World Cup 2026: Late goals, comebacks and upsets – could this be the best World Cup ever?

There were understandable concerns at what the matches would be like. Ticket prices at eye-watering levels, with supporters having to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to watch their next tie left many fearing poor atmospheres at games, played in front of thousands of empty seats.

That has not been the case.

Fifa, heavily criticised for the high ticket prices, say 99.7% of available seats have been filled. That is more than 4.4m people attending the group games, with that figure currently at 6.2m after the opening two knockout phases.

That puts the average attendance at just over 65,000 per match, trailing only to 1994 – held in the US – which saw just under 69,000 at each game.

It is not just the fans that have turned up, but the big-name players too.

We have a Golden Boot race for the ages with four of the best players in the world in contention. Argentina’s Lionel Messi is on eight goals, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland on seven apiece, with England’s Harry Kane on six.

It is the first time in World Cup history that three players have scored seven or more goals at the same tournament.

With 48 nations appearing, there were worries of massively one-sided clashes, although the underdogs have provided some of the best stories.

The Caribbean island of Curacao, the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup, responded from their 7-1 thrashing by Germany by drawing with Ecuador, while Qatar’s campaign included a 6-0 loss to Canada, but also a 1-1 draw with quarter-finalists Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde, with 40 year-old Vozinha in goal, produced one of the greatest underdog stories in World Cup history, drawing with Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to reach the last 32, where they gave holders Argentina a huge fright before losing 3-2 in extra time.