We are now halfway through the group stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the tournament has lived up to all expectation. After a very exciting opening round of matches, game week two offered many new talking points. From Canada’s first ever World Cup win, to Deniz Undav’s 94th minute winner, here is our review of Groups A-F in their second round of fixtures.
Group A: The Hosts Qualify
Mexico made it two wins from two with a 1-0 victory over South Korea, becoming the first team to qualify for the Round of 32. This was a very nervy game, with the two sides both winning their opening group stage match. After a goalless first half, South Korea goalkeeper Seung-Gyu Kim spilled a Julian Quinones cross straight into the path of Luis Romo who volleyed home.
South Korea pushed for an equaliser late on, but some amazing saves from Raul Rangel in the Mexico goal preserved the clean sheet. Myung-Bo Hong’s side will now be more nervous heading into their final game of the group stage against South Africa in Guadalupe.
South Africa and Czech Republic put their first points on the board in an entertaining 1-1 draw. Slavia Prague midfielder Michal Sadilek opened the scoring six minutes into the game with a brilliant left footed finish past Ronwen Williams. Czech continued their attacking style with Patrick Schick going close on many occasions. But seven minutes from time, Thapelo Maseko’s shot hit the arm of Pavel Sulc leading to Teboho Mokoena converting a penalty for the points to be shared.
Group B: Canada and Switzerland combine for 10
Canada met Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia for their second match after drawing 1-1 with Switzerland in their opening game. It didn’t take long for Cyle Larin to break the deadlock as he scored his second goal of the competition 16 minutes in. Juventus striker Jonathan David added a second before the games chaos truly began to start.
Homan Elamin saw his yellow card overturned into a red after his last ditch tackle on Tajon Buchanan. David scored his second of the game on the stroke of halftime to add salt to Qatar’s wounds. Things went from bad to worse after as Assim Madibo’s tackle resulted in a another red card, as Ismael Kone broke his leg and had to be stretchered off. Three more goals from Nathan Saliba, a 3rd from David and an own goal from Mohammed Al Mannai capped off a brutal 6-0 win for Canada.
Switzerland and Bosnia met in another high scoring affair in group B. After a very good 65 minutes, the second hydration break of the game would be Bosnia’s downfall with Johan Manzambi’s 74th minute strike finally breaking down their defensive. Things fell apart for Bosnia after Tarik Muharemovic was sent off, leading to Ruben Vargas and a second for Manzambi making it 3-0. Ermin Mahmic scored a consultation late on, but Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka’s 98th minute penalty made the final score 4-1. Switzerland will face Canada in their final group stage game in an exciting battle to see who will clinch top spot.
Group C: Scotland Fails to Capitalise
After their historic win vs Haiti, Scotland looked to capitalise on their momentum against Morocco in Boston. However, it took just 70 seconds for Morocco to open the scoring with Brahim Diaz floating a dangerous ball over the top of Scotland’s defense, as Ismael Saibari volleyed it beautifully past Angus Gunn to make it 1-0.
Although they had a few chances throughout the game, Scotland didn’t register a single shot on target, despite Charlton Athletic striker Lyndon Dykes late header nearly rescuing the game. Scotland now look to their final game against Brazil to try and qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
Brazil had no problem in their fixture, comfortably beating Haiti 3-0 to go top of group C. After a slow first 20 minutes, Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha opened the scoring with a fortunate deflection, settling nerves in Philadelphia. Cunha added a second just 13 minutes later with Vinicius Jr grabbing his second goal of the tournament just before halftime. Endrick would see his late strike chalked off, but Brazil will be more than happy with the score line.
Group D: Türkiye are Eliminated
In a turn of events which many people couldn’t of predicted, Türkiye were eliminated from the World Cup after failing to score for the second game in a row. Paraguay were their opponents, as they made the perfect start as Julio Enciso’s flick was met with a brilliant left-footed strike from Matias Galarza putting Paraguay 1-0 up in just 65 seconds.
Turkiye, just like the Australia game, were wasteful, having 32 total shots without scoring. A team who have the likes of Arda Guler, Kenan Yildiz, Yunus Akgun and Kerem Akturkoglu not being able to score is a shock to many. Paraguay were reduced to 10-men in stoppage time of the first half when Miguel Almiron saw red after covering his mouth to speak to his teammate. But Paraguay showed resilience and held on to win the game 1-0 and give themselves a real chance to qualify for the Round of 32.
The USA grabbed a second win of their World Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Australia. They took the lead after Swansea City defender Cameron Burgess scored an own goal, and made it two just before the break with Alex Freeman’s header beating Patrick Beach in the Australia goal. USA have all but won their group, the first time this has happened since 2010.
Group E: Germany Leave it Late
In one of the matches of the tournament so far, Germany snatched all three points in a 2-1 over the Ivory Coast. Franck Kessie opened the scoring for the Ivory Coast blasting it in from close range to the shock of the German’s in Toronto. Germany had two goals ruled out by VAR as Felix Nmecha and Jamal Musiala committed fouls in the build up on both occasions.
VFB Stuttgart strike Deniz Undav turned the game on its head when he came on as a substitute in the second half. Kai Havertz’s flick on found the run of Undav and a fantastic volley past Yahia Fofana made it 1-1. Then in the 94th minute, Undav kept his cool as he controlled a Nmecha pass, turned and blasted it in. winning the game and, most likely, the group for Germany. Undav now has five goal contributions in two games and might become a starter in Julian Naglesmann’s team.
Ecuador failed to score in Kansas City due to a Goalkeeping masterclass from Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room. Ecuador had 27 total shots with an xG of 2.84, but Room’s 15 saves kept them at bay as Curacao responded to their 7-1 thrashing against Germany with a first ever World Cup point. Ecuador will be frustrated with this result and would have to beat Germany to even have a chance of qualifying for the next round.
Group F: Goals, Goals and more Goals
After their 5-1 win in match day 1, Sweden were on the other end of that exact score line when Netherlands put five past them in Houston, Texas. Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey scored two goals after 20 minutes, but it wasn’t over as Sweden ended the half very strongly with Gustaf Lagerbielke having a goal ruled out for offside.
But Netherlands started the second half just like the first with Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo scoring two to give Holland a 4-0 lead. Anthony Elanga put Sweden on the board with a 59th minute strike, but they never looked like coming back as West Ham United winger Crysensio Summerville rounded out the game with an excellent finish to make the final score line 5-1. Sweden will now have a nervy final game against Japan as all three times in group F will be fighting for automatic qualification.
Japan thrashed Tunisia 4-0 in their second group game, going joint top of the group with Netherlands. Daichi Kamada scored the first after four minutes before Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda’s strike nestled beautifully in the bottom corner to double their lead. Ueda scored a second in the 83rd as well as Junya Ito getting on the scoresheet to round out a dominant win for Japan. Tunisia only registered two shots in the entire match and crash out of the World Cup after two games.
With Mexico, Germany and USA now all confirmed for the Round of 32, which teams will follow them heading into matchday three. Some very exciting fixtures are still yet to be played which will decided the knockout stages with highlight games including: Canada vs Switzerland, Scotland vs Brazil, Australia vs Paraguay and Japan vs Sweden. The 2026 FIFA World Cup continues to impress with a review of groups G-L coming soon.
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