Lionel Messi Leads Golden Boot Race With Five Goals After Round Two At 2026 FIFA World Cup

The New York Times said that at the end of the second of the three sets of group matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, seven teams had made it into the knockouts: Argentina, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway and the United States.

“After following up their draw with Spain by holding Uruguay, Cape Verde keep on surprising people at this World Cup”

BBC

The New York Times also reported that Lionel Messi of Argentina led a Golden Boot race with five goals, ahead of Kylian Mbappe (France) and Erling Haaland (Norway), who were both on four.

BBC

In the same World Cup review, The New York Times quoted Oliver Kay saying, "I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how open so many of the games have remained."

The New York Times added that Jacob Whitehead said, "I did not think South Korea would be as bad as they were against Mexico," after South Korea’s performance against Mexico.

For round three, The New York Times highlighted a prediction from Kay about "what happens between Algeria and Austria in Group J," framing a draw as something that would "pretty much guarantee a place in the knockout stage for both."

The BBC reported that after following up their draw with Spain by holding Uruguay, Cape Verde kept on surprising people at the World Cup, while its predictor game showed 99.65% of users backing Cape Verde to lose against Spain and 83% backing them to lose against Uruguay.

The BBC also said that Chris Sutton, its World Cup 2026 score predictions expert, got 14 results correct in the second round of 24 group games, compared to 12 from the first set of fixtures.

The New York Times

In the BBC’s group-by-group preview, it listed Bosnia-Herzegovina v Qatar at Seattle / Wednesday, 24 June / 20:00, and it gave Sutton’s prediction as 1-0 and AI’s prediction as 2-0.

The BBC’s preview also set the context for the match by noting that "Both of these teams lost heavily last time out, and need a win to have a chance of progressing."

The BBC then moved through other final-set fixtures, including Scotland versus Brazil and England against Panama, while also stating that Chris is predicting the outcome of all 104 games at the World Cup.

ESPN framed the 2026 World Cup knockout stage as beginning Sunday in Los Angeles, with an "incredible32 teams" taking part in the round of 32.

“The Athletic has live coverage of Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Qatar at the 2026 FIFA World Cup”

The New York Times

ESPN’s title-odds section used Opta to assign projected round-of-32 matchups and probabilities, including "Title odds, per Opta:15.5%" with a projected R32 opponent of Uruguay, July 3.

ESPN linked Argentina’s chances to Lionel Messi, writing that the team is "once again perfect for Leo Messi" and noting that in his first 19 World Cup matches, Messi scored six goals.

ESPN also described a potential weakness, saying, "Good teams could pen them in," and adding that Argentina had allowed Algeria and Austria to work the ball into semi-dangerous areas.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s preview for another contender gave "Title odds, per Opta:4.6%" with a projected R32 opponent of Japan, June 29, and it warned, "You can't field 10 forwards."