Argentina’s Lionel Messi is the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 19 career goals —  including six through three games in this tournament, which is tied for most as of Thursday morning. 

On Friday, Messi will lead Team Argentina against Cape Verde in the knockout stage. On paper, it’s a one-sided matchup; Argentina is No. 1 in the FIFA rankings, to No. 67 for Cape Verde — the widest gap between opponents in the Round of 32.

What happens when two similarly matched dark horse teams compete against each other on the World Cup stage? 

You get a game like Tuesday’s close knockout match between Ivory Coast, ranked 33, and Norway, ranked 31. 

While Norway emerged victorious, with a 2-1 score over Ivory Coast the two teams spent much of the match crisscrossing each other in racking up expected goals, or xG, a measure used to determine a team’s chances of scoring, according to data from Northeastern’s NetSI Sport research group. The higher a team’s xG, the more likely they are to score based on mathematical probability. 

France’s Michael Olise nearly had the goal of the World Cup. 

In a match against Sweden on Tuesday, a deflected pass soared upward toward the forward, who was unguarded in the scoring box with his back to Sweden’s goal. He spun around, tracked the ball, and — body parallel to the ground — unleashed a daring bicycle kick. The ball ricocheted off the far post, denying him a spectacular goal with a high degree of difficulty, given his distance from the goal and adjustments he had to make to shoot. France went on to win, 3-0, anyway.

Brazil’s World Cup knockout match against Japan ended in a 2-1 victory for the South American team. But the Japanese team held its own against Brazil’s pressure early on, ending the first half with a 1-0 lead.

So what tactical shifts might the Brazilians have deployed in the second half to claim the game? 

Paraguay defeated Germany 4-3 in a shootout in the World Cup Monday, marking one of the tournament’s biggest upsets. The victory vaulted lower-ranked Paraguay — No. 41 in FIFA’s rankings into the round of 16. That not only kicked No. 10 Germany out of the tournament but also gave the country its first ever penalty shootout loss in World Cup history.

The 2026 World Cup has entered the knockout stage, starting Sunday with Canada’s 1-0 win over South Africa. The tournament’s intensity only accelerates from here, with three knockout matches per day from Monday through Friday, as the competition builds toward the final on July 19. 

The graphic below shows the first wave of matches and the disparity between the teams in the world FIFA rankings.

Maybe there is some truth to home field advantage after all. 

The World Cup’s three host nations –the United States, Mexico and Canada – have all made it to the knockout round. 

So what has led to each team’s success in the first two weeks of the tournament so far? 

It’s not just about the fans.

The 2026 World Cup group-stage is complete. Now, the tournament turns to the knockout round — win or go home — beginning Sunday afternoon. 

The top scoring teams all advanced to the knockout round of 32. France, Germany, and Netherlands tied for the most goals in the group-stage with 10 goals each. Argentina, the United States, Canada, Norway, Senegal, and Brazil were next with each team securing eight goals.

Thousands of fans attending World Cup matches this summer are experiencing professional soccer live for the first time — the atmosphere, the spectacle, the goals. But underneath all of it is another game entirely. The pass you didn’t see coming. A player’s subtle movement to corral a pass. The strategy that cracked open the defense. 

South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday night, a historic result that secured its place in the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in the country’s history of World Cup appearances. 

South Africa will face Canada on Sunday, in the tournament’s first knockout round game.

An underdog in the tournament given its 61st ranking by FIFA, South Africa began the World Cup with a 2-0 loss to host country Mexico, managing only three shots – none on target. But the beginnings of South Africa’s turnaround could be seen in the data. Across its three group-stage games, South Africa only surrendered three goals, leaning on its defense to withstand offensive pressure and regain possession of the ball. 

Egypt led Belgium 1-0 midway through the second half of its first World Cup match on June 15. As Belgium sent a crossing pass toward the net, multiple defenders tried to prevent Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku from scoring. The pass struck Egypt’s Mohamed Hany’s leg, and the ball goes into the net, tying the game 1-1, and ultimately leading to a draw. 

There’s been historic ties, resounding victories and disappointing losses.  

And nearly two weeks into the biggest World Cup on record, a few key teams are emerging as the underdogs to watch. 

Among them is Cape Verde, ranked 67th out of 211 in the FIFA Men’s World Ranking, which this week followed up its stunning tie against Spain, ranked 2nd, with another exciting tie in its game against Uruguay, ranked 16th. 

Sixty-two shots. Zero goals. That’s been the story for Turkey through its first two World Cup games. Despite the scoreboard showing two losses, the data shows the team has dominated quality scoring chances. 

See the graphic below with Turkey’s shot map through its first two games; the white circles show where shots were taken, and the larger the circle the larger the xG (expected goal). Their shots cumulatively produced a total of 3.6 expected goals. For a team considered a dark horse in the tournament, it’s an unlucky result, according to Brennan Klein, who leads Northeastern University’s NetSI Sport research group.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi is officially the top scorer in men’s World Cup history. At least for now. 

After scoring two goals for his home country in a match against Austria last night, the number of goals Messi has bagged in World Cup matches jumped to 18, surpassing the previous record of 16 goals held by Germany’s Miroslav Klose

Spain should have defeated Cape Verde by an overwhelming margin, according to the data produced by Northeastern University’s NetSI Sport research group.

But Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar Dias, known by his nickname Vozinha, made seven saves, six from within the box, denying one of the top-ranked teams in the tournament an early victory, according to Brennan Klein, director of Northeastern University’s NetSI Sport research group.  

The 2026 World Cup is bringing together teams and fans from 48 countries in North America. From travel logistics to the accommodations for hundreds of thousands of visitors, organizers are addressing a host of considerations. For public health officials, one of those factors is also the spread of disease. 

Disease surveillance has taken on a whole new meaning in the post-pandemic world. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be the event commanding the most attention, but other outbreaks — both domestic and international — are also of concern. COVID-19 is still lingering, global health officials are still monitoring the hantavirus outbreak that rocked a cruise ship last month and here in the U.S., the country is seeing the largest number of measles cases since the disease was considered eradicated in the U.S. in 2000. Meanwhile, more common viruses and bacteria continue to impact our daily lives. 

Soccer is like a dance, and every team competing in the FIFA World Cup 2026 will bring its own signature style and choreography to the pitch. 

Team Spain employs a more direct style of play, prioritizing attackers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, for example. Team Portugal places a major focus on its midfielders such as Bernardo Silva.    

Who are the top players to watch in the FIFA World Cup 2026? 

Northeastern University Network Science Institute researchers have analyzed an extensive, comprehensive dataset and compiled a list of key players.

Brennan Klein, assistant teaching professor of physics, leads a research team that pairs its study of complex networks with a passion for soccer. 

Team Australia kicked it long from the goalkeeper. Switzerland took a slower approach and preferred short passes over long drives. Spain, on the other hand, tended to string the ball with sharp, sideways passes across the field. 

Those are a few of the takeaways from passing-style graphics that Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute developed of the top soccer teams at the FIFA World Cup 2022 that showcased their most distinctive passing clusters.