The only game of the group stage pitting two top-10 ranked nations against each other ended in a 1-1 draw. Carlo Ancelotti’s Seleção conceded more shots (12) in the opening half hour of this contest in New Jersey than they had in any of their previous six World Cup games.

After 21 minutes, Brazil’s centre-back pairing of Marquinhos and Gabriel, opponents as recently as the Champions League final, were split wide open by one Brahim Díaz pass from which Ismael Saibari scored his well taken opener.

Thankfully for Brazil, Vinícious Júnior stepped up 10 minutes later to show exactly why you, as a defender, should not send him inside when his devilish run in to the area resulted in the equaliser.

Confronted with an opening game against Türkiye in Vancouver, who were returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2002, Tony Popovic’s game plan worked a treat.

The coaches’ trademark defensive set up was resolute. Australia threw themselves in front of everything (registering 12 blocks in the game) and goalkeeper Patrick Beach impressed massively on his competitive debut - his eight saves were the most registered by a keeper at the tournament so far.

The goals they scored came on the counter, Nestory Irankunda breaking away in the first half, before Connor Metcalfe capitalised on a mistake to fire home from range in the second.

Irankunda's goal was the first scored by a foreign-born Australian international at a World Cup. We'll leave it to the Socceroos most enthusiastic supporter, the Copa90 filmmaker, Eli Mengem to sum up what it means.

With Qatar and Switzerland playing out a 1-1 draw in San Francisco, the only other winners of the day were Steve Clarke’s Scotland. The Tartan Army, who have travelled in numbers, put on a show in the stands at the Boston Stadium, the home of NFL side New England Patriots.

Thankfully, their side secured the result the passion warranted, with John McGinn’s deflected strike the only difference between two sides who were more evenly matched than Haiti’s status as the 83rd best ranked nation in the world suggested.

But after 28 years in the wilderness, a win of any kind is all that matters for the Scots.

We’re in to the thick of it now with some true World Cup royalty joining the fray today. In Group E, four-time winners Germany take on minnows Curaçao, while the Ivory Coast start against Ecuador.

And in Group F, Dark Horse meets Dark Horse as the Netherlands face Japan, and Graham Potter’s Sweden play Tunisia.

If there’s an underdog set to win hearts at this summer’s tournament, it’s the team representing Curaçao, the former Dutch colony in the Caribbean. Famously the smallest ever nation to make the finals, only Sheffield United’s Tahith Chong was actually born in Curaçao, with the rest of the undoubted vibesmen in the squad all stemming from the Netherlands. Now it’s time to see what they can do on the pitch.

The Blue Wave, led by Dick Advocaat, start their debut campaign against the might of Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany, one of the more sensible tips to go all the way this summer.

📲 Read the FotMob match preview

After scoring in the Champions League final for the second time in his club career, Arsenal forward Kai Havertz staked his claim to lead the German line at the World Cup with a goal and assist in the warm-up victory over the US.

That performance may have eased one of Nagelsmann’s nagging doubts coming in to the tournament as to who exactly would be the best man to sit in front of Germany’s formidable attacking trio of Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, and Leroy Sané.

📊 Take a closer look at Havertz’s potential role for Germany

It’s something of a Dutch double header on Sunday, such are the Netherlands’ deep links with the Curaçao squad, but the actual Oranje start off in Dallas, Texas for their clash against Japan.

Japan hold the record for playing the most World Cup games without ever reaching the quarter finals (25 matches) but there’s a quiet confidence that this time, they have the squad to change that. They were magnificent in qualifying and have beaten the likes of Brazil, England, Scotland, and Ghana in the last calendar year.

📲 Follow the game here