With every team now having played once at the 2026 World Cup, we’ve picked out our stat-led team of the round for the opening matches with Argentina’s Lionel Messi unsurprisingly leading the way.
We’ve limited our team to one player per team, but with a handful of smaller teams shining against the bigger boys while a few of the biggest names in the tournament were able to get off to a strong start, here’s our pick of the bunch from the first game of the tournament.
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GK: Patrick Beach (Australia)
Patrick Beach of Australia, Vozinha of Cape Verde and Mohammed Al Owais of Saudi Arabia all turned in fine goalkeeping performances in Matchday One. Beach takes the spot in our team however, purely for the quality of the saves made. With a total of eight saves, including a magnificent fingertip stop on a Abdulkerim Bardakci thunderbolt and two dives to prevent low Hakan Calhanoglu free-kicks, his performance was a genuine match-winning one for the Socceroos in their opening match against Turkey.
RB: Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)
Ramin Rezaeian was key to Iran’s performance at both ends of the pitch in their 2-2 draw with New Zealand. Not only did the 36 year old score one of his side’s goals and assist the other, but he also won three tackles and attempted 11 crosses – the highest of any player in the competition in the opening game. One of those crosses found the head of Mohammad Mohebi for Team Melli’s second equaliser in a real end-to-end encounter.
CB: Pico Lopes (Cape Verde)
One of the stand-out stories from the first round of games was the performance of Irish-born defender Pico Lopes in Cape Verde’s incredible goalless draw against pre-tournament favourites Spain. While his centre-back partner Diney Borges won more tackles, Lopes blocked three shots, won both of his aerial duels and completed 11 clearances as the Blue Sharks shocked the world. In all honesty though, any one of the Cape Verde backline could’ve featured in this XI.
CB: Nikola Katic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Nikola Katic was seemingly on a one-man mission to repel Canada in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s opening game. The Schalke defender won five tackles, made two blocks and three interceptions as his side played out a 1-1 draw with the co-hosts. The most eye-catching stat though is the 16 clearances made by the 29 year old – the second highest of any player in the tournament so far. More performances like this will be key if Zmajevi are to progress further in the competition.
LB: Nathaniel Brown (Germany)
Any number of Germany players could’ve staked a claim to be included in this team, but Nathaniel Brown was particularly effective from left-back in his World Cup debut, which resulted in a 7-1 shellacking of Curacao. Defensively, he won two tackles and made one interception but it was going forward where he made most difference. After Curacao scored a shock equaliser, the Frankfurt man’s corner found Nico Schlotterbeck to put die Mannschaft back in front before getting on the scoresheet himself with a well-taken half-volley in the second half.
CM: Yasin Ayari (Sweden)
Yasin Ayari’s two goals caught the headlines in Sweden’s 5-1 thumping of Tunisia, but it was actually a well-rounded display from the Brighton & Hove Albion man even aside from the two goals. The 22 year old made five ball recoveries, completed three through balls and created one chance aside from his brace. Blagult will be hoping he can continue that kind of form if they’re to continue in this kind of form going into the knock-out stages and beyond.
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CM: Elijah Just (New Zealand)
Not one of the best-known names in the tournament, Elijah Just announced himself to the world in New Zealand’s draw with Iran, scoring two goals and turning in a terrific performance in the process. The Motherwell man took both goals confidently but he also completed 11 final third passes, made seven ball recoveries and enjoyed a passing accuracy of above 84%, which is difficult to do as one of the more creative players in the team.
CM: Hwang In-beom (South Korea)
South Korea were able to come from behind to beat Czech Republic in their opening game and that was thanks in no small part to the performance of Hwang In-beom. The 29 year old scored the equalising goal with a deft lob, completed a team-high 81 passes (including 12 in the opposition third) and took 93 touches in the game – 13 more than the next highest player. While the focus was on Lee Kang-in and Son Heung-min, it was Hwang who was the truly instrumental player in the Taeguk Warriors’ comeback win.
FW: Lionel Messi
Thought Lionel Messi was going to bow out of the World Cup stage with the trophy and ride off into the sunset four years ago? Think again. The legendary forward marked Argentina’s first game at the 2026 tournament with a sumptuous hat-trick as his side cruised to a 3-0 win over Algeria. The 39 year old took six shots in total and created two chances for his team-mates despite completing just 30 passes over the course of the game. But when you score three goals, who cares about the underlying numbers?
FW: Folarin Bagolun
Erling Haaland and Harry Kane also scored braces in their opening games of the tournament, but Folarin Balogun’s two strikes were more impressive finishes and fired the USA to an unexpectedly comfortable win over Paraguay. The fact that he scored those two goals from a combined xG of just 0.47 across his five shots shows just how good those two efforts were. He took just 32 touches in the match but when he did get involved, the 24 year old was absolutely lethal.
FW: Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe’s performance against Senegal was very much a tale of two halves. Before the break, the Real Madrid man had managed just nine touches, lost both of his duels and failed to complete a successful dribble. In the second half, he scored two goals to win the game for his team, the second being a stunning long-range strike just seconds after Ibrahim Mbaye had restored some hope for Senegal in injury time. Any team that knocks out France this summer will have to find a way of stopping the man who is now France’s all-time leading goalscorer.
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