GROUP STAGE · THE STORY IN NUMBERS
World Cup 2026 — Group Stage Recap
QUICK ANSWER
How did the World Cup 2026 group stage finish?
The 2026 World Cup group stage produced 215 goals across 72 matches (2.99 per game), with 9 upsets. Kylian Mbappé leads the golden-boot race on 6. Onside's model called 83% of favourites correctly — every prediction graded in public. See every graded call.
Matches played
72
Goals scored
215
2.99 per game
Upsets
9
favourite beaten
Model accuracy
83%
graded in public
THE MODEL'S REPORT CARD
How the AI did — graded in public
Favourite accuracy
83%
72 graded matches · Brier 0.535
Biggest correct call
Haiti 0–1 Scotland
Model backed SCO — called it. ✅
Biggest miss (upset)
South Africa 1–0 South Korea
We backed KOR — it didn't happen. ❌ We show the misses too.
GOLDEN BOOT RACE
- 1Kylian MbappéFRA6
- 2Lionel MessiARG6
- 3Erling HaalandNOR5
- 4Harry KaneENG5
- 5Ousmane DembéléFRA4
- 6Ismaïla SarrSEN4
BIGGEST RESULT
Germany 7–1 Curaçao
A 6-goal margin — the heaviest of the group stage.
FINAL TABLES
All 12 groups — who went through
| Group A | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1MexicoQ | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 9 |
| 2South AfricaQ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 4Czechia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 1 |
Q = qualified for the Round of 32 (top 2 + best third-placed).
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