World Cup 2026: What have we learned from the first round of group stage fixtures in the...

The World Cup of the superstar Now that we've seen all 48 teams in action at the World Cup, the picture is beginning to take shape. Some look like genuine contenders, others look capable of being the dark horses and a select few appear to have about as much chance of going deep in this tournament as a cabbage winning a beauty prize. This has been a World Cup so far for moments of genius - where the superstars are coming out to play. No superstar in your ranks, you're going to struggle. Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Luis Diaz are all revelling in the spotlight. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal have been the cautionary tale that, if your star man is not fit and firing, you will struggle. Such is life at a World Cup. It's been fun - and there is so much more to come. Lewis Jones | | 2026 edition on course to break more records The 2026 World Cup was already a record-breaker. More teams, more games and longer than ever before - but the on-field action is also set to go down in history. Milestones were approached, met and passed on Tuesday into Wednesday as the world's best players started scoring goals for fun. Kylian Mbappe became France's all-time record goalscorer with his superb double against Senegal and went two goals behind Miroslav Klose's tournament record of 16. But just a few hours later, Lionel Messi matched that with his hat-trick against Algeria. With at least two more games to come, both Mbappe and Messi could bump Klose down the list. The Argentina captain has also joined Cristiano Ronaldo in appearing at the most World Cups (6), beating Lothar Matthaus' previous record of five. Harry Kane matched Gary Lineker (10) as England's highest scorer at a World Cup with his double against Croatia. He already has the overall record for the Three Lions. If England go all the way to the final, Kane will close in on Peter Shilton's all-time appearance record of 125 caps. The Bayern striker matched David Beckham's 115 caps in Wednesday's opener. And aside from the most kilts at a baseball game in history, there was another Scottish record: at 31 years and 238 days, John McGinn is the oldest player to score for Scotland at the World Cup, surpassing Kenny Dalglish (31y 103d). Joe Jordan is Scotland's highest-ever scorer at a World Cup with four goals - not entirely out of reach. Charlotte Marsh European teams struggle in the heat Many questions were asked pre-tournament about how the conditions would impact teams not used to competing in such a climate. The answer is: dramatically. The heat, humidity and hydration breaks have been a talking point. Before the tournament, only one European team had ever won the World Cup held outside of the continent. The opening round of games has shown that we may be looking at a familiar tale. In the opening 13 games involving European nations against teams from other continents, just five were victorious - Germany against Curacao, Scotland against Haiti, France against Senegal, Norway against Iraq and Austria against Jordan. Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal were among those who were favourites in their openers and failed to pick up the win. Those that played in closed-roof stadiums that had air conditioning shouldn't have been affected as heavily, but they were. Teams have taken different approaches to try and adjust, and it may just be a case of being patient and taking time to adapt. But for the majority of European sides, the heat has been too hot to handle and they are now on the back foot. Callum Bishop Hydration breaks shifting momentum Hydration breaks have become a fixed feature of the matchday experience, regardless of whether a stadium is open-air or under a closed roof. Every game has seen a three-minute break in each half as players gather in the technical area to take on fluids and are able to talk to their coaching staff. Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk questioned their regular use: "If it's really hot, it makes sense - but you have to look at each game separately." But are hydration breaks changing the flow of games? Momentum often shifts sharply in the minutes immediately after the restart. Morocco flipped final-third dominance in both halves during their 1-1 draw with Brazil - despite Vinicius Junior equalising against the run of play in the 32nd minute. Germany were wobbling with the scores at 1-1 against minnows Curacao going into the first-half hydration break before restoring complete