The weekend is over in North America, but not before giving us arguably the best day so far at the 2026 World Cup.
Eight new teams debuted across the continent, and it was goals aplenty, as the day started with a game that saw eight tallies before ending it with a new dark horse emerging out in Mexico.
Here’s how I have the teams standing following Day 4 of the World Cup.
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I’m Pleased Tier
- Germany
- United States of America
- Sweden
- Ivory Coast
- South Korea
- Australia
- Morocco
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Brazil
- Mexico
Although Germany isn’t going to be happy with how they started, letting the tiniest nation at the tournament in Curaçao tie the game 1-1 early, they did end the game steamrolling the scrappy underdog by a familiar scoreline of 7-1. Sweden and Ivory Coast were the two other big winners of the day; Sweden putting an offensive showcase in the second half against Tunisia, and Ivory Coast breaking through Ecuador’s elite defense to win their opener.
Got Work To Do Tier
- 12. Scotland
- 13. Ecuador
- 14. Canada
- 15. Switzerland
- 16. Bosnia
- 17. Qatar
- 18. Turkey
- 19. Czechia
Ecuador was one of my favorite teams coming into the tournament because of their remarkable defense. And though that defense still looked great for most of the game against Ivory Coast, their inconsistent attack and failure to execute around the penalty box showed why they might not have the edge to go too far in this competition.
Might Be On Vacation Soon Tier
- 20. Haiti
- 21. Paraguay
- 22. Curaçao
- 23. Tunisia
- 24. South Africa
These are the teams where things look bleak following their first round. Whereas the teams above them showed something to build upon in the next two group stage games, these are the nations that haven’t really even shown signs of life yet. I will give Curaçao credit, though, for knowing they were up against a Goliath in the form of Germany and showed no fear, even scoring a historic goal in the process. If the Tunisia vs. Sweden game had gone on for 10 more minutes, it’s likely I’d have them below South Africa. The team looked like they gave up in the final stretch of the game once they fell down two goals.
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