The 2026 FIFA World Cup is already down to a clearer shape after the second set of group matches: seven teams are through to the knockout stage and five are out. Argentina, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway and the United States have booked places in the next round, while Haiti, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia and Turkey cannot advance.
That is why people are searching how long are World Cup games now. The answer is being measured not just in minutes but in consequences, with the tournament’s 48-team format turning the group stage into a rapid calculation of who is safe, who is still alive and who has already gone home. Lionel Messi, 39 on his birthday, leads the Golden Boot race with five goals, one ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, who both have four.
The live picture has changed fast enough to make the bracket worth tracking from one match to the next. The Athletic had live coverage of Ecuador against Germany, while other results kept tightening the field around the teams already through. Curacao lost 7-1 to Germany, then earned its first ever point at a World Cup in a 0-0 draw with Ecuador. Sweden and the Netherlands also produced a 5-1 scoreline that echoed Sweden’s win over Tunisia on matchday one.
There has been no shortage of goals, but not everyone sees that as the same thing as drama. Oliver Kay said he had been pleasantly surprised by how open so many of the games had remained, and added that there had been so many goals across the board in a tournament that some people might blame on the 48-team format. He also said there was a real lack of jeopardy, even if the group stage had been a lot of fun.
That point cuts through the numbers. South Korea’s collapse against Mexico, Senegal’s defensive capitulation against Norway and Curacao’s swing from a 7-1 defeat to a historic point show how quickly the table can move, yet some paths are already closed. Carl Anka noted that Senegal needed a 4-0 victory over Iraq to have any chance of sneaking out as one of the best third-place sides, which shows how narrow the margins can become even before the final round of group games.
By the end of this stage, the real question is not whether the tournament has produced enough action. It has. The question is which of the remaining groups will still have something on the line when the third set of matches begins, because that is where the knockout bracket will be decided for the teams left in play.
