We recently asked you to vote in our latest survey following the first round of matches at World Cup 2026 as part of a new SB Nation Reacts series.
Our mission was to find out which player and team had impressed you the most with their performances in the opening round of games at the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
And there will be absolutely no prizes for guessing that a certain Lionel Messi ran away with the vote after scoring a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria.
Argentina’s win
over Algeria was also voted as readers’ favorite match of Week One, beating England’s dramatic 4-2 win over Croatia into second place. Third place went to the USMNT’s impressive win over Paraguay.
And the final question was which team BB readers felt put in the worst showing so far at World Cup 2026. Spain may have been held to a shock goalless draw by Cape Verde but Luis de la Fuente’s side were beaten to top spot by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and their 1-1 draw with DRC Congo.
Once again a big thank you to everyone who took the time to take part in our survey. There may well be more to follow in the future.
This poll and the graphics are sponsored by Fanduel.
