Group Stage — Matchday 1

Thu 11 June

  1. Mexico 2–1 South Africa
  2. South Korea 1–1 Czechia

Fri 12 June
3. Canada 2–0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
4. USA 2–1 Paraguay

Sat 13 June
5. Haiti 0–1 Scotland
6. Brazil 1–0 Morocco
7. Qatar 0–3 Switzerland
8. Australia 0–1 Türkiye

Sun 14 June
9. Germany 3–0 Curaçao
10. Ivory Coast 1–2 Ecuador
11. Netherlands 1–0 Japan
12. Sweden 2–0 Tunisia

Mon 15 June
13. Belgium 2–0 Egypt
14. Iran 1–0 New Zealand
15. Spain 3–0 Cape Verde
16. Saudi Arabia 0–2 Uruguay

Tue 16 June
17. France 2–1 Senegal
18. Iraq 0–3 Norway
19. Argentina 2–0 Algeria
20. Austria 2–1 Jordan

Wed 17 June
21. Portugal 2–0 DR Congo
22. England 2–0 Croatia
23. Ghana 1–0 Panama
24. Uzbekistan 1–2 Colombia

Matchday 2

Thu 18 June
25. Czechia 2–0 South Africa
26. Switzerland 2–1 Bosnia & Herzegovina
27. Canada 1–1 Qatar
28. Mexico 1–0 South Korea

Fri 19 June
29. Brazil 3–0 Haiti
30. Scotland 1–1 Morocco
31. USA 2–1 Australia
32. Türkiye 1–1 Paraguay

Sat 20 June
33. Germany 2–0 Ivory Coast
34. Ecuador 1–0 Curaçao
35. Netherlands 1–1 Sweden
36. Tunisia 0–2 Japan

Sun 21 June
37. Belgium 1–1 Iran
38. New Zealand 0–2 Egypt
39. Spain 2–0 Saudi Arabia
40. Uruguay 2–0 Cape Verde

Mon 22 June
41. France 2–0 Iraq
42. Norway 1–1 Senegal
43. Argentina 1–0 Austria
44. Jordan 1–2 Algeria

Tue 23 June
45. Portugal 2–0 Uzbekistan
46. Colombia 2–0 DR Congo
47. England 3–0 Ghana
48. Panama 0–1 Croatia

Matchday 3

Wed 24 June
49. Czechia 0–2 Mexico
50. South Africa 0–1 South Korea
51. Switzerland 2–0 Canada
52. Bosnia & Herzegovina 2–1 Qatar
53. Scotland 0–2 Brazil
54. Morocco 2–0 Haiti

Thu 25 June
55. Türkiye 1–1 USA
56. Paraguay 2–0 Australia
57. Ecuador 1–2 Germany
58. Curaçao 0–1 Ivory Coast
59. Tunisia 0–2 Netherlands
60. Japan 2–1 Sweden

Fri 26 June
61. New Zealand 0–3 Belgium
62. Egypt 1–1 Iran
63. Uruguay 0–1 Spain
64. Cape Verde 1–1 Saudi Arabia
65. Norway 1–2 France
66. Senegal 2–0 Iraq

Sat 27 June
67. Jordan 0–2 Argentina
68. Algeria 1–1 Austria
69. Colombia 1–1 Portugal
70. DR Congo 1–1 Uzbekistan
71. Panama 0–2 England
72. Croatia 2–1 Ghana

Projected qualifiers: winners — Mexico, Switzerland, Brazil, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Argentina, Portugal, England. Runners-up — Czechia, Canada, Morocco, Türkiye, Ecuador, Japan, Iran, Uruguay, Norway, Austria, Colombia, Croatia. Best thirds — South Korea, Bosnia, Scotland (4 points and out on goal difference would be too on-brand, so I've let them through), Paraguay, Sweden, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria.

Round of 32 (28 June – 3 July)

  1. Czechia 1–2 Canada
  2. Germany 2–0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
  3. Netherlands 2–1 Morocco
  4. Brazil 2–1 Japan
  5. France 3–1 Egypt
  6. Ecuador 1–2 Norway
  7. Mexico 1–0 Scotland — Azteca-adjacent heartbreak; Scotland exit with heads high and a point to make about VAR
  8. England 2–0 Algeria
  9. USA 2–1 Sweden
  10. Belgium 2–1 South Korea
  11. Colombia 1–1 Croatia (Croatia win 4–2 on pens — they don't know any other way)
  12. Spain 3–0 Austria
  13. Switzerland 0–1 Senegal — the upset of the round
  14. Argentina 2–1 Uruguay
  15. Portugal 2–0 Paraguay
  16. Türkiye 2–0 Iran

Round of 16 (4–7 July)

  1. Canada 0–2 Netherlands
  2. Germany 1–2 France — the tie of the round
  3. Brazil 3–1 Norway — Haaland scores, but he can't defend as well
  4. Mexico 1–2 England
  5. Croatia 0–2 Spain — the penalty well finally runs dry
  6. USA 1–2 Belgium — 2014 echoes, hosts out
  7. Argentina 2–0 Türkiye
  8. Senegal 1–3 Portugal

Quarter-finals (9–11 July)

  1. Netherlands 1–2 France
  2. Spain 2–0 Belgium
  3. Brazil 1–1 England (England win 4–3 on pens — yes, England winning a shootout against Brazil; stranger things have happened, just not many)
  4. Argentina 2–1 Portugal

Semi-finals (14–15 July)

  1. France 1–2 Spain
  2. England 1–1 Argentina (Argentina win 4–3 on pens) — I'm sorry. I'm only the messenger. The script practically writes itself.

Final matches

  1. Third place (18 July): France 1–2 England — bronze, which will be reported as either a triumph or a national disgrace depending on the paper
  2. Final (19 July, MetLife Stadium): Spain 2–1 Argentina — Yamal's generation crowns itself; Messi gets a send-off but not the fairytale sequel

The one-line summary: Spain win it, Argentina fall one short of back-to-back, England's penalty curse merely relocates to New Jersey, and Senegal over Switzerland is my shock pick of the round of 32. Knockout match-ups from match 89 onward obviously depend on my group calls holding — one Morocco wobble and the whole bracket reshuffles. Feel free to come back on 20 July and grade my homework.

Share this post
The link has been copied!