16 down, 32 to go: where the World Cup actually stands

Three weeks in and the first 48-team World Cup is doing exactly what it promised: more teams, more chaos, more flags you didn’t expect to see in July. Twelve groups, the top two from each plus the eight best third-placed sides go through — which is a long way of saying almost nobody is truly safe yet.

At the top, the usual suspects look the part. Spain have the best rating in the field and have barely broken sweat. Argentina, France and England are all cruising. But the group stage has had teeth: the United States lost to Turkiye, Morocco are matching Brazil point for point, and Canada put six past Qatar in front of a home crowd that suddenly believes.

Four Round-of-32 ties are already confirmed and the rest snap into place as Groups G and H finish. If you only follow one thing this weekend, make it Brazil vs Japan — the most watchable styles in the tournament, head to head.