that, will something surprise us? where can Ronaldo complete the trophy he has too?

As far as I know Ronaldo is still trophyless in the World Cup right? Messi was in the same condition too but he put an end to it finally in 2022. Maybe Ronaldo might want to give his best for Portugal a little longer to achieve it as well. However I still doubt Ronaldo's not retiring until then.    We are talking about 2 years from now and he is 39...

Before that we have Euro 2024 of course. If Portugal manage to win another Euro then I think Ronaldo could see this as the best way to end his national career.    He still looks really ambitious considering his qualifier performances.