The 2026 World Cup group-stage is over – and we’re already under way with the knockout phase of the tournament!

Among the teams in the last 32 are seven knockout debutants: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, DR Congo, Egypt, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Cape Verde, who have been the story of the tournament and face Lionel Messi’s Argentina next. But which other countries reached the knockouts on their first-ever World Cup appearance? And which others made it through the group phase with three draws?

Elsewhere, there are some ties with intriguing political backdrops. Austria face Spain in a battle of the two branches of the Habsburg family, while co-hosts Mexico and Ecuador go head-to-head in the Latin American Embassy Derby. There’s also a sinister history between Germany and Paraguay, an assassination plot involving England and DR Congo, and an air base that will link the USA and Bosnia forever.

Plus: South Korea’s president intervenes following the country’s miserable World Cup performance, Marcelo Bielsa has a full-scale meltdown on camera and Tunisia stake a claim for being the worst team at the World Cup.

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Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

02:38 – Debutants and draws

05:10 – Knockout newcomers

10:50 – Cape Verde’s Messi meeting

17:51 – Political pairings

28:11 – Regrets and recriminations

It has been another scintillating week of action at the 2026 World Cup, where the final round of group games is about to get under way.

Algeria are preparing to exact revenge against Austria for the ‘Disgrace of Gijón’ 44 years ago, in what may be the biggest grudge match of the tournament, while the Dutch royal family has been groundhopping to watch the Netherlands and Curaçao on the same day.

Elsewhere, Hervé Renard and his crisp white shirts have failed to salvage Tunisia’s campaign, a marriage proposal went wrong at the Uruguay-Cape Verde match and Senegal have resorted to ordering takeaways to their team hotel in the absence of a proper chef.

Plus: Borja Iglesias struggles to get into the Spain training base, an Iranian player has his celebrity aunt to thank for his call-up, German fan Freddy sparks a bidding war from North American airlines and Montevideo tops the all-time World Cup birthplace table.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro

01:10 – Shocking scandals

11:18 – Famous fans

16:58 – Crazy call-ups

21:55 – Miscellaneous mayhem

26:09 – Bountiful birthplaces

The 2026 World Cup is already producing crazy quirks and hilarious headlines – with the co-host trio of Canada, Mexico and the USA leading the way.

The USMNT have a star striker who gained citizenship by pure coincidence, while the American and Canadian tournament mascots have inspired a Peruvian drug bust and a Mexican duck wearing a national team shirt has gone viral across the world.

Meanwhile, Algeria have begun a love affair with the people of host state Kansas, who have completely thrown their support behind the team, while Scotland are BBQing with AirBnB hosts in Boston and South Korean fans are forging a tequila-based bond in Mexico City.

Plus: Cape Verde stun the football world against Spain, Brazil and Mexico contest the ‘Non-European European Border Derby’, Australia’s refugee strikeforce make a flying start and Algeria top the ‘World Cup Sleep Tax’ table.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:50 – Cape Verde’s heroics

04:45 – Curious citizenships

10:20 – Glorious geography

14:10 – Strange statistics

20:26 – Beautiful bonds

25:40 – Amazing animals