The legendary figure of Alfredo Di Stéfano, arguably the greatest player never to grace the grand stage of a World Cup, knew what he wanted from a soccer match. “A game without a goal is like a day without sunshine,” he once wistfully mused.
Yet, some consider the exact opposite to be true. The former Italian manager Annibale Frossi infamously claimed that a 0–0 was the “perfect game” because “it is an expression of the balance between the attacks and defenses.”
Goals alone do not define the quality of a contest. The flow, fluency and feel of those 90 minutes is just as important as the context. Taking all these factors into consideration, while dispensing with any inherent bias, here’s how every match at the biggest World Cup ever compare.
16. Qatar 1–1 Switzerland
Switzerland came into its World Cup opener pranking the media with a hoax snake pit next to the training ground. The joke was on Murat Yakin’s team who slithered towards a pair of dropped points against a far inferior opponent.
15. Haiti 0–1 Scotland
Dreamland. pic.twitter.com/Te35wS6u4D
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) June 14, 2026
A real slog of contest on a sticky night in Boston did not bother Scotland’s joyous contingent one bit. “Everyone said must win... we won,” Steve Clarke beamed. When is everyone going to start saying the Scots must play entertaining soccer?
14. Belgium 1–1 Egypt
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This was a fun back-and-forth which inspired more joy than Marcelo Bielsa’s demeanor may have suggested. Although, with his perennially sullen expression, as though he’s sitting on an upturned nail jutting out of his cooling box perch, that isn’t hard.
8. Sweden 5–1 Tunisia
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Every celebrity with even a vague connection to New York descended upon San Antonio to see the Knicks clinch the NBA Finals at the home of the Spurs. Yet, the city’s most famous rapper, Jay-Z, was instead in Philadelphia to watch a seemingly random group stage clash between Côte d’Ivoire and Ecuador.
The music mogul was treated to an entertaining contest with a jab-jab, thrust-thrust rhythm that was capped off by Amad Diallo’s well-taken late winner. It’s unclear if Jay-Z regrets his selection.
6. Australia 2–0 Turkiye
Boxing corner flags like it’s ‘06. Nestory Irankunda just took us back.
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) June 14, 2026
This is Socceroo heritage. pic.twitter.com/oIDpFWlx00
Who doesn’t like a revenge story? Türkiye bizarrely spent the buildup to this contest telling anyone who would listen how much better they were than Australia. Tony Popovic’s players heard those jibes and channeled them into the fuel for a glorious, entirely deserved victory.
5. USMNT 4–1 Paraguay
Weston McKennie had a message of defiance after growing up with soccer consistently considered an inferior sport in the U.S. landscape. “For the people [who] maybe say, ‘Oh, soccer’s boring’—well, you had five goals today,” he scoffer. The heaviest victory in USMNT World Cup history was anything but boring.
4. South Korea 2–1 Czechia
This is precisely what the World Cup is all about. Two teams from different continents full of contrasts, trading very different types of blows as they figure out how each other is trying to play before even getting onto the issue of stopping them.
3. Brazil 1–1 Morocco
The much-hyped clash of two top-10 ranked teams in the group stage lived up to its lofty billing. The only minor surprise was that Morocco looked so much better than the five-time champion. Carlo Ancelotti felt compelled to apologize to the Brazilian public, but no neutral needed consoling.
2. Iran 2–2 New Zealand
A second fightback, and a point rescued. pic.twitter.com/po3y8W6zW2
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) June 16, 2026
The soccer match which no one cared about just so happened to be one of the most entertaining affairs of the entire tournament. Go figure.
Months of fraught political tension culminated in protests from Iranian Americans against their own national team ahead of kickoff, with fans promising to actively root against a set of players framed, unfairly or not, as the regime’s propaganda tool. Yet, when the whistle blew and Iran twice pegged New Zealand back, the SoFi Stadium was soon transformed into a feverish pit of frazzled excitement.
“Two good teams, playing good football,” New Zealand boss Darren Beazley summarised with a smile.
1. Netherlands 2–2 Japan
Something about footballers walking through the tunnel just looks different. Pure aesthetic. pic.twitter.com/SVG4HB2giT
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) June 14, 2026
This was an instant epic. A game that didn’t so much ebb and flow as wildly zig-zag as two tactically astute coaches exchanged as many duels as the wonderfully gifted players on the pitch.
And to think, it could have been even better if Japan hadn’t wasted the first 45 minutes playing with an inferiority complex it emphatically banished in the second half.
