It's been a busy opening week of the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup, with it bringing out quite the party – on and off the pitch.
With competition well underway across Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A., there’s already been plenty of thrilling action North America. Mexico and the U.S.A. both started off on positive, winning footings, whilst Canada, who are playing its first-ever World Cup match on home soil, was able to pick up its first-ever point, whilst looking for greater success down the line. Expanding the tournament to 48 teams raised the possibility of participation in the grand event for 16 more nations, which meant Curaçao, with a population of just 158,000, was able to take full advantage of the opportunity take part in its first-ever World Cup.
For their fans, they are just so genuinely happy to be there, and the players gave them even more reason to smile. There has also been plenty of goals courtesy of Germany's 7-1 demolition of Curaçao and Sweden's 5-1 dismantling of Tunisia. And, at 78, Curaçao coach, Dick Advocaat, makes his own history - as the oldest manager at the World Cup.
The gratitude he has for being back at the tournament was captured when he burst into tears both during Curaçao's national anthem and for the goal. His previous World Cup appearances have come with his native Netherlands in 1994, South Korea in 2006, and Russia in 2012. “The Curacao players have no reason to be downcast following a 7-1 mauling by Germany in the tiny nation's World Cup debut,” and still have an opportunity to enjoy a successful tournament, Advocaat said following the Caribbean nation's first appearance at a World Cup tournament.
"We can have a surprise in the second and third match and, in the end, we will be glad we were part of the biggest football tournament in the world." Elsewhere, there's been some thrilling last-gasp action as well with game-changing late goals when Qatar played Switzerland and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) faced Ecuador. For early upsets, Australia covers that, so far, after pulling off a major upset with their 2-0 win over much-fancied Turkiye.
Japan showed their battling qualities to salvage a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in their World Cup opener, as Hajime Moriyasu's side backed up their desire to make an impact at the tournament with a gritty display. Daichi Kamada was credited with his side's all-important second goal in the 88th minute when the ball deflected off the midfielder's head to beat Bart Verbruggen after Koki Ogawa had powered his header towards goal. Then there’s Switzerland, whose players were wasteful in front of goal -although, Qatar goalkeeper, Mahmud Abunada, more than made his fair share of fantastic saves, as he kept his country in the game long enough, allowing for a stunning injury time equalizer that gave him side its first-ever World Cup point.
For this FIFA 2026 World Cup, there’s plenty of worldly entertainment from the ‘get-go’, which – dare I say it – goes well for the weeks to come!