Just for kicks: Our ranking of Atlanta’s best FIFA World Cup matches so far
We don’t know who will play in Atlanta’s last 2026 FIFA World Cup match on July 15, but we’ve certainly been spoiled with classic clashes along the way.
Atlanta Stadium has hosted seven matches so far. The forthcoming semifinal has Argentina, England, Switzerland and Norway all vying to get here. Both Argentina and England are hoping to make return trips.
Leading up to the World Cup’s final four, we decided to reflect back on matches at Atlanta Stadium. From the opening Cape Verde shocker versus Spain on June 15 to Lionel Messi’s Argentina mounting a massive comeback against Egypt on Tuesday, here’s how we ranked them.
7. Czech Republic vs. South Africa (Group A)
South Africa looked out of sorts in it opening 2-0 loss to Mexico. Honestly, it’s tough to play in the World Cup’s opening match against a host country onits turf.
Six minutes into Bafana Bafana’s second match, the vibes were down again. The Czech Republic’s Michal Sadilek netted what was then the quickest goal scored this tournament.
With just about seven minutes left in regulation, South Africa was awarded a penalty kick. Teboho Mokoena drilled his chance into the bottom-left corner of the net, surging in the opposite direction of Czech Republic goalkeeper Matej Kovár.
The 1-1 draw lifted South Africa’s team spirit, which carried over into a 1-0 win against South Korea in its next match.
Ultimately, 2010’s World Cup hosts made it to the knockout stages for the first time in their history. They fell 1-0 to host Canada, but their World Cup tide turned at Atlanta Stadium.
6. Spain vs. Saudi Arabia (Group H)
Spain won 4-0, and Mikel Oyarzabal had a brace, but we still like to think of this one as the Lamine Yamal game. If this World Cup is Lionel Messi’s last dance, it’s also a coming-out party for arguably the planet’s best player under 21.
The 18-year-old wunderkind came on for the second half of Spain’s opening match against Cape Verde. To be fair, he was recovering from an injury, so it was a muted performance.
When Yamal and La Roja took on Saudi Arabia in their second match, it was a different story. After starting, it took the Barcelona superstar all of 10 minutes to make his initial World Cup scoring mark.
He took five shots, two on goal. We’ll always be able to say the one that mattered most and happened first was in Atlanta.
5. Congo vs. Uzbekistan (Group K)
In a way, this felt like a coronation for Congo at the World Cup.
Les Léopards showed their mettle with a 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in their first game. They lost a tight one (1-0) to Colombia after that. If they were to have any shot of earning their country’s first knockout-stage appearance, they needed to win and win big in their last match.
It felt like that dream faded in the 10th minute when Uzbekistan’s Eldor Shomurodov turned a defensive breakdown on Congo’s back line into a chip over goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi that found the net.
Congo’s supporters were then reminded why they love Yoane Wissa. Wissa tied it up with a penalty in the 68th minute. Ten minutes later, teammate Fiston Mayele put Congo up 2-1. One more goal would surely help its knockout-stage campaign.
Wissa delivered in stoppage time with his third goal of the World Cup. 3-1, Congo. Les Léopards made history and set up their date for a clash with England in the round of 32.
4. Congo vs. England (round of 32)
England fans who spoke with the AJC before this round of 32 clash were mum on their country’s World Cup chances. After all, a team with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham should be great, but after securing only seven out of a possible nine points in group play, folks had their doubts.
Enter Congo, which last competed in a World Cup back in 1974, when the country was known as Zaire.
Les Léopards made it out of Group K, behind Colombia and Portugal, so when it was time go up against the Three Lions in a knockout matchup, they weren’t fazed by heavyweight pedigrees. In fact, more than an hour after Brian Cipenga’s goal in the seventh minute put Congo up 1-0, you couldn’t help but think of the scathing headlines British tabloids were dreaming up for an England shocker.
Then again, lest we forget that this World Cup has been one where superstars are showing up. England’s aforementioned captain, Kane, is one of them. In the last 15 minutes of the match, Kane did what Kane does: score. He did it twice, driving two daggers into the hearts of Congo supporters.
After the final whistle on the 2-1 win, those skeptical England fans stood in unison with their national team, singing “Wonderwall” by Oasis.
3. Haiti vs. Morocco (Group C)
In the world of international sports, losses can feel like wins, depending on the greater context.
On paper, this last match looked like one a casual football fan might skip over. Morocco, Africa’s highest-ranked team, just needed a win or a tie to move on in Group C. Haiti, goalless and winless in two group-stage matches, was already eliminated.
None of that mattered in the 10th minute when Haiti’s Lenny Joseph scored his country’s first World Cup goal in 52 years, putting Haiti up 1-0 on FIFA’s No. 7-ranked team. Morocco struck back on the boot of captain Achraf Hakimi, tying it.
Four minutes later, Haiti’s Wilson Isidor sort of fulfilled a prophecy from his grandfather, who witnessed the country’s last World Cup goal in 1974. Isidor launched a missile from outside the box into the left corner of the net.
For a moment, it felt like Atlanta Stadium’s never-open roof might actually catch fire. The next three goals were all scored by Morocco on the way to a 4-2 victory and second-place group finish behind Brazil.
It could’ve easily been hailed as Atlanta’s best World Cup match if the next two hadn’t happened …
2. Spain vs. Cape Verde (Group H)
I can imagine my colleague, award-winning columnist Michael Cunningham, has seen his fair share of Atlanta’s biggest sports moments.
Our back-and-forth looks of astonishment — especially his — during Atlanta’s opening World Cup match told me we were witnessing something truly special.
Here’s a thought: Imagine if Rocky and Apollo Creed tied at the end of “Rocky.”
This match introduced the internationally uninitiated to Cape Verde, a West African nation of 530,000 folks. We fell in love with Vozinha, a 40-year-old goalkeeper, who blocked all seven of Spain’s shots.
We collectively held our breath in the 90th minute when a header from Cape Verde’s Diney Borges gave Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón more trouble than he expected. Were the 67,640 folks in attendance this close to witnessing the greatest upset in World Cup history? It sure felt like it.
Our heart rates and blood pressures started to come down from their triple-overtime, Game 7 levels of anxiety.
This was just the start of Cape Verde’s magical Cinderella run to the round of 32, where it fell in a classic to Messi and Argentina, 3-2.
It was a wake-up call to Spain, which eventually got its act together and now look like one of the tournament favorite again.
This will likely go down as the greatest 0-0 draw in World Cup history, if it isn’t already.
1. Argentina vs. Egypt (round of 16)
As an Atlanta native, I still don’t do well with 28-3 puns. After all, y’all watched it, we lived it.
To that end, it’s hard not to imagine Mohamed Salah felt a bit like Matt Ryan in the 2017 Super Bowl in this one. This time around, you have Messi in the Tom Brady role.
For Egypt, your team already made history, reaching and winning your first knockout-stage match. Next up, the defending champs. Messi vs. Salah, a clash of titans.
You’re up big (2-0), playing well and you have a GOAT on the ropes in his last World Cup. You’re just under 15 minutes and some change away from reaching a place your country has never been.
Next thing you know, said GOAT decides to do GOAT things.
First, there was an assist for goal No. 1 in the 79th minute. Then, he scores goal No. 2 — his record 21st career World Cup score — all of four minutes later. Enzo Fernández’s header on a cross from Lautaro Martínez delivered the heartbreaking blow in stoppage time for a 3-2 Argentina win.
You and your country’s dreams are gone in three-goal dash. Pain.
Argentina moved on to the quarterfinals, its fans still packing Atlanta Stadium seats long after the final whistle blew. Egypt’s players and supporters shed tears, both of sadness and pride.
Everyone else, this Atlanta United Founding Member included? Grappling with a realization that we’ve might’ve just witnessed the greatest soccer match in Atlanta history.