We’re two-thirds of the way into the Group Stages, and a lot has happened over the last week, so it’s time to look backwards and forwards at some of the World Cup’s best plots.
What Happened This Week?
Here are two World Cup storylines we picked up on over the last week and enjoyed, so we thought you may like them, too.
Golden Oldies Roll Back the Years
If you’ve watched the action over the last couple of weeks, you could have been forgiven for thinking we were back in 2006.
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric all featured in the 2006 World Cup, and now here we are in 2026, and they’re still going.
38-year-old Messi followed up a hat-trick against Algeria with both goals in their 2-0 win over Austria. That’s five for the tournament, more than anyone else, and no wonder he’s the 2.75 favourite for the Golden Boot, with Argentina 7.5 to go all the way.
41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo had a bad day at the office first up against DR Congo but hit back at the critics with two goals against Uzbekistan, his 144th and 145th for his country, a reminder he’s not going anywhere just yet. He’s 2.1 to score against Colombia, with Portugal at 1.83 to win the game and top the group.
There have been no goals for 40-year-old Luka Modric of Croatia so far, but he had a good match on his 200th international appearance against Panama, running the game from the heart of midfield and helping his team to a 1-0 win. It still seems like a while away, but his Croatia side are 5.0 to reach the quarters.
Almiron the Trailblazer
Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron seems to be out to test FIFA’s new rules to the limit, even if it means getting himself into trouble.
In Paraguay’s first match against the USA, he became the first-ever player to be booked as a result of ‘mistaken identity’. It’s debatable as to whether that’s the best way of putting it, as what actually happened was that VAR changed the on-field decision from a yellow to the American defender for fouling, to a yellow to Almiron for diving.
Not satisfied with that, Almiron then became the first-ever player sent off for covering his mouth during a confrontation with Turkey’s Mert Muldur in his second match.
So Almiron is now banned for his team’s decider against Australia, where another Paraguay red card is 7.5 and an Australian one is 8.0.
What to Look out for This Week
And now to a couple of things to look out for over the next week or so as the Group Stages come to an end.
Brotherly Love
The term ‘band of brothers' is sometimes used to describe a side enjoying good team morale, but forgetting about the ‘band’ part for a minute, there are lots of sets of brothers at this World Cup - seven to be precise. All of which should be in action this week.
There are: the Fernandez (France), Bacuna (Curacao), and Duarte (Cabo Verde) brothers who play for the same country, but then there are brothers split across two teams. These are the Souttar (Australia and Scotland), Williams (Spain and Ghana) and Doue (France and Ivory Coast) siblings. Then there’s the case of half-brothers playing for different countries, of which Derrick Luckassen (Ghana) and Brian Bobbey (Netherlands) are the only examples.
Bobbey scored twice against Sweden with his Dutch team, 4.5 to make the semis.
Meanwhile, half-brother Luckassen will be hoping Ghana can get a draw at 3.3 or a win at 5.0 against Croatia, either of which is likely to see them progress.
When Will We See Neymar?
Speaking of families, many have a problem child whose charisma and talent are often overshadowed by indiscipline, bad decision-making and, often, a short temper.
If the World Cup players as a whole were a family, the problem child in it may just be Brazil’s Neymar.
It’s been a World Cup where most of the game’s superstars have shone so far. Ronaldo scored twice, Messi five times, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland each have four.
But while all this has been happening, Brazil’s record goalscorer Neymar has been quietly training, improving his fitness and watching it all unfold on TV.
Neymar missed much of the Brazilian season with injury, and even when he was playing, he was drawing the wrong type of attention with indifferent performances, question marks over his fitness and, worse still, for slapping team-mate Robinho JR, the son of former Brazil star Robinho, in the face.
Yet still, he was picked by Carlo Ancelotti in the squad.
He played no part in the first two matches, but rumours are that he’s ready to feature in Wednesday night’s match against Scotland, with Ancelotti suggesting he may even start, though a more likely scenario is that he makes an appearance off the bench.
It’s anyone’s guess as to which Neymar may show up. Calm but motivated, happy to be there and inspired? Or edgy, reckless and out to prove a point that may lead to trouble?
Brazil are 5.5 to win 2-0, 7.5 to win 3-0 and 13.0 to win the World Cup for a sixth time.
Will Turkey and Ecuador ever score?
Turkey managed sixty shots across their first two matches at the World Cup, failed to score a single goal and lost both games, meaning they’re out.
Ecuador managed 27 shots against Curacao, had an XG of 3.5 goals, scored none, drew 0-0 and now need to beat Germany to progress. So much for shooting practice in training.
It’s 1.36 Turkey finally gets a goal when they play the USA, and 1.4 that Ecuador manages one against Germany.
