World Cup 2026: Day 7 – Wednesday 17 June

 

What a day of World Cup action it was yesterday. Sixteen goals across four matches from some of the world’s best players, including a hat-trick from arguably the greatest player to ever play the game.

Oh, and England play tonight.

Let’s get into it…

 

Yesterday’s results:

France 3-1 Senegal

The pre-match build-up to France’s opening match was dominated by the question, will there be a repeat of 2002?

Senegal stunned the world at the opening match of the 2002 tournament by defeating France, but they were unable to repeat the feat in New Jersey on Tuesday.

A goalless first half was followed by an all-action second period, and, just after Kylian Mbappe was sensationally denied a penalty, even after the referee went to the touchline monitor, the French captain put them ahead, latching onto a sensational Michael Olise through-ball before sliding a low shot past Edouard Mendy.

Bradley Barcola was then played in on goal, lofting the ball over Mendy to double the French advantage, before Ibrahim Mbaye, tipped by many to be the next superstar at PSG, halved the deficit in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

But only a minute later, Mbappe hit a stunning shot into the top corner from 25 yards to overtake Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time leading goalscorer and leave him just two behind Miroslav Klose’s (and now Lionel Messi) World Cup goalscoring record.

And all of that at just 27 years of age.

 

Iraq 1-4 Norway

First-timers Iraq were no match for Norway in Boston as Erling Haaland was the man of the moment on his World Cup debut.

A brace from the Norway talisman put them 2-1 up at the break, either side of Ayman Hussein’s historic header for Iraq, before Leo Ostigard’s header put Stale Solbakken’s side 3-1 up.

A deflection off the unfortunate Hussein made it four in stoppage time to ensure the perfect start for Norway in their first World Cup appearance since 1998.

 

Argentina 3-0 Algeria

I think the football world has run out of superlatives for Lionel Messi. His treble in Argentina’s opener has made him the oldest hat-trick scorer at the World Cup at the age of almost 39, and level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time World Cup scorers chart.

They were three genius goals as well. After the near-disaster of conceding an early goal to Fares Chaibi only to see the goal ruled out by VAR, Messi responded in style shortly after, curling a majestic left-footed shot past goalkeeper Luca Zidane from range.

The second goal was instinctive, following up after Alexis Mac Allister’s shot was saved to finish coolly past Zidane, and then curling yet another shot into the bottom corner with that magic wand of a left foot, to stamp his mark on this tournament and leave Argentina in a promising position after their first group match.

 

Austria 3-1 Jordan

Ralf Rangnick’s Austria put debutants Jordan to the sword in their first World Cup match since 1998.

Despite a strong start from the minnows, it was Austria who grabbed the lead as Romano Schmid’s shot from outside the box flew into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Yazeed Yazeed Abulalia standstill.

But the equaliser would arrive shortly after the restart. After hitting the crossbar in the first half, Ali Iyad Olwan would not be denied as he cut inside and curled a shot into the far corner via the post. A momentous moment for Jordan, and nothing less than they deserved.

After Marko Arnautovic found the net from a corner for Austria, which was disallowed by VAR due to a foul, Austria went back ahead with 15 minutes to play. Another set-piece was floated in and headed into his own net by the unfortunate Yazan Abu Al-Arab.

And deep into added-time, the win was wrapped up by record scorer Arnautovic from the spot after substitute Saleem Obaid was penalised for handball by VAR.

 

 

Today’s fixtures:

Group K

Portugal v DR Congo

6pm (UK Time)

Houston

 

Some are tipping Portugal to go very far in this, Cristiano Ronaldo’s final tournament. How much of a part he’ll play remains to be seen, but Portugal will be willing him to go out on a high.

Their squad is jam-packed with stars: Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Rafael Leao… the list goes on.

DR Congo are appearing in their first World Cup since competing as Zaire in 1974, qualifying after a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in the playoff round. They have some solid players, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Chancel Mbemba, Cedric Bakambu and Yoane Wissa, but will be no match for Portugal.

 

Sam’s prediction: Portugal 4-1 DR Congo

 

Uzbekistan v Colombia

Mexico City

3am (UK Time)

 

Uzbekistan’s major tournament debut kicks off at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, which has twice hosted a World Cup final, and could’ve easily hosted this year’s final showpiece.

Currently ranked 50^th in the world, the Asian minnows can call upon the likes of Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov at the back and Eldor Shomurodov up front, who notched 23 goals last season on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir from Roma.

Meanwhile, Colombia, whose best major tournament in recent years came in 2014 when James Rodriguez inspired them to the quarter finals, can call upon Daniel Munoz, Jefferson Lerma, Luis Dias and Luis Suarez (not that one) to make a difference in their current crop of players. Rodriguez, now 34, has made the squad – how much he’ll play remains to be seen. Colombia should edge past the first-timers here.

 

Sam’s prediction: Uzbekistan 0-1 Colombia

 

Group L

England v Croatia

9pm (UK Time)

Dallas

 

Here we go then. Four years after quarter final heartbreak in Qatar, and Harry Kane’s skied penalty, England are back on world football’s biggest stage.

A lot has happened in four years. A Euros final defeat to Spain, a subsequent managerial change and a very different-looking squad picked by Thomas Tuchel for this summer’s tournament.

Kane is, without a doubt, still England’s priceless gem, flanked by Bukayo Saka (if fit) and most likely one of the Barcelona duo of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon, a midfield three which will most likely consist of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, the likes of Reece James and three of John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi and the ever-reliable Jordan Pickford in goal – it’s still a pretty good England team. How they will perform on the global stage under Tuchel remains to be seen, and there are still a couple of issues to iron out, but this will be a strong first test for them.

Their 2018 nemesis Croatia, who went on to finish runners-up and third in 2022, are a somewhat different squad from those who defeated England in Moscow after extra time on that warm July evening, but still have a strong spine. Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric and the evergreen Luka Modric will cause the Three Lions problems going forward, while a centre back pairing of Josko Gvardiol and Josip Stanisic is not too shabby.

England will need to be at their best, but could easily nick a win.

 

Sam’s prediction: England 2-1 Croatia

 

Ghana v Panama

12am (UK Time)

Toronto

The final match of the first round of group stage fixtures (not chronologically) takes place in Toronto as Ghana, out in the group stage in Qatar, take on Panama, whose only tournament appearance to date saw them finish bottom of their group in 2018.

Tottenham’s Mohammad Kudus will be a real miss for Ghana, but the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams will form a frightening strike force. It may well also be Carlos Queiroz’s final tournament – the veteran Portuguese manager has taken charge of his home nation at the World Cup on two occasions, as well as Iran and now Ghana.

Panama, meanwhile, have taken a squad for whom North America is very familiar, but have the odd player playing in Europe, including Norwich defender Jose Cordoba and Amir Murillo of Besiktas.

Surprisingly, Ghana sit 41 places behind their opponents in the world rankings, but I can’t see Panama winning this one.

 

Sam’s prediction: Ghana 2-0 Panama