World Cup: Nine City players wrap up their group stages

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Manchester City F.C.

·28. Juni 2026

World Cup: Nine City players wrap up their group stages

The group stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup came to a close overnight, with nine City players all getting on the pitch.

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Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly both played the full 90 minutes and helped keep a clean sheet as England sealed top spot in Group L with a 2-0 win over Panama.

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane got the goals in New York for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who will now play DR Congo at 17:00 (UK) on Wednesday 1 July in the Round of 32.

In the other Group L game, Mateo Kovacic played the first 78 minutes and Josko Gvardiol was a late sub onto the pitch in Croatia’s 2-1 victory over Ghana. Antoine Semenyo played the full game for the losing side in Philadelphia.

Both sides remain in the competition, with Croatia to face Portugal at 00:00 (UK) next Friday and Ghana to come up against Colombia at 2:30 (UK) on Saturday.

Portugal booked that clash with Croatia thanks to a 0-0 draw against Colombia, which saw the South Americans top Group K.

Ruben Dias again played the full 90 minutes while Matheus Nunes came on in the closing stages for his first appearance at this tournament.

However, it’s the end of the road for Abdukodir Khusanov and Uzbekistan after a 3-1 loss to DR Congo saw them finish bottom of that group.

Group J was where the most drama was, with Algeria and Austria sharing a dramatic 3-3 draw in Kansas City. With Argentina beating Jordan, top and bottom of the group was already decided.

However, Algeria and Austria both had the knockouts in their sights too.

After a rollercoaster game, former City man Riyad Mahrez thought he gave the African nation the win in the 93rd minute, which would have put Austria out.

Instead, Sasa Kalajdzic popped up with an even later equaliser to take both teams through.

Rayan Ait-Nouri came on in the 71st minute for Algeria, who will now play Switzerland at 04:00 (UK) on Saturday.

We’ll have recaps of every game involving City players throughout the knockout stages.