2026 World Cup: Group Stage Recap

On its face, the group stage of my 2026 World Cup replay didn’t result in a much different field than the actual round of 32. Twenty-eight of the 32 teams are the same.

But there were a few big changes! Only eight of the 12 group winners repeated in the replay, and the four that fell short consist of some pretty big names, including the co-host United States, the two real-life finalists, Spain and France, as well as Brazil.

Two teams won their group here that didn’t advance to the knockout rounds in real life: Turkey and Uruguay.

All that led to enough changes among the second and third-place teams that only three of the 16 round of 32 matches are the same as real life: England vs. Congo, Switzerland vs. Algeria and Colombia vs. Ghana.

Spain and Brazil’s failures to win their groups have resulted in a couple of matchups that would be worthy of a World Cup final. Spain and Argentina will meet in the round of 32, as will Brazil and Netherlands.

The United States did themselves no favors by not winning the group. If they can get past Egypt in the round of 32, they’ll face the winner of Argentina-Spain.

2026 World Cup Replay Home Page

Goals	Golden Boot Leaders
5	Lionel Messi (Argentina), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal)
4	Jonathan David (Canada), Kylian Mbappe (France), Leandro Trossard (Belgium)
3	Charles de Ketelaere (Belgium), Erling Haaland (Norway), Teboho Mokoena (South Africa), Ismael Saibari (Morocco), Virgil Van Dijk (Netherlands)

Group A	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Mexico	9	3	0	0	6	3	+3
South Korea	6	2	1	0	4	3	+1
South Africa	3	1	2	0	5	5	0
Czechia	0	0	3	0	4	8	-4

Group B	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Switzerland	7	2	0	1	7	3	+4
Bosnia-Herzegovina	5	1	0	2	7	5	+2
Canada	4	1	1	1	7	4	+3
Qatar	0	0	3	0	2	11	-9

Group C	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Morocco	7	2	0	1	8	1	+7
Brazil	6	2	1	0	6	3	+3
Scotland	2	0	1	2	1	4	-3
Haiti	1	0	2	1	3	10	-7

Group D	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Turkey	7	2	0	1	5	3	+2
United States	5	1	0	2	4	3	+1
Australia	2	0	1	2	2	3	-1
Paraguay	1	0	2	1	2	4	-2

Group E	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Germany	9	3	0	0	9	4	+5
Ecuador	6	2	1	0	3	2	+1
Ivory Coast	3	1	2	0	4	5	-1
Curacao	0	0	3	0	2	7	-5

Group F	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Netherlands	7	2	0	1	8	4	+4
Japan	5	1	0	2	4	3	+1
Tunisia	2	0	1	2	5	7	-2
Sweden	1	0	2	1	4	7	-3

Group G	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Belgium	9	3	0	0	11	1	+10
Egypt	6	2	1	0	4	5	-1
Iran	1	0	2	1	2	4	-2
New Zealand	1	0	2	1	2	9	-7

Group H	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Uruguay	6	2	1	0	5	4	+1
Spain	4	1	1	1	4	2	+2
Cape Verde	4	1	1	1	1	3	-2
Saudi Arabia	3	1	2	0	1	2	-1

Group I	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Senegal	8	2	0	1	11	3	+8
France	8	2	0	1	10	4	+6
Norway	3	1	2	0	6	6	0
Iraq	0	0	3	0	1	15	-14

Group J	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Argentina	9	3	0	0	13	2	+11
Austria	6	2	1	0	5	5	0
Algeria	3	1	2	0	3	7	-4
Jordan	0	0	3	0	1	8	-7

Group K	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Colombia	7	2	0	1	5	3	+2
Portugal	6	2	1	0	6	3	+3
Congo	4	1	1	1	4	4	0
Uzbekistan	0	0	3	0	3	8	-5

Group L	PTS	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
England	7	2	0	1	4	0	+4
Panama	4	1	1	1	1	3	-2
Ghana	3	1	2	0	1	2	-1
Croatia	2	0	1	2	0	1	-1

Round of 32 Matchups:

Date	#	Matchup
6/28	73	(A2) South Korea vs. (B2) Bosnia-Herzegovina
6/29	74	(E1) Germany vs. (A3) South Africa
6/29	75	(F1) Netherlands vs. (C2) Brazil
6/29	76	(C1) Morocco vs. (F2) Japan
6/30	77	(I1) Senegal vs. (H3) Cape Verde
6/30	78	(E2) Ecuador vs. (I2) France
6/30	79	(A1) Mexico vs. (E3) Ivory Coast
7/1	80	(L1) England vs. (K3) Congo
7/1	81	(D1) Turkey vs. (B3) Canada
7/1	82	(G1) Belgium vs. (I3) Norway
7/2	83	(K2) Portugal vs. (L2) Panama
7/2	84	(H1) Uruguay vs. (J2) Austria
7/2	85	(B1) Switzerland vs. (J3) Algeria
7/3	86	(J1) Argentina vs. (H2) Spain
7/3	87	(K1) Colombia vs. (L3) Ghana
7/3	88	(D2) United States vs. (G2) Egypt