World Cup: Round 1

Most impressive performances

England 4-2 Croatia

England comes into this world cup as one of the favorites. They’ve come so close to silverware the last couple of tournaments, such as losing the 2020 and 2024 Euro finals. With their new manager Thomas Tuchel, the hope is they’ll finally get over the line. England started the match well and received a penalty which Harry Kane scored after a retake. In the 36th minute Croatia player Martin Baturina equalised with a powerful shot in the top corner. Just before halftime Rice whipped in a cross from a corner and Kane scored a header to get his second. In the 5th minute of added time, with the last kick of the half, Croatia wingback Perisic got behind the defense and headed the ball down for Peter Musa to equalize. At the start of the second half Jude Bellingham went on a solo run and scored to give England the lead. England began to dominate and pin Croatia down with an onslaught of Declan Rice set pieces(A play from Arsenal). Later in the second half against tired legs, England had the privilege to bring on Rashford and Saka with the two later combining to make it 4-2. A brilliant start for the English.

France 3-1 Senegal

Like England, France are one of the favorites coming into this tournament. They’ve made it to the last two World Cup finals, winning in 2018 and losing in 2022. Senegal are a very good team themselves, having won AFCON in 2021 and made it to the 2025 final before being disqualified for walking off the pitch after a bad referee call. As expected the game was tight and the first half ended 0-0. French star Mbappé has been criticized for his performances for Real Madrid this season. He shut up all of his critics by opening the score for France in the 66th minute. Substitute Bradley Barcola was played through on goal in the 82nd minute and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 2-0 to France. Senegal grabbed a constellation goal in the 4th minute of added time. Right after the restart Mbappé got the ball 30 yards out and blasted it past the goalie to secure the 3 points for France and become the French national team highest goal scorer with 58 goals.

Best underdog moments

Qatar 1-1 Switzerland

Switzerland has always been a competitive team in national competitions the last couple of years, led by Captain Granit Xhaka. No one thought Qatar stood a single chance. In the 17th minute Switzerland were awarded a penalty and Breel Embolo scored to make it 1-0. Chance after chance it was easy for Switzerland but they failed to increase their lead. In a game that was expected to be 4-0/5-0 to Switzerland it was only 1-0 with a couple of minutes left. Qatar started to gain a bit of momentum and pinned Switzerland back. In the 4th minute of added time Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi scored a header from a cross to give Qatar the unexpected draw and their first ever world cup point.

Spain 0-0 Cape Verde

After winning the Euros in 2024, Spain are strong favorites for this tournament. They were expected to absolutely crush Cape Verde. Spain pushed the entire game for a goal, dominating possession, but were just unable to score. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha made 8 saves and won man of the match. Overnight he gained 10 million followers and revealed that his mom sadly was denied entry into the US. Politicians took notice and came together to grant his mom a visa to watch the rest of his games.

Portugal 1-1 DR Congo

This will most likely be Ronaldo’s last world cup. The Portugal team has a lot of talent and expect to go far. Once Joao Neves scored a header in the 6th minute you’d think Portugal would go on to easily win. Portugal had all the possession but they weren’t creating any chances. Right before half time DR Congo went up the pitch and won a corner. After playing it short they crossed it to Yoane Wissa who scored a header past the keeper. DR Congo’s first ever world cup goal. Portugal only had 2 other shots on target and struggled to create anything for the rest of the match. The DR Congo defended brilliantly to earn their first ever world cup point.

Africa’s late winners

Ivory Coast 1-0 Ecuador

Both teams have a formidable defense and it was hard for either attack to break it down. During the final 10 minutes Ivory Coast began to push more. They had more of the ball and wouldn’t allow Ecuador to get up the field. In the 90th minute Ivory Coast defender Wilfried Singo ran up the pitch past the Ecuadorian midfield into the box where he passed to Amad Diallo who slotted the ball in the bottom corner past the keeper. What a way to start your world cup campaign.

Ghana 1-0 Panama

There was no clear favorite going into this game. After the first couple of minutes, Panama were moving the ball really well and Ghana were struggling to cope. Ghana grew more into the game in the second half but Panama were still dominating the ball and looking like the most likely team to score. With only 2 minutes left Ghana went on the counter attack. Antoine Semenyo picked up the ball on the wing and dribbled past the Panama defender into the box and squared it to Caleb Yirenkyi to tap the ball into the net. The fans and players were going crazy, an incredible moment in Ghana football history.

Exciting game you may have missed

Japan 2-2 Netherlands

There were a lot of exceptions that this game was going to be exciting with both teams liking to attack and play on the front foot. The first half was tight and surprisingly quiet, ending 0-0. The second half didn’t disappoint. Netherlands defender Virgil Van Dijk opened the scoring with a header after a cross by Gavernbech. The Netherlands had possession while the Japanese sat back in a defensive block. The minute Japan regained possession all the offensive players rushed forward, trying to create a counter attack, a truly fascinating watch. In the 57th minute Japan midfielder Keito Nakamura shot the ball from just outside the box and took a deflection past the goalkeeper to equalize. A couple of minutes later Dutch winger Summerville scored a beautiful curling shot into the bottom corner from inside the box to give the Netherlands the lead. Japan fought really hard to try and find an equalizer. Their hard efforts finally paid off from an unlikely source. The Netherlands have a major height advantage but in the 89th minute Daichi Kamada scored a header from a corner to make it 2-2.

Player of the round

Argentina 3-0 Alegría

Only one man deserves to win player of the round. Lionel Messi. The 4 strongest teams in the tournament are England, Spain, France, and then last world cup winners Argentina. The possibility of going back to back is big. Argentina started the game strong and in the 17th minute Messi picked up the ball on the turn past the Algerian defense and shot the ball outside the box into the top corner to make it 1-0. Argentina comfortably held their lead and slowed the game down. In the 60th minute Alexis Macallister took a powerful shot at the Algerian goalie who ended up spilling the ball straight to Messi who scored the rebound and got his second goal of the night. In the 76th minute Messi received the ball just outside the box, took a little dribble and easily slotted the ball in the bottom corner for the hat trick. 38 years and still world class. With his goals he equalized Miroslav Klose’s record as all time highest scorer at the world cup with 16 goals.