Spain stall, Brazil disappoint and France recover: How England's rivals are faring at World Cup 2026 | OneFootball

Argentina and Germany have also made strong starts at this summer’s World Cup

The first round of World Cup matches is now more or less in the books, and despite having yet to kick a ball, England’s tournament prospects are slowly being drawn into sharper focus.

But all the while, there was a tougher question facing Thomas Tuchel’s England. Should they make it to the business end of the tournament, would they be able to turn over a powerhouse such as France, Spain, or Argentina?

The undeniable headline of round one came as Spain stalled on the start-line, labouring through a goalless draw with finals debutants Cape Verde.

While Spain will still fully expect to progress from the group, there was little in their opener to comfort manager Luis De La Fuente. He named a strong starting lineup and introduced Lamine Yamal off the bench, but was confounded by a stubborn Cape Verdean block, which denied striker Mikel Oyarzabal a touch in the opening half-hour.

Not even the introduction of Lamine Yamal could help Spain break down Cape Verde

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Saudi Arabia come next on the fixture list, and De La Fuente can perhaps look to Germany for a blueprint as they face another inferior side in what is now a must-win fixture.

Die Mannschaft also faced a tournament debutant in their opener, but roared to a seven-goal rout of Dick Advocaat’s Curacao. After going out in the group stages in the past two World Cups and producing a thoroughly unremarkable qualifying campaign, such an emphatic start certainly was not expected.

Their ruthless performance displayed everything Spain failed to - class, clinicality, and perhaps most importantly, the guile to get such a result over the line even after being pegged back at 1-1 early on. Capitalise on that momentum and the Germans could be in for a serious run.

But Spain were not alone in taking uncertain first steps into the tournament. So too did France as they faced a fine Senegal team - but their wobble lasted just 45 minutes.

A clumsy, disjointed first half showing gave cause for concern, but everything seemed to click after Didier Deschamps’ half-time adjustments. Kylian Mbappe found his shooting boots and notched a pair of memorable goals either side of a tidy Bradley Barcola chip, cancelling out the 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye’s classy solo effort.

After ironing out the kinks of their dithering start, Les Bleus looked perfectly worthy of a third consecutive World Cup final.

Argentina rounded out Tuesday night’s action, and only one man would realistically be able to upstage Mbappe’s brace. Lionel Messi, now 38, rolled back the years to blow Algeria away with an effortless hat-trick, which drew him level with Miroslav Klose’s record 16 goals at a World Cup finals.

Elsewhere, Brazil were held to a disappointing draw by Morocco, and the United States left their many critics with feet in mouths after putting a dismal Paraguay to the sword, while Portugal also have yet to grace the pitch.

France are eyeing a third consecutive World Cup final appearance

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Of course, one cannot read too deeply into results from matchday one of 11, but if nothing else, the scale of England’s task has been made clear.

Ending the 60-year wait to be considered world champions will take a Herculean effort. Potholes and pitfalls litter the road to next month’s final in New York.

And Tuchel is under no illusions. "We have the right to dream,” he said ahead of facing Croatia. “But we don't want to be delusional. It comes with responsibility and with the effort. We want to put the effort in and deserve the outcome. We do that and it starts tomorrow."