Welcome to The Athletic’s daily World Cup cheatsheet, your guide to which teams are up, which are down — with the data analysis to back it up.We will unpack the key talking points from each matchday and give you the stats you need to stay in the know. And if you want to go deeper, don’t worry, we will point you in the direction of some of The Athletic’s best World Cup coverage.What happened on day three of the World Cup?There are pros and cons to the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams, but one of FIFA’s aims was to make it more global, with more countries competing for a place in the finals.And day three taught us that the gaps between soccer’s confederations could be narrowing. Qatar got an equalizer — which, at 93 minutes and 59 seconds, is the third latest in a group-stage game in recorded World Cup history — to draw with Switzerland and gain their first World Cup point; African champions Morocco went toe-to-toe with Brazil in another 1-1 draw; Haiti very nearly drew with Scotland; and Australia ran their socks off to beat Turkey 2-0.It’s early days but there is a sense of parity at the 2026 World Cup. There are few easy wins and players for less established nations, including Australian goalkeeper Patrick Beach, are stepping up when it counts (Beach’s eight saves against Turkey are the most by any goalkeeper on their World Cup debut since 2002).Now this might all look a bit silly early on Sunday if Germany thrash World Cup debutants Curacao in Houston, but there has been a lot to enjoy for fans of competitiveness.Morocco were more than a match for Brazil on day three of the 2026 World Cup. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)What does that mean for the tournament?Draws — or ties — are something that soccer produces a lot more of than most American sports. It can, to some, feel unsatisfying to play an entire game and not have a winner (and let’s not get started on cricket matches that can take five days and not produce a decisive result).But draws in this format of the World Cup mean that we could be in for a monumental matchday three — aka the final round of group games — at this summer’s tournament. Ties mean close groups, and with eight of the 12 third-place teams going through to the round of 32, we could be in for a permutation frenzy in a couple of weeks.Keep a close eye on Group B, which has started with two 1-1 draws, meaning that although Qatar remain outsiders, their chance of progressing to the knockout round has risen to 30 percent, based on advanced data. And The Athletic’s model is having to process the fact that Scotland are top of Group C after one game. Heavyweights Brazil and Morocco are still strongly fancied to progress but if one of them does so as a third-placed side, they will act as a major loose cannon in the bracket.