The Best Games of FIFA World Cup 2026 - by Siddhesh

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The Best Games of FIFA World Cup 2026<br>Comebacks, VAR controversies, last-minute goals - this tournament had it all

Siddhesh<br>Aug 03, 2026

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After having gladly wasted an entire month watching an unholy amount of football in what was by far the best World Cup of my life, after having seen either the entirety, or part of, or the highlights of most of the 104 (!) games that were played in this tournament, after having even watched a game live in person (which is genuinely something I never expected to happen in my lifetime), after having ignored every other aspect of my existence (including some pretty important ones!), after having consumed a ridiculous amount of beer over the summer because I spent so much time in bars and pubs watching these games with various friends (you know who you are), and after having subjected myself to endless social media discourse and memes and debates on the various teams and players and happenings and controversies of the tournament, here is a ranked list of my very favourite games out of the 104 that were played at this 2026 FIFA World Cup.

13. France 4-1 Norway

June 26th, Boston Stadium, Group Stage

This was the last game of Group I for both France and Norway, and both teams were already guaranteed to qualify. Norway thus took the rest-your-best-players strategy to the very extreme: they rested 10 of their 11 usual starters (!), including the goalkeeper (!!), against a French team who were already looking like the tournament favourites. This made a lot of people very angry and was widely regarded as a bad move.<br>France, meanwhile, was like: rest is for the weak, we’re going to play our usual squad even in an inconsequential game and destroy these guys. And so they did: a little known player by the name of Ousmane Dembélé scored a beautiful hattrick from the right wing, with goals coming from both his left and right foot. Pure class. But what’s crazy is that this actually wasn’t the one-sided affair the final score seems to suggest. Despite playing their entire B-team, Norway actually could’ve made this a competitive match had they not missed a penalty and some easy chances. Now, if only they had a world class striker in their squad who would’ve converted some of those chances, but alas, we’ll never know…

12. England 2-1 DR Congo

July 1st, Atlanta Stadium, Round of 32

Thomas Tuchel’s England weren’t tournament favourites, exactly, but they were a team with ridiculously talented players that most football fans had high hopes on. This was their first elimination matchup, their first real do-or-die challenge… and Doctor Congo scored against them in the 7th minute, the game having barely even started.<br>That early goal lit a fire under England. The next hour was just attempt after attempt of England throwing everything they could against Doctor Congo’s goal, only to be thwarted by the Congolese goalkeeper and the defensive backline, including multiple desperate saves on the goal line itself. Congo created a couple of their own chances when they could, too, getting very close to almost doubling their lead and sinking the English ship entirely.<br>But real talent always makes itself known. In what would be the first of many comebacks that were to happen in this tournament, Harry Kane came to the rescue and gave England a much-needed equalizer in the 75th minute, which would’ve been contribution enough, but then went on to create a goal out of pretty much nothing in the 86th minute as well, securing a victory for the English, and giving the Doctor a taste of his own medicine.

11. Brazil 2-1 Japan

June 29th, Houston Stadium, Round of 32

In 2018, in a World Cup elimination game, underdogs Japan faced a star-studded Belgian team and, against all odds, went 2-0 up in the first half, before somehow conceding three goals in the second half, the last one in the final few seconds of the game, and thus getting knocked out in absolutely heartbreaking fashion.<br>In 2026, in a World Cup elimination game, underdogs Japan faced a star-studded Brazilian team and, against all odds, went 1-0 up in the first half, before somehow conceding two goals in the second half, the last one in the final few seconds of the game, and thus getting knocked out in absolutely heartbreaking fashion.<br>History never repeats itself, but it rhymes.

10. Germany 1-1 (3-4) Paraguay

June 29th, Boston Stadium, Round of 32

This is an interesting case of a game becoming instantly memorable despite not being a particularly beautiful or brilliant display of football. It was just a decent draw that eventually went on to penalties. Objectively speaking, I’d even say that this game was inferior to many others that didn’t make the cut here. But football is not an objective sport, the context and the experience of watching a game matters, and boy, what an emotional rollercoaster it was to watch this.<br>Or, to be specific, to watch the...