Day 3 of the 2026 World Cup: The Stars Came to Play

Outline & Table of Contents

Day 3 of the World Cup: The Stars Came to Play
Norway vs. Ivory Coast
France vs. Sweden
Mexico vs. Ecuador
Looking Ahead to Day 4
Final Thoughts

Day 3 of the Knockout Stage was all about the stars doing their thing. Erling Haaland scored, Kylian Mbappe scored twice, and Raul Jimenez was fantastic for Mexico; becoming the second highest scoring Mexican National Team Player in history. Let’s break each game down!

Norway vs Ivory Coast

Erling, Erling, Erling! Norway is singing his praises! In all reality, if I’m being honest… I don’t think Erling Haaland is the best player on Norway. Patrick Berg, Antonio Nusa, and Martin Ødegaard all played fantastic soccer in this one. And truth be told I think Amad Diallo was the best player on the pitch. The decision to bring Diallo in off of the bench was a great call, but it made me wonder why Diallo didn’t just start the match. He looked incredible.

The Fox broadcast said he “had the best goal of the tournament so far,” and I completely agree. Norway was fortunate to survive. Ivory Coast played their tails off and made it to the round of 32 for the first time. There’s a lot to be excited for with this team! Norway needs to start playing a bit more selfishly. They’re always looking for Erling Haaland, when some of their players have really solid chances. I’d like to see the head coach (Ståle Solbakken) encourage the other players to shoot more.

France vs Sweden

Mbappe, Mbappe, Mbappe! France is singing his praises! Over 5 million viewers watched this game, which is a new FIFA World Record (according to the Fox One Broadcast), and saw a Kylian Mbappe masterclass. I’ll be honest… no one thought Sweden had a chance. They played 20 very strong minutes but the speed and grittiness of France was just too much to handle. 3-0 was the final score and that could have been worse! I think it should have been worse than that. Jacob Widell Zetterström had 9 saves, and France had 5 big chances that they missed according to ESPN stats. Sweden had one big chance that they missed out on.

I was surprised that Sweden stuck through the domination that France had put on them. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Swedish team and the Head Coach Graham Potter. They really beat out all expectations, but when you’re facing a potential champion in France with an all time legendary coach in Didier Deschamps… it’s not going to be very successful.

Mexico vs Ecuador

Jimenez, Jimenez, Jimenez! Raul Jimenez made it known that he was important to this Mexican National Team as he scored in the 30th minute and became the 2nd highest scoring player in Mexican soccer history. “Mexico made it look too easy” is what my fiancé said while watching the second goal go in for Mexico. And honestly… for someone who knew practically nothing about soccer… she was right. The Ecuador defense came out in the second half looking hesitant to make a mistake. They were not playing freely like they had in the group stages and it proved to be part of their downfall. A few little mistakes, like being offside, defenders having bad touches resulting in a free ball for Mexico. Mexico could play freely in the second half because of their strong first half. Javier Aguirre (Mexico’s Head Coach) just seemed to have Sebastián Beccacece’s (Ecuador’s Head Coach) number in this game. Beccacece is a young coach with a good Ecuador team. I think they’ll be competitive for a while to come.

The stars shined today; will they shine tomorrow? Will Christian Pulisic lead the US to the round of 16? Will the pillars of Belgium (Lukaku and De Bruyne) come with a vengeance? Will Harry Kane lay the hammer for England as we all believe he will? Come back tomorrow and find out. Cheers until then!