By Lewie Tilley
Welcome to my roundup of the first week of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and what a week of football, sensational performances and firsts it has been. History has already been made in this tournament with many countries picking up their first points, scoring their first goals and picking up much-needed wins to qualify for the knockout rounds.
A dream start for co-hosts?
It was the co-hosts Mexico who kicked off the tournament against South Africa, a rewind to the 2010 World Cup when Tshabalala crashed in a stunning goal. However, this time it was the Mexicans who claimed the victory thanks to Julian Quinones and recent Wolves signing Raul Jimenez’s efforts.
However, it wasn’t just the goal scoring that hit the front pages as both sides received red cards, with South Africa being reduced to nine men.
It was a true day to forget for debutant Sphephelo Sithole, who gave away a goal and then saw red. It really couldn’t have been worse for him.
For the USA, it was delirium for Mauricio Pochettino’s men who thrashed Paraguay in their opening game in Los Angeles. A brace from Florian Balogun topped off an impressive performance from the co-hosts, who looked dominant as their Argentinian manager’s tactics shone through.
It was a day to remember for the Americans, as a win in this tournament meant that many teams could advance from the group stages through 3rd place positions. So really, the USA would only need to pick up one or more points to extend their campaign on home soil.
According to the official FIFA rankings, the final co-hosts, Canada, had the easiest of the three teams to take on, with the visitors, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranked 64th. However, the Canadians couldn’t get the better of the European side and were held to a draw in Toronto with Southampton striker Cyle Larin making the most of his 15 minutes as a substitute to draw the hosts level.
World Cup contenders struggling
Brazil were the first side in the top ten of the FIFA rankings to behind their campaign in the Americas as they took on another top ten team in Morocco.
The Moroccans were no push over in the first half, and were much the better side than their opponents in the opening stages. A composed and high-quality performance from the African side was rewarded as Brahim Diaz fed a wonderful ball through to Ismael Saibari, who made no mistake in lifting the ball over Liverpool’s Alisson.
The Brazilians possess an attack of immense quality and could score against anyone. Vinicius Jr proven that exactly, rifling into the top right corner after chopping onto his right foot, a huge mistake from the Moroccan defence.
But it was another country making their debut that produced the most impressive and shocking result of this tournament so far.
Cape Verde took on reigning European Champions Spain in Atlanta in the biggest mismatch of all the matches so far. But it didn’t show it…
An inspirational goalkeeping display from 40-year-old Vozinha was crucial in guiding Cape Verde to their first point at the World Cup finals, keeping a clean sheet against the third-best team in the world. The goalkeeper put in a monster performance alongside his defence, making seven saves in a man-of-the-match showing for Cape Verde.
A massive shock to the world, with the Spaniards up there as favourites to win the World Cup for a second time.
However, another winnable game in Saudi Arabia for Spain could mean their hopes of qualifying for the knockout rounds would be almost certain, with 4 points being a positive threshold for qualification.
A dream start fulfilled
Sunday saw a fixture list that was packed with entertaining games as Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland took to the pitch, with the tartan army ending a 28-year wait.
Steve Clarke’s side took on a Haiti side full of confidence off the back of a 4-0 win against New Zealand. However, the Scots would also come into their first game with positivity as they also recorded a 4-0 win in the warm-up matches, beating Bolivia in New Jersey.
In a cagey affair throughout, the Scots took the lead as Europa League winner John McGinn added another massive goal to his already stellar season, taking a giant leap towards knockout qualification.
A perfect return to the biggest stage for Scotland, with their chances of finally reaching the knockouts for the first time being increased massively.
For Germany, it was a much more convincing victory as they destroyed other debutants Curacao, winning 7-1 with Kai Havertz at the double for the Germans, alongside five other goalscorers for Julian Nagelsmann with Nico Schlotterbeck showing his worth as one of the best centre backs at the tournament.
However, I’m sure the day will still be remembered in Curacao history, especially for Livano Commencia, as the country with a population standing at less than that of Sheffield scored their first ever World Cup goal.
Favourites off to flying starts
We had to wait five days to watch the runners up from 2022 to being their campaign as France took on many people’s dark horses, Senegal.
Incredibly, the highly anticipated French front four of Kylian Mbappe, Desire Doue, Michael Olise and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele looked completely off it in the first half, producing just one shot.
However, their second-half performance was marvellous and much like the France side we have got used to seeing on numerous occasions, as Mbappe and PSG’s Bradley Barcola gave the French their first win of the tournament.
On the final day of the week, reigning champions Argentina and contenders England grabbed wins that more than likely take them through to the knockouts already.
The ‘Greatest of all time’, Lionel Messi, proved class is permanent with the 38-year-old scoring all three goals in a 3-1 win vs Algeria. A classic performance in an Argentina shirt once again, with some trademark Messi goals.
Lionel Scaloni’s men looked dominant throughout the game and got the best out of their best-ever player, something we’ve seen on countless occasions in his career. Could this be a sign of things repeating themselves with Messi leading Argentina to the later stages of the tournament?
Thomas Tuchel’s England team took on Croatia in another tough game on paper in this tournament. Could Harry Kane replicate Messi’s hat-trick when it was needed most?
The Bayern Munich forward clearly knew how to find the target, with a huge goal tally of 64 this season alone, it was only a matter of when and not if for Kane to pop up with another.
And the perfect opportunity presented itself when veteran Luka Modric fouled Noni Madueke inside the box. As we’ve seen all season long, Kane stepped up to take it, but shockingly couldn’t convert. However, VAR saved his blushes as the Croatian goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic, was adjudged to have been off his line, giving Kane another chance.
England’s number nine made no mistake the second time around.
However, an excellent attacking performance from England’s starting four and subs covered for an uncharacteristic poor performance defensively. Although both Croatian goals were very well crafted and converted, it should be noted the English defence could have dealt with the attacks much more confidently, especially if they are to progress deep in the tournament.
However, for now, goals from Kane, Bellingham, who was also very impressive, and Rashford off the bench kept the beers flying across England.
For 41-year old Cristiano Ronaldo, there was a big order to replicate the performances of star players across football this week. One that the elite goalscorer couldn’t live up to. As Portugal were held to a one-all draw vs DR Congo, Yoane Wissa grabbed only his fourth goal this season to cancel out Joao Neves’ brilliant header early in the first half.
And with that the first week of a breathtaking World Cup opener came to a close. If this first week is something to go off, the 2026 tournament could go down in history, but who will go on to win this year?
Player of the week: Week 1
Lionel Messi
A very easy decision this one. The 38-year old proven he can do it time and time again, grabbing a magnificent hat-trick in a man-of-the-match performance. I would be very surprised if Argentina don’t go very far in this tournament; if Messi can stay in form throughout, he just makes it look so easy.
Honourable mentions: Harry Kane, Florian Balogun and Kylian Mbappe
That’s all for this week. Let’s hope next week’s games are just as entertaining, if not more so…
Featured image credits: UKinUSA from Washington, D.C., USA, CC BY-SA 4.0
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