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:

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.

Lionel Messi’s father Jorge is receiving treatment for a health issue, the Messi family has confirmed.

Messi was in tears following his first goal in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening World Cup match, in which he scored a hat-trick. The goals drew him level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time World Cup goalscoring list.

Asked why he was emotional, Messi said after the game: “Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days. I’m grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and that’s all.”

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 Group B match between Switzerland and Bosnia is kicking off now, and you can find coverage of that in our dedicated blog here.

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.

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:

One of the feel-good stories of the World Cup so far...

Vozinha, the 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper whose man-of-the-match performance denied Spain in one of the biggest World Cup shocks of all time, will be reunited with his mother at the tournament after the cost of her visa to the US was waived.

Vozinha made seven saves as minnows Cape Verde held Spain, one of the World Cup favourites, to a 0-0 draw in Atlanta. His heroic performance in his World Cup debut resulted in his Instagram following exploding from just over 50,000 to over 12 million.

This result means that whoever wins between Mexico and South Korea later – if either team wins – will be the first nation through to the last 32!

“South Africa pushed at the end and... too little, too late,” says Stephen Warnock on BBC.

“Both teams will be disappointed to come away with a draw.

“I think South Africa should have gone for it a little bit more. They played too safe at times and it almost felt like a training ground exercise,” added the former defender.