The World Cup has only been running for a few days, but with the intensity of the tournament, twelve games have been played already. So far, groups A to F have set their initial order, while the other contenders are still waiting for their first chance to play at the world stage.
The World Cup was opened with a match between one of the hosting countries, Mexico, and South Africa. Although the game ended with a rather predictable score of 2:0, it was made more enjoyable by the on-pitch tensions that led to a tournament record being broken. For the first time, three red cards were shown in the first game, with two of those belonging to South African players and one to a member of Mexico’s team. Their meeting was followed by South Korea’s 2:1 win against Czechia.
The remaining two hosts of the World Cup, Canada and the US, both played their first games on Friday. Canada had the chance to show themselves first, as they were scheduled to play Bosnia and Herzegovina. The match ended in a 1:1 draw. The US started the tournament in a much better manner, steadily beating Paraguay 4:1
On Saturday, Qatar and Switzerland started the first weekend of the World Cup with a 1:1 draw. The score carried on into the evening, as it was also achieved by Brazil and Morocco, who played their game a few hours later. The match was seen as particularly disappointing by many fans as it had previously been lauded as one of the most interesting matchups of the group stage. Unfortunately, the teams underdelivered. Later in the day, Scotland beat Haiti 1:0, and, in a surprise to many, Australia triumphed over Turkiye with a 2:0 victory.
Finally, on Sunday, Germany faced Curaçao. Although no one expected the small nation to win against one of the World Cup giants, the 7:1 loss still stung those who hoped to see Curaçao come out of the evening with a result they could be proud of. The game was followed by an equal-strength game between the Netherlands and Japan. The former came into the match as the favourites, but ended up drawing 2:2 to the joy of all Japanese fans. Later in the day, Ivory Coast beat Ecuador 1:0, and Sweden managed an impressive 5:1 victory against similarly-ranked Tunisia.
With that, the standings of the first six groups were set. Mexico and South Korea comfortably topped group A, with Czechia and South Africa settling in behind them. Group B found itself in an interesting situation. Since both its matches ended in 1:1 draws, the teams not only have an equal number of points, but also the same goal difference of zero. The playing field is thus just as equalised as it had been before the World Cup began.
After the Brazil-Marocco draw, Scotland became the surprise leader of Group C, which is closed off by the wounded Haiti. Due to their impressive 4:1 win, the US topped Group D, sitting at the same number of points as Australia behind them. Turkiye and Paraguay had to settle for third and fourth, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, Germany is leading Group E, equal on points with the Ivory Coast. Ecuador and Curaçao are equal on points, but with the latter’s goal difference being -6, they sit in the last spot. Finally, Sweden is the only winner of Group F, followed in the standings by Japan and the Netherlands. Tunisia closes off the groups that have completed their first matches thus far.
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Groups G to L are set to begin their World Cup campaign today. The next game will be a match between Spain and Cabo Verde, followed by a meeting between Belgium and Egypt.
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