World Cup Day Nineteen Second Round

Five times winners BRAZIL are through to the Round of 16 after they won 2-1 against JAPAN. Japan went a goal in front in the first half from K. Sano in the 27th minute. Brazil came back with goals in the 56th minute by Casemiro. The late winning goal came from Gabriel Martinelli in the 90+5 minutes. This was a great game to watch. Brazil, winners of Group C, had won two of their opening games, but drew their first game 1-1 against Morocco. They finished with a total of 7 points. Brazil are on a total of 9 goals. Japan from Group F finished in second place with 5 points. They won one and drew two of their games. Japan finished with a total of 8 goals and go out again in the second round for the third time in a row. 

Four times winners GERMANY are out of the World Cup after they lost in a penalty shoot-out for the first time in their history against PARAGUAY. Germany went a goal down in the first half  by Paraguay’s Julio Enciso, just before half time in the 42nd minute. Germany’s Kal Havertz equalised in the 54th minute. That is how the scored remained after the full 90 minutes and after extra time. Germany then lost 4-3 on penalties. The match was, once again, not like Germany of old, plenty of shirt pulling and fouls galore. Germany from Group E had won two and lost one of their games in the group stages on where they finished top of the group with 6 points. They had a total of 20 votes. Paraguay went out in the quarter-finals in the 2010 (South Africa) the last time that they were in the tournament. Paraguay from Group D, finished third in the group with 4 points, after they won one, lost one and drew one of their group games. They have just 1 vote. 

Top goal scorer for the Golden Boot at the moment is Argentina’s Lionel Messi with 6 goals, and then he is followed by France’s Kylian Mbappe and O. Dembélé, Norway’s Erling Haaland, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior all with 4 goals each.  We then have 12 players with 3 goals each.

Sheet Three

             GAME    GAME                                             GOALS

           THREE    TWO       NAME                            TOTAL 

                 1              3          S. THOMSON                      35

                 2            11          B. BURROUGHS                34

                 3              1          D. BARRETT                      33

                 4            25          T. KING (2)                         33

                 5           12           MANGO                              33

                 6           13           I. SMITH                             33

                 7           10           J. WOOD                             33

                 8             9           S. REEVE                            32

                 9             8           A. NEWMAN                      31

               10           37           P. REEVE                             31

               11           19           C. SETFORD                       31

               12           21           STALKY (2)                        31

               13           15           A. STUBBS                         31

               14             4           D. WOOD                            31

               15           32           R. WOOD                            31

As you can see from the table above, Scott Thomson is in the lead now, after the end of the first round. Scott’s teams are Argentina, Brazil, France and Germany.

We had four players who have picked up the highest score after the first round, third games, with a total of 13 goals each. They are Tony King (2), Mick Liddle, Phil Reeve and Richie Williams. 

So who are the best teams that we have in the 2026 World Cup after the end of the first round games. I can tell you that they are

FRANCE (10) GERMANY (10) NETHERLANDS (10) ARGENTINA (8) total of 38 goals

All but seven of our teams have scored in the third games in the first round, and they have collected a total of 49 goals. That has beaten our best score in the France 1998 Golden Goals World Cup, we reached a total of 31 goals at the end of the first round. The seven teams that did not score are CAPE VERDE, CZECH REPUBLIC, PARAGUAY, PORTUGAL, SCOTLAND, SOUTH KOREA and URUGUAY.

GERMANY still holds the current record for the highest score with that 7-1 win over Curacao in Group E in their opening game.

SCOTLAND from Group C are our worst team as they have only picked up one goal in all of their first round games.

We still have 23 of our 28 teams that have made it through to the Second Round. The teams that have gone home are CZECH REPLULIC, SCOTLAND, SOUTH KOREA, TURKEY and URUGUAY. 

The fastest goal has been scored by Matías Galarza for Paraguay in Group C after they won 1-0 against Turkey in their second game in the first round. It took just 64 seconds (1 minute and 4 seconds)

Top goal scorers in the World Cup 2026 “Golden Boot” are Argentina’s Lionel Messi with 6 goals, and then he is followed by France’s Kylian Mbappe, and Norway’s Erling Haaland with 4 goals each. Germany’s Deniz Undav and Canada’s Jonathan David are on 3 goals each. We then have 20 players with 2 goals each. 

World Cup Day Eighteen

Group J ARGENTINA have picked up their maximum points as they win their third game 3-1 against Jordan and have now scored a total of 8 goals. Algeria drew 3-3 against Austria. Argentina finished top of the group with 9 points. Austria finished second with 4 points while Algeria finished third also with 4 points. Jordan go home with no points. 

Group K PORTUGAL drew their final game in the group 0-0 against Colombia. Portugal remain on 6 goals.  Congo DR lost 3-1 against Uzbekistan. Colombia finished top with 7 points, with Portugal in second place with 5 points. Congo DR finished in third place with 4 points. Uzbekistan go home after they lost all of their three games. 

The first game of the Second Round have started as co-host CANADA took on South Africa. Canada finished second in Group B with 4 points. In their opening game, they drew 1-1 against Bosnia before their biggest win 6-0 against Qatar. In their last game they lost 2-1 to Switzerland.

This is the furthest Canada has reached in any World Cup as they have gone out in the group stages in Mexico in 1986 and again Qatar in 2022. So History has already been made.

The game it’s self was not that entertaining. There was too much pushing and holding players with pulling shirts by the South African and at times Canada. Canada won by a very late goal in the 90+2 minutes by Stephen Eustaquio, and what a strike it was from the edge of the box into the bottom left hand corner of the net. His first goal of the tournament. Canada are now into the last 16, but need to do better. Canada are on a total of 9 goals and they have a total of 3 votes.

World Cup Day Seventeen

Group H CAPE VERDE drew their last game 0-0 against Saudi Arabia and remain on a total of 2 goals. URUGUAY lost their last game 1-0 to SPAIN. Uruguay remain on a total of 3 goals. Spain are on a total of 5 goals. Spain win the group with 7 points, while Cape Verde came second with 3 points. Uruguay in third place and Saudi Arabia in fourth, both finished on 2 points each. 

Group G EGYPT drew their last game 1-1 against Iran and are on a total of 5 goals. BELGIUM won their last game 5-1 against New Zealand and are on a total of 6 goals. Belgium finished top of the group with 5 points with Egypt in second place also on 5 points. Iran are third with 3 points while New Zealand are fourth with 1 point. 

Group L top of the group, ENGLAND have won their third game 2-0 against Panama. England are on a total of 6 goals. CROATIA won their second and final game, 2-1 against GHANA. Croatia are on a total of 5 goals while Ghana picked up goal number 2. England are group winners with 7 points. Croatia are second with 6 points, while Ghana finish in third place with 4 points. Panama go out with no points. 

Top goal scorer for the Golden Boot at the moment is Argentina’s Lionel Messi with 5 goals, and then he is followed by France’s Kylian Mbappe and O. Dembélé, Norway’s Erling Haaland and Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior all with 4 goals each.  We then have eight players with 3 goals each.

World Cup Day Sixteen

Group F NETHERLANDS won their second and last group game 3-1 against Tunisia and became our second team to get double figures. Netherlands have a total of 10 goals. JAPAN drew 1-1 against SWEDEN and are on a total of 7 goals. Sweden are also on a total of 7 goals. Netherlands finished top with 7 points with Japan in second place with 5 points. Sweden are in third place with 4 points. Tunisia are fourth with no points. 

Group D USA lost their last game in the group 3-2 against TURKEY. USA have a total of 8 goals, while Turkey got out in style and pick up their only win and firsts goals with 3. PARAGUAY drew 0-0 with Australia and remin with 2 goals. USA are top with 6 points while Australia are second with 4 points. Paraguay are third with 4 points and Turkey are fourth with them 3 points. 

Group I FRANCE have won their third and final game in the first round by beating NORWAY 4-1. France are on a total of 10 goals while Norway are on 8 goals. SENEGAL have won their first game 5-0 against Iraq and have taken their goals tally to 8 goals.  France are top of the group with 9 points while Norway are in second place with 6 points. Senegal are third with 3 points. Iraq finished with no points.

World Cup Day Fifteen

Group A MEXICO won have won all three group games as they win their final game 3-0 against CZECH REPUBLIC. Mexico have a total of 6 goals, while Czech remain on just 2 goals. SOUTH KOREA lost 1-0 to South Africa and remain on 2 goals. Mexico are top with maximum points of 9. South Africa finished in second place with 4 points. South Korea end on 3 points while Czech Republic finish on 1 point. 

Group E another shock result in this World Cup and that is group leaders GERMANY lost their last game 2-1 to Ecuador after going a goal up in 2 minutes. Germany have a total of 10 goals. Curaçao lost 2-0 to Ivory Coast. Germany are through to the second round with 6 points. Ivory Coast also in the second round, are in second place also with 6 points. Ecuador are third with 3 points with Curaçao in fourth place with 1 point.

World Cup Day Fourteen

Group K Colombia won 1-0 against Dr Congo. Colombia are top after they have won both their games, with 6 points. Second is Portugal with 4 points. Third DR Congo with 1 point. Bottom of the group are Uzbekistan with no points. 

Group L After they were beaten by England in their first game, CROATIA won their second game 1-0 against Panama. Croatia have a total of 3 goals. England are top with 4 points, with Ghana second also on 4 points. Croatia are in third place with 3 points, and Panama with no points. 

They have now started our third and final games in the group stages and the games will be coming thick and fast. 

Group B SWITZERLAND have won two of their three games after they won 2-1 against CANADA. Switzerland drew their other game and are on a total of 7 goals. Canada have won one game, drew one and now lost one. They are on a total of 8 goals. Bosnia won their first and final game in the first round winning 3-1 against Qatar. Switzerland have finished top of the group with 7 points. In second place is Canada with 4 points while Bosnia in third place with 4 points. All three are in the second round. Qatar finished bottom with 1 point with their World Cup finished. 

Group C SCTOLAND lost their final group game, 3-0 to BRAZIL. Scotland have only managed to score one goal in this round. Brazil have taken their goals tally to 7 goals. MOROCCO won 4-2 against Haiti. With their biggest result to date, Morocco have a total of 6 goals. Brazil finished top of the group with 7 points with Morocco second, also on 7 points. Scotland end with 3 points but Haiti are out with no points.