World Cup Recap 7/2

Published: Saturday, July 4, 2026

by Elijah Weintraub

Six new teams advanced to the next round of the FIFA World Cup after Wednesday’s and Thursday’s matches. England, Belgium, USA, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland each secured victories to advance.

 

England, not considered one of the heavy favorites in this year’s tournament, rallied late to defeat DR Congo 2-1. Brian Cipenga scored the first goal of the game in the 7th minute for DR Congo, but after that, no action took place until the final 20 minutes of the game, when Harry Kane scored the only two goals for England in the 75th and 86th minutes. England will now face Mexico on Sunday.

 

Belgium and Senegal produced a thriller on the Wednesday slate, going to extra time and ending in a 3-2 victory for Belgium. Habib Diarra scored the first goal of the game, followed by Ismailia Sarr for Senegal. Then the rest of the scoring for the game went all to Belgium. Romelu Lukaku scored the first goal of the game, before Youri Tielemans scored the tying and game-winning goals for Belgium. Belgium now takes on the United States on Monday.

 

USA, USA, USA was the chant fans were saying after their big 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman were the two goal scorers of the game. However, despite the big win, there was a big loss. Folarin Balogun, the goal scorer of the game, received a red card in the 64th minute. FIFA says the reason for the red card is that “Balogun accidentally stepped on the ankle of defender Tarik Muharemovic, causing an injury, which is considered a serious foul.” As a result of receiving the red card, Balogun is automatically suspended for one game and will miss the Round of 16. The United States takes on Belgium on Monday.

 

Spain struck victory first in the Thursday slate of games, after they defeated Austria 3-0. Two of the goals came from Mikel Oyarzabal, while the other goal was scored by Pedro Porro. Spain now moves on to take on Portugal on Monday.

 

Despite scoring first, Croatia fell short against Portugal 2-1. Ivan Perisic scored the first goal for Croatia in the 53rd minute, then Portugal took care of the rest. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game, followed by Goncalo Ramos, who scored the game-winning goal. Portugal moves on to take on Spain on Monday; however, for Croatia fans, they are not only suffering from the loss, but they may have just seen Luka Modric play the final match of his international career because of age.

 

The last game of the day saw Switzerland surpass Algeria 2-0. The first goal of the game was scored by Breel Embolo, and then Dan Ndoye scored the other goal of the game. Switzerland now awaits to see who they will play next: Colombia or Ghana in the next round.

 

The action continues on Friday, with three more matches before the Round of 16 begins on the Fourth of July. For more updates follow wsou news on instagram or reach out to Elijah Weintraub at elijah.weintraub@student.shu.edu for more information. 

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