As Thomas Tuchel excitedly watched his England team rampage at Croatia in Dallas, he couldn’t help a thought run through his mind: “People in the pubs will like this.”

Tuchel was smiling broadly as he relayed this, even more enthused by what the 4-2 win meant. He said: “It is good and it is rewarding. Hopefully everybody enjoyed it. And it brings a connection.

“I was sweating but that is a good watch when we created and created and went for it, with one ball and the second ball. That is why you are in a pub and watching together on a big screen to get emotional and hopefully we can transmit that.”

It wasn’t just the performance that England had waited years for, it was an attitude.

“Even if we lose,” Thomas Tuchel told his players at half-time in Dallas, “we do it our way.”

There is so much in those few words that could yet have resulted in so much more than the four brilliant goals they got against Croatia.

There was a new ethos, and the fulfilment of a promise. Tuchel had long said he wanted to restore a proper Premier League intensity to the national side, and here it was, offering one of the best performances in the World Cup so far.

Anything Lionel Messi could do, Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't do better. A day after the Argentinian began his World Cup in a manner to suggest his talent is timeless, his great rival started in a way to show his powers have waned with the passing of time.

Messi’s treble against Algeria gives him 16 World Cup goals, double Ronaldo’s tally. More pertinently, it justified Argentina’s policy of building a team around an ageing legend. For the third tournament in row, however, the danger is that Ronaldo holds Portugal back. A draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo highlighted the difficulties of trying to win the World Cup with a team of 10 men and a statue. For one of the favourites, it was a wretched start.

The 2026 World Cup is underway as 48 nations are split into 12 groups for the first time in the tournament’s long history.

Co-hosts Mexico, USA and Canada are the top seeds in Groups A, B and D respectively, while Scotland are in Group C with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti, and England are all the way down in Group L with Croatia, Ghana and Panama. The top two sides in each group will qualify for the World Cup’s first ever round of 32, as will the eighth best third-place teams. Just three points could be enough for some teams to reach the knockout stages.

There will be 104 matches, up by 40 since the Qatar World Cup in 2022, while Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo likely to play on this stage for the last time in their glittering careers.

Here are all the fixtures, results and latest group standings:

If you’ve ever wondered who really owns and controls football, now’s your chance to find out.

Miguel Delaney, The Independent’s chief football writer, takes readers inside the game in the latest paperback edition of States of Play: How Sportswashing Took Over Football, released in August 2025.

From Abu Dhabi to Newcastle, London to Paris, Moscow to New York, Delaney investigates allegations of sportswashing, misconduct, and the influence of football’s wealthiest players – from state-backed corporations and media moguls to oil-rich oligarchs.

Fully updated, this edition also covers Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid, the latest on the Manchester City charges, and PSG’s Champions League triumph.

To celebrate the World Cup, The Independent is giving away 10 copies of the paperback edition.

Ivory Coast’s Elye Wahi has been denied entry into Canada for his country’s next World Cup match – a day after it was revealed that the 23-year-old had been arrested over match-fixing offences.

The Ivorian forward Wahi is the subject of an “active investigation” from the French police to establish whether he deliberately earned a yellow card while playing for Nice against Metz in Ligue 1 on 17 May.

A report in The Athletic detailed that Wahi, who started Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win against Ecuador on Sunday night, was subsequently arrested by French police on 29 May and was released after an interview.

The biggest World Cup ever has arrived, with 104 games set to take place over the next five weeks, as the US, Canada and Mexico host football’s most-prestigious competition.

Fans in the UK will naturally be keen to follow England and Scotland’s progress at the tournament, but every single game in the competition will be available to watch on free-to-air TV for UK viewers – meaning you can watch more than just the Three Lions’ and Tartan Army’s endeavours.

Of course, you do have to factor in the time difference, with the kinder kick-off times including slots at 6pm BST and 8pm BST, while there are games throughout the night for UK viewers.

Here’s how you can watch every game at the 2026 World Cup on the BBC and ITV – and STV in Scotland.

The race for the golden boot at World Cup 2026 is expected to be fierce, with Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland making early statements in their respective bids to finish the tournament at the top of the scoring charts.

Argentina talisman Messi, 38, fired a hat-trick against Algeria to equal Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goalscoring record, while Mbappe and Haaland both notched braces in their opening games.

England skipper Harry Kane will now look to match the pace of his striking rivals as the Three Lions begin their campaign against Croatia on Wednesday. The striker is off to a good start, too, netting a first-half brace in Texas.

If players are tied for goals, the number of assists will determine who ranks higher. If there is still a tie, it comes down to minutes played and the goals-per-minute ratio. Here are the latest 2026 World Cup golden boot standings.

The 2026 World Cup is fully into the swing of things with all teams now having played their opening match of the campaign in North America.

After a build-up that centred around controversy, greed and conflict, fans have been captivated by some enthralling performances during round one of fixtures, with the likes of France and holders Argentina stamping their mark as rightful favourites.

So much can change as the group stage progresses, but here’s how every team stacks up in The Independent’s World Cup 2026 power rankings, delving deeper into the top 10:

Here are the remaining World Cup fixtures for tonight and into tomorrow:

18 June

• Group B: Canada vs Qatar, kick-off 11pm - Vancouver, Canada

19 June

• Group A: Mexico vs South Korea, kick-off 2am - Zapopan, Mexico
• Group D: USA vs Australia, kick-off 8pm - Seattle, USA
• Group C: Scotland vs Morocco, kick-off 11pm - Foxborough, USA