World Cup Matchday 2: Opta stats and tips for the second round of group matches

Below are a selection of Opta stats and tips for World Cup matchday 2. All kick-offs are UK times.

Friday 19 June 02:00 - Mexico v South Korea

Across their FIFA World Cup history, Mexico have won all five of their tournament matches against Asian opposition, netting 2+ goals in each of their last four victories.

Friday 19 June 20:00 - USA v Australia

The USA and Australia are meeting at the World Cup for the first time. Their four previous encounters were all friendlies, with the USA winning the last two: 3-1 in June 2010 and 2-1 in October 2025 - the USA forward Haji Wright scored twice in the latter, from two Cristian Roldan assists.

Friday 19 June 23:00 - Scotland v Morocco

Morocco are unbeaten in their last five group stage matches at the FIFA World Cup (W2 D3), the joint best run by an African nation: Cameroon were unbeaten in five between 1982 and 1990 and Senegal had five unbeaten group games between 2002 and 2018.

Saturday 20 June 01:30 - Brazil v Haiti

Haiti had more shots than any other Group C side on MD1 (15), while they also ranked joint top - along with Brazil - for touches in the opposition box (22).

Saturday 20 June 18:00 - Netherlands v Sweden

Alexander Isak was directly involved in three goals during Sweden's MD1 victory over Tunisia (1 goal, 2 assists), which is already as many goal contributions as any Swedish player has managed across a single edition of the competition since Henrik Larsson in 2002 (also 3).

Saturday 20 June 21:00 - Germany v Ivory Coast

Germany have lost only one of their eight FIFA World Cup matches against African opposition (W5 D2) - it came against Algeria in 1982 (1-2). Côte d'Ivoire have won just one of their four FIFA World Cup fixtures against European nations (D1 L2), a 3-2 success against Serbia during the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Sunday 21 June 18:00 - Spain v Saudi Arabia

Mikel Oyarzabal has had 2+ shots in each of his last seven appearances for Spain, having at least one shot on target in all seven.

Monday 22 June 18:00 - Argentina v Austria

Lionel Messi has scored in each of his last five FIFA World Cup appearances, recording 2+ shots on target in his previous six matches.

Monday 22 June 22:00 - France v Iraq

Should he play, this will be Kylian Mbappé's 100^th appearance for France - while only three players have netted more FIFA World Cup goals than Mbappé's 14 (Lionel Messi, Miroslav Klose both 16 & Ronaldo 15).

Tuesday 23 June 21:00 - England v Ghana

England's Harry Kane has netted five goals across his five international appearances against African nations, with three coming at the FIFA World Cup, against Tunisia in 2018 (two goals) and Senegal in 2022. If he scores in this game, he would overtake Gary Lineker (10) to become England's all-time top scorer in the competition.

Tuesday 23 June 01:00 - Norway v Senegal

Since a 5-1 loss to Austria in the UEFA Nations League in October 2024, Norway have won each of their last 11 competitive matches - scoring exactly 50 goals and conceding just seven in reply - with each of the last three ending 4-1.

Notable winners on Betting.Betfair so far at the 2026 World Cup...

- Mark Stinchcombe's stunning 38/139.00 Bet Builder in South Korea v Czechia
- Paul Higham's 9/25.50 Bet Builder in Mexico's MD1 defeat of South Africa
- Paul also tipped 13/53.60 (Canada v Bosnia) & 15/82.88 (Brazil v Morocco) draws
- A 6/17.00 winning ACCA for Mark on Sunday at the World Cup
- Andy Robson's 9/110.00 five-leg ACCA as Germany wallop Curacao
- Another 13/53.60 winner for Paul as France beat Senegal with both teams scoring

Now read the latest on the World Cup Golden Boot Betting