Copa Independent

The newly bloated 48-team World Cup format has plenty of problems, but perhaps the biggest of all has shown itself over the past two days, and it was entirely in Fifa’s control.

The decision to decide group rankings by head-to-head record instead of goal difference has killed the action in a series of games at the end of this opening stage, with so little on the line and none of the same jeopardy and drama as four years ago in Qatar.

Independent writers Miguel Delaney, Kieran Jackson and Lawrence Ostlere discuss the flawed format, as well as France’s thrashing of Norway’s B team – Miguel saw Ousmane Dembele score a hat-trick in Boston – and England’s big problem that Thomas Tuchel should have seen coming.
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In our latest episode of Copa Independent, chief football writer Miguel Delaney, on the ground in Boston, and sports editor Jack Rathborn in New York dissect England's underwhelming showing against Ghana. After so much optimism and positivity following the opening Croatia win, what went wrong for Thomas Tuchel's side this time around? What is it about 'second match syndrome' and England at tournaments? And what does it mean for the Three Lions' final game against Panama?

Plus, we discuss Fifa's strange preference for head-to-head over goal-difference as a group-position decider - and how Cristiano Ronaldo isn't selfless at all despite letting Nuno Mendes take a free-kick against Uzbekistan.
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In the latest episode of Copa Independent, Lawrence Ostlere and Miguel Delaney discuss a fascinating Golden Boot race as Lionel Messi scores twice against Austria to move onto five goals, while Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland also net braces to take their tallies to four.

The pair reflect on Messi’s extraordinary longevity and revisit his long-running rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, asking whether there was ever truly a debate over who was the greater player. They also look ahead to Portugal’s second group-stage match against Uzbekistan and consider whether Ronaldo can respond.

Elsewhere, they preview England’s second group game under Thomas Tuchel and assess whether the Three Lions can replicate the best moments of their opening victory over Croatia.
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Football writers Miguel Delaney, Richard Jolly and Lawrence Ostlere are in North America to discuss England’s statement 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas. Did Thomas Tuchel’s team-talk change the game? Was England’s display the performance of the tournament so far? Are Croatia really any good?

The team also assess Cristiano Ronaldo’s woeful performance for Portugal, and run the rule over the first full round of games.
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Lawrence Ostlere, Miguel Delaney and Richard Jolly look back on day 6 of the World Cup where Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe arrived on stage and set the tournament alight as well as igniting the race for the golden boot. Can Ronaldo and Harry Kane respond today?

We also preview England’s first game in the competition against Croatia this evening.
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