World Cup makes history not seen in 68 years with four ties in one day

Each group stage match at the World Cup comes with three different possible outcomes for a team: a win, a loss and a draw.

A win earns a team three points, while a draw earns one point rather than the zero points that come with a defeat. For some, a tie might feel like a loss. That's certainly how it felt for Spain after a 0-0 draw against massive underdog Cape Verde. For teams like Cape Verde on Monday or Qatar on Saturday, a tie is viewed as effectively a win.

On Monday, a whopping four ties were enough to make some World Cup history.

Here's a look at how rare Monday's World Cup results were in the tournament's history.

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2026 World Cup ties

All four of Monday's World Cup games ended in a tie:

• Spain 0-0 Cape Verde
• Belgium 1-1 Egypt
• Saudi Arabia 1-1 Uruguay
• Iran 2-2 New Zealand

With all four matches ending in a draw, Monday marked the first time since 1958 that there were four ties on one day at the World Cup, according to Opta. The last occurrence also fell on June 15, as ties between Paraguay and Yugoslavia, Sweden and Wales, England and Austria plus West Germany and Northern Ireland defined an eight-match day. 

That piece of history comes with a caveat. Under the 32-team format, there would typically be more days with only three matches in the group stage rather than four. Four-match days were often reserved for the period of the group stage in which each team played its final game and kicked off simultaneously with the other two teams in their group.

With that being said, three ties in one day is rare as well. Once Saudi Arabia and Uruguay finished in a 2-2 draw, Monday became the first day since the 1994 World Cup with four ties in a single day.

MORE: What Spain's draw with Cape Verde means for Group H

Anyone who predicted four ties could have made some serious money, largely thanks to Cape Verde's long odds of playing to a draw against favored Spain.

Eight of 16 World Cup matches have ended in a draw to this point. France and Argentina will be among the teams looking to change that trend on Tuesday, while underdogs such as Iraq might be happy to settle for a tie.