Yesterday's FIFA World Cup Matches: England Win, Ronaldo Stalls

If you opened your sports feed this morning expecting an IPL recap or a Team India team-sheet, you got something else entirely. The phrase "yesterday FIFA World Cup match" has muscled its way into India's cricket trends, and for once the round ball is doing the talking. Wednesday, 17 June 2026 served up a six-goal England thriller, a deflating night for Cristiano Ronaldo, and a genuine slice of history for a nation back at the World Cup for the first time since 1974. Here is what actually happened, and why it is lighting up timelines in a country that usually saves this kind of energy for a Test match.

A six-goal night in Dallas that did the trending

The headline result was England 4-2 Croatia in Dallas, a Group L opener that swung like a pendulum and never settled until the closing minutes. England started fast, were pegged back, and then pulled clear after the break in the kind of chaotic, watchable game that travels well across time zones.

Harry Kane set the tone from the penalty spot inside the opening quarter-hour, calmly converting a retaken spot-kick. He doubled his tally before half-time, but Croatia refused to fold. Martin Baturina levelled at 1-1 with a tidy finish, and Petar Musa struck deep in first-half stoppage time to leave the scoreline at 2-2 at the interval. It was, briefly, anyone's game.

Then Jude Bellingham happened. Two minutes into the second half he restored England's lead, and the momentum never came back the other way. Marcus Rashford sealed it late, combining with substitute Bukayo Saka to make it 4-2. For an England side that has carried the weight of near-misses for years, a four-goal opener against a perennially awkward Croatia is the sort of start that quiets the doubters, at least for a week.

Kane's penalty and the numbers behind the win

Strip away the drama and England's win was built on ruthlessness in front of goal rather than total control. Croatia had spells, especially in that first half when they twice clawed level, but the Three Lions punished almost everything that fell their way.

A few things stood out from the night:

• Kane's brace moved him further up England's all-time scoring conversation and underlined why he remains the team's spine at this World Cup.
• The retaken penalty early on rattled Croatia and forced them to chase, a script that suits England's counter-attacking forwards.
• Bellingham's 47th-minute strike came almost straight from the restart, the goal that turned a coin-flip into a cushion.
• Saka's involvement in the fourth goal showed England's bench depth is a weapon, not an afterthought.

It was not a flawless performance. Conceding twice will worry manager and supporters alike. But four goals scored is four goals scored, and in a 48-team tournament where goal difference can decide who advances, that margin matters.

Ronaldo's quiet night, DR Congo's loud one

The other story Indian fans were refreshing was in Houston, where Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo. Portugal looked the better side for long stretches and took an early lead through João Neves, the diminutive midfielder rising to head home a Pedro Neto cross in the sixth minute. From there it should have been comfortable.

It wasn't. Yoane Wissa equalised with a header in first-half stoppage time, finishing off a cross from Arthur Masuaku, and DR Congo dug in for the rest of the match. That goal was the country's first ever at a World Cup, and the point they held onto was their first ever at the finals too. For a side back at the World Cup after a 52-year absence, this was a landmark night.

For Cristiano Ronaldo, it was the opposite. He missed presentable chances either side of the hour mark and finished without a goal, stretching his scoreless run at the World Cup to a fifth straight match. At this stage of his career every appearance is framed as possibly his last World Cup, which only sharpens the scrutiny. Portugal's coach defended keeping him on, but the conversation around whether the team should build around him or around its younger talent is only going to grow louder.

The rest of the Wednesday slate

The two marquee games sat inside a fuller day of fixtures. Austria beat Jordan 3-1 in the San Francisco Bay Area, a comfortable European win over one of the tournament's newer faces. Ghana met Panama in Toronto and Colombia faced Uzbekistan in Mexico City to round out the schedule across the three host nations.

And the result everyone was still talking about came earlier the same day: Lionel Messi's hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria in Kansas City. Messi drew level with Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals and became the first man to feature in six different World Cups. That performance set an almost impossible bar for the days that followed, which is partly why England's free-scoring opener and Ronaldo's struggles landed with such contrast.

Why a football result is trending in cricket-mad India

Here is the genuinely interesting bit. India is not a footballing power, and the national obsession runs on bat and ball. Yet a foreign football tournament keeps gatecrashing the cricket trends, and there are real reasons why.

First, the timing. Matches in the United States, Mexico and Canada kick off late at night and into the early hours Indian Standard Time, which turns them into appointment viewing for the night-owl crowd that would otherwise be following overseas cricket. Second, the cast. Messi, Ronaldo, Kane and Bellingham are household names here thanks to club football and a decade of social media, so a World Cup featuring all of them at once is irresistible. Third, the format. A 48-team World Cup means more games, more underdogs and more shareable moments, exactly the kind of content that spills out of the football section and into whatever is trending.

The upshot is that "yesterday's match" can mean a Premier League striker's brace one morning and a domestic cricket result the next, and Indian fans are increasingly comfortable holding both in their heads at the same time.

How to watch the World Cup 2026 in India

If the buzz has pulled you in, catching up is straightforward. Broadcast rights in India sit with Zee Entertainment as part of a long-term FIFA deal. All 104 matches stream live on Zee5 across phone, laptop and smart TV, with the World Cup pack priced around ₹799 for three months at the time of writing. Television coverage runs on the Unite8 Sports channels, with commentary offered in English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bangla.

If you would rather not pay, a few marquee games and the knockout stages from the quarter-finals onward are slated for DD Sports, the free-to-air option. Set a late alarm, keep the volume low, and you can follow the drama without a subscription.

What comes next

The group stage rolls on at pace, and the early results have already reshaped expectations. England look like genuine contenders on this evidence, though that leaky defence is a flag. Portugal need a response, and the Ronaldo question will follow them into their next outing. DR Congo, meanwhile, have given themselves something to build on after a point most predicted they would not get.

For Indian fans, the takeaway is simple. The cricket calendar isn't going anywhere, but for the next few weeks the late-night football is worth losing some sleep over. On Wednesday's evidence, the goals are flowing and the storylines are stacking up faster than any group table can keep up with.