World Cup 2026 leaderboard update: Colombia top Group K after first round closes

The late Group K and Group L matches are now in, which means every 2026 World Cup group has completed its first round. The cleanest update: Colombia are the only Group K team on three points after a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, while England and Ghana both opened Group L with wins. This issue covers completed matches through 07:00 UTC on June 18; the June 18 Group A/B matches are still ahead of this cutoff.

What changed since the last cutoff

The two matches that materially changed the board were Ghana 1-0 Panama and Uzbekistan 1-3 Colombia. England 4-2 Croatia and Portugal 1-1 DR Congo are retained below to close the full Group K/L picture, but they were already final before the previous cutoff.

Match	Final	Why it moved the board	Source
Ghana vs. Panama	1-0	Caleb Yirenkyi scored at 90+5', assisted by Brandon Thomas-Asante, putting Ghana second in Group L on goal difference.	FOX box score
Uzbekistan vs. Colombia	1-3	Colombia recovered from Abbosbek Fayzullaev's 60' equalizer with Luis Díaz at 65' and Jaminton Campaz at 90+9'.	FOX box score
Portugal vs. DR Congo	1-1	João Neves scored in the 6th minute; Yoane Wissa answered at 45+5' for DR Congo's first World Cup point.	FOX box score
England vs. Croatia	4-2	Harry Kane scored twice, Jude Bellingham put England back ahead at 47', and Marcus Rashford finished it at 85'.	FOX box score

Caleb Yirenkyi scores Ghana's late winner against Panama — Caleb Yirenkyi's 90+5' goal turned a scoreless Ghana-Panama match into a Group L win for Ghana. 1

Group K and Group L are now clean enough to rank

Colombia created the only real separation in Group K. Portugal and DR Congo sit together on one point, so the June 23 Colombia-DR Congo and Portugal-Uzbekistan matches will decide whether Portugal are merely slow starters or already under pressure. In Group L, England's two-goal margin keeps them above Ghana, but Ghana's stoppage-time winner matters because third-place qualification will reward even narrow wins.

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The late window added two new final results to this update: Ghana-Panama and Uzbekistan-Colombia. It also left three Group K/L teams on three points: Colombia, England, and Ghana. 2

Group K/L late-window snapshot

Completed results through 07:00 UTC on June 18

New finals since prior cutoff

Group K/L teams on 3 pts

Goals in Ghana + Colombia wins

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Group K table

Rank	Team	W-D-L	GF-GA	GD	Pts	Source
1	Colombia	1-0-0	3-1	+2	3	Yahoo standings
2	DR Congo	0-1-0	1-1	0	1	Yahoo standings
3	Portugal	0-1-0	1-1	0	1	Yahoo standings
4	Uzbekistan	0-0-1	1-3	-2	0	Yahoo standings

Group L table

Rank	Team	W-D-L	GF-GA	GD	Pts	Source
1	England	1-0-0	4-2	+2	3	Yahoo standings
2	Ghana	1-0-0	1-0	+1	3	Yahoo standings
3	Panama	0-0-1	0-1	-1	0	Yahoo standings
4	Croatia	0-0-1	2-4	-2	0	Yahoo standings

Full group snapshot after each group has played once

The format remains top two from each group plus the eight best third-place teams into the Round of 32. 3 For tied groups, treat the listed order as a current-table snapshot, not a settled advantage.

Group	Current lead state	Chasers / tie state	Source
A	Mexico lead on +2 GD; South Korea also have 3 pts.	Czechia and South Africa are on 0 pts.	ESPN standings
B	Four-way tie on 1 pt.	Canada, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar, and Switzerland all drew their openers.	Yahoo standings
C	Scotland lead on 3 pts.	Brazil and Morocco have 1 pt; Haiti have 0.	Yahoo standings
D	USA lead on +3 GD; Australia also have 3 pts.	Türkiye and Paraguay have 0.	Yahoo standings
E	Germany lead on +6 GD; Ivory Coast also have 3 pts.	Ecuador and Curaçao have 0.	Yahoo standings
F	Sweden lead on 3 pts.	Netherlands and Japan have 1 pt; Tunisia have 0.	ESPN standings
G	Four-way tie on 1 pt.	Belgium-Egypt drew 1-1; Iran-New Zealand drew 2-2.	Yahoo standings
H	Four-way tie on 1 pt.	Spain-Cape Verde finished 0-0; Saudi Arabia-Uruguay finished 1-1.	Yahoo standings
I	Norway lead on +3 GD; France also have 3 pts.	Senegal and Iraq have 0.	Yahoo standings
J	Argentina lead on +3 GD; Austria also have 3 pts.	Jordan and Algeria have 0.	Yahoo standings
K	Colombia lead on 3 pts.	DR Congo and Portugal have 1 pt; Uzbekistan have 0.	Yahoo standings
L	England lead on +2 GD; Ghana also have 3 pts.	Panama and Croatia have 0.	Yahoo standings

Golden Boot and assist boards

Lionel Messi remains alone at the top of the scoring table on three goals after Argentina's opener. The two-goal tier is still crowded: Yasin Ayari, Elijah Just, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé, Kai Havertz, Folarin Balogun, and Harry Kane all sit one behind Messi. ESPN's stats page has Messi at three and the two-goal group at two; FOX's tournament page also lists Messi first, followed by Haaland, Ayari, Havertz, and Mbappé among its visible leaders. 4 5

Kane is the only new two-goal player from the June 17 slate. Luis Díaz did not reach the Golden Boot tier, but his Colombia line matters for player rankings: one goal, one assist, two shots on goal, and 21 passes in the 3-1 win over Uzbekistan. 6

The assist board did not get a new two-assist leader from the late Group K/L matches. ESPN still shows Chris Wood, Alexander Isak, Joshua Kimmich, Ryan Gravenberch, and Deniz Undav on two assists. 4 Díaz, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Cucho Hernández, and Pedro Neto all picked up single assists on June 17 according to the FOX match timelines for Colombia, England, Ghana, and Portugal. 7 1

Goalkeeper and player watch

A full tournament saves table still is not visible in the parsed public leaderboards, so the goalkeeper board is safest as a clean-sheet watch. Ghana added a clean sheet against Panama, with Lawrence Ati Zigi shown among FOX's match clips for a diving save before Benjamin Asare entered at halftime. 1 Colombia's Camilo Vargas conceded once, so Colombia lead Group K without joining the clean-sheet group. 6

Player power board after the first full pass through all groups:

Lionel Messi, Argentina: still the Golden Boot leader on three goals. 4
Harry Kane, England: two goals against Croatia, including one penalty, puts him into the two-goal tier and gives England the strongest Group L goal difference. 7
Luis Díaz, Colombia: Colombia's most complete attacking line of the night, with a goal and an assist in the Group K win. 6
Caleb Yirenkyi, Ghana: one stoppage-time goal was enough to separate Ghana from Panama and put them level with England on points. 1
Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland: both remain in the two-goal pack, and neither was displaced by the late June 17 matches. 4

Next matches to watch

The next completed-results update should start with Group A and Group B. ESPN lists June 18 fixtures as Czechia vs. South Africa, Switzerland vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada vs. Qatar, and Mexico vs. South Korea. 3 The two most direct leaderboard swings are Mexico-South Korea for the top of Group A and Canada-Qatar for a Group B that currently has all four teams on one point.