India, June 30 -- For all the talk about expansion, mismatches and the fear that the World Cup would become too large for its own good, the first real verdict from the 2026 knockouts has landed with a different force altogether. This is not a tournament being diluted by numbers. This is a tournament being hardened by belief.

Brazil are still alive, but only just. Germany are gone. The Netherlands are gone. Morocco, Paraguay, Canada and Japan have already shown that the old hierarchy may still exist on paper, but it no longer travels with automatic protection once the whistle blows. The World Cup still has famous shirts, but it is quickly running out of untouchable teams.

The clearest image came in Houston, where Brazil, the five-time ch...