As the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup moves into its second round of group-stage play on Sunday, June 21, all eight teams competing across the four scheduled fixtures head into the day still searching for their first victory of the tournament – all having opened their campaigns with hard-fought draws.
Four opening matches on the previous Monday produced four draws, a rare result that marks the most draws on a single men’s World Cup matchday since 1958. This historic run of stalemates has left both Group G and Group C completely open, with no team yet able to lock in an early advantage going into the second round of group play.
Sunday’s first fixture, kicking off at 12 p.m. EDT in Atlanta, Georgia, pits second-ranked Spain against Saudi Arabia in a Group H showdown. Spain kicked off its tournament with a surprising 0-0 stalemate against Cape Verde, while Saudi Arabia earned a 1-1 draw against Uruguay, with defender Abdulelah Al-Amri netting the Arab side’s opening goal of the competition. Young star Lamine Yamal will lead Spain’s line as the European side looks to lock in its first win and cement its status as a title contender.
The second match of the day, at 3 p.m. EDT at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, sees 10th-ranked Belgium take on Iran in a Group G clash. Belgium will be missing key starting winger Jérémy Doku, who has been ruled out of the fixture due to an illness. The Manchester City speedster, who played 86 minutes of Belgium’s opening 1-1 draw with Egypt, has been in the headlines in recent days after revealing he would leave the tournament temporarily if needed to attend the birth of his first child, due in early July during the knockout stage. Without Doku, the Red Devils will rely heavily on star forward Romelu Lukaku to secure a crucial three points to stay on track for group advancement. Iran opened its run with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, and will also be hungry for its first win of the competition.
At 6 p.m. EDT in Miami Gardens, Florida, Uruguay faces off against Cape Verde, the tournament’s debutant side from the small archipelago off West Africa, in the second Group H fixture of the day. Already holding a draw against second-ranked Spain, a win for Cape Verde would go down as one of the biggest upsets of this World Cup, catapulting the underdog debutants into the knockout stage conversation. Uruguay, for its part, will look to bounce back from its opening draw with Saudi Arabia and lock in the win to climb the group table.
The final fixture of Sunday closes out the day at 9 p.m. EDT in Vancouver, British Columbia, with New Zealand facing Egypt in the remaining Group G matchup. New Zealand held Iran to a 2-2 draw in its opener, while Egypt also opened with a 1-1 stalemate against Belgium. All four of the day’s games will be broadcast across Fox, FS1, Telemundo and Peacock.
In other World Cup news from Saturday, the Netherlands became just the eighth national men’s side in World Cup history to hit the 100-goal milestone at the tournament, after striker Brian Brobbey netted a first-half brace in the Oranje’s 5-1 lopsided win over Sweden. The Dutch side joins elite company including Brazil, Germany, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain and England as the only nations to reach the 100-goal mark in World Cup competition.