BACKPanini Instant Recap: FIFA World Cup 2026™ Off to Roaring Start
Written by: Julio Vega
This past week showed why the FIFA World Cup™ is the greatest sporting spectacle around.
Nothing else out there can really compete with seeing people from all over the planet coming together and uniting over sport, all for the ultimate bragging rights. Yes, winning the trophy remains the main goal, but every moment beyond that matters just as much. A single match – even a single play – can turn players from unknowns into international heroes.
Stars lighting up the scoreboard. History being made. Late goals. Underdogs going toe-to-toe with global powerhouses. All of that, plus the influx of global fans to North America, has brought this tournament to life.
Truthfully, it’s the supporters who made the opening week extra special. Every nationality brings an extra flavor of fun and feel-good to the mix. Norway’s fans are “rowing” up escalators. Japan wowed the world again with their post-game clean-up of the stands. German supporters ventured far to experience American cuisine.
Kansas City felt like Buenos Aires when Argentina came to town. Guadalajara saw South Koreans partying with Mexicans. Dallas turned into a sea of orange as the Dutch lined the streets with their energetic dancing and iconic double-decker bus.
We’re only a week into this 39-day adventure, and we’ve already witnessed moments for the ages.
Everything kicked off in Mexico City, where the third-time host took on South Africa. Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez etched their names into Mexican lore in a fiery opener, both earning Panini Instant cards for their efforts in a tournament-starting win at Estadio Banorte. That result had the whole country in celebration, so much so that even a jersey-toting duck was seen as part of the festivities.
Up north, Canada began its campaign by hosting Bosnia-Herzegovina. Les Rouges made history by securing its first-ever FIFA World Cup™ point, with Cyle Larin adding his name to the scoring column. O Canada! The True North is strong indeed.
Meanwhile, the United States soared to a superb performance against Paraguay. Folarin Balogun led the charge with two goals, making him the first USMNT player with multiple strikes in the tournament since 1930. It was a major confidence boost, for sure.
Korea Republic gutted out a resilient win over Czechia, with In-beom Hwang leading the charge. A John McGinn-inspired Scotland defeated a spirited Haiti to secure its first win since 1990. The Tartan Army, already among the jolliest bunch around, was beaming across Boston.
Australia shocked Turkey with a defensive masterclass from Patrick Beach and the rest of the Socceroos. Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo lived out every fan’s dream by scoring a literal 90th-minute winner against a resolute Ecuador. Ghana’s Caleb Yirenkyi took that up a notch and bagged his own decisive strike deep into stoppage time against Panama days later.
Some wins were a bit more straightforward, with Germany setting the bar with a thrashing of Curaçao. Despite the result, the Caribbean debutants had plenty to be proud of as Livano Comenencia netted the country’s first-ever goal on the grand stage. Austria bested Jordan soon after that, although Ali Olwan opening his country’s account is worth a mention. A deserved shoutout to Uzbekistan as well, with Abbosbek Fayzullaev adding his name to the country’s history books as its first FIFA World Cup™ scorer.
Top-tier contenders like France, Norway, Argentina, England and Colombia all took care of business, although some of those wins were more hard-fought than others. Even some of the ties were heart-pounding, such as Japan’s fightback against the Dutch in what was an early contender for match of the tournament.
Cape Verde, in its FIFA World Cup™ debut, held the trophy-contending Spain to a scoreless draw. The 40-year-old Vozinha produced an iconic showing between the posts that will go down in history.
Boualem Khoukhi mustered up a goal in added time vs. Switzerland for Qatar’s first-ever point. Brazil and Morocco also split the spoils, as did Belgium with Egypt, IR Iran with New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia with Uruguay. DR Congo, back for the first time since 1974, held a powerful Portugal to a draw, with Yoane Wissa entering the history books as his country’s first to score in the event.
And, of course, who can forget about the goals? We’ve seen everything from assertive headers to powerful blasts. Curling beauties to flicked finishes. Even the easy tap-ins are worth celebrating. Nothing comes close to the release when the ball finally hits the net after what feels like an infinite buildup.
Lionel Messi, well into his twilight years but still burning bright, set the standard with a hat trick vs. Algeria. Add that to his endless list of broken records and iconic showings on the sport’s biggest stages.
Six others found the net twice, including stars like Kai Havertz for Germany, Kylian Mbappé for Les Bleus, Erling Haaland for Norway and Harry Kane for England. Sweden’s Yasin Ayari and New Zealand’s Elijah Just rounded out that list, making the Golden Boot race even more interesting.
This chapter of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ has been written, but we’re just getting started. Frankly, we don’t want it to end.
You can find Panini FIFA World Cup™ Instant cards for most of the players mentioned above (as well as many more) here throughout the tournament: https://www.paniniamerica.net/panini-instant/soccer/fifa-world-cup-2026tm.html
