Rise of a Football God

(GROUP H:)

(Slovenia vs England)

(Venue: MetLife Stadium, USA)

(Date: June 27th, 2026)

(Time: 20:00)

5 hours after Algeria vs USA, on the same day but in a different stadium at the Metlife Stadium in USA, Slovenia took on England.

Against a nation that they struggled against at the 2024 Euros, requiring a last-minute goal from Jude Bellingham to barely escape the fate of being eliminated, Thomas Tuchel's England proved their credentials as an entirely different team at the Metlife Stadium.

Thomas Tuchel held nothing back, giving his team the go ahead to let loose.

And letting loose was exactly what the players did.

With the likes of Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer, and Harry Kane all available in the team in attack, England was unstoppable.

During the first 10 minutes of the game, England struggled to do much with the ball, losing possession easily to Slovenia's high-press but once their midfield figured their opponent's rhythm out, England exploded.

The first goal came from a Harry Kane header in the 18th minute, Cole Palmer burst through traffic into space with a silky touch and some electric tight-space dribbling before raising the ball for his captain to power into the net from a header.

Harry Kane's goal set the MetLife ablaze as tens of thousands of English fans watching live in the stadium exploded in cheers and roars of ecstasy.

18 minutes, 0-1 to England.

In the 24th minute, Bukayo Saka doubled England's lead, receiving the ball in the right before dribbling through 3 Slovenia players, a crazy run which ended with a curled shot that beat the goalkeeper, nestling into the top left corner of the net.

"MY GOD! What a goal!" The commentators raved.

"England are on!"

"Thomas Tuchel's team is unstoppable tonight!"

The commentators were right, England was unstoppable tonight because 2 goal were clearly not enough for them in a dominant first half display.

Declan Rice burst into the 18-yard box in the 36th minute after sustained England pressure offensively, resulting in the space opening up for him to tap into the net from a Bukayo Saka pass.

The first half came to an end 0-3 in England's favor.

The second half started with the same script; England dominating, while Slovenia held on for dear life.

It continued like this until a stunner in the 61st minute.

Benjamin Sesko, Slovenia's striker received a cross just outside the 18-yard box and instead of trying anything fancy like trapping the ball, the already frustrated striker tried his luck from 20 yards out, rifling the ball on a volley.

POW!

The ball flew like a missile, beating Dean Henderson with its tremendous pace as it tore its way into the top right corner.

61 minutes, 1-3.

That goal gave Slovenia some much-needed moment of respite, hopes of a comeback, but England snuffed that hope out ruthless.

In the 68th minute, Anthony Gordon ran through the Slovenia defense with an electric dribble before squaring the ball for Harry Kane to tap into the net, making it 1-4 to England.

Thomas Tuchel made a few changes after the 70th minute of the game, one of them was introducing Eberechi Eze to the pitch in place of Anthony Gordon.

It took just 6 minutes after Eberechi came on to make his mark, dribbling through multiple players in the 77th minute before scoring an insane solo goal to make it 1-5 to England.

No way back for Slovenia.

It was a vintage England performance, a performance that gave English fans hope and belief that they could go all the way to win the World Cup this time.

The game came to an end 1-5 and Bukayo Saka won the man of the match award after a brilliant display from the right.

…

(GROUP I:)

(China vs Ukraine)

(Venue: BC Place, Canada)

(Date: June 28th, 2026)

(Time: 14:00)

China vs Ukraine the next day was a tightly contested affair.

Both countries played their hearts out on the pitch in an end to end game. Both created numerous chances, but their finishing let them down, ending the first half of the game in a 0-0 draw.

The first half followed the same script, chances being created in abundance but with both nations lacking a lethal finisher to finish the chances that they created, until Zinchenko in the 79th minute.

Just when people thought the game would end in a draw, Zinchenko took the ball from deep, ate dozens of meters of space with his pace, exchanged a quick one-two with his left winger before bursting into the box and curling a shot past China's goalkeeper to make it 0-1.

That sole goal was the winner.

China increased their intensity as soon as they started trailing 0-1, but it was not enough against a dogged Ukraine defensive performance in the final minutes of the game.

The game ended 0-1.

Oleksandr Zinchenko won the man of the match award.

…

(GROUP I:)

(Tunisia vs Netherlands)

(Venue: SoFi Stadium, USA)

(Date: June 28th, 2026)

(Time: 20:00)

Tunisia vs Netherlands was a thriller.

Playing against a superior national side in Netherlands, Tunisia did not rollover, exposing their bellies in surrender, rather, they dug in and played the best game of their lives in a desperate drive to attain the 3 points of the game.

The first half was end to end, full of tension and drama.

Tunisia held Netherlands, defending doggedly against them while threatening occasionally with their counterattacking breaks.

But none of those counterattacks bore substantial result as the Virgil Van Dijk-led Netherlands defense held strong and firm.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw, Tunisia playing a solid game but when second half started, the Tunisian players finally gassed out.

And taking advantage of their tiredness, Netherlands ran riot.

The game ended in a 0-4 thrashing.

Memphis Depay got a brace, scoring in the 56th and 63rd minute of the game. Xavi Simons got the first goal of the game to break the deadlock in the 51st minute, a stunner from range.

And then Virgil Van Dijk got the final Netherlands goal in the 78th minute to complete a dominant Netherlands second half performance.

Virgil Van Dijk won the man of the match award.