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Re-ranking the 48 World Cup teams after day seven: England justify status but Portugal on the slide – The Athletic
Harry Kane celebrates with Jude Bellingham after the latter's goal just after half-time against Croatia Francois Nel/Getty Images
Strong starts are crucial to securing progression to the knockouts and the best possible passage, but Portugal stumbled out of the blocks on day seven — unlike England, Ghana and Colombia, who all won.
All teams have now played their first game at the tournament and we are preparing for the second round of matches. We get another look at one of the hosts, Canada, later today, who will fancy their chances against Qatar.
France’s litmus test provided positive results with an opening game 3-1 victory over Senegal. Unlike Spain and Brazil, two of the other fancied teams, they did not underwhelm.
From one to 48 – every World Cup team ranked after first game
Argentina kicked off their World Cup defence with an emphatic win – but are not the best side at this World Cup so far, according to our BBC Sport experts.
We've brought together a small team of journalists who, between them, have watched every side's opening game.
And they have ranked all 48 teams at the tournament, from first to last.
Messi, Mbappe & Vini jr – best World Cup goals from round one
Lived up to pre-tournament hype with rampant second-half performance. Strength in every position. Deserved favourites.
Scored four. Could have had more. Brilliant attacking performance led by Harry Kane. Slight concerns at the back.
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FIFA World Cup 2026 Power Rankings: Argentina surge behind Lionel Messi, France go top, USMNT start strong
The World Cup is finally here and after the first round of matches, all 48 teams have gotten their first taste of action in the tournament. We've also already had our share of shocks, none bigger than Spain's draw against Cabo Verde and Portugal's stumble against DR Congo, involving two of the most highly anticipated sides in the competition. Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino's United States men's national team enjoyed a dream start, impressing in their debut with a 4-1 win against Paraguay and strengthening their position ahead of their second group-stage match against Australia.
Elsewhere it's been a tournament of stars. Lionel Messi continues to age like a fine wine with an opening game hat trick for Argentina against Algeria. Right behind him are some of the world's biggest goal scorers with Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe all netting twice for England, Norway and France, respectively. As we head into game two, the picture will start to become clearer about which 32 teams will advance from the 48-team field, and which 16 teams (the last place finisher in each group plus the four worst third-place finishers) will go home.
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