The last time four World Cup matches on the same day ended in a tie, Pelé was the 17-year-old breakout star and Frenchman Just Fontaine went on to score a tournament-record 13 goals. That was 1958. Iran didn’t enter that competition but began its troubled 2026 World Cup campaign with one of those ties, 2-2 against New Zealand. Iran’s coach said his team was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after the match.
Looking ahead, if there’s a modern-day equivalent to Fontaine, it might be the prolific Kylian Mbappé. The Real Madrid star, who scored a hat trick in the last final, opens his campaign when France faces Senegal today.
For all of the focus on geopolitics before Iran-New Zealand, on the pitch, the Group G matchup was a back-and-forth roller coaster, with Team Melli showing spirit to rally twice from behind in front of fierce Los Angeles support. Nonetheless, coach Amir Ghalenoei will be disappointed to tie against a team ranked 65 places lower in FIFA’s rankings. Elijah Just, who plays for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, netted a brace, becoming the first New Zealand player to score more than one goal in a World Cup game.
If Iran’s opener was the most newsworthy game of the World Cup so far, then Cape Verde-Spain was the most surprising. World Cup debutants Cape Verde, a nation of 10 volcanic islands off the coast of Africa with a population of just over 500,000, had 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha to thank for keeping the reigning European champions — who included Pedri, Rodri and Ferran Torres — at bay. Not even teen sensation Lamine Yamal, who came on as a substitute after 70 minutes, could break the deadlock.
Elsewhere, a lackluster Belgium drew 1-1 with Egypt. It was the same score line between Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
When Senegal beat then-defending champions France 1-0 in the 2002 opener, it was one of the biggest World Cup shocks of all time. The two meet again this afternoon, with France boasting arguably the strongest squad in the competition and a frightening front line that could include Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Mbappé. Les Bleus enter the Senegal game ranked second in the world behind Argentina — who take on Algeria tonight — and this year are tipped by many pundits to go one better than their runners-up finish four years ago.
Norway makes its World Cup return after 28 years and will hope its goal-scoring machine of Erling Haaland leads them to victory over Iraq. Argentina begins its title defense with Lionel Messi and Co. playing Algeria.
At midnight, Austria — managed by onetime interim Manchester United coach Ralf Rangnick — plays Jordan, which is making its World Cup debut.
With apologies to the ancient Greeks, the term “herculean effort” has officially been replaced by “Cape Verdean effort.” Cape Verde’s goalkeeper, Vozinha, had a particularly busy afternoon in Atlanta, making seven massive saves and adding upward of 6 million Instagram followers over the course of the game. Men in Blazers founder Roger Bennett chatted with the now-world famous, 40-year-old Vozinha after the historic result about what this means for Cape Verde and his journey to the World Cup stage. Check that out here.
Today is absolutely stacked with intrigue as the World Cup’s two most recent champions both begin their quests to raise the trophy once again. First, 2018 winner France takes on Senegal at 3 p.m. ET at New York/New Jersey Stadium in a rematch 24 years in the making. Then, current titleholder Argentina, led by Lionel Messi in his sixth trip to the tournament, battles Algeria in Kansas City, Missouri, at 9 p.m. ET. For the full match schedule, head here.
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