World Cup group stage takeaways: England, Germany look convincing and Lionel Messi is still magical

With the first round of World Cup group stage games nearly over, it’s time to take stock of what we’ve seen over the first week. Some teams, like Tunisia and Curaçao, already need a lot of help to ensure that their campaigns won’t end in the group stage.

Others, like Germany, Argentina, the United States and England, are looking like very good bets to make the Round of 32. Here are our takeaways before the second round of group stage games begin on Thursday.

Advertisement

England starts with a flourish

Yes, Croatia doesn’t appear to be as strong as it was in 2018 and 2022 when it finished second and third at the World Cup. But England’s 4-2 win over the team that knocked it out of the 2018 World Cup was convincing and showed why this may be the Three Lions’ best chance to bring home their first World Cup since 1966.

Harry Kane scored his ninth and 10th World Cup goals in the first half before Jude Bellingham scored within the first two minutes of the second half and Marcus Rashford — back in the national team after missing Euro 2024 — added the goal that sealed the game.

Bellingham’s play could be England’s X-factor throughout this tournament. He wasn’t at his best this past season for Real Madrid, but if England’s wingers can continue to open space in the middle of the field for him and Kane, the team’s attack is going to continue to be potent. With games remaining against Panama and Ghana, England should cruise to first place in Group L.

Advertisement

How many African sides can make the knockout rounds?

The first set of games has showed that African soccer may be rebounding in a very big way at the 2026 World Cup. Even though Morocco finished fourth at the 2022 World Cup, just five African teams have made the Round of 16 at the previous four World Cups combined.

So far, six African teams have already scored points at this World Cup and three others still have real hopes of making it to the Round of 32. There’s a very real possibility that roughly 20% of the teams in the knockout rounds will be from the African continent.

World Cup schedule | Group schedule, results | Standings

Advertisement

The Moroccans are in a great position to make another tournament run after drawing with Brazil in their opener and Ivory Coast has a foot already in the Round of 32 after a win over Ecuador. Egypt was an own goal away from three points in its 1-1 tie against Belgium, and DR Congo and Cape Verde became two of the underdog stories of the tournament with their draws. Cape Verde held Spain scoreless, while Congo scored its first-ever World Cup goal in a 1-1 tie with Portugal.

Even teams like Senegal and Algeria still have paths to the knockout rounds. Senegal needs at least a draw with Norway, but that, coupled with a win over Iraq, should be enough to advance. Algeria’s goal differential is at minus-3 after a big loss to Argentina, but with games against Austria and Jordan remaining, a win in one or both games is not impossible.

Messi‘s continued magic

The reason for Algeria’s 3-0 loss? The greatest player of the past 50 years.

Advertisement

There was no doubt about how effective Lionel Messi can still be at the age of 38 after he scored his first-ever World Cup hat trick against the Algerians. Messi’s three goals all came in different ways as Argentina’s quest for back-to-back World Cups got off to a rousing start.

Did Messi get away with a potential red card in the first half? Possibly. It was at least a yellow that was somehow not reviewed. But Argentina controlled the game so much that it’s hard to see the Algerians winning even without Messi on the field.

Messi looks likely to break Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goal-scoring record over the next two games and also got a needed break late Tuesday night. After playing every single minute of Argentina’s run to the World Cup in 2022, he was subbed off with just over 10 minutes to go. With the way Group J sets up, multi-goal leads will allow coach Lionel Scaloni to give Messi even more rest in the group stage to ready him for one extra game in the knockout rounds this year.

France‘s devastating second half

France hardly looked like the team that had advanced to consecutive World Cup finals in the first half of its 3-1 win over Senegal. The team looked absolutely disjointed, with the midfield hardly able to link up to a forward line that included Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembelé and Michael Olise.

Advertisement

Things really clicked in the second half as Olise moved more to the middle of the field. The 24-year-old has emerged as one of the best players in the world since he went from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich in 2024, and has scored 27 goals and added 34 assists in the past two Bundesliga seasons.

Tuesday afternoon, he showed how he’s already a vital point of a France team that has no shortage of attackers. Olise is a surefire starter for Les Bleus going forward, and should probably start directly behind Mbappé against Iraq on Monday. Given how lethal France’s attack was in the second half against Senegal, there’s no telling how many goals it can score against Iraq.

Is Germany for real?

After failing to make the knockout rounds in each of the past two World Cups, Germany entered this summer with lots of questions. Would Kai Havertz be enough as the team’s best striking option? Would Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz rediscover their form?

Advertisement

So far, so good. Yes, it was a game against Curaçao, but Germany’s 7-1 victory is the most convincing win thus far. Havertz scored twice, Musiala scored and Wirtz added an assist in the rout. Games against Ivory Coast and Ecuador will be much bigger tests over the next 10 days, but it would take an epic collapse for Germany to not get to the knockout rounds in 2026. And if Germany ends the group stage with nine points, it might go from a team full of uncertainties to a World Cup contender.