Cristiano Ronaldo’s entrance turns tribute into viral moment<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nCross, choose between CR7’s Portugal or Messi’s Argentina<\/h2>\n
The tournament will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, 2026. But this time it will be more than special as it will be the last for Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and potentially the last dance for Argentina star Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the Inter Miami captain has questioned his presence at the World Cup and said he will evaluate his appearance day by day. Leo’s Argentina team will defend the title they won by defeating France in a penalty shootout in Qatar in 2022. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a recent appearance on Brazilian legend Romario’s YouTube channel, Kroos mentioned his five favorite candidates to win the trophy. The former Real Madrid midfielder mentioned his former teammate Portugal among those teams, but neither Messi’s Argentina nor Vincius Junior’s Brazil are among his options. <\/p>\n
“Spain, Portugal and France. Morocco has improved a lot technologically over the last few years so it could be a surprise,” Toni said, adding: “Germany and Brazil are not in the top five. I’m sorry I can’t say anything about Brazil (to Romario), but if they win it will be worth it.”<\/p>\n
The fact is that these countries are favorites of many fans, such as Argentina, who won the Copa Amrica twice and reached the final of the last World Cup, and Brazil, who won the Cup five times. Current European champions Spain will be joined by Euro 2024 finalist England, Russia 2018 (winner) and Qatar 2022 finalist France.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kroos was similarly outspoken about the changes to the tournament compared to the previous edition, where 48 teams competed for the trophy. <\/p>\n
“I’m against it,” he said without hesitation. “It’s good that more countries can take part, but I think we need to value the players more and the quality of the tournament more. There are a lot of teams, so in the group stage you’ll see a lot of very clear matches, 4-0, 5-0, 5-1. Those are not the matches that the fans really want to see. What I care about are good matches with quality, not 5-0 or 6-0.”<\/p>\n
messi and cristiano world cup<\/h2>\n
If the Argentine is allowed to play, it will be Messi and Cristiano’s sixth appearance in the tournament, making them the only two to reach this number of World Cup appearances. <\/p>\n
Lionel’s Argentina team will be placed in Group J along with Austria, Algeria and Jordan. They will make their debut against Algeria on Tuesday 16 June, before facing Austria on Monday 22 June and Jordan on Friday 26 June.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Group K, Portugal will face Colombia, Uzbekistan and the winner of the intercontinental play-off between Jamaica, Congo and New Caledonia. On Wednesday 17 June, Portugal will play their opening game against the winners of the intercontinental play-off. They will play against Uzbekistan on June 23rd (Tuesday) and Colombia on June 27th (Saturday).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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