Rise of a Football God

After Morocco vs South Korea 3 hours earlier, the final Group B game of June 21st was finally scheduled to be played.

Unlike Morocco's game that took place in USA, the final Group B game of the day took place in Mexico.

(GROUP B:)

(Peru vs France)

(Venue: Estadio BBVA, Mexico)

(Date: June 21st, 2026)

(Time: 18:00)

Having gotten 3 points already from their first group stage encounter, France would have one leg in the knockout stage already if they managed to win against Peru tonight.

Both nations started with their best lineups.

Peru started in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Gallese in between the posts; ahead of him stood a defensive quadruple of Lopez, Garces, Zambrano, and Advincula. In midfield was the duo of Aquino and Tapia.

Flores played attacking midfield, with Polo in right wing and Reyna in left wing. Guerrero led the line for Peru as the striker.

If Peru was to stand any chance at beating France tonight, they would have to go beyond their limits in attack while making sure that their defense remained a wall against one of the best teams of the tournament.

Could they do it?

Against this French side?

France started in a similar 4-2-3-1 lineup with Mike Maignan in between the posts, and ahead of him standing a solid defensive quadruple of Theo Hernandez in left back, William Saliba and Ibrahima Konate in center back, while Barcelona's Jules Kounde played in right back.

In midfield was the duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni , while further ahead of them in attack was the dynamic front four of Michael Olise in attacking midfield, Ousmane Dembele on the right, Desire Doue on the left, and Kylian Mbappe leading the line as the striker.

This was a world-beating France squad if all the individual gears clicked for the team to function.

And unfortunately for Peru, tonight, France had no intentions of playing nice.

Unfortunately for them, tonight, France clicked.

FWEEEE!

GOAL!

That was how fast the 1st goal of the game came.

The referee barely blew his whistle when Michael Olise received the ball, raising it above the Peru defense who were caught off-guard for Kylian Mbappe to chase. None of the defenders was fast enough to keep up with Mbappe's speed.

The game barely started and yet Peru were already caught lacking. Kylian Mbappe didn't miss his moment, hitting the ball in a volley and sending it into the back of the net.

1 minute, 0-1.

That was ominous for Peru but they couldn't pay attention to it.

After all, they still had 89 minutes of this game to play.

The game continued and one thing immediately became clear, France had no intentions of reducing the tempo of the game.

From their backline to their solid midfield, France dominated the game, hoarding possession, penetrating Peru with ruthless passes and electric dribbling displays from the dynamic front four.

In the 23rd minute, Kylian Mbappe doubled his tally for the night, scoring the second goal of the game from an Ousmane Dembele cross across the face of goal.

Peru were barely hanging on as the game progressed.

And yet, somehow, their defense survived despite the onslaught of attacks till the 40th minute when Kylian Mbappe was fouled just outside the box.

Michael Olise played the freekick and the Estadio BBVA erupted in Mexico as the Frenchman played an accurate freekick, scoring the third goal of the game.

"OH MY WORLD!" The commentators raved.

"WHAT A BEAUTY!"

"Michael Olise, you boy! What a strike!"

And just like that, France were 3 goals ahead already.

Late in the first half, just before the halftime whistle, Peru finally managed to get their goal from a clinical counterattack, their striker, Guerrero scoring to reduce the deficit.

Second half started, and Peru's plight didn't improve.

Kylian Mbappe came close to getting his hattrick multiple times in the second half, but in the end, it was Desire Doue who got the 4th French goal of the game.

Receiving the ball from the left, the electric PSG winger wriggled his way into the box with his silky dribbling before unleashing a grounded shot into the net.

That was the final goal of the game.

The game ended 1-4 in France's favor.

…

The next day, June 22nd, Serbia took on Australia in the first FIFA World Cup game of the day, a game that ended 1-1 after fulltime.

On that same day, another epic Group C encounter took place.

This time, it was between Egypt and Brazil.

(GROUP C:)

(Egypt vs Brazil)

(Venue: MetLife Stadium, USA)

(Date: June 22nd, 2026)

(Time: 20:00)

A giant of African football took on an even bigger giant of South American football in a blockbuster FIFA World Cup encounter.

Both countries held nothing back in this epic encounter.

Egypt started in a 4-2-3-1 formation with El Shenawy in between the posts as the goalkeeper, while ahead of him was a defensive quadruple comprising Hany, Rabia, Abdelmonem, and Trezeguet.

In midfield was the duo of Attia and Koka. Sayed played as the attacking midfielder, Mohamed leading the line as the striker, but it was the two wingers that were the double spearheads of this team.

Mohamed Salah took his position in right wing, while Omar Marmoush played as a left winger on the afternoon.

As for Brazil? They started in a 4-3-3 formation with Alisson Becker at the back as the goalkeeper, while ahead of him stood a defensive quadruple of Sandro, Alexsandro, Marquinhos, and Vanderson.

In midfield was a dynamic trio of Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes, and Gerson, while in attack was the attacking trio of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, and Rodrygo.

Neymar was benched for this game, allowing the dynamic offensive trio of Vinicius, Raphinha, and Rodrygo to enjoy themselves on the pitch as Carlo Ancelotti took the radical decision of playing Raphinha as a striker.

It was a blockbuster game, and as soon as the referee's whistle sounded, the players on the pitch showed exactly why the game was dubbed so.

FWEEE!

That signal felt like a war horn than a signal to kickstart a football game.

All hell broke loose.