Welcome to day eleven of the 2026 World Cup finals.
We are aiming to bring you a daily round up of the matches to come and recent results.
There are 48 countries at these 2026 World Cup finals, the most there has ever been. The matches to take place across Mexico, Canada and the USA.
The 48 teams are divided into 12 groups of four, with the top two in each group automatically going through and the eight best performing teams who finish third in their groups.
So only 16 of the 48 countries will be knocked out after the 72 group games have all played out, with the other 32 teams going through to the knockout stages.
We have now reached a point where we are now exactly halfway through the 72 group games with 36 played. That means 68 games in total still to go when you include the knockout stages.
I think something we have now learnt, is that nothing can be taken for granted in this World Cup. Already a number of surprise results and displays, plus in certain cases the teams are performing very differently in their second group matches, compared to their first outings.
Sweden hammered Tunisia 5-1 in their opening match but found themselves hammered 5-1 by the Netherlands on Saturday. At 4-0 down, Anthony Elanga was introduced from the bench and scored a cracking goal in a very good cameo.
The early hours of Sunday (in UK time) saw Japan stick four past Tunisia to eliminate them after two matches. The Dutch have four points and then three points each for Japan and Sweden. My guess is that all three will go through to the last 32 and a draw between Sweden and Japan would surely guarantee that.
Saturday then saw Germany progress to the last 32, though it wasn’t plain sailing. Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw watched from the bench as Ivory Coast took a shock 30th minute lead. Deniz Undav coming off the bench to score in the 68th and 94th minutes to win it.
In the other Group E match, Ecuador battered Curacao (who had lost 7-1 to Germany) but couldn’t manage a single goal. The corner count was 9-0 and Ecuador had 27 shots, 15 of them on target, but Curacao somehow picking up their first ever point at a World Cup finals.
The six points from two games means that Germany are now guaranteed to finish top of the group. Interesting then to see on Thursday for their final group match against Ecuador, whether we see Nick Woltemade and/or Malick Thiaw getting their first minutes at this World Cup.
There are now three teams (Mexico, USA, Germany) that are definitely through to the last 32, whilst three (Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia) are already eliminated.
It is now 109 goals in 36 matches and this 2026 World Cup still on track to average three or more goals per game for the first time since the 1958 World Cup. The closest was the 1970 Mexico World Cup that averaged 2.97 goals per match, this 2026 World Cup now averaging 3.02 goals per game after the opening 36 games.
The next six matches to be played across Sunday and Monday are detailed below, all kick-offs are shown as UK times and with the channel that is showing them.
Wednesday 17 June
Argentina 3 Algeria 0 Group J
Austria 3 Jordan 1 Group J
Portugal 1 DR Congo 1 Group K
England 4 Croatia 2 Group L
Thursday 18 June
Ghana 1 Panama 0 Group L
Uzbekistan 1 Colombia 3 Group K
Czech Republic 1 South Africa 1 Group A
Switzerland 4 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 Group B
Canada 6 Qatar 0 Group B
Friday 19 June
Mexico 1 South Africa 0 Group A
USA 2 Australia 0 Group D
Scotland 0 Morocco 1 Group C
Saturday 20 June
Brazil 3 Haiti 0 Group C
Turkey 0 Paraguay 1 Group D
Netherlands 5 Sweden 1 Group F
Germany 2 Ivory Coast 1 Group E
Sunday 21 June
Ecuador 0 Curacao 0 Group E
Tunisia 0 Japan 4 Group F
Spain v Saudi Arabia 5pm (BBC1) Group H
Belgium v Iran 8pm (ITV1) Group G
Uruguay v Cape Verde 11pm (BBC1) Group H
Monday 22 June
New Zealand v Egypt 2am (ITV1) Group G
Argentina v Austria 6pm (BBC1) Group J
France v Iraq 10pm (BBC1) Group I