Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The second round of World Cup group stage action has delivered several surprising results and shifting standings across all groups.
- Some teams have already secured knockout spots while others face elimination with one crucial match remaining for everyone.
- Key performances and strategic decisions are now shaping which underdogs could advance and which favorites might stumble.
The second round of group stage action at the World Cup is in the books with only one game remaining for teams to punch their ticket to the knockouts. Some teams have already done just that, including the United States and Mexico after two emphatic victories in Groups D and A, respectively.
The hosts making it through isn't the most surprising thing about the tournament so far, though the way the Americans have done it has certainly turned heads. There have been other bigger shocks worth exploring after two games.
Group A standings: South Africa's not dead yet!
After one game, we called South Africa "dead in the water." That felt justified after watching their horrific performance against Mexico. It's not just that they picked up two red cards, losing Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane to suspension. It's that they looked woeful and were lucky to get away with only a 2-0 defeat.
It seems we may have buried the South Africans too soon, though. Despite the suspensions and the bad vibes, they managed to show considerable resilience against Czchia. A 1-1 draw won't be enough to get them through to the knockouts, but it was enough to keep them alive. If they could steal a win over South Korea, they could shock the world. Is that the most likely outcome? No. The Koreans will be favored to win that game for good reason, but they can't afford to get ahead of themselves. This group is still wide open.
Group B standings: Canada run rampant
Canada were the only host team not to win their opening match at the World Cup. They more than made up for it with a 6-0 drubbing of Qatar. Sure, Qatar was outmatched and an early red card changed the shape of the game. Still, the Canadians had never won a World Cup match before, and doing it by scoring a touchdown is a helluva feat under any circumstances.
The group now comes down to the final matchup between Canada and Switzerland, who are both on four points. The winner of that game will finish first. Canada can also take it with a draw. As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, they need a win over Qatar to advance.
Group C standings: Scotland deserve to go through (they might not)
No Scotland, no party. It would be a shame if there were no party in the knockout rounds.
Scotland got a vital three points in their first game against Haiti, then lost to Morocco as expected. Despite not getting any points out of that game, the Scots played Morocco tough, losing 1-0 and keeping their goal difference neutral. Will that be enough to get them through? It should be, but they might be at the mercy of other results in the third round of games...and goal difference based on how well they can acquit themselves against Brazil.
More Group C: What Brazil, Morocco and Scotland need to advance
Group D standings: Turkiye knocked out already, Miguel Almiron's red card
Group D has been wild on so many fronts. The United States has looked better than it's ever looked on a soccer pitch, but the shock comes from two other teams: Turkiye and Paraguay.
Turkiye was a dark horse entering the tournament. No one would have been surprised to see them make a strong run in the knockout rounds. They won't even play in them after being knocked out after just two games, both losses. They simply never looked comfortable. Despite averaging the most possession of any team at the World Cup (75 percent) and having the second most touches in the opposition box (101) they have yet to score a goal. They've missed all seven big chances they've created. That's tied for the most big chance misses. They'll go down as one of the biggest disappointments in the tournament.
Having said that, you'd be hard pressed to find a single player having a worse group stage than Miguel Almiron. The Atlanta United wing also had his World Cup ended early after becoming the first player to fall afoul of FIFA's new rule against covering your mouth while in confrontation with an opponent. He received a red card and a one-match ban that will have him miss Paraguay's final game. That's after he became the first player to fall afoul of FIFA's new rule allowing VAR to overturn a card for "mistaken identity." He was given the yellow card originally applied to USA centerback Tim Ream after a review found he was guilty of simulation in Paraguay's first game.
More Group D: What Australia and Paraguay need to advance
Group E standings: Ecuador can't score
Turkiye can't salvage a terrible start to the World Cup, but Ecuador still has a chance despite being one of four teams who have failed to score. They picked up a point in a 0-0 draw against Curacao. Reminder: That's the Curacao team that shipped seven to Germany.
Ecuador isn't an offensive powerhouse, but they were able to find the back of the net in the lead up to the World Cup. They beat Argentina in their final CONMEBOL qualification match and scored at least one goal in seven of the eight games they've played since then.
They've created chances at this World Cup too. Their xG is 3.9, ranking ninth in the field. They're second in shots on target per match (8.0), behind only Germany. But, like Turkiye, they've missed seven big chances along the way. They won't advance unless they find a way to pull off a stunning result against Germany.
More Group E: Who could Germany play in the round of 32?
Group F standings: Tunisia in running for worst goal difference ever
The wrong kind of red flag was waving frantically when Tunisia fired their manager after one game at the World Cup. It didn't exactly work. The 5-1 loss to Sweden was followed up by a 0-4 loss to Japan. And the toughest game Tunisia will play is yet to come.
The Netherlands awaits Tunisia in the final game of the group stage. Tunisia is already eliminated, but they won't have the advantage of wrapping up their tournament against a team that's already clinched their group. No, the Dutch need a win to beat out Japan or Sweden, and they need goals to make it certain. This game could be a blood bath.
Tunisia has a -8 goal difference. It's well within the realm of possibility for them to pass Saudi Arabia's -12 in 2002 as the worst goal difference at a World Cup this century. The all-time worst goal difference belongs to South Korea in 1954. They were outscored by 16. I'm not ruling that out either.
Group G standings: Belgium is sleepwalking
Belgium could have looked at that opening round draw to Egypt like Spain and Portugal after their first-game disappointment: shake it off, get right and take control of the group with a win in the second game. That's very much not what happened...
Romelu Lukaku got the start but put in a stinker with just one shot, zero chances created and an xG of 0.03. Belgium had 70 percent possession and 23 shots, but simply couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. The result was a 0-0 draw, an outcome that literally came down to the skin of Mahdi Taremi's ass marking him offside.
Now, Belgium has to get a result against New Zealand to have a chance to go through. And that's no sure thing. The All Whites caused trouble for Egypt and Iran, scoring first in both games. The way Belgium has played, they're in serious risk.
Group H standings: Cape Verde wasn't a fluke!
Cape Verde was the shock of the first round of games, holding Spain to a 0-0 draw. That result alone would have been enough for the tiny island nation to come away from this World Cup feeling like they'd accomplished something. They doubled up the shock by doing it again to Uruguay.
The 2-2 draw against Uruguay was more impressive than the Spain result. That could have been a fluke. Cape Verde defended beautifully, but the Spaniards also underperformed their talent (that much was confirmed in their next game, a 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia). The islanders didn't beat Uruguay in the same way. They scored twice, taking the lead and then surviving a two-goal onslaught by Uruguay to pull back even in the 61st minute. It was no fluke. It was a team with absolute belief in itself, one with attacking talent capable of putting pressure on a more prestigious team.
Now, we're talking about scenarios for Cape Verde to advance to the knockout rounds. A draw over Saudi Arabia could be enough. A win would absolutely clinch it. What an outcome that would be.
Group I standings: Ousmane Dembele scores his first World Cup goal
It's not a surprise that Ousmane Dembele scored a goal for France at the World Cup. The shock is that it was his first World Cup goal ever. We're talking about the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, a player who has led PSG to consecutive Champions League trophies, a player who is appearing in his third World Cup. Dembele scored his first World Cup goal in his 13th World Cup match.
France is already a powerhouse. They're favorites to win the whole tournament for a reason, but there had to be internal frustration for Dembele on that front. Now that he's got the monkey off his back, France could be even more dangerous than they already were. We'll find out when they play Norway with first-place in the group on the line.
Group J standings: Messi missed a penalty
Lionel Messi has had an outrageously good start to his World Cup, leading all players in the race for the Golden Boot with five successful strikes. But it should have been six. The Argentinian star missed a penalty early against Austria. That was literally the stroke of the boot that denied him a second straight hat trick on the world's stage. He had to settle for just two goals in Argentina's 2-0 win.
Argentina clinched top place in the group, so Messi doesn't need to play against Jordan. We might still see him give his all with Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland close behind on the goal-scoring charts.
More Group J: What Argentina, Austria and Algeria need to advance
Group K standings: Ronaldo played unselfishly
Ronaldo was the subject of major criticism after his performance in Portugal's draw with DR Congo to start his final World Cup journey. Should he even be starting for Portugal at this stage? It was a valid question. He answered it in Portugal's 5-0 win over Uzbekistan with two goals. And while he won't be credited with an assist, he should be.
Portugal's second goal came via Nuno Mendes on a free kick at the top of the box. That goal belongs just as much to Ronaldo, who played his part brilliantly convincing everyone and their mother that he would be the one striking it. Instead, he was the decoy for Mendes, who caught the keeper napping.
It's not often we can say Ronaldo was unselfish. Portugal were better for it.
Group L standings:
Ghana shocked Panama with an extra time goal to grab three points in their opener. Then they stunned England by holding them to a frustrating 0-0 draw. Now they are now well positioned to be one of the lowest-ranked teams in the field to advance to the knockout rounds.
It wasn't pretty, certainly from an English perspective, but it was an effective strategy for the Ghanaians to play for the draw from the first minute. Hell, they very nearly pulled off an unlikely victory with a legitimate penalty shout in the second half.
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