{"id":745197,"date":"2026-06-18T15:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745197\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:13:14","slug":"world-cup-2026-key-takeaways-from-the-opening-group-stage-matches-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745197\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: Key takeaways from the opening group stage matches | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

From viral fan moments to on-field controversies, as well as the biggest stars, best performances, upsets and more.<\/p>\n

A first-ever hat-trick for Lionel Messi, heavyweights Spain stunned by tiny Cape Verde, and DR Congo silencing Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal.<\/p>\n

What more could you ask from the opening week of a FIFA World Cup?<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

After the first round of group matches, here are our top 10 takeaways:<\/p>\n

Last dance? Perhaps not, Lionel Messi has more in store<\/p>\n

Before the tournament kicked off in North America, many thought Lionel Messi would be gearing himself up for his final act. But after his first-ever World Cup hat-trick<\/a> \u2013 one that also matched the record for most World Cup goals \u2013 Messi has reminded us his story is not over just yet.<\/p>\n

Where is Cristiano Ronaldo? Portugal star goes missing<\/p>\n

While the Messi mania dominated headlines over recent days, his longtime rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, also made the news, albeit for the wrong reasons. \u201cIs he past his prime?\u201d was the collective question of viewers after his mostly anonymous display in Portugal\u2019s 1-1 draw with DR Congo<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

There is no stopping Kylian Mbappe<\/p>\n

Becoming France\u2019s all-time leading scorer<\/a> always seemed a matter of when, not if, for Kylian Mbappe, and achieving the feat in their opening World Cup match was further proof of his extraordinary talent. The 27-year-old, now just two shy of matching the all-time haul for most World Cup goals, is making a habit of chasing records.<\/p>\n

The Golden Boot race is taking shape<\/p>\n

Long-range rockets, tap-ins, headers and more. There was no shortage of goals, and Argentinian legend Messi is the outright leader with three strikes. As many as seven players \u2013 including England\u2019s Harry Kane, Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland and France\u2019s Mbappe \u2013 are tied for the second spot with two goals each.<\/p>\n

\"epa13042896Lionel Messi has taken the early lead in the race for the Golden Boot, an award handed to the tournament\u2019s highest goal scorer [Amy Kontras\/EPA]The title favourites are having a hard time<\/p>\n

This is, by far, the upset of the tournament. Spain \u2013 the absolute frontrunners for the World Cup \u2013 stumbled at their first hurdle, being held to a shock goalless draw<\/a> by Cape Verde, the archipelago west of the African continent of about half a million people, and whose team sits 65 places below the World No 2 in the FIFA world rankings.<\/p>\n

Do not write off DR Congo<\/p>\n

Yoane Wissa<\/a>\u2018s first-ever goal, DR Congo\u2019s first at a World Cup, sparked joy among millions from Kinshasa to Niangara. And for the other teams competing in the tournament, the 1-1 draw with No 5-ranked Portugal sent a warning that the underdogs are out to challenge some of football\u2019s best sides, especially when the world is watching.<\/p>\n

Dear Curacao, welcome to the World Cup<\/p>\n

The 7-1 thrashing by Germany did little to dampen the spirit of Curacao fans, many of whom made the journey to the United States. For the Caribbean tiny island \u2013 the smallest-ever country to play at a World Cup \u2013 defeat meant nothing in comparison to the happiness of seeing one of their own score at the sport\u2019s biggest stage. Livano Comenencia<\/a> is a hero for all of Curacao.<\/p>\n

Pink boots are everywhere<\/p>\n

Pink seems to be the colour of the month, well, at least at the World Cup. Several players were seen wearing the vibrant, monochromatic boots \u2013 or cleats, as Americans would say \u2013 regardless of the manufacturer. Be it Nike, Adidas or Puma, sportswear giants have joined this trend of making their boots \u201celectric fuchsia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerThe Portugal team in the famous bright pink boots [Phil Noble\/Reuters]From beats to booze, fans bring the party to the World Cup<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say a World Cup is the biggest celebration of football. And some countries just do it better than others.<\/p>\n

With their green-and-yellow shirts, flags and pounding drums, Brazil fans brought a slice of Rio to New York, while Moroccans later joined the party, the red smoke from the flares lighting up the World Cup mood. In Boston, Scotland\u2019s famous Tartan Army chugged pint after pint, nearly \u2060draining some pubs of all their beer in the first weekend during their World Cup occupation of the city.<\/p>\n

Meet Mexico\u2019s unofficial mascot: Merlin the duck<\/p>\n

To best sum up the football craze in tournament co-host Mexico, the fandom is not limited to humans. \u00a0A \u200cdomesticated duck named Merlin, sporting a miniature Mexico shirt and custom \u2060duck socks, has \u2060waddled his way into the hearts of many, becoming an unlikely unofficial mascot for the country\u2019s World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Merlin,Merlin, a duck wearing a Mexico national football team (\u2018El Tri\u2019) jersey, shot to fame after a chance encounter on Reforma Avenue in the capital went viral following the World Cup opening match between Mexico and South Africa on June 11 [Paola Garcia\/Reuters]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From viral fan moments to on-field controversies, as well as the biggest stars, best performances, upsets and more.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,799,1072,44,457,41,39,42,40,772,1690,13010],"class_list":["post-745197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-latin-america","tag-mexico","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}