Argentina’s Lionel Messi casts a shadow during the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York on July 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

With just a few hours left for the kick off of the FIFA semi-finals, the four teams who are going to fight it out — France, Spain, Argentina and England — have all justified their billing as the top four teams in both the Elo ratings and FIFA rankings before the tournament commenced. 

Their rankings have not changed since the tournament began, but the route they have taken to reach where they are now has been markedly different, with the differences in their strengths becoming even thinner. 

France’s leap in Elo ratings

The Elo system, similar to the method used in chess, rates teams by looking at their relative performance against other teams. It is useful as a standardised rating and a better tool for analysis than the FIFA rankings. 

All the four teams have retained their Elo rankings they held prior to the tournament. Spain at the top spot, followed by Argentina, then France and England at the fourth spot. 

Though Spain retained its top position and improved its Elo rating to 2,190, by adding 33 points to pre-tournament score of 2,157,  it is Les Bleus that have produced the strongest results against quality opposition. They saw their Elo rating jumping by 100 points from 2,063 before the tournament to 2,163 at the moment. 

England saw the second highest increase with their Elo rating improving by 73 points from 2024 to 2094. Argentina retained its second rank by taking its rating up by 62 points 2115 to 2177.

Goals conceded and Spain’s benchmark

France have been the tournament’s most prolific side after Argentina. Didier Deschamps’ side have scored 16 goals while conceding just two, giving them the best average goal difference among the semifinalists at 2.33 goals per game (Table 2).

Argentina found the net most often with 17 goals, but have also conceded six. Spain remains the tournament’s defensive benchmark, allowing only one goal across six matches, although their attack has been comparatively restrained with 11 goals.

England have progressed with 13 goals but by conceding six goals possess the lowest average goal difference of 1.17 among the four teams.

xG and a hairsbreadth difference

Elo ratings and actual number of goals are useful in ranking the semifinalists by their relative strengths and outcomes, it is necessary to look at how well a team has actually played. 

This is where analysis based on parameters such as the quality of the chances that a team created or denied and also on how clinically those chances were converted into goals can be more insightful. 

The expected goals or xG metric helps exactly in this aspect. It assigns every scoring chance a value between 0 and 1 — the probability that a shot from that particular position and situation would, on average be converted to a goal — weighing other factors such as where the shot was taken, the type of pass or move that created it and the defensive pressure exerted by the defender on the shot-taker. 

Over a match, a team’s xG is the sum of the number of goals that these chances merited. The difference between this figure and the actual number of goals is a good way to gauge the quality of finishing of each team. A look at this metric reveals how the four semifinalists came through four contrasting paths. 

However, among the four, France and Spain have been a cut above the rest in terms of their “expected Goals” scored and conceded. The net goal difference for the two teams is +1.7 and +1.69, with France ahead by a hair. Interestingly, Spain’s difference in average goals and the xG is just 0.02, indicating the efficiency of their play. 

It is no wonder that analysts term the first semi-final kick starting on Wednesday 12:30 am IST (July 15, 2026)  between the two as the “actual final”.

Meanwhile England’s xG difference of just 0.84 makes it the underdog against defending champions Argentina (+1.57). 

xG and Bellingham’s performance

In terms of expected goals for individuals, Mbappe leads all players with an xG of 5.4, narrowly ahead of Messi’s 5.3. Both have outperformed their xG figures by converting eight goals each.

Bellingham has been England’s biggest overperformer, turning chances worth just 2.6 xG into six goals. Dembele has also significantly exceeded expectations, scoring five times from chances worth only 1.5 xG. On the other hand, France’s Michael Olise has generated 2.1 xG without finding the net, making him one of the tournament’s unluckiest attackers despite his broader creative influence.

Messi leads in chances created

Playmaking is as crucial as goal-scoring in football. Here, Messi continues to dominate. The Argentine has created a tournament-high 21 chances, ahead of Mbappe (16) and Dembele (15). As a team, France dominates this category, with four players — Mbappe, Dembele, Olise and Desire Doue — featuring prominently among the tournament’s leading creators. Spain’s creativity has been spread across midfield, with Alex Baena, Pedri, Pedro Porro and Rodri all contributing heavily rather than relying on a single playmaker.

Michael Olise leads the tournament with five assists, while Mbappe has added three more. Messi, despite leading chance creation, has two assists, while Marc Cucurella has emerged as Spain’s most productive creator with two.

Stylistically, the semifinalists are equally distinct. Spain continued to dominate possession, averaging 66.2% and the highest among the four teams and second only to Turkiye across the entire tournament. Argentina (60.3%), France (58.7%) and England (57.2%) also rank among the competition’s strongest sides in terms of possession.

Yamal’s dribbles

Among the semifinalists, in one-versus-one situations, Spain’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has been unmatched with the most number of dribbles, averaging 4.7 successful dribbles every 90 minutes. France’s Bradley Barcola and the elegant Olise also feature near the top, while Messi remains Argentina’s primary ball carrier. England’s threat comes from Anthony Gordon, Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, though none match Yamal’s volume.

In tackles, French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni leads the semifinalists in tackles per 90 minutes, while England’s Djed Spence and Bukayo Saka also rank highly.

In recovering possession, England’s Elliot Anderson leads all semifinalists, with Tchouameni and Spain’s Pedri close behind, highlighting the importance of midfield pressing in the latter stages of the tournament.

The data for the charts were sourced from FIFA, FotMob, RealGM and Fbref

Published – July 14, 2026 08:35 pm IST

A child touches a replica of the World Cup trophy in Mexico
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The fallout in Asian football continues as the continent comes to terms with an underwhelming World Cup performance.

On Monday (July 6,2026) , Chung Mong-gyu stepped down as president of the Korea Football Association.

FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout schedule: Matches in Indian Time

His departure follows harsh criticism from the country’s president and the resignation of coach Hong Myung-bo last week after South Korea’s group-stage exit that culminated in a 1-0 loss to South Africa.

“There were moments when I lived up to expectations and moments when I left you deeply disappointed,” said Chung, who has held the role since 2013. “All the success is thanks to our players and fans, and all the mistakes are my responsibility.

“I am convinced that Korean football will overcome adversity and reach great heights once again, as it always has.” South Korea’s soccer superstar Son Heung-min apologised for the team’s performance in a long social media post where he said he was “indescribably hurt” and eager to “win the hearts” of the nation once again.

The day after Hong stood down as South Korea’s coach, Yasser Al-Misehal quit as Saudi Arabia Football Federation president as the team fell at the first hurdle at its seventh appearance.

“The national team’s failure to qualify for the next round of the World Cup is a result that falls short of all our ambitions,” Al-Misehal wrote on social media. “I bear full responsibility for it, apologising to everyone who hoped to see our team in a better position.”

Not enough wins

Teams from within the Asian Football Confederation managed just three wins in 29 matches at the expanded 48-team World Cup. Of the nine representatives, only Australia and Japan advanced from the group stage. Iran was unbeaten, but three draws were not quite enough to take the team into the knockout stage.

Australia and Japan were eliminated in the round of 32, the very first stage of knockouts.

The Socceroos, the AFC’s last hope, lost in a penalty shootout to Egypt. Australia head coach Tony Popovic’s job was already safe after he signed a contract extension on the eve of his team’s opening win over Turkey.

Japan was the best performer with a 4-0 win over Tunisia 4-0 and draws with the Netherlands and Sweden to place second in its group. Then, after leading Brazil 1-0 at halftime, the Samurai Blue lost to a 96th-minute goal from the five-time champion.

“Through the three group-stage matches and the hard-fought game against Brazil, I sensed that what we have built can compete on the world stage,” coach Hajime Moriyasu said. “If we continue this growth steadily, a day will come when we can be the best in the world.”

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, warned that there’s a lot of work to do for the rest to catch up.

“While we celebrate our two qualified teams, we must also look realistically at the overall outcomes,” Salman said of the knockout stages of the tournament. “Our teams are making strides and displaying great fighting spirit; the gap at the absolute top tier remains tight, and we must continue to work hard to bridge it.”

South Korea’s run to the semifinals in 2002 remains the continent’s benchmark at the men’s World Cup. Japan has lost four times in the knockout stages, and Australia is 0-3 in World Cup knockout games.

Jordan lost all three games on its World Cup debut and parted ways with coach Jamal Sellami on Sunday. Sellami took the job in 2024 and helped Jordan secure its first World Cup qualification in June 2025.

There is still speculation about the future of the Qatar and Iraq coaches after both teams finished at the bottom of their respective groups.

Uzbekistan also failed to collect a single point in its first appearance at the global tournament, but coach Fabio Cannavaro is set to stay.

Uzbekistan’s last loss was to Congo, one of nine African nations to advance from the group stage.

“All my players realised just how difficult it is to play at this level,” Cannavaro, who was captain of the World Cup-winning Italy team in 2006, said. “We gained valuable experience — not just the players, but myself, our staff and the federation as well.

“I hope this experience will give us more motivation for the future.”

Published – July 06, 2026 05:36 pm IST

Canada’s Ismael Kone waves to the crowd as is stretchered off after sustaining an injury in the FIFA World Cup Group B match against Qatar in Vancouver, on June 18, 2026
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Messi mundu or Neymar mundu? Which would you pick? Football merchandise has just got a Malayali upgrade with local stores designing mundus (dhoti) and lungis featuring football heroes. While jerseys have always been around, FIFA 2026 has inspired a range of regional attire too.

In a State already awash with football colours, flags, buntings and jerseys, these mundus add a distinctly local flavour to the World Cup frenzy.

Ameer Abu from Pothencode, Thiruvananthapuram, has been flooded with calls and DMs ever since he uploaded a video of a football-themed mundu he designed on Instagram.

Ameer’s shop Bolo has Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo mundus, which feature the players’ portraits. He also customises, allowing fans to order mundus featuring their favourite players or teams. The Brazil custom dhoti, for instance, features the entire team line up, along with neon motifs of the World Cup trophy and a football. “These neon prints of the football and the cup glow in the dark, so they look different in the day time and night,” he adds.

Ameer says the mundus involve hard work. “I have designed them in such a way that when the mundu is worn folded up, the players faces and the designs are visible; when worn full length, the football-themed border becomes the highlight,” he says.

He offers T-shirt-mundu combos as well. Though he is catering to fans of Germany, Spain and other teams, the Messi and Ronaldo mundus are more popular. The highest demand, however, is for Neymar mundus. “I have already sold 2,000,” says Ameer. A Ronaldo fan himself, Ameer says the majority of the orders are from Kerala’s Malabar region and his customers include youngsters and older people alike.

The cotton mundus are digitally-printed and cost ₹300 to ₹1,200, depending on the design and customisation. Ameer is currently working on a design featuring Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar in a Kerala setting on a single mundu. (To order, WhatsApp 9847369233).

In Thrissur, lungis are the rage. The mannequins outside Puthuma Collections at Ottupara in Wadakkanchery (Thrissur district), are World Cup-ready. Dressed in Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal themed lungis with matching jerseys, they have been attracting fans to the store. It has only been five days since it launched its FIFA 2026 collections, but buyers have started flowing in, according to the owner, Udayan TA. Though currently, the sales are limited to the store, they are considering taking orders online, says Girish TV, who assists with the sales. “We have been getting bulk orders from football clubs in and around Wadakkancherry,” adds Girish.

These lungis are simple, in cotton-polyester mix, and simply sport thick vertical lines in team colours — yellow and green for Brazil, white and blue for Argentina, black and red for Portugal. “Based on demand, we have stocked up Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and Spain themed lungis,” says Girish. Matching jerseys are available, too. This is not new to Puthuma Collections, which had brought out similar lungis during the last FIFA World Cup (in 2022), which were a “huge success”. The lungis are priced at ₹185. (To order, call 9744335592.)

Across the border, in Coimbatore, a Kerala brand Ochuma with operations in the city, is paying a special tribute to football-fans with a World Cup edit of unisex wraps. These dhotis, which are made of stretchable and breathable knit fabric, come reinforced with pockets. “This is our contribution to the World Cup, and also a fashion statement,” say Alexander Neroth and Binoy Davidson, the founders of the brand. The dhotis could work as joggers as they come with elastic waist bands and adjustable strings, they are easy to wear and have a designer touch to them.

The collection features almost all the popular teams, with Argentina and Brazil topping the list. One of the dhotis even features football World Cup history on its border. “The response we have been getting is phenomenal. While Kerala is the main market, we have been getting a number of orders from various parts of South India, even from sports shops,” says Alexander. (Priced at ₹2,499, they can be ordered on ochuma.com).

Whether Messi or Ronaldo, fans can now literally wear their passion for football — on their mundus!

Published – June 12, 2026 07:04 am IST

Mexico players have fun during a training session.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A pool devoid of big teams is set to be highly competitive, while Germany and The Netherlands are overwhelming favourites to top their groups.

Group D (USA, Turkiye, Australia, Paraguay)

The USA team is chasing the American dream. Competing on home soil in the global competition for the first time since 1994, the national side, now led by Mauricio Pochettino, is locked in to Make America Great Again in ‘soccer’.

The World No. 16’s first task will be to get out of a tricky pool that consists of two other top-30 teams but none of the perennial powerhouses — Turkiye at 22 and Australia at 27.

The close win over Senegal and narrow defeat to Germany in World Cup warm-up games should have given Pochettino a fair idea of where the finishing touches to the preparation have to be applied.

Playing in front of jam-packed galleries could be both a boon and a bane. While stars like Christian Pulisic, who is no stranger to elite football, can live up to the heightened expectations, some may wilt under the enormity of the situation. How they tackle battles not only on the field but also off it will be crucial to USA’s chances.

For Turkiye and Australia, the focus will be much beyond spoiling the co-host’s carnival.

Having earned the right to perform on the global stage after 24 years, the European outfit cannot afford to pass up the golden opportunity.

The wait has been so long that Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz, two of the most exciting prospects in the current squad, were not even born when Turkiye last caught the World Cup fever. Something close to the fairytale run of 2002 — which ended in a third-place finish — will be required if Vincenzo Montella’s contingent is to make inroads.

Australia, a regular at the finals since 2006, is no pushover but is yet to win a knockout fixture. Meanwhile, Paraguay, the lowest-placed team in the group at World No. 40, will be itching to prove that rankings do not directly translate to results.

Best finish: USA: Semifinals (1930); Turkiye: Third place (2002); Australia: Round of 16 (2006, 2022); Paraguay: Quarterfinals (2010).

Group E (Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador)

Germany was forced to board the first available flight back home after being knocked out in the opening round of the last two editions. Ghosts from the past may resurface, especially for those who had endured the pain first-hand in Russia and/or Qatar, but the 2014 title-winner must avoid the ignominy of three early exits in a row without fuss.

The top-level experience in Julian Nagelsmann’s squad, recent form of four victories in as many matches since March and superior ranking (10) — the other teams in the pool are placed well below the European side — provide the Germans the head start in the race to top the group.

The four-time World champion should, however, be eyeing bigger things. That Germany has flown under the radar in discussions pertaining to title contenders may free up the additional baggage it has usually carried. But it has catching up to do in the overall scheme of things.

First up for Germany is Curacao, the smallest nation (both in terms of population and land area) ever to qualify for football’s biggest spectacle. Adding intrigue, only one player in the 26-member squad — Tahith Chong — was born in the Caribbean island, yet the place of birth hardly matters within the group because “you are accepted into the family once you come here.”

Curacao is home to Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old who is poised to become the oldest coach at the quadrennial event. The 82nd-ranked outfit will have to punch well above its weight in the Americas to inscribe its name in the history books once again.

As for Ivory Coast, which is back in the World Cup fold after 12 years, it has not got to this point “to make up the numbers or go sightseeing.” The African country is likely to be involved in a tussle with Ecuador for the second automatic qualification spot.

Best finish: Germany: Champion (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014); Curacao: Debut; Ivory Coast: Group stage (2006-2014); Ecuador: Round of 16 (2006).

Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia)

Come hell or high water, The Netherlands has guaranteed itself knockout football in every edition it has competed in since 1974. And it looks well placed to extend that streak under Ronald Koeman, who had donned the Oranje as a player in 1990 and 1994.

The Netherlands, the highest-ranked team in the pool at World No. 7, was sounded a warning in the recent 0-1 defeat to Algeria in a pre-tournament friendly. But the Dutch side is too good to not pass the preliminary test, with Japan being the closest challenger for the top spot.

It has the resources to even be fourth time lucky — it had finished runner-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010 — but consistently rising to the occasion against the ‘favourites’ will be vital.

Although not among the ‘big boys’, Japan cannot be ignored.

The Asian nation came agonisingly close to qualifying for the quarterfinals in 2018 and took centre stage four years later when it topped the group that included Spain and Germany.

So, not many eyebrows were raised after England great David Beckham termed Japan as a potential “surprise” package to upset the apple cart. “It has a really strong team… it could be kind of a secret,” Beckham told ABC News recently.

While Japan will miss the injured Kaoru Mitoma’s box of tricks in the final third, it has the experience and variety to crack complex codes. Hajime Moriyasu’s men may first have to overcome the Swedish challenge to secure a direct ticket to the eliminators.

Despite having a bumpy ride in the lead-up to the World Cup, Sweden possesses the dash of enviable quality that is required to get through to the next phase. With regards to Tunisia, it should play out of its skin to even stand a chance of making the cut for the first time.

Best finish: Netherlands: Runner-up (1974, 1978, 2010); Japan: Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022); Sweden: Runner-up (1958); Tunisia: Group stage (1978, 1998-2006, 2018, 2022).

Lionel Messi and his Argentine teammates celebrate in the penalty shootout during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) walks to the corner of the field to take a corner kick during the second half of an MLS soccer match against Philadelphia Union on May 24, 2026, in Miami.
| Photo Credit: AP