FIFA World Cup 2026 is well and truly underway with 12 out of 72 group games completed through the first four days of play. The beautiful game was on full display across several of North America’s major cities with plenty of excitement and intrigue to follow.

Host nations claim the global spotlight

Mexico vs. South Africa (2-0)

Mexico (1.46 xG) opened the festivities against South Africa (0.07 xG) in Mexico City to kick off the 2026 World Cup, winning 2-0 in convincing fashion. Julian Quinones found the opening goal for El Tri in the first nine minutes after South Africa lost possession in a dangerous area, and veteran striker Raul Jimenez capped off a strong performance with a headed goal on 67 minutes.

In a match that saw three red cards in the second half, Mexico dominated possession from start to finish and never allowed Bafana Bafana any meaningful momentum or clear-cut scoring chances. They are set up perfectly to progress from Group A with this result and now prepare for a challenging match against South Korea Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET in Guadalajara, with the winner seizing full control of the group.

Canada Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1)

Canada (1.23 xG) faced a stiff challenge from European playoff qualifiers Bosnia and Herzegovina (0.96 xG) to earn their first ever point at the FIFA World Cup on Friday afternoon in Toronto. While Les Rouges dictated much of the play and generated more scoring chances, the Bosnians made life difficult for the hosts and scored first through Jovo Lukic, starting in place of journeyman Edin Dzeko, from a header from close range via corner kick after 21 minutes. Canada continued to threaten the Bosnia goal for much of the remainder of the match, with Richie Laryea and Tani Oluwaseyi both coming close to finding the crucial equalizer in the second half. Super sub Cyle Larin eventually pulled the Canadians level on 78 minutes, just a couple minutes after entering the field of play, and almost found the winning goal in added time. 

This match saw many strong performances on the Canadian side. Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made a couple vital saves to keep the Zmajevi at bay, including a spectacular stop on Ermedin Demirovic who was through 1 vs. 1 early in the second half. Richie Laryea played well at left back in place of star Alphonso Davies and almost certainly cemented his place in the starting 11, so long as the Bayern wing back continues recovery from a hamstring ailment. Tani Oluwaseyi of Villarreal turned in a great shift as well in his World Cup debut. Despite not finding the score sheet, he played an important role in the Canadian attack generating several chances to score for his teammates.

Jesse Marsch’s men will look to improve on their maiden point performance next time out Thursday at 6:00 p.m. ET in Vancouver against Qatar, who also earned their first-ever point with a late equalizer against group favorites Switzerland. 

United States vs. Paraguay (4-1)

The United States (1.42 xG) turned in the most dominant performance of the host nations in a 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay (0.54 xG) in a near perfect display of football in Los Angeles. It didn’t take long for the Americans to find the back of the net, scoring first after seven minutes through an own goal by Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla and shortly after via a brace from Monaco striker Folarin Balogun before the half time intermission.

Los Guaraníes did find a goal of their own in the second half with substitute Mauricio scoring on what was the only meaningful chance for Paraguay. U.S. youngster Giovanni Reyna capped off the night with a superb outside the foot effort in stoppage time. While the Stars and Stripes missed the opportunity to open with a clean sheet, they will be very pleased with this statement victory in what is their most impressive performance under manager Mauricio Pochettino. 

Clear favorites now to progress as group winners, the Americans welcome Australia next Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET in Seattle, who also won their opening match against Turkiye 2-0. 

Other notable fixtures and results

Brazil vs. Morocco (1-1)

One of the more entertaining matches of the weekend saw Brazil (1.26 xG) draw Morocco (1.37 xG) in New Jersey. Reaching the semifinals in the 2022 World Cup, the Moroccans picked up where they left off and started much stronger than their opposition, finding the opening goal through Ismael Saibari’s beautiful chip over goalkeeper Alisson. The Brazilians got level with a brilliant individual move from winger Vinicius Junior shortly after. Both sides produced scoring chances for the rest of the match but failed to convert and had to settle for a point apiece. 

Australia vs. Turkiye (2-0)

In Vancouver Saturday night, Australia (1.18 xG) surprisingly picked up a valuable three points as the underdogs against Turkiye (1.36 xG) in what is the upset of the group stage so far. Scoring twice through midfielders Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, the Aussies outlasted a barrage of Turkish attacks and will fancy their chances of progressing to the knockout stage. The Turks dominated possession (72% vs. 28%) and produced 30 shot attempts but couldn’t find a way to break the Socceroos’ clinical defence, including eight from Real Madrid middie Arda Guler and six from Juventus phenom Kenan Yildiz. Considered pre-tourney dark horses by many to lift the trophy July 19th, Turkiye requires a major bounce back performance against Paraguay to place themselves back into contention.

Netherlands vs. Japan (2-2)

A tale of two halves, Netherlands (0.78 xG) played Japan (0.59 xG) to a 2-2 draw in Dallas. A quiet first half from both sides was followed by four second-half goals in a really entertaining display of footy. The Dutch took the lead twice with a header from captain Virgil van Dijk and a sweet finish from Crysencio Summerville, and the Japanese struck level twice with an outside the box effort from Keito Nakamura and a deflected header from Daichi Kamada. This was a great result for a Japanese side looking to progress past the Round of 16 for the first time in history, claiming a well-earned point against the group favourites in a resilient performance. 

Goals of the week

Folarin Balogun vs. Paraguay

Of the four USA goals, the pick of the bunch is Balogun’s second goal on the stroke of halftime, which went upper 90 after a superb delivery from midfielder Malik Tillman through the gaps of the Paraguay defence. 

Giovanni Reyna vs. Paraguay

The final goal of the 4-1 U.S. victory came through Reyna’s spectacular trivela deep into second half stoppage time to cap off what was a dominant display from USMNT. 

Ismail Saibari vs. Brazil

Brahim Diaz played a world-class through ball slicing past the Brazil defence into the feet of striker Ismael Saibari, who coolly chipped Alisson to push the Moroccans into the lead.

Livano Comenencia vs. Germany

Comenencia’s effort early in the match is the first-ever goal for Curacao at the FIFA World Cup in their first-ever World Cup contest. However, Die Mannschaft would go on to win 7-1 (sound familiar, Brazil fans?)

Amad Diallo vs. Ecuador

Manchester United youngster Amad Diallo scored the winning goal and propelled Ivory Coast into the lead on 90 minutes in a back-and-forth affair with Ecuador.

Feature image courtesy AP Photo/Andre Penner via the Canadian Press.
Stats courtesy Fotmob.com (Opta).
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