2026 World Cup Predictor: Day 7
We've reached Day 7 of the World Cup which means we're finally at the end of Round 1!
Yesterday was very much a day of the big names stepping up, as Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all did the business for their nations. Today, Portugal and England are among the teams playing, so will Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane do similar?
We continue to work very hard on optimising everything we can to ensure those in-demand periods are as smooth as possible. We love that everyone wants to check their points and absolutely encourage you all to do so, but remember it's always wise to have predictions for the next upcoming matches saved well in advance. For instance, both Portugal vs. DRC and England vs. Croatia this evening are also likely to be busy given their kick-off times. Make your predictions for all of this evening's games now, as you can always edit them again before kick-off if needed.
Now for a more football-focused overview of what happened yesterday...
At half time in this game, many were thinking about Spain's match against Cape Verde and wondering if France would also fail to click in attack, but they were excellent in the second period. Michael Olise was fantastic and produced two world class through balls for Kylian Mbappe, the second of which was converted, and Mbappe then scored a cracking long-range effort with the last kick of the game to immediately respond to Senegal's late goal.
For Senegal, this wasn't a terrible performance and there's no shame in conceding goals to this French attack and the assists that they produced. A huge game for them next against Norway which I think they still look strong enough to win.
A scoreline that flatters Norway a bit, because Iraq were very competitive for the majority of this game, yet it also shows exactly why the Norwegians might be very competitive in this tournament. When you've got a striker as good as Erling Haaland, you always have a chance, and Norway will continue playing to outscore teams knowing that their defence isn't the best.
For Iraq, this just demonstrates how difficult the group they've been drawn in is. They were pretty good, yet lost 1-4, and have two more difficult games to come.
This was all about Lionel Messi. Picking up exactly where he left off in 2022, Messi was an absolute joy to watch last night. His first ever World Cup hat-trick means he is now level with Miroslav Klose as the top World Cup scorer of all-time, but it wasn't even the goals that were the standout in his performance. His weight of pass is absolutely impeccable almost every single time.
Algeria gave it a reasonable go and were only narrowly denied the opening goal by a tight offside, but anyone can get Messi'd. Admittedly, Luca Zidane will be disappointed by his performance in the Algeria goal as he was at fault for the first two goals, but this group stage was always likely to be about Rounds 2 and 3 for the African side.
A bit like Iraq v Norway, this was another match where a Middle East nation played well and probably suffered a slightly unfair scoreline. The opening goals from Romano Schmid and Ali Iyad Olwan were both really well taken, and Jordan then only found themselves behind for a second time due to their goalkeeper clearly having a weakness when it comes to claiming the ball from corners.
A deserved win for Austria in the end, but the third goal only came right at the end of injury time via a penalty, so I'm interested to see if Jordan can also put up a decent fight against Algeria in their next match.
Today's schedule:
England vs. Croatia is unlikely to be a classic if I'm honest, but it will almost certainly be tight and it's expected to be vital in deciding who tops Group L.
For match previews for each game (and all others in the tournament), upgrade to Superbru Premium.
Good luck to you all with your final predictions in Round 1 and come on England!
We're straight into Round 2 tomorrow so make sure you've reminded those you're sharing a league with to get their predictions in for that.
Yesterday was very much a day of the big names stepping up, as Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all did the business for their nations. Today, Portugal and England are among the teams playing, so will Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane do similar?
Mbappe broke Superbru
Before we get into it, another quick apology for our service issues after France vs. Senegal last night. Superbru is always very busy at FT in every World Cup game, so can be a bit slow in the few minutes immediately after a result, but yesterday was next level with a 95th minute goal to make it 2-1, and then a 96th minute goal to make it 3-1 which was the most commonly predicted scoreline (almost 80,000 players had an Exact)! That's a lot of people opening the app at the same time to check for the impact on their leaderboards.We continue to work very hard on optimising everything we can to ensure those in-demand periods are as smooth as possible. We love that everyone wants to check their points and absolutely encourage you all to do so, but remember it's always wise to have predictions for the next upcoming matches saved well in advance. For instance, both Portugal vs. DRC and England vs. Croatia this evening are also likely to be busy given their kick-off times. Make your predictions for all of this evening's games now, as you can always edit them again before kick-off if needed.
Now for a more football-focused overview of what happened yesterday...
🇫🇷 France 3-1 Senegal 🇸🇳
Outcome predicted by 92.3% of users | Scoreline predicted by 26.9% of usersAt half time in this game, many were thinking about Spain's match against Cape Verde and wondering if France would also fail to click in attack, but they were excellent in the second period. Michael Olise was fantastic and produced two world class through balls for Kylian Mbappe, the second of which was converted, and Mbappe then scored a cracking long-range effort with the last kick of the game to immediately respond to Senegal's late goal.
For Senegal, this wasn't a terrible performance and there's no shame in conceding goals to this French attack and the assists that they produced. A huge game for them next against Norway which I think they still look strong enough to win.
🇮🇶 Iraq 1-4 Norway 🇳🇴
Outcome predicted by 91.1% of users | Scoreline predicted by 2% of usersA scoreline that flatters Norway a bit, because Iraq were very competitive for the majority of this game, yet it also shows exactly why the Norwegians might be very competitive in this tournament. When you've got a striker as good as Erling Haaland, you always have a chance, and Norway will continue playing to outscore teams knowing that their defence isn't the best.
For Iraq, this just demonstrates how difficult the group they've been drawn in is. They were pretty good, yet lost 1-4, and have two more difficult games to come.
🇦🇷 Argentina 3-0 Algeria 🇩🇿
Outcome predicted by 95.8% of users | Scoreline predicted by 16.4% of usersThis was all about Lionel Messi. Picking up exactly where he left off in 2022, Messi was an absolute joy to watch last night. His first ever World Cup hat-trick means he is now level with Miroslav Klose as the top World Cup scorer of all-time, but it wasn't even the goals that were the standout in his performance. His weight of pass is absolutely impeccable almost every single time.
Algeria gave it a reasonable go and were only narrowly denied the opening goal by a tight offside, but anyone can get Messi'd. Admittedly, Luca Zidane will be disappointed by his performance in the Algeria goal as he was at fault for the first two goals, but this group stage was always likely to be about Rounds 2 and 3 for the African side.
🇦🇹 Austria 3-1 Jordan 🇯🇴
Outcome predicted by 81% of users | Scoreline predicted by 4.8% of usersA bit like Iraq v Norway, this was another match where a Middle East nation played well and probably suffered a slightly unfair scoreline. The opening goals from Romano Schmid and Ali Iyad Olwan were both really well taken, and Jordan then only found themselves behind for a second time due to their goalkeeper clearly having a weakness when it comes to claiming the ball from corners.
A deserved win for Austria in the end, but the third goal only came right at the end of injury time via a penalty, so I'm interested to see if Jordan can also put up a decent fight against Algeria in their next match.
Today
After the star players all showed up in style yesterday, will we see more of the same today? There are some big names getting underway to bring Round 1 to a close.Today's schedule:
- 🇵🇹 Portugal vs. Congo DR 🇨🇩 (Group K) | Kick-off 12:00 local, 18:00 UK, 19:00 CET/CAT
- 🏴 England vs. Croatia 🇭🇷 (Group L) | Kick-off 15:00 local, 21:00 UK, 22:00 CET/CAT
- 🇬🇭 Ghana vs. Panama 🇵🇦 (Group L) | Kick-off 19:00 local, 00:00 UK, 01:00 CET/CAT
- 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan vs. Colombia 🇨🇴 (Group K) | Kick-off 20:00 local, 03:00 UK, 04:00 CET/CAT
England vs. Croatia is unlikely to be a classic if I'm honest, but it will almost certainly be tight and it's expected to be vital in deciding who tops Group L.
For match previews for each game (and all others in the tournament), upgrade to Superbru Premium.
Good luck to you all with your final predictions in Round 1 and come on England!
We're straight into Round 2 tomorrow so make sure you've reminded those you're sharing a league with to get their predictions in for that.
Superbru on X
Just gonna put predictions
Portugal 2-1 DR Congo
England 2-1 Croatia (wouldn't be surprised though if Croatia got a point or all three)
Ghana 2-1 Panama
Uzbekistan 1-3 Colombia. I think Colombia will do well in this tournament.
As expected, Portugal aren't up to much. Be shocked if they won this - the best teams will cut them to shreds the amount of space they leave in behind. They have a lot of overhyped and past it players, in my opinion, and an awful sycophantic yes man of a coach.
Typical Fernandes pass to the opposition to set up a counter at the end, too.
It was over after 10 minutes of watching them play football back in 2005 - Messi has infinitely (and I mean infinitely) more ability. Passing, dribbling, playmaking, football IQ, vision, even free kicks, Messi is 6 or 7 levels above Ronaldo in all these. I don't even know if Ronaldo is a top ten player of all time when you remove the nauseating hype around him.
But I honestly think Messi is about three times the player Ronaldo is.
Ronaldo is only in the conversation because of his legions of creepy obsessive fanboys and the celebrity culture aspect. Messi pisses all over him from a skyscraper height, lol. 17 Jun 19:16
That must be the most poor, overhyped collection of forwards ever talked up at a tournament. How does anyone rate them? Ronaldo is past it, and the rest flatter to deceive constantly at club level. Leao is particularly crap, in my opinion.
Their centre backs are poor too. And Cancelo and Bernardo are also both past it and - let's face it - neither have ever performed in an international tournament.
Hahaha you can probably tell I detest Ronaldo, Fernandes, Martinez and the Portugal NT lol.
My problem with Bruno Fernandes is while he can create chances, he plays far too much at 100mph and can't control the tempo of the game. He's constantly trying Hollywood balls and gives the ball away a lot.
Some people like that kind of chaotic type of player, but I prefer players who play intelligently. He's a quite good player, but guys like Iniesta and David Silva were much better players.
Shows how overrated stats are too - Iniesta played in a much better team and got much worse stats, but what he did for a team with control, passing and dribbling through the lines, being far better in tight spaces than Fernandes, is unquantifiable.
I have never liked the Gerrard, Lampard, Bellingham, McTominay, Fernandes type of player. I am all about Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Modric, Pirlo, Kroos, Vitinha and players like that. 17 Jun 19:47
England were excellent though second half. 17 Jun 22:03
Looking forward to Uzbekistan-Colombia at 3 am. I I hope it will be a good game. I don't think they're both wearing their home kits but wish they were.
First game this World Cup so annoying