2026 World Cup: Ronaldo leads Round 1 Worst XI alongside South African stars

The opening round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup produced plenty of unforgettable moments, but not every star lived up to expectations.

While some players announced themselves on the biggest stage, others endured difficult outings, and few disappointments were more surprising than Cristiano Ronaldo’s underwhelming display for Portugal.

From costly mistakes to anonymous performances and missed opportunities, several high-profile names struggled to make a positive impact during the first set of group-stage fixtures.

Here is the Worst XI from Round 1, led by Ronaldo and featuring South African duo Siyabonga Sithole and Themba Zwane after a difficult start to their World Cup campaign.

Outdoing Curacao’s Eloy Room, who conceded seven times against Germany, is a big ask, but Tunisia goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh somehow managed to be worse.

Not only did Chamakh concede five goals in Tunisia’s humiliating 5-1 loss to Sweden, he was also directly at fault for two of them.

The Carthage Eagle was the only player in the first round of matches to make two errors leading to goals, and also finds himself at the bottom of the goals-prevented pile, conceding 2.88 goals more than an average goalkeeper would, according to xG.

A toss-up for the worst amongst Curacao’s band of unmerry men who conceded a mammoth seven goals against a ruthless Germany side, Bazoer gets the spot, having conceded the penalty that helped the Germans establish a two-goal lead for the first time in the ill-fated match.

The rest of the game, after the penalty, went downhill for Curacao, who had up to that point competed with their more illustrious opponents, as they were unable to cope with Germany, conceding the most goals of the opening round of matches.

A World Cup debut to forget for Muheim ended in disaster as the Swiss defender’s own goal denied his team all three points, condemning them to a draw against minnows Qatar.

Muheim’s nightmare debut was made worse by the fact that he did not actually stay the game, coming on just before second-half added time for Ricardo Rodriguez and was on the pitch for a total of nine minutes, one of the worst availability-to-outcome ratios in World Cup history.

Unlike Muheim, Tasheen played all 90 minutes in Iraq’s loss to Norway, but many fans of the Lions of Mesopotamia would have preferred it if he had not.

While facing Erling Haaland is an uphill task, Tasheen made the most of the opportunity by being a negative influence on both ends of the pitch.

In addition to being at fault for one of the goals and failing to make a single tackle or interception, while committing three fouls, Tasheen also managed to miss a guilt-edged header that would have put Iran back on level terms just before half-time.

Arsenal defender Pierro Hincapie was run ragged by Ivory Coast youngster Yan Diomande for the better part of Ecuador’s 1-0 loss to the Elephants.

Hincapie was unable to cope with Diomande and did not fare much better when it was Amad Diallo’s turn to run the Ivorian right wing. Hincapie ended the game with only one successful tackle after getting dribbled past four times in a performance he would want to quickly forget.

The Worst XI midfield is anchored by two South African midfielders after the Bafana Bafana’s shocking 2026 World Cup debut that ended in a 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

Sithole was the epitome of South Africa’s performance on the day. The midfielder was the lowest-rated player of the round (Sofascore, WhoScored, FotMob) after his error caused Mexico’s opener, and he compounded the error by being sent off for a last-man challenge.

South Africa’s second nominee on the Worst XI list, Themba Zwane, also received his marching orders for violent conduct after appearing to strike an opponent in the face.

Zwane had only been on the pitch for 23 minutes and had only managed nine touches of the ball before his ill-fatedred card..

Barcelona forward Ferran Torres was one of Spain’s disappointing forwards, who were thwarted by Cape Verde’s legendary goalkeeper, Vozinha.

Ferran missed Spain’s best chance of the game, sending his shot crashing off the post, when it was easier to score, summing up a disappointing performance when he finally got the chance to be the main man for La Roja’s frontline.

Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to jettison youngster Endrick was made all the more shocking by the performance of the man actually given the nod by the Italian gaffer.

Igor Thiago was largely anonymous during Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco, taking only two shots in 62 minutes, one of which was a horrific miss from the Seleção's best chance as the Brentford man headed wide from point-blank range, unmarked.

After Lionel Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria made the Argentine the World Cup’s all-time highest goalscorer, many expected a response in similar fashion from his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Their expectations were cut short by another in a long line of disappointing performances by Ronaldo at major tournaments, as the Portuguese legend clocked 10 matches without a goal at the World Cup or Euros with his clean sheet against DR Congo.

Ronaldo managed three shots against DR Congo, none of which was on target, not even the biggest chance for Portugal to take all three points, which the iconic goalscorer fluffed.

Mikel Oyarzabal was no better than Ferran, spurning several chances to score and give Spain the three points against Cape Verde.

Only one of Oyarzabal’s five shots was on target as the Real Sociedad legend ensured Cape Verde enjoyed a famous debut at the World Cup.

With the performances of Ferran and Oyarzabal, Spain will be sweating on the fitness of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams even more ahead of tougher group games against Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.