A larger World Cup had some worrying the competition would suffer. It hasn't

When FIFA announced that the 2026 World Cup would expand from 32 teams to 48, there was some grumbling.

Soccer purists, a few anyway, fretted that the inclusion of lower-ranked countries would lead to a slew of lopsided results and make the early matches a chore to watch. What's happened since the tournament kicked off on June 11 has been nothing short of thrilling, with unexpected results.

On Sunday, Cape Verde continued its incredible run at its maiden World Cup with a 2-2 draw against Uruguay. This follows their opening Group H draw against highly favored Spain, 0-0. From the African country with a population of just over half a million people, the Cape Verde team now has a good chance to advance to the knockout round.

Also playing for the first time and doing well is Curaçao. It's the smallest country ever to participate (pop. 158,000) and on Saturday, tied Ecuador 0-0. Eloy Room made 15 saves in a scintillating performance in goal, securing the country's first-ever World Cup point.

And how can you not love Scotland (and their delightful fans)? Scotland is back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998. They opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Haiti and fell just short against Morocco, losing 1-0. Next up for the Scots in Group C is a match against Brazil on Wednesday. Even with a loss to the five-time champions, Scotland could advance to the knockout round.

The United States doesn't need to worry about any of that.

The American men advanced to the knockout round after dominating Australia 2-0 on Friday (following a dismantling of Paraguay in the opening match). That same day, the U.S. won Group D after Paraguay defeated Turkey (which, surprisingly, has lost both of its opening matches).

So the final U.S. group game on Thursday against Turkey carries little significance. It's expected that U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino will make changes to the starting lineup. Christian Pulisic, nursing a calf injury, may not play, and several players with yellow cards (Folarin Balogun, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards and Tyler Adams) likely won't see the field at all. A second yellow card in group play means they would have to sit out the first knockout game.

Defending champion Argentina plays its second group game Monday against Austria. Argentina icon Lionel Messi scored a hat trick in their 3-0 opening win over Algeria. While there's little doubt Argentina will advance, questions continue to swirl about Portugal. While Messi sparkled, Portugal's aging star Cristiano Ronaldo had what can only be described as a terrible 1-1 opener against the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ronaldo, who played the entire game, was virtually absent. Portugal takes on Uzbekistan on Tuesday in an important Group K matchup.

Rounding out the rest of the week, here are a few other notable group matches: France plays Iraq on Monday, England takes on Ghana on Tuesday, and Switzerland challenges Canada on Wednesday. On Thursday, Group F will become a little clearer when Tunisia tangles with the Netherlands, and Sweden plays Japan.

The World Cup group stage wraps up on Saturday. The knockout round begins Sunday, June 28, with the first Round of 32 match.

As a reminder, you can keep up with all our World Cup coverage from NPR's correspondents and our network of member stations here.
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