The most-crowded World Cup group stage in tournament history came to an electrifying close on Saturday night.

As Lionel Messi came off the bench to score his sixth goal in Dallas, a thriller between Algeria and Austria was taking place in Kansas City. Both teams would’ve advanced with a draw, but Algeria delivered an extra-time goal that shook the table, and Iran briefly thought they’d be through to the next round. Then Austria quickly fired back in the final moments of the game to push itself through and send Iran home.

The global governing body expanded the tournament from 32 teams to a record 48 squads this year, which altered the group stage dynamics from past World Cups. Many expected the quality of play in the group stage to go down, and the games to matter less, especially for the third and final match of round-robin play.

This was certainly the case in some instances. Teams like the U.S., Mexico, Germany, and Argentina won their groups after the first two days of group stage play, and knew the outcome of the third match didn’t matter. Some, like the U.S. and Argentina, opted to rest their starters for some or all of the final group stage matches. Even Norway rested starters against France despite the group still being open, essentially conceding a potential first-place spot to keep players fresh for the knockout round. My Front Office Sports colleague David Rumsey remarked that the end of the group stage had become like Week 18 of the NFL season, while others on social media likened it to college football bowl games.

But the final days of the group stage still had plenty of exciting matches and results that came down to the wire. Germany chose not to rest its starters, but Ecuador still beat them to secure a crucial win and stay alive in the tournament. Spain defeated Uruguay in a physical battle in Guadalajara, sending the two-time champions home. Colombia and Portugal played an intense draw on Saturday that saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s side place second in Group K.

A major talking point at the end of the group stage was controversial offside calls. In Iran’s match against Egypt on Friday night and Colombia’s game against Portugal on Saturday night, both teams had an extra-time goal called back due to the player’s toe being offside. It was the second heartbreaking VAR decision for Iran in as many matches.

Group Stage Postmortem

The expanded World Cup meant that more lower-ranked teams found their way into the tournament. Germany trounced debutant Curaçao, the smallest nation ever to qualify, by a score of 7–1. Qatar lost 6–0 to Canada. Tunisia earned no points, losing by four goals in two of its matches.

But many David-vs.-Goliath matches were surprisingly competitive. Look no further than the performance of first-timer Cape Verde, a small island nation of the Western coast of Africa, whose three draws, including a scoreless wonder against tournament favorite Spain, have sent them on to the knockouts. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s 1–1 draw with Portugal and Ghana’s scoreless draw with England were similarly thrilling.

Another highlight of the group stage was the tournament’s biggest stars putting on a show. Messi had six goals, three of which came in Argentina’s opening match against Algeria. Four players scored four goals: Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé of France, Vinícius Júnior of Brazil, and Erling Haaland of Norway. For context, Mbappé won the Golden Boot as the top goal scorer in Qatar in 2022 with eight goals for the entire tournament.

What’s Next

Now that it’s over, it’s safe to say the expanded group stage was still overwhelmingly exciting, even with a few blowouts and lower-stakes third matches.

Next up is the Round of 32, a debutant in its own right. In past World Cups, teams that advanced out of the group stage went straight to the Round of 16, but with the expanded tournament, FIFA added one more match in the new round.

The knockouts began on Sunday with Canada topping South Africa 1–0 in Los Angeles, but the pace really picks up on Monday, with three matches per day through Friday.

On paper, the biggest battles of the round will be Netherlands–Morocco on Monday in Monterrey, and Portugal–Croatia on Thursday in Toronto. The U.S. faces Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Messi and Argentina play Cape Verde in Miami on Friday.