Kolkata: Squashing apprehension that the first expanded 48-team event might dilute the quality of football, the 2026 World Cup has produced one of the most tactically exciting and unpredictable group stages in recent memory. By the time the final whistle was blown on the group phase on Sunday (IST), several pre-tournament predictions had been proved wrong. Heavyweights survived, but not always comfortably as the unfancied teams kept punching above their weight.
France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, England and Netherlands progressed to the round of 32, but not without some anxious phases. Germany were upset by Ecuador, Brazil were held by Morocco, and England were made to sweat in a 0-0 draw with Ghana. Having advanced from the group stages in each of their 10 World Cup appearances, Netherlands now have the best group record for any team in the tournament.
Apart from France and Mexico, defending champions Argentina completed three wins despite Lionel Messi not starting in the final game against Jordan. He came in the second half and scored, taking his tournament tally to six goals. He is the leading contender for the Golden Boot award. Co-hosts Canada and the USA progressed, while the new third-placed qualification system sprung names like Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paraguay and Senegal.
Uruguay, South Korea and Turkey are the most notable teams to miss out on the knockouts, as did Iran, who were cruelly eliminated by Austria’s last-minute equaliser in a gripping 3-3 draw against Algeria on the final day of group fixtures. Africa had an unprecedented nine out of 10 participating nations from the continent progressing, bettering the previous record of just two African teams reaching the knockout stage in a single edition, in 2014 and 2022. Only Tunisia missed out this time.
Korea president apologises
South Korea’s exit prompted an unprecedented backlash with president Lee Jae Myung slamming the players as “incompetent people” and apologising to the nation for the “dismal” result. “When loyalty and factionalism are valued over competence, and incompetent people are appointed to leadership positions, the outcome is all but inevitable,” Lee said in a post on X.
Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa accepted the blame as he stepped down. Scotland’s Steve Clarke resigned though he signed a new four-year contract only a month earlier. The most astonishing move came from the Tunisia federation which fired head coach Sabri Lamouchi after losing the first game 1-5 to Sweden.
Winner takes all
The Round of 32 will heighten the joy and dejection for the fans. Among the headline fixtures are Brazil-Japan, Germany-Paraguay, Netherlands-Morocco, France-Sweden and Spain-Austria. Facing Argentina and England respectively, the task is cut out for Cape Verde, the smallest nation in the knockouts, and DR Congo, who 52 years ago as Zaire lost all three group games, including a nine-goal humiliation by the erstwhile Yugoslavia.
If Brazil pass the Japan test, they could meet England in the quarter-finals, while Germany are likely to face France in the round of 16. The trickiest game is likely to be Portugal-Croatia, which Cristiano Ronaldo’s team could have avoided had they beaten Colombia in their last group stage match and topped the table. Should they beat Croatia—the 2018 2018—Portugal could meet European champions Spain in the last 16.
Portugal topping their group could also have led to a quarter-finals against Argentina in what would have surely been the last of the Ronaldo-Messi faceoffs. While Messi’s has helped Argentina stay on a high, Ronaldo was subdued in Portugal’s opening game draw against Congo before his two goals took the side to a 5-0 drubbing of Uzbekistan.
Messi leads the pack
Hitting the ground running with six goals, the 39-year-old Messi’s form belies his age. But chasing him with four goals are France’s Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and Norway’s Erling Haaland. Dembele’s hattrick against Norway is the second quickest in men’s World Cup history, after Austria’s Erich Probst (1954).
Mbappe has joined Messi (26) and Miroslav Klose (20) as the only men with 20 plus World Cup goal contributions (16 goals, 4 assists). France have validated their status with an all-win record – they have scored 10 goals – it remains to be seen if Mbappe, 27 and already a World Cup winner (2018), emerges as one of the greatest ever to play the game.
