Nine games were played in the opening weekend of the FIFA World Cup 2026, and the hosts opened their tournament unbeaten.
Day 1 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 started with a spectacular opening ceremony. The artists like Shakira and David Guetta lit up the afternoon at the Ciudad de Mexico stadium. After a wonderful opening ceremony, 80,824 attendees did not expect game 1 of the tournament to be straightforward yet dramatic.
DAY 1
The inaugural match of the tournament saw three red cards, more than the goals scored under 90 minutes. The co-hosts, Mexico, started with a powerful attack, securing nearly 90% possession, giving the opponent (South Africa) little chance to break into their defense. The first goal of the tournament came quickly, under 10 minutes of the game, scored by the Mexican left-winger Julian Quinones, marking it a key highlight of the first half.
However, the second half turned out to be chaotic. The South Africans saw their first red card awarded to Sphephelo Sithole for clipping his heels to Guitierrez. Thus, leaving the guests down to 10 men. The hosts’ possession kept staggering the opponents, and no sooner than later, Raul Jimenez scored the second goal and sealed the home team’s victory. A bad day continued for the South Africans as they lost another teammate, Themba Zwane, for committing a violent challenge against Mexico’s Alvarado. Although the hosts secured their victory, they also went down to 10-men at the extra-time.
Two goals and three red cards in the opener gave it a dramatic impression on the tournament.
Game no.2 was not more than a three-goal thriller. The South Koreans were taking on the Czechia, as Heung-Min-Son’s team were the clear favourites in this game. Despite a dull first half, the Czechs made their first move by shocking the Korean fans through a set-piece goal from the captain, Ladislav Krejci. Being 0-1 down, the Koreans did not back down and struck two goals in the next 20 minutes (In-Beon Hwang 67′ and Hyun-Gyu-Oh 80′), and sealed their first game of the tournament.
Day 2
The second day of the tournament started with the final opening ceremony at the Toronto Stadium featuring artists such as Katy Perry and Norah Fatehi, etc. After a glamorous end to an opening ceremony, the Canadians host Bosnia and Herzegovina as the third game of the tournament. Despite a good amount of field possession from the home side, Jovo Lukic’s first-half breakthrough for Bosnia gives them a reality check. Even a small team might give some surprises. In the second half, Cyle Larin rescued Canada’s hope of staying in this World Cup by equalising in the 78th minute. Therefore, the game concluded as the first drawn match of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The United States of America displayed a stronger performance as sounded in their line-up. Game No. 4 on day 2 was purely a goalfest night. The whole 90 minutes of the game saw the field dominated by the Americans over the Paraguayians. The first half was totally a Folarin Balogun show; his two goals helped the USA to end the opening 45 minutes in an emphatic fashion. 3-0 on the scoreboard at HT defines a rare scope of comeback in the game. However, Mauricio gave slight hope of a comeback to the Paraguayians, but it had to be the hosts’ night.
By this thumping victory over Paraguay, the USA warns the rest of the nations that they are one of the top contenders in this tournament.
Day 3
The blockbuster Sunday featured five games in a single day. Was this the first time in FIFA World Cup history? It is the first time this mega world tournament has scheduled more than three games in a day.
Out of those five matches, two games were drawn. Brazil vs Morocco, which was expected to be a high-entertaining encounter, ended in a 1-1 draw. Scotland easily ousts Haiti (0-1).
But Australia gave no shame to shock the Turkish fans and the world. Despite having a powerful line-up, Turkey conceded two goals and disappointingly started their campaign.
In contrast, the best game of the day was yet to be witnessed at the Houston Stadium. The four-time World Cup winners, Germany, demolished the debutant Curacao by 7-1. This game was the biggest opening goal-fest match ever played by the Germans. Julian Nagelsmann’s side did not let their opponent take their breath as they exploded, scoring every 20 minutes. With this thumping victory, the Germans recorded as the highest goal-scorers in FIFA World Cup history, surpassing Brazil by two goals.
The opening weekend of this mega-tournament did not feature the defending champions Argentina, France, England, or Portugal. Without stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe, the FIFA World Cup 2026 in its first three days skyrocketed to over a billion views.