More teams, more goals, more fun: How World Cup exceeded expectations in its first week |
More teams, more goals, more fun: How World Cup exceeded expectations in its first week
June 19, 2026 — 7:30pm
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The expanded tournament might just work
It has been a thrilling start to the World Cup. It is still very, very early, but it would appear that expanding the tournament from 32 to 48 teams has not diluted the excitement nor the quality of football expected at this level.
Sure, big guns like Argentina, France and England have looked very good, but did anyone have New Zealand v Iran circled as an end-to-end thriller when the draw came out? It was one of the games of the tournament so far.
There have also been plenty of goals – 75 in the first 24 games, at an average of 3.1 per game – the highest since the 1958 World Cup.
The only scoreless draw came in what was arguably the tournament’s biggest shock result so far − as minnows Cape Verde managed to pick up a point in their first-ever World Cup game, playing tournament heavyweights and 2010 champions Spain.
The first round saw one scoreline blowout – Germany winning 7-1 over Curacao – but when Livano........