CAF dominated the Group Stage, sending nine teams through to the Round of 32, but heading into this final day of the round, only one advanced so far. The day's play starts with Spokane-based Egypt facing Australia, who are Asia's last representative.
Match two is the type of David v. Goliath action that makes open tournaments a joy. Cabo Verde's ride will end at some point. To keep going they merely must beat the best player in the world, Messi. To this point Argentina is the only team outside of Europe earning mentions as a likely champion. The world #2 looks every bit the part so far.
Ghana and Colombia end the day's play in prime time. Here, my partisanship must show – I want Niko Moreno happy.
Dave Clark
Today's games
Australia v. Egypt
Time: 11 am (Pacific)
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington (Dallas), Texas
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
Argentina v. Cape Verde
Time: 3 pm (Pacific)
Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
Colombia v. Ghana
Time: 6:30 pm (Pacific)
Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
The new issue of IV: The Sounder at Heart magazine is now available for pre-order. Issue 2 will focus on Seattle’s role in the 2026 World Cup.
Sounder at Heart is gathering at Fast Fashion SoDo for Monday's USMNT v. Belgium match. Their doors open at 9 am PT so you can watch Spain-Portugal.
What’s interesting today?
- United States men's national team games are averaging over 26 million total viewers after their Round of 32 win pulled a massive 33.2 million watchers. To put that in perspective, only late-round NFL playoff games and their Thanksgiving contests put up bigger numbers in 2025.
- Mexico is also grabbing eyeballs, with nearly 23 million viewers on average. Their massive win over Ecuador also dwarfed non-NFL viewership with 29.3 million total U.S. viewers.
- “There really shouldn’t be any debate at this point about whether soccer is popular or will ever be popular,” Fox‘s Mike Mulvihill told Deadline in an interview. “I guess the question now is just, what does it mean for the future of soccer?” With the largest TV sport as an in-house comparison, he added, for Fox “the reach of the World Cup will be almost like having a second NFL season.”
- “We’ve created this way of producing games that is getting people excited, regardless of who plays,” Joaquín Duro, EVP of sports and head of streaming at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises said. “The pitches are amazing. The stadiums are filled. It’s just like a movie.”
- Mo Salah is fit to play, but quite unlikely to start, after leaving his last match injured. Rumors about his future club are surprisingly muted during the World Cup.
- MLS has six players in action today, if you count James Rodriguez. The league enters the day with the 8th most appearances in the World Cup so far, and will surpass Saudi Arabia's top league for 7th. MLS is 7th by minutes and is in the top 10 for non-Messi goals.
- Every remaining match is on FOX and Telemundo; no more FS1 or Universo.
