World Cup June 27: Messi Scores Again, Portugal Stumble, England Top Panama, Algeria 3-3 Chaos
Last group day drama. Kane passes Lineker. Ronaldo's path gets harder. A 96th-minute equalizer sends two teams through.
The group stage did not go quietly.
June 27 (and into the early hours of June 28) closed Groups J, K, and L - and three continents woke up to very different moods in Dallas, Atlanta, and Kansas City.
Here is what happened - and why it matters for the knockouts.
Argentina 3-1 Jordan - Messi will not stop
Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored again. Of course he did.
| Min | Scorer |
|---|---|
| 19’ | Giovani Lo Celso (free kick) |
| 31’ | Lautaro Martínez (pen) |
| 55’ | Mousa Tamari (Jordan) |
| 80’ | Lionel Messi (free kick) |
Lo Celso was the story inside the story - the first Argentina player other than Messi to score at this World Cup. Before that, all five Argentine goals were Messi.
Then the captain entered on his 39th birthday, three days after breaking the all-time World Cup scoring record in the same Dallas stadium, and curled in a free kick for goal 19 of his World Cup career.
Messi now has 6 at this tournament - Golden Boot leader - and has scored in 7 straight World Cup games. That breaks a tie with Just Fontaine and Jairzinho for the longest streak ever.
Argentina - 9/9 points. Next: Cape Verde on July 3 in Miami.
Colombia 0-0 Portugal - Ronaldo’s road got harder
This was the game that killed the Messi vs Ronaldo quarterfinal dream.
Portugal needed a win to top Group K. They could not beat Colombia. 0-0.
Ronaldo finished second. Colombia took the group - and the easier side of the bracket.
Portugal now face Croatia in Toronto on July 2, with Spain and France potentially waiting later. Still alive. Much harder path.
England 2-0 Panama - Kane makes history, performance was… fine?
Jude Bellingham scored. Harry Kane scored. England won Group L.
| Min | Scorer |
|---|---|
| 62’ | Jude Bellingham |
| 67’ | Harry Kane |
Not pretty for long stretches. Kane missed chances in the first half that had the England Twitter crowd doing its thing.
But the numbers moved:
- Kane - 11 World Cup goals, passing Gary Lineker as England’s all-time top scorer at the tournament
- Kane - 4 career World Cup goals vs Panama alone (only Salenko and Mbappé have more vs one opponent)
- Panama - 0 goals in three games. Out. First team since Honduras and Algeria in 2010 to finish a World Cup group with zero goals.
England play DR Congo in Atlanta on July 1.
Algeria 3-3 Austria - both needed a point. Neither settled for boring.
This was the wildest game of the night.
Riyad Mahrez scored twice for Algeria. Austria led, trailed, led again. In the 96th minute, Sasa Kalajdzic headed an equalizer that sent both teams through.
Iran - the team that needed chaos - went home.
Austria face Spain in the Round of 32. Algeria advance as a best third-placed team and draw Switzerland.
Also on the last group day
DR Congo 3-1 Uzbekistan - Congo locked a knockout spot as a best third. England get them next.
Croatia 2-1 Ghana - Croatia second in Group L. Ghana also advance as a third-placed team.
Knockouts start
June 28 opened the Round of 32: South Africa vs Canada at SoFi Stadium - the first knockout game in history for both nations at a men’s World Cup.
From here, every result above becomes a line on the bracket.
No more points for trying.