World Cup Day Five

Group E The Ivory Coast have won their first game 1-0 against Ecuador. Germany are top with the Ivory Coast in second place. Ecuador are in third place. 

Group F SWEDEN have started their World Cup tournament well by winning 5-1 against Tunisia. Sweden are in their 4th World Cup with us. Their biggest amount of goals came in 1994 USA, where they finished with 15 goals when they won the 3rd/4th play-off. In their last World Cup in 2006, Germany, with Golden Goals, finished with 3 goals and went out in the second round. Sweden are top with Japan in second place. Netherlands are in third place. 

Group G BELGIUM drew their first game 1-1 against EGYPT. Belgium are in our 7th World Cup and their highest amount of goals came in 2018 Russia, with 16 goals, where they won the 3rd/4th play-off. They have a total of 8 votes. Egypt are in their second World Cup with us. They appeared in 2018 Russia and picked up 2 goals. They went out in the group stages. They have just 2 votes this time round. 

Group H Probably the first shock of the World Cup is that SPAIN drew 0-0 against CAPE VERDE, who are in their very first World Cup and with Golden Goals. Spain are in their 10th World Cup with us and their highest score is 10 goals, which they first collected in 1994 USA, and then again in the 2002 Korea/Japan and both times reaching the quarter-finals. Spain have picked up the highest votes this World Cup with 30. Cape Verde have 1 vote. What a game that was for them. URUGUAY drew 1-1 against Saudi Arabia after going a goal down in the first half. Uruguay are in their 5^th World Cup with us. Their highest amount of goals came in the 2018 Russia with 7 goals. They went out in the quarter-finals. In Qatar they finished with just 2 goals and went out in the group stage. They have 4 votes this time round. Uruguay are top with Saudi Arabia in second place. Spain are in third place.                  

World Cup Day Four

Group C in the other game in this group, SCOTLAND have won their first World Cup game since 1990 with a goal from John McGinn in the 28th minute, to beat Haiti 1-0. This is Scotland’s second World Cup with us, as they first appeared back in the 1990 Italia. They went out in the group stages with just 2 goals. Scotland have just 1 vote. Scotland go top of the group, with Morocco in second place. Brazil are in third place. 

Group D TURKEY are our first nation to pick up a blank scoresheet after they lost 2-0 to Australia. Turkey are in their second World Cup with us as they first appeared in the 2002 Korea/Japan. They scored a total of 10 goals and won the 3rd/4th play-off. They have just 1 vote in this World Cup. USA are top in this group after their big win with, Australia in second place. Turkey are in third place. 

Group E GERMANY go straight to the top of the group after they won 7-1 against Curaçao, Germany have been in all of our 10 World Cups (including West Germany) and their highest amount of goals came in the 2014 Brazil, with a record-breaking 18 goals, and became World cup winners for the 4th time. They have a total of 20 votes. In Qatar, they scored just 6 goals and went out in the group stages. 

Group F NETHERLANDS started their tournament with a 2-2 draw against JAPAN. This is the Dutch 8th World Cup with us. Their highest amount of goals came in 2014 Brazil with 15 goals. They won the 3rd/4th play-off. In Qatar, they scored 10 goals and managed to get to the quarter-finals. Netherlands have a total of 7 votes. Japan are in their second World Cup with us. They were in the 2006 Germany tournament and finished with 2 goals in the group stages. Japan have a total of 2 votes.  

World Cup Day Three

Group B SWITZERLAND drew 1-1 against Qatar after they scored from a penalty in the 17^th minute. Qatar equalised in the 90+4 with their first every point in a World Cup. Switzerland are top with Canada in second place. This is the second time that we have picked Switzerland first time being in Qatar 2022 where they knock-out in the second round. They scored a total of 5 goals. Switzerland are top of this group with Canada in second place. Qatar are in third place.

Group C BRAZIL drew 1-1 against MOROCCO with both goals being scored in the fist half. Brazil have been with us for the full 10 World Cups and their highest number of goals came in the 2002 Korea/Japan with a record 18 goals, when they won the World Cup for the 5^th time. In Qatar they reached the quarter-finals, and finished with a total of 8 goals. Brazil have a total of 23 votes. Morocco are in their first World Cup with Golden Goals, and they have 2 votes. 

Group D the last of the host nations played and they are the USA. They have picked up the highest score of the tournament so far, by winning 4-1 against PARAGUAY. The USA are in their 6^th Golden Goals World Cup and their highest amount of goals came in the Korea/Japan 2002 with 7 goals. They finished in the quarter-finals. They have just 2 votes. Paraguay are in their 2^nd World Cup with us and their highest score came from France 1998 with a total of just 3 goals. They made it to the second round. They have 1 vote.

                                      

World Cup Day Two

In Group A, SOUTH KOREA have won their first game, 2-1, against CZECH REPUBLIC. All of the goals came in the second half. Mexico are top on goal difference, with South Korea in second place. This is the second time that we have had South Korea, the first being in the 2010 South Africa World Cup. They finished with a total of 6 goals and went out at the group stage. They have 2 votes. Czech Republic are in their third tournament with Golden Goals including the old Czechoslovakia, they started with us in the 1990 Italy World Cup, and finished with their highest score of 10 goals. They went out in the quarter-finals. Last time out was in the 2006 Germany tournament, and they finished with just 3 goals. They went out in the group stages. They have 2 votes. 

In Group B, host CANADA drew 1-1 against Bosnia-Herzegovina, after going a goal down in the first half. It’s the first tournament for Canada with us, and they have become our 50^th nation to do so. They have 3 votes. 

Our teams are all doing well at the moment by scoring some goals. We have so far had a total of 6 goals after day two.

Opening Game

 

The 2026 World Cup has started after one of the host nations, MEXICO from Group A, began their World Cup campaign at the Estadio Aztec stadium in Mexico City against South Africa.

At the start of the first half it was all Mexico and nearly had a goal in the first couple of minutes. But it did not take them long to go in front with a goal in the 9th minute from Julian Quinones, from a South African defensive error. The first yellow card of the tournament goes to South Africa’s Teboho Mokoena just after 17 minutes of play. Mexico could of gone three up but for good goalkeeping and woodwork denied Mexico to up their goal tally. South Africa did have a couple of moments, but no match for the Mexicans.

Early in the second half, Mexico received a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area, but failed to do anything of it. The first red card of the World Cup goes to South Africa’s Yaya Sithole in the 49^th minutes. But Mexico scored their second goal in the 67th minute from Raul Jimenez. Ten Men South Africa in real trouble from that point onwards. Another red card for South Africa (Themba Zwane) in the 84th minute via VAR, and they went down to 9 men. Mexico then picked up their first red card in the 90+2 minutes for Cesar Montes. After a scrappy second half, Mexico win their first game 2-0 and top of the group.

Mexico have picked up a total of 5 votes this time round which equals their highest amount of votes in Germany 2006. This is there 8^th appearance out of 10 with Golden Goals and their average goals total is 3.6 goals per tournament at present. The best that Mexico have done in the World Cup is the Quarter-Finals in Mexico in 1970 and again in Mexico in 1986. In the last World cup in Qatar 2022, they finished in the group stages.

The Last Update Before Kick-Off

The 2026 World Cup will be kicking off very soon, where one of the host nations, Mexico, from Group A, start their World Cup campaign at the Estadio Aztec stadium in Mexico City against South Africa. Kick off at 8pm (GMT) Thursday, June 11. 

We here at Golden Goals have closed the book, and we have a total of 50 people taking part in our tenth World Cup tournament. Out of the 48 nations taking part, we will have 28 nations, which have been voted for. Below is the group draw with all the 48 nations taking part, and the ones to look out for are the ones in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS.  

These are the nations that we have this time round. 

Group A -  CZECH REPUBLIC, MEXICO, South Africa, SOUTH KOREA

Group B -  Bosnia-Herzegovina, CANADA, Qatar, SWITZERLAND

Group C -  BRAZIL,  Haiti, MOROCCO, SCOTLAND

Group D -  Australia, PARAGUAY, TURKEY, USA

Group E -  Curaçao, Ecuador, GERMANY, Ivory Coast,  

Group F -  JAPAN, NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, Tunisia

Group G -  BELGIUM, EGYPT, Iran, New Zealand

Group H -  CAPE VERDE, Saudi Arabia, SPAIN, URUGUAY

Group I -   FRANCE, Iraq, NORWAY, SENEGAL

Group J -  ARGENTINA, Algeria, Austria, Jordan 

Group K - Colombia, DR Congo, PORTUGAL, Uzbekistan,  

Group L -  ENGLAND,  CROATIA,  GHANA, Panama  

The voting went down to just six nations really, and here they are. In first place, with a total of 30 votes we have Spain. In second place, with 24 votes, we have Argentina. In third place, we have Brazil with 23 votes. In fourth place, with 22 votes we have France. In fifth place, with 20 votes we have Germany. In sixth place we have England with a total of 18 votes. 

We still have the four nations that have been in all of our ten Golden Goals World Cup competitions. They are Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain. 

Cape Verde will all make their first appearance in the World Cup and with Golden Goals. We also have Canada, and Morocco making their first appraence with Golden Goals.

We will keep you right up to date with what’s going on with our nations, right here on this blog.

Our 10 Top Teams in Season 43

Here are our top 10 teams from season 43. The numbers in red are their highest end of season goals total with Golden Goals. Teams are in alphabetical order. The goals came from the League, League Cup and FA Cup. The Scottish also came from their League and their two domestic cup competitions. 

113 MANCHESTER CITY (137)

100 CARDIFF CITY (106)

98 CELTIC (144)

98 SOUTHAMPTON (100)

96 RANGERS (126)

93 MK DONS (115)

91 ARSENAL (103)

90 CHELSEA (128)

85 HEARTS (98)

84 WREXHAM (93)