The Athletic updated its provisional World Cup player rankings after all 48 teams completed one group match, and the first week of the 2026 World Cup immediately rearranged the list. Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappe, Joshua Kimmich and Vinicius Junior all moved on the strength of opening-game performances that looked too strong to ignore.
The timing matters because this was the first point in the tournament when every side had played once, giving the ratings model a common base for comparison. Before the competition, the rankings were built from expectation as much as evidence, so players who arrived with elite reputations still kept some benefit of the doubt, even before they kicked a ball.
Messi made the biggest early statement. He scored his first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria, moved level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the competition’s all-time scoring chart, and did it while brushing against chaos in a match that nearly cost him more than a goal. He was almost sent off before the hat-trick arrived, and he will turn 39 on Wednesday. The ranking model had to decide how much weight to give to a night that mixed brilliance with risk, and it did not ignore either part.
Harry Kane climbed for a simpler reason: output and responsibility. He scored twice against Croatia, was England’s creative hub in attack and made a vital block inside his own penalty area in the 4-2 win. Michael Olise also surged after France’s opener against Senegal, creating it with a pass described as the pass of the tournament so far and repeatedly picking his way through Senegal’s lines. Didier Deschamps is already positioning him as the elegant No 10 of France’s attack.
Mbappe benefited from the same match, scoring twice against Senegal, taking his first goal from Olise’s pass and lashing in a late second. Joshua Kimmich added two assists against Curacao and stayed central to control and creation in Julian Nagelsmann’s team. Vinicius Junior’s ranking also moved after he scored a brilliant solo equaliser against Morocco and remained a constant threat down the left flank. Erling Haaland, by contrast, was judged on a different kind of moment, chasing a weak back pass toward Iraq goalkeeper Jamal Hasan, a reminder that the update was built on match impact, not reputation alone.
One other clip captured the same logic. Daniel Munoz flicked home Colombia’s opener from a pass clipped in behind the Uzbekistan defence by an unnamed player in the text, the sort of early tournament sequence that can shift a ranking when the model is watching for decisive touches. The next two group matches will decide whether these first impressions harden into new pecking order or get overtaken by the kind of swings that always come once the stakes rise and the World Cup Standings begin to settle.
