Most of the 48 teams in the World Cup have now played their opening match, while the rest will do so over the rest of today or tomorrow. Here’s a look at some of the key stories over the last few days.
Canada’s group is up for grabs.
Last Friday’s 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina was a somewhat disappointing result, given that Canada was ranked 34 spots higher by FIFA and looked like the better team that day. But the vibes in Toronto were festive for the first-ever men’s World Cup match in Canada, and the crowd went home pretty happy after second-half sub Cyle Larin scored a late goal to give the country its first-ever point.
Switzerland, the highest-ranked team in Group B, then settled for a 1-1 draw of its own on Saturday against Qatar, which scored five minutes into stoppage time to steal its first-ever point. So that leaves all four teams in Group B tied at one point apiece heading into their second matches on Thursday.
Soccer North hosts Anastasia Bucsis and Amy Walsh break down the Canada vs. Qatar group match at the FIFA World Cup with Jade Rose from Manchester City.
Reminder: the top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, along with the eight best third-place teams. Four points (the equivalent of a win and a draw) will almost certainly send a team through. Three points gives you about a 2-in-3 chance, but it will probably come down to goal differential.
This means Canada’s next match, on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET against Qatar, is huge. The Qataris were considered the weakest team in the group, though their surprise draw against Switzerland shows they can be dangerous. So, a Canadian win, or even a draw, can not be taken for granted.
Alphonso Davies’ status remains unclear.
It appears Canada could once again be without its injured star captain, who missed the opener due to the hamstring injury that has kept him out of action since early May.
The 25-year-old Davies, who hasn’t played for the national team since tearing his ACL in March 2025, jogged with his teammates at the start of Monday’s practice but remained in the injury protocol. Today, he was once again with the team for the first 15 minutes of its workout, but the rest of the session was closed to the media and the team declined to give an update on Davies.
The good news is that every other player on the Canadian squad was a full participant in practice. That includes key central defender Moise Bombito, who missed the opener as he continues to recover from the broken leg he suffered in October.
Group H is also a mess, somehow.
The biggest shocker of the tournament so far occurred yesterday when Cape Verde, a tiny island nation of 500,000 people making its World Cup debut, played mighty European champion Spain to a scoreless draw. The Spaniards brought 18-year-old star Lamine Yamal, recovering from a hamstring injury of his own, off the bench in the second half, but to no avail.
A less-shocking, but still surprising, result followed later in the day when 60th-ranked Saudi Arabia earned a 1-1 draw with No. 18 Uruguay, creating an improbable four-way tie in Group H, which Spain and Uruguay expected to dominate.
Spain was obviously rattled by the scoreless tie with Cape Verde, which led some to question their status as tournament co-favourites with France. But it’s probably too early to panic. Recall that in 2022, Argentina lost its opener to Saudi Arabia in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, then rattled off six straight wins to capture the title. When Spain won its lone World Cup in 2010, it dropped its first match against Switzerland — and never lost again.
Another interesting story yesterday was Iran, which was favoured to win its Group G opener against New Zealand but came away with a 2-2 draw. The Iranians had to commute to the game in Los Angeles from their base in the Mexican border city of Tijuana because the United States refused to let them stay in the country amid the ongoing war. This decision was made before the tournament (and before the current ceasefire), but Iran’s coach still complained last night that his team wasn’t allowed to stay the night to properly recover from the game.
Kylian Mbappé passed Lionel Messi on the all-time goals list.
Co-favourite France kicked off with a 3-1 win over Senegal this afternoon in New Jersey. Kylian Mbappé, the 27-year-old French star who led all players with 12 goals over the last two World Cups, scored a pair of goals in the second half — including an incredible strike in stoppage time.
Mbappé, who helped France win the title in his World Cup debut in 2018 and led them to the final in 2022, now has one more World Cup goal than Messi and needs just two more to match German Miroslav Klose’s all-time record.
Other huge stars are playing today and tomorrow.
Norway’s Erling Haaland makes his World Cup debut against Iraq at 6 p.m. ET in Foxborough, Mass. The towering Manchester City striker topped the English Premier League with 27 goals this season. His ascending national team is a popular sleeper pick in its first World Cup appearance since 1998 — two years before Haaland was born.
Messi’s defending champion Argentina opens against Algeria at 9 p.m. ET in Kansas City. The 38-year-old icon will be appearing in his record-breaking sixth World Cup, though Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to match him when he steps on the pitch on Wednesday against Congo.
Today’s slate concludes with Austria facing Jordan at midnight ET in San Francisco.
Tomorrow, following the Portugal-Congo game at 1 p.m. ET, comes a marquee matchup between England and Croatia at 4 p.m. ET at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. England features star forward Harry Kane, while Croatia is still led by sublime 40-year-old midfielder Luka Modric, who won the Golden Ball as the top player in the 2018 World Cup after leading his team to the final and also powered them to a third-place finish in 2022.
Wrapping up the Wednesday schedule is Ghana vs. Panama at 7 p.m ET in Toronto, and Uzbekistan vs. Colombia at 10 p.m. ET in Mexico City.
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