The first round of group stage matches concluded in style on Wednesday, with an impressive England putting Croatia to the sword and Portugal surprisingly slipping up against DR Congo.
Harry Kane was at the double as Thomas Tuchel’s England ran out 4–2 winners in Arlington, but Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to inspire in the same way as Portugal limped to a 1–1 draw despite taking an early lead.
Elsewhere, Colombia overcame World Cup debutants Uzbekistan 3–1 at the Estadio Azteca—Luis Díaz scoring the winning goal in the second half—and Ghana took a huge step towards reaching the Round of 32 after edging past Panama thanks to a stoppage-time winner.
CATCH UP ON THE LATEST WORLD CUP HEADLINES
- The Uncomfortable Truth: Is Cristiano Ronaldo Holding Portugal Back?
- Portugal Player Ratings vs. DR Congo: Ronaldo Extends Frustrating Four-Year Wait
- England Player Ratings vs. Croatia: Harry Kane Ties Three Lions Record in Statement Victory
- Four Takeaways From England’s Very Un-English World Cup Win
- Dry Taps, Baseball, Rodeos—World Cup Fans Are Having a Blast in North America
Thursday sees the return to action of World Cup co-hosts Canada and Mexico, against Qatar and South Korea respectively, while Czechia cross paths with South Africa and Switzerland, who surprisingly failed to win in its first game of the tournament, take on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Here’s Sports Illustrated’s guide to the day.
Czechia’s hopes of a fast start at the World Cup were dashed by South Korea on matchday one, but it must reset and go again in a must-win game with South Africa.
Bafana Bafana were comfortably beaten by Mexico in the opening game of the tournament, and finished the game with nine players after receiving two red cards. Discipline will need to be more in check in a match it realistically has to win to have any chance of reaching the next stage.
Switzerland completely dominated its matchday one clash with Qatar, but unforgivable wastefulness in front of goal was punished by a late equaliser at Levi’s Stadium.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, wrestled a deserved point away from co-hosts Canada, and its buoyant support will be out in full force once more, hundreds of miles further down the west coast at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Canada manager Jesse Marsch confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Alphonso Davies is available to play against Qatar—but whether or not the Bayern Munich man is ready to start remains to be seen.
Put simply, this is a must-win game for Canada. All four teams in Group B are on a point and seizing the initiative is imperative to keep the feel-good factor going in a country that has been overwhelmed with World Cup fever.
Mexico didn’t need to be at its best to beat South Africa on matchday one, yet that could turn out to be a good thing for Javier Aguirre’s side. South Korea will bring a must sterner challenge, as evidenced by its comeback win over Czechia on matchday one.
Raúl Jiménez is off and running as a World Cup goalscorer and Mexico will again look to him for inspiration in front of goal. For South Korea, all eyes are on Son Heung-min, but there’s an abundance of talent throughout the squad capable of doing damage to El Tri.
🇺🇸 📺 How to Watch the World Cup on TV and Live Stream
It couldn’t be simpler to watch the World Cup—below is where you can tune in to each and every game at the tournament.
