𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Mexico have become the first team to book their place in the World Cup knockout stage — and with their co-hosts Canada also making their mark with a huge win yesterday, attention now turns to whether the United States can continue to make home advantage count.

This is the first World Cup to be held across three countries and so far the hosts are loving it. Canada recorded their first-ever win at the men’s World Cup finals, thrashing Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver yesterday to move into top spot in Group B, above Switzerland on goal difference.

In the day’s final game, Mexico secured top spot in Group A with a hard-fought victory against South Korea in Guadalajara.

The USMNT, having beat Paraguay 4-1 in their opening game last Friday, face Australia in Seattle on Friday afternoon knowing victory would all but guarantee their place in the knockout round. The availability or otherwise of Christian Pulisic remains the big talking point, with coach Mauricio Pochettino giving nothing away yesterday.

The other big news of the day concerned Ivory Coast forward Elye Wahi, who, as The Athletic revealed on Wednesday, is being investigated by French authorities in relation to alleged match-fixing. He has not been charged with any crime.

Canadian authorities initially delayed Wahi’s visa authorisation, requesting more information, as Ivory Coast prepared to fly to Toronto today for tomorrow’s Group E game against Germany. But Ivory Coast’s football federation issued a statement on Thursday saying, “The necessary authorisations for his entry into Canadian territory have now been obtained.”

Matchday 8 results:

Group A: Czech Republic 1-1 South Africa
Group B: Switzerland 4-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group B: Canada 6-0 Qatar
Group A: Mexico 1-0 South Korea

Has three hosts supercharged this World Cup?

The euphoric scenes in Guadalajara last night, as Mexico beat South Korea to secure first place in Group A and home advantage in the round of 32 (and, if they get there, the round of 16), underlined the value of a strong showing from the World Cup’s host nations. The better the hosts perform, the greater the feelgood factor around the tournament spreads.

That was definitely not the case in 2022, where three defeats in three games for Qatar appeared to kill what little enthusiasm there had been among the locals in Doha. But so far in 2026 all three host nations are thriving: Mexico have won two out of two, Canada are all but guaranteed a place in the knockout stage after thrashing Qatar yesterday and the U.S., having put four past Paraguay, are determined to keep up that momentum against Australia.

Goalkeeper Raul Rangel made a fine late save to preserve Mexico’s lead (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

When the draw was made in December, the consensus was that all three hosts had been given a good chance of progressing to the next round. But the way they have performed so far has surpassed the expectations of most, given that Mexico and the U.S. won one game apiece in 2022 and Canada had never won a men’s World Cup game before yesterday.

More than that, the host nations and their supporters appear to be thriving off the positive energy. You can see, hear and feel it in the stadiums. The fervent atmosphere in Vancouver yesterday was dampened considerably by the horrible injury suffered by Canada midfielder Ismael Kone, but their head coach Jesse Marsch was right when he spoke of having played “the kind of football that would electrify the crowd”.

They will go into their next game, against Switzerland next Wednesday, knowing that even a draw would guarantee first place in Group B — and another game on home turf in Vancouver in the round of 32 and, potentially, the round of 16. It is quite the incentive because, as the U.S., Canada and Mexico have all demonstrated in the first week of this tournament, there is no place like home.

Are we set for the highest-scoring World Cup since Pele’s first?

As Michael Cox wrote yesterday, the first round of games at this World Cup threw up a number of enjoyable games and enjoyable stories. Concerns persist about several off-the-field issues, which have been covered extensively in The Athletic, but the action on the field has been lively, entertaining and, at times, dramatic.

It has also been free-scoring. After 28 games we have seen no fewer than 89 goals, an average of 3.18 goals per game. To put that in context, the last men’s World Cup to feature more than 2.7 goals per game was USA 94. Right now, this World Cup is on course to be the highest-scoring since a 17-year-old Pele stole the show in Sweden in 1958.

Of course the scoring rate this year has been skewed by mismatches between Germany and Curacao (7-1), indeed Canada and Qatar (6-0) and Sweden and Tunisia (5-1). But heroic defending also earned draws for Cape Verde (0-0 against Spain) and DR Congo (1-1 against Portugal). More to the point, there have been a lot of games in which the action has bounced back and forth, several of them decided in the closing stages.

World Cup 2026: goals galore (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

It is natural to expect a sharp drop in the goals-per-game average once the minnows depart, the knockout stage begins and the pressure intensifies. That was the case in 2014, when there were 2.83 goals per game in the group stage and only 2.19 per game in the knockout phase. But in 2010 it was the opposite: a dismal 2.1 goals per game in the group stage and then a more entertaining 2.75 goals per game in the knockouts.

Is a lot of goals automatically a good thing? No. There is such a thing as a compelling 0-0 or a game that is far too one-sided to be entertaining. But if there were fears among some of us that this World Cup might reflect some of the trends we saw in this season’s Premier League — a heavy reliance on set pieces, a sharp drop in the number of goals scored from an open play and, quite glaringly, a drop in output from many of the best creative and attacking players — what we have seen so far has been the opposite, with so many teams showing a pleasing commitment to attack. Long may it continue.

Hope for Pulisic but was Neymar worth the risk?

Pochettino was giving nothing away. “We’ll see,” the U.S. head coach said, when asked in his pre-match news conference whether his star player Pulisic had recovered sufficiently from a problem with his left calf to appear against Australia.

For Neymar and Brazil, there was no such ambiguity. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) issued a statement on Thursday saying Neymar had not travelled to Philadelphia for their game against Haiti on Saturday. Instead, the CBF said, the 34-year-old “will remain in New Jersey to optimize the final phase of his recovery process”.

Neymar is highly unlikely to be fit before the knockout stage due to a lingering calf problem that has raised questions about head coach Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to recall him to the squad, almost three years since his last international appearance.

Neymar’s selection was a risk (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images)

There are obvious differences between the situations — Pulisic hoping to be involved against Australia today, Neymar unavailable for another week at least — but in both cases it has brought a sense of melodrama. Pochettino and Ancelotti might feel the media and public fixation on an injured player has some kind of positive effect, diverting some of the intensity away from the team’s preparations ahead of a big game. Alternatively, they might feel it causes a headache.

Ancelotti’s decision to call up Neymar was a surprise after another season punctuated by injuries. If it was a calculated risk, then the calculation has to be based on an assumption that the Santos forward can make a big impact in the knockout round.

A player of Neymar’s supreme talent is always capable of producing a moment of brilliance, even when nothing like 100 per cent fit. But if he is unable to play in the group stage, then it might be touch-and-go in the knockout stage, too.

It looks like a risk, even after a flurry of goals for Santos brought a clamour for his inclusion. The thought of Neymar returning to inspire the selecao after a horrible run of injuries — like the great Brazilian forward Ronaldo did in 2002 — is an appealing one, but it looks increasingly like a long shot.

What’s happening today

Beyond that huge clash between the U.S. and Australia, today’s other game in Group D pits Turkey against Paraguay at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. While the format of a 48-team tournament means it is not quite win-or-bust on Friday, both will know the pressure is on after losing their opening game.

There is a different kind of pressure on Brazil, who began their campaign with an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Morocco. They will be overwhelming favourites to beat Haiti in Philadelphia this evening, in what looks like one of the great World Cup mismatches, but the Brazilian fans — and certainly their media — will demand a strong performance, too.

Meanwhile, Scotland, bidding to reach the knockout stage for the first time, take on Morocco in Foxboro. Spirits are high in the Scottish camp after they beat Haiti in their opening game, but Morocco represent a step up in quality, with Brazil to follow on Wednesday.

Matchday 9 fixtures

Group D: USA vs Australia (3pm ET; 8pm BST)
Group C: Scotland vs Morocco (6pm ET; 11pm BST)
Group C: Brazil vs Haiti (8.30pm ET; 1.30am BST)
Group D: Turkey vs Paraguay (11pm ET, 4am BST)