Round of 32 - July 1
Where would England be without Harry Kane? Most likely not in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The England captain proved that, in a World Cup where the conversations have been dominated by goals from Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé – and in the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, a lack thereof – he is still one of the best strikers in the game. He is now joint-sixth with former France striker Just Fontaine for the most goals in the tournament's history, having scored 13 goals across the three World Cups he has featured in.
Arguably, though, few of those goals were more important than the two he scored against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, saving England from what could potentially have been one of the biggest upsets in football history. DR Congo could have done little else to challenge a team considered one of the favourites ahead of the tournament. They took a seventh-minute lead through Brian Cipenga and then repelled attack after attack from the English, with goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi making spectacular save after spectacular save.
DR Congo carried a 1-0 lead into halftime and held onto that advantage for 30 minutes of the second half, before substitute Anthony Gordon brought a spark that appeared to be missing from the English attack, assisting Kane for both of his goals. The 2-1 result ultimately saved England from serious blushes, perhaps making amends for a penalty that the English should have been given, but which the on-field referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) waved off.
The Round of 16 will put England in one of the most challenging environments a team could face at this World Cup: playing at more than 7,000 feet above sea level at the famous Estadio Azteca on Monday (July 6).
Also progressing to the next stage of the tournament were Belgium and the United States, who will incidentally face each other in the Round of 16.
Not for the first time in their World Cup history, Belgium dug themselves out of a two-goal hole to progress in the knockout stage. A goal on either side of halftime gave Senegal a 2-0 lead and put them on course to qualify, but that all changed with five minutes left in regulation time. Romelu Lukaku swept in from close range in the 86th minute, before Youri Tielemans equalized for Belgium three minutes later to send the game into extra time. With penalties looming large, Lamine Camara’s tackle inside the penalty box resulted in a spot kick for Belgium, which Tielemans converted to complete a comeback akin to their 3-2 win over Japan in the 2018 edition.
In the day’s last game, hosts United States were reduced to ten men after a contentious red card to forward Folarin Balogun, but withstood that and the challenge from Bosnia and Herzegovina to win 2-0. Balogun scored late in the first half before he was sent off in the 64th minute, with Malik Tillman adding the second in the 82nd minute.
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Round of 32 - June 30
While Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo divide the football world on which of them is the greatest of all time, the heir apparent is edging to usurp them from the throne.
France’s Kylian Mbappe, playing in his third World Cup, has now scored almost as many goals as Lionel Messi has scored in six World Cup appearances, with both players in a race of their own to claim the top spot for most goals scored by an individual player in the tournament’s history. On Tuesday, Mbappe shared the field with two other world-class strikers in Swedes Viktor Gyökeres and Alexander Isak, but proved that he was in a league of his own even amongst the best of the world—scoring twice in France’s comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden to progress to the Round of 16. Bradley Barcola scored in between Mbappe’s two goals, but that was a footnote in a match dominated by the performance of France’s number 10. Mbappe now has 18 World Cup goals in 18 games.
Next up for France is Paraguay, who will look to add to their list of giant-killings after their defeat of Germany.
Earlier in the day, Norway became the first European nation to progress out of the Round of 32 with a late 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. Striker Erling Haaland struck the deathblow in the 86th minute, after Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo cancelled out Norway’s opening goal. Their reward? A mouth-watering Round of 16 tie against the tournament’s most successful team, Brazil.
Elsewhere, first-half goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez gave Mexico a 2-0 win over Ecuador—the first time they have progressed in the knockout stage of the tournament in 40 years. They will face the winners of the tie between England and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. Sri Lanka time).
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Round of 32 - June 29
They left it late, but Brazil edged out a resolute Japan to progress into the Round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
A 29th minute goal from Kaishu Sano had given Japan the lead, which they held into half-time. They carried that advantage into the second half, before Casemiro's headed goal brought Brazil level, a reward for more pointed attacking intent they showed after the break. A compact and hard-to-breakdown Japanese defence was breached again in the fifth-minute of second half added time (95th minute) when substitute Gabriel Martinelli found himself in space in the penalty box and beat the goal-keeper, dealing a body blow that Japan had no time to recover from.
For Japan, who have never won a game in the knockout stages of the World Cup, it was heartbreak again, giving up a lead before being eliminated for a third successive World Cup. For Brazil, the road to adding a sixth winner’s star remains open.
One former winner who will not be adding another star is Germany, who suffered a shock, albeit controversial, penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay. It was the first time the Germans had lost a shootout at a World Cup – so historic was this defeat.
Julio Enciso gave Paraguay a first half lead, before Kai Havertz scored the equalizer for Germany in the 54th minute. The game remained deadlocked through 90 minutes, sending the Round of 32 tie into Extra Time, where German defender Jonathan Tah headed in go-ahead goal. However, the Video Assistant Referee intervened, asking the on-field referee to review his decision. That process led to the referee chalking off the goal, and the teams failed to add a goal for the remainder of Extra Time. Penalties ensued where Havertz, Nick Woltermade and Tah missed their chances, allowing Paraguay, who themselves missed two chances, to clinch a 4-3 shootout win.
The jeopardy of penalties continued into the next Round of 32 game, where Morocco edged out the Netherlands 3-2 in a penalty shootout, after remaining level following 120 minutes of regulation and extra time.
The Netherlands took the lead in the 72nd minute through Cody Gakpo, before Issa Diop towered over the Dutch defenders to equalize for Morocco in the 91st minute, adding a period of Extra Time to decide the winner. With the scoreline remaining unbroken, the game went into penalties, where the Netherlands missed three shots at goal – with Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber, and Crysencio Summerville failing to convert their attempts, allowing Ismael Saibari to step up and score the winning penalty.
For the Netherlands, it was a penalty shootout elimination for the third successive World Cup, but for Morocco, who finished fourth in the 2022 edition, it is progress to the Round of 16 where they will face co-hosts Canada.
Photo credit: FIFA.com
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Round of 32 - June 28
We're into the knockouts now, and Canada open the win-or-go-home stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a stoppage-time win over South Africa.
Midfielder Stephen Eustáquio scored the decisive goal in the 93rd minute to keep the co-hosts alive in the tournament with a 1-0 win in the Round of 32 match.
Canada will now play the winner of the match between Netherlands and Morocco on Monday (Tuesday morning Sri Lankan time).
Photo credit: FIFA.com
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