{"id":17817,"date":"2026-06-25T16:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17817"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:32:36","slug":"the-world-cup-is-half-over-with-54-of-104-matches-complete-and-the-drama-is-just-getting-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17817","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup is half over, with 54 of 104 matches complete. And the drama is just getting started"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s halftime at the World Cup. Take a break, everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17815\">What\u2019s offside? And all your other World Cup questions, answered<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wednesday marked the midpoint of the 104-match tournament \u2014 technically, just past the midpoint, with 54 matches now in the books and 50 remaining before a World Cup champion is crowned in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. has reached the Round of 32, which shouldn\u2019t be surprising. Mexico and Canada, the other host nations for this biggest World Cup in history, are also through to the knockout stage. And the stars are positively shining: Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi has five goals to kick-start what he hopes is a run toward a second consecutive World Cup title. France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 has four, as do Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland and Brazil\u2019s Vinicius J\u00fanior.<\/p>\n<p>Stadiums are mostly filled; FIFA is touting record attendance. And there have been some feel-good stories, most notably the tale of Cape Verde goalie Vozinha and how his mother was able to come to this World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best is yet to come,\u201d FIFA President Gianni Infantino told SNTV earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the second half of this tournament \u2014 just like the second half of matches \u2014 is when things might get really good.<\/p>\n<h4>Who\u2019s in<\/h4>\n<p>Through Wednesday\u2019s games, 13 teams have clinched spots in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mexico won Group A, Switzerland won Group B, Brazil won Group C, the U.S. won Group D, Germany won Group E and Argentina won Group J.<\/p>\n<p>France, Norway, Canada, Morocco, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa also are assured of moving into the knockout stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know how it feels, but it\u2019s very difficult to explain how it feels,\u201d South Africa coach Hugo Broos said after his team clinched its first-ever appearance in the knockout stage. \u201cI\u2019m very happy for the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Who\u2019s out<\/h4>\n<p>A handful of teams already know they\u2019ll be among the 16 that don\u2019t survive the group stage and reach the Round of 32.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Czech Republic, Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar and Panama are certain to not advance.<\/p>\n<h4>Still hoping<\/h4>\n<p>With 13 teams into the knockout round and seven eliminated, that leaves 28 teams for 19 remaining spots in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n<p>Some key matches left:<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Australia-Paraguay is a win-and-you\u2019re-in game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 A winner of Japan-Sweden would be assured a Round of 32 spot, as would a winner of Austria-Algeria.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tiny Cape Verde would be into the knockout round with a win over Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Colombia-Portugal will decide the winner of Group K.<\/p>\n<h4>The U.S. path<\/h4>\n<p>This much is clear: The only match the U.S. might play in the Eastern time zone will be the World Cup final.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans will begin the Round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. If they win, they\u2019ll go to Seattle for the Round of 16. Win that, and it\u2019ll be off to Inglewood, California, for the quarterfinals. Win that, and Arlington, Texas, will be calling for the semifinals.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17809\">Get a load of this: Humans and great apes share similar giggles<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The most likely opponent for the U.S. in the Round of 32 is Bosnia and Herzegovina. After that, it would seem likely that Egypt could be waiting.<\/p>\n<h4>What happens now (or starting Sunday)<\/h4>\n<p>Once group play ends, the drama really begins.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called the knockout stage for a reason \u2014 if you don\u2019t win in this round, you\u2019re knocked out of the tournament. (The only time that won\u2019t apply is the semifinals, since the losers of those games will get sent to Miami Gardens, Florida, to decide third place.)<\/p>\n<p>A team will have to win five elimination games to win the World Cup title.<\/p>\n<h4>Scoring is up<\/h4>\n<p>Everybody should have predicted that the record for total goals in a World Cup would get smashed in this tournament. After all, there are 104 matches in this event, compared with just 64 matches in the format that was used over the previous seven World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>And the record for most goals will fall, almost certainly on Thursday or Friday. There were 172 scored at Qatar four years ago; there have been 161 goals through 54 matches so far this year.<\/p>\n<p>But what is noteworthy in this tournament is that scoring per game is at its highest level in more than 50 years \u2014 2.98 goals per match.<\/p>\n<p>An average of 2.81 goals per match were scored at Spain in 1982, 2.97 goals per match at Mexico in 1970, and 3.60 goals per match at Sweden in 1958.<\/p>\n<p>That said, this year\u2019s games have been defensive battles compared to what happened in 1954 in Switzerland, when games featured a staggering 5.38 goals on average. That tournament included a game with a 7-5 final score, still the highest-scoring game in men\u2019s World Cup history.<\/p>\n<h4>The pace<\/h4>\n<p>By the end of Day 17 of the World Cup on Saturday, 72 matches will be done, 32 will remain. That\u2019s the day the group stage ends and the knockout stage \u2014 where every match until the semifinals is of the win-or-go-home variety \u2014 begins.<\/p>\n<p>And then things slow down. A bit, anyway.<\/p>\n<p>There is only one Round of 32 game on the schedule for Sunday \u2014 South Africa vs. Canada at Los Angeles. Things pick up again after that and matches are planned every day until July 8. That means the tournament will have 27 consecutive days of play before everyone gets a day off.<\/p>\n<h4>A rematch?<\/h4>\n<p>Argentina and France gave us an epic World Cup final in 2022. It\u2019s not outside of the realm that we get a rematch this year; the way the bracket is looking at this point (and this could easily change), they should be on opposite sides, making a collision in the final possible.<\/p>\n<p>Argentina has five goals through its first two matches, and Messi \u2014 who turned 39 on Wednesday \u2014 has all five of them. Messi now has 18 goals in World Cup play, an all-time record.<\/p>\n<p>When Argentina plays in the Round of 32, Messi will basically get a home game in Miami. It won\u2019t be at the stadium that he and Inter Miami call home, but it will be in Miami Gardens and in what has been his home market for the last three years since he came to MLS.<\/p>\n<p>Mbappe has four goals for France so far in this tournament, giving him 16 in World Cups, tying for second-most all-time with Miroslav Klose of Germany \u2014 who held the record before this year\u2019s tournament started.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17805\">Everglades immigration detention center in Florida is officially closed, governor says<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/fifa-world-cup<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Cup has reached its midpoint with 54 matches completed and 50 to go before the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The World Cup is half over, with 54 of 104 matches complete. 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