The ties are listed in bracket order – in other words, Germany and France will meet in the last 16 if they beat Paraguay and Sweden respectively. Somewhere in the world, Patrick Battison sighs.
Other potential crackers including Portugal v Spain (last 16), Germany v Netherlands (quarter-final) England v Brazil (quarter-final), France v Spain (semi-final), Brazil v Argentina (semi-final), England v Argentina (semi-final) and Argentina v France (final).
Yep, I know I’m getting carried away, that most of these games won’t actually happen. That’s what the World Cup bracket is for. Up the bracket!
The last round of Group K matches have just come to an end:
Colombia 0-0 Portugal
DR Congo 3-1 Uzbekistan
DR Congo are through to the knockout stage for the first time, another historic achievement in a group stage full of them. They will meet England on Wednesday. Colombia’s reward for topping the group is a match aaginst Ghana, while Portugal face a mouthwatering game against Croatia – and then, potentially, Spain in the last 16.
Pos
Team
P
GD
Pts
1
Colombia
3
3
7
2
Portugal
3
5
5
3
Congo DR
3
1
4
4
Uzbekistan
3
-9
0
Melissa Hellmann
When Shahidul Partha was growing up in Kulkandi, Bangladesh in the early 2000s, many of the villagers watched World Cup matches on his family’s property. Upwards of 80 people piled into his front yard to watch the action on a 14in black-and-white TV, run by battery and one of the only sets in the area. To calm themselves, they sipped on milk tea and ate biscuits. The crowd cheered whenever Brazil or Argentina scored.
“It was a very nice moment and it was like they were playing with the players,” 35-year-old Partha says. He now lives in Hatfield, Pennsylvania and works as a software engineer, as well as a commissioner for the township and other local governments.
“When it is a goal, everyone is screaming loudly,” he says. “Everyone is excited, people are shouting, like: ‘Go, go, make it go.’ Sometimes they give directions: ‘Go this side, go this side.’”
Living thousands of miles away from Bangladesh, Partha continues to root for Brazil because, paradoxically, it reminds him of home.
While Bangladesh’s national soccer team have never qualified for the World Cup, that hasn’t stopped the population’s fervent support of the game. The south Asian nation of more than 170 million people and its diaspora have long supported Argentina and Brazil. The fandom is reflected in its audience: nearly 20% of the traffic to the Guardian’s live blog for Argentina’s opening match with Algeria on 16 June came from Bangladesh.
The knockout stage hasn’t quite been finalised. But it’s fair to say the draw is opening up for Argentina.
Last 32 Cape Verde
Last 16 Australia/Egypt Australia in the last 16 would be a repeat of 2022, Aziz Behich and all that
Odel al-Fakhouri and Ali Azaizeh come into the Jordan side in place of Musa al-Taamari and Mahmoud al-Mardi.
Argentina rest nine of the XI that started against Austria on Monday; the two men keeping their place are Emi Martinez and Lautaro Martinez.
Jordan (3-4-2-1) Abulaila; Nasib, al-Arab, Abu Dahab; Haddad, al-Rashdan, al-Rawabdeh, Abu Taha; Olwan, O al-Fakouhri; Azaizeh.
Subs: Bani Attiah, A al-Fakhouri, Abu Hashish, Abualnadi, Obaid, al-Rosan, Badawi, Jamous, Ayed, Sadeh, Abu Ghoush, al-Dawoud, Abu Zrayq, al-Taamari, al-Mardi.
Argentina (4-4-2) E Martinez; Simeone, Otamendi, Senesi, Tagliafico; Paz, Paredes, Palacios, Lo Celso; Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez.
Subs: Musso, Rulli, Monitel, Lisandro Martinez, Romero, Medina, Molina, De Paul, Barco, Gonzalez, Almada, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Lopez, Messi.
Referee Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
Nick Ames
The Cape Verde head coach, Bubista, said his team have “shown that nothing is impossible” after his side secured a historic meeting with Argentina in the last 32.
Cape Verde became the smallest country by population to reach the World Cup’s knockout stages, and the first debutants since 2010 to do so, after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Houston. The result meant they finished second in Group H, a stunning achievement given they were deemed outsiders in a group also including Spain and Uruguay.
Rob Smyth
Crikey, that flew by. Sixteen days after Mexico and South Africa kicked off the 2026 World Cup, the bumper group stage ends with a Group J double header: Algeria v Austria, which you can follow with Sam Lewis, and Jordan v Argentina in Dallas.
Strictly speaking, this game is a dead rubber: Jordan have been eliminated and Argentina already know they will play Cape Verde in the last 32. But try telling that to the populace of Jordan, who are hoping to win their first point at a World Cup – or to the billions of Lionel Messi disciples across the globe. Messi has been in sparkling form so far, scoring five goals in two games, and leads a goat-studded race for the Golden Boot.
He’ll fancy his chances of extending that lead today, even though he won’t be starting the game. Messi is 39 years old and, if all goes to plan for Argentina, the match against Cape Verde on Friday will be the first of five knockout games in 16 days.
“Leo will most likely come on in the second half,” said the Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni. “We talked and agreed that it was better that way, but obviously it’s also good for him to stay in competitive form.”
And in goalscoring form. At the last World Cup in Qatar, Messi’s seven goals equalled the record for a player who didn’t win the Golden Boot. For a variety of reasons, that record is going to be obliterated at this World Cup.
