The 2026 FIFA World Cup is in full swing, and it hasn’t even been a week since the opening match yet there’s plenty of highlights being talked about. The first five days were packed with non-stop football action, and I don’t know where to start.
Whether it’s the chaotic opening match between Mexico and South Africa, the South Koreans mounting a comeback and winning, the heroic Australians beating Türkiye 2-0, Germany and Sweden both winning by five goals or more, or Ivory Coast winning with a 90th
minute goal, this tournament has everything.
Anyways, after the previous matchday saw numerous goals but somehow ended up in four draws, today’s set of matches certainly did better than the last. While a win is in no way a foregone conclusion, you can expect goals and nail-biting moments to keep you on the edge of your seat!
Nicolas Jackson wasted a golden opportunity to put Senegal ahead
In the 25th minute, Senegal played a through ball forward to Nicolas Jackson who beat Dayot Upamecano for pace and shot at the near post. The ball ricocheted off the post and bounced off the feet of a diving Mike Maignan in the French goal and out for a corner.
The last time these two teams faced was the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, with Senegal securing a historic victory over the then defending European and World Champions. Could the unthinkable happen?
Ismaïla Sarr over the bar!
Senegal were up for it and worked their way up to the other end of the pitch deep into first half stoppage time. The French defense failed to clear the lines when Ismaïla Sarr found himself in space inside the box and fired a right-footed shot that flew high over the bar. That would be the last bit of action from the first half before the referee blew for half time.
The Senegalese defense is being tested, not once…
Jules Koundé managed to steal the ball off Sadio Mané and spark a counterattack. Michael Olise receives the ball and dribbles down the left half-space and goes for goal, but it’s saved by Édouard Mendy. The French smelled blood, and a breakthrough was imminent.
…but twice
A few minutes later, Olise stole the ball after a heavy touch from Lamine Camara in the Senegalese midfield. The man from Bayern Munich then played Kylian Mbappé in, who couldn’t convert his chance as Mendy produced another terrific stop.
No penalty!
France is relentless in this half! Mbappé gets the better of El Hadji Diouf and ran into the Senegal box. Mané dives in for a sliding challenge. French appeals for a penalty were briefly dismissed by Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani, before a VAR check confirmed that it wasn’t a foul and a goal kick to Senegal was given.
Oh yes, Kylian!
Mbappé would not be denied as yet another brilliant through pass from Olise was picked up by the Real Madrid star who shoots first time on the turn despite pressure from Kalidou Koulibaly. France took the lead after over an hour of football in East Rutherford.
Mbappé was not to be denied as yet another brilliant through pass from Olise was picked up by the Real Madrid star who shoots first time on the turn despite pressure from Kalidou Koulibaly. France had drawn first blood after over an hour of football in East Rutherford.
Deux not scratch your eyes!
In the final 10 minutes of the match, Rabiot spotted the run of substitute Bradley Barcola who exploited the space between Koulibaly and Moussa Niakhaté with pace. The 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star and chips Mendy for France’s second goal. It was like Germany attacker Kai Havertz’s goal against Curaçao: great through pass and a sublime chip over the ‘keeper.
Sene-goal!
In stoppage time, substitute Iliman Ndiaye passed the ball wide to fellow substitute Ibrahim Mbaye, who easily beats his marker Theo Hernández and fires a rocket at the near post that Maignan couldn’t stop. Senegal have one back, perhaps they could get another one because there’s still a few minutes left.
Nice Trois Senegal, but Mbappé is Kylian it this match!
France decided it wanted another goal and during the next attacking sequence, Olise thought he was fouled but then Mbappé pounced on the loosed ball and scored a banging goal to register France’s third goal. The stadium announcer hadn’t even finished announcing Mbaye’s goal when Mbappé scored his second. There’s something about long-range goals being some of the best goals ever scored.
With his second goal, Mbappé overtakes Olivier Giroud to become the outright all-time leading goalscorer for France with 58 goals to his name.
Erling has Haalanded!
Antonio Nusa saw David Møller Wolfe on the overlap and threaded a forward pass before the latter crossed it to the middle where a sliding Erling Haaland is there to put the Vikings ahead. The Manchester City star was the first Norwegian player to score in the World Cup since Tore André Flo in 1998 against Brazil. Norway led in Foxborough!
Just wide from Martin Ødegaard!
Another big chance had gone begging for Norway as Alexander Sørloth found Martin Ødegaard in the center just outside the Iraq box and tried his luck from distance. The Champions League runner-up with Arsenal could only watch his relatively tame effort go agonizingly wide.
Iraq your world just for a moment
The Iraqis were not to be outdone as Ali Jasim played it forward to Amir Al-Ammari who dribbled to the side of the Norwegian box after slack marking from Ødegaard and Julian Ryerson. Al-Ammari looped a cross into the box where Aymen Hussein rose highest between Norwegians Wolfe and Torbjørn Heggem to head home Iraq’s memorable equalizer. There was nothing Ørjan Nyland could do about that. Aymen became only the second ever Iraqi to score at the World Cup, the first being Ahmed Radhi who scored against Belgium in 1986.
Iraq’d back on their heels!
Just before the end of the first half, Zaid Tahseen passed it back to his goalkeeper Jalal Hassan completely unaware that Haaland was charging them both down. Hassan took too long to clear the ball and Haaland was there to force it home. Shades of Kai Havertz’s goal against Man City earlier this year.
The (Kristian) Thorst(vedt) for more goals was quenched!
Kristian Thorstvedt passed it inside for Ødegaard who played substitute Oscar Bobb through. Bobb then cut it back to Thorstvedt, also a substitute, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner by Doski. The ensuing corner, taken by Ødegaard, was met by the head of Leo Østigård who jumped higher than Hashim and Mustafa Saadoon. Østigård headed it powerfully past Hasan to give Norway a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes left to go.
You’re Aymen the wrong way!
Patrick Berg pinged a diagonal ball out wide to Ajer, who somehow ended up that high up the pitch, and chested it down. He looked up and put a cross in where Haaland flicked a header onto Thorstvedt amongst a sea of Iraqi players. The scramble resulted in Aymen scoring an own goal to make it 4-1 to Norway. A devastating ending to what was an otherwise honorable fight.
No Messi-ng about
Alexis Mac Allister won the ball deep in the Algerian half and layed it off to Enzo Fernández who then flicked it on to Lautaro Martínez. The Inter Milan man held it up and waited for Lionel Messi to make a run, after which the legendary Argentine finished the attack via a near post finish. However, Messi was flagged offside for his run after Martínez’s hold up play.
Algeria’s Answer
Ibrahim Maza spotted his teammate Farès Chaïbi lurking behind Rodrigo De Paul and Gonzalo Montiel and threads a pass for him. Chaïbi did his best Messi impression by finishing his shot at the near post, but strayed offside on his run. No repeat of Saudi Arabia-Argentina from 2022, it seems.
Still no Messi-ng about
De Paul picked up a ball poked back to him by Hicham Boudaoui after Mac Allister couldn’t find a way through, the Atletico Madrid midfielder then threaded a pass between four Algerian players to Messi who made no mistake from outside the box with a curling shot. Argentina finally had their breakthrough!
It’s really that easy
Mac Allister received the ball after a backwards pass and belted the ball straight at Luca Zidane. The goalkeeper could only parry the ball and unfortunately for him, Messi was there to slot the rebound home. La Pulga cannot be stopped!
Luca that save!
De Paul passed the ball to Mac Allister, who played a first time through ball to Messi who looked destined to complete his hat-trick. Zidane had other ideas, though, as he produced a magnificent save to deny the eight-time Ballon d’or winner.
Sweet 16 World Cup goals
Messi played the ball out to Nicolás González on the left wing, who played it back to Messi. The veteran curled a low shot beyond Zidane’s reach to complete his hat-trick in Kansas City, the first hatty he had ever achieved in the World Cup. With that goal, Messi equaled Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals. Kylian Mbappé is also in contention to break the record with his current tally of 15 goals. Who will score their 17th World Cup goal first?
Schlager says no!
Jordan got the first big chance of the match after Odeh Al-Fakhouri’s shot deflected off of David Alaba, but Alexander Schlager in the Austrian goal produced a fine reflex save to deny the debutants a first ever World Cup goal.
Roma-no way he just scored that!
In the 20th minute, Xaver Schlager found Romano Schmid in space just outside of the “D”. Schmid then thought, “why not?” and had a pop at goal. Despite the efforts of Noor Al-Rawabdeh, the shot arrowed into the top corner that Yazeed Abulaila in the Jordan goal could only watch it go in. A cracking goal by the Burschen!
The score is now Olwan!
Xaver Schlager carelessly lost possession in the final third, which meant the Jordanians could send the cavalry. Al-Rawabdeh is the one who regained possession for the debutants and sent the ball forward to Ali Olwan who carried the ball from his own half all the way to the Austrian box. Olwan fired a shot between Philipp Lienhart and Stefan Posch which rebounded off the far post and into the net. Alexander Schlager thought the ball was going out.
Austria handled that really well, or maybe not
Marcel Sabitzer took charge of the corner kick and swung the ball in. There was a scramble before Marko Arnautović shot the ball into the net for 2-1. There was a claim for a handball against Posch, so Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida looked at the situation up close. After consulting with the VAR, he deemed that Posch controlled the ball with his arm before Arnautović scored.
Austrian LifeXaver
Austria earned a corner kick, which was taken by Marcel Sabitzer. Xaver Schlager redeemed himself by thumping in the second goal beyond the reach of Abulaila; Schlager beat Nizar Al-Rashdan and Yazan Al-Arab for the header, but it was given as an own goal from Al-Arab in the end.
No era penal, or maybe it is
Arnautović had numerous chances to seal the deal for Austria in the second half and in stoppage time but was denied on each occasion. He never wavered and won a penalty late into the period after a handball was called on Salim Obaid. In the final moment of the match at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (the non-sponsored name of Levi’s Stadium), dispatched the penalty and confirmed the three points for Austria.
What’s interesting about all these matches was that there wasn’t a single clean sheet; everyone had their moment, especially the teams who ended up on the wrong side of a defeat. In total, there were 16 goals scored in this matchday, the same number that Messi and Klose scored in all the tournaments they’ve ever played in.
Groups I and J have early frontrunners, but as is the case with football: a win is not a guarantee. Upsets can and will happen. Sometimes, it is only a matter of when it happens. Now, let me ask you: do you think the teams who won today will advance to the next round? Will the other teams pull off a madness and squeak a place in the Round of 32? Let us know in the comments! Do also tell us which goal or moment was your favorite!
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