World Cup 2026 — 23 June Results Recap

Matchday 2 wrap · Groups K and L · Three matches, one tournament-defining record · Recap for Canadian readers

It was a quiet matchday on the scoreboard for two of the three Group K and L fixtures on 23 June 2026 — and an unforgettable one in the third. Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal’s name on a tournament record that may never be broken, while England and Croatia drew blanks in matches that opened the door for outsiders Ghana and Panama to fight for second place.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal for Portugal at the 2026 World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at six different World Cups during Portugal’s 5–0 win over Uzbekistan.
Ronaldo’s brace v Uzbekistan made him the first male player to score at six different World Cup finals; Portugal cruised, Group L was held in deadlock and Colombia–DR Congo was still pending at our deadline.

Portugal 5–0 Uzbekistan (Group K)

Portugal turned Group K on its head with a comprehensive 5–0 win over Uzbekistan. Ronaldo opened the scoring inside six minutes and added a second before half-time, in the process becoming the first man to score at six different World Cups (passing Eusébio as Portugal’s all-time World Cup top scorer at the same time). Nuno Mendes also scored, Nematov turned the fourth into his own net on 60 minutes and Rafael Leão sealed the rout late on. (Sources: Al Jazeera; ESPN; The Analyst, 23 June 2026.)

Scorer Team Minute
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal 6′
Nuno Mendes Portugal ~15′ (approx.)
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal ~40′ (approx., pre-HT)
K. Nematov (own goal) Uzbekistan 60′
Rafael Leão Portugal 87′

The exact minutes of goals two and three were not consistent across sources and are noted as approximate — the score and scorers are confirmed by three outlets.

Information gain for Canadian readers: the previous benchmark was Pelé, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose scoring at four different tournaments. Ronaldo, at 41 years old, has now stretched the bar two full tournaments beyond Pelé.

England 0–0 Ghana (Group L)

A goalless draw at MetLife-region time slot left Group L wide open. England now sit on four points with an identical W-D record to Ghana; Panama and Croatia are level on one point. The scoreline kept Ghana’s qualification hopes alive after their opener and pushed England’s pressure to a final group game vs Panama on 27 June. (FIFA match centre; ESPN; Al Jazeera live blog, 23 June 2026.)

Panama 0–0 Croatia (Group L)

The other Group L fixture also finished goalless — confirmed across FOX Sports, Al Jazeera live coverage and sports.ru. Both Panama and Croatia are on one point with one match to play; either side needs a win on 27 June to have any chance of advancing through Group L.

Pending at deadline: Colombia vs DR Congo (Group K, 10:00 PM ET kickoff 23 June) was still in progress at the time we collected results for this recap. The current pre-match standings have both teams on one game played; the final positions in Group K can only be set once that result is in. We do not guess; we will refresh the Group K table in tomorrow’s recap.

Records and milestones from 22–23 June

The two matchdays produced an unusual cluster of all-time records — worth tying together for any Canadian reader following the bigger picture:

  • Lionel Messi (Argentina) — became the outright all-time men’s World Cup top scorer with his brace against Austria on 22 June, now on 18 World Cup goals (passing Klose on 16). Argentina advanced to the Round of 32 on the same night. (Sky Sports, SBS, NBC.)
  • Kylian Mbappé (France) — France’s 3–0 win over Iraq included a Mbappé brace that drew him level with Klose on 16 World Cup goals. (SBS; NBC; ESPN.)
  • Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) — first man to score at six different World Cup finals; now also Portugal’s all-time WC top scorer outright. (ESPN; Al Jazeera.)

Group standings — end of 23 June (ET)

The end-of-day picture as collected from FOX Sports / NBC / Wikipedia is below. Group K is shown in its pre-match Colombia–DR Congo state for the reasons in the warning callout above.

Group Team P W D L GD Pts
K Portugal 2 1 1 0 +5 4
K Colombia 1 1 0 0 +2 3
K DR Congo 1 0 1 0 0 1
K Uzbekistan 2 0 0 2 -7 0
L England 2 1 1 0 +2 4
L Ghana 2 1 1 0 +1 4
L Panama 2 0 1 1 -1 1
L Croatia 2 0 1 1 -2 1

Through to the Round of 32 already (as of 23 June, Al Jazeera tracker): Mexico (A), United States (D), Germany (E), France (I), Norway (I), Argentina (J). Eliminated: Haiti (C), Türkiye (D), Tunisia (F), Jordan (J).

Outright odds moves — 23 June

Outright winner odds board — top of the market after 22–23 June matchdays
The tournament’s top of the outright market on the morning of 24 June.

A busy matchday produced visible movement on the outright winner board, with French and Portuguese shortening prices and a Spanish drift:

Selection Move (American → decimal approx.) Direction Note
France +450 → +400 (≈5.50 → 5.00) Shortened Solo favourite after 3–0 v Iraq (22 Jun)
Spain +450 → +500/+625 (≈5.50 → 6.00–7.25) Drifted Dropped off top line after earlier 0–0 v Cape Verde
Portugal +1200 → +1000 (≈13.00 → 11.00) Shortened After 5–0 v Uzbekistan
United States → +2200 (≈23.00) Shortened Co-host runway; dark-horse market interest
Example: a C$25 outright winner ticket on France at 5.00 (decimal) returns C$125 (C$100 profit). The same C$25 on USA at 23.00 returns C$575 — far longer odds, much lower implied probability. Lines are screenshot-stamped to 23 June 2026 from FOX Sports, Covers and FanDuel.
All odds quoted in this recap are decimal — the default format at Canadian-licensed sportsbooks. CAD currency. Operators regulated provincially: Ontario via AGCO / iGaming Ontario, BCLC PlayNow in British Columbia, Loto-Québec in Québec, ALC in the Atlantic provinces. Decimal-default brands in our pool include Blitz.bet, BillyBets, MrPacho and ZotaBet.

Today’s storylines flowing out of 23 June

  • Group L is a four-way scramble going into 27 June — any of the four sides can finish second; only Ghana–England and Panama–Croatia have separated themselves on goals.
  • Portugal as fringe winner — the 5–0 win cuts the outright Portugal price; if Brazil drop points against Scotland on 24 June, the Portugal line could shorten further.
  • Canada’s own MD3 decider — preview at our Canada vs Switzerland matchday-3 page.
  • World Cup 2026 outright winner odds analysis — /articles/world-cup-winner-odds-analysis/.
  • Predictions hub — /world-cup-predictions/.
  • Group L pillar — /articles/group-l-world-cup-2026/.
  • Portugal team profile — /portugal-world-cup-2026/.
  • England team profile — /england-world-cup-2026/.
  • Tournament schedule — /articles/world-cup-2026-schedule/.
Did Portugal qualify for the Round of 32 with the win over Uzbekistan?
Not mathematically yet — Portugal sit on 4 points and a +5 goal difference. The Group K table will only be final after Colombia vs DR Congo (still pending at our collection) and Portugal’s final match.
What is Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup record now?
Ronaldo is the first man to score at six different World Cup finals (1934 onward), passing the previous record of four shared with Pelé, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose. He is also now Portugal’s outright all-time World Cup top scorer.
Is Lionel Messi the all-time men’s World Cup top scorer?
Yes — Messi reached 18 World Cup goals with his brace against Austria on 22 June, passing Miroslav Klose’s 16.
Where can Canadian fans watch upcoming World Cup matches?
TSN holds Canadian English-language rights to all 104 matches; CBC Sports also carries selected matches on free-to-air. Sportsnet and CTV News carry some Canada national-team and final-stage coverage.
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