After one month and 96 matches across 16 stadiums that sent 40 teams home, the 2026 World Cup has finally reached the quarterfinals.
The longest and most inclusive edition yet of the global soccer tournament has come down to eight nations left standing from three continents. They include the current defending World Cup champions, some teams that were favored to go all the way before the tournament began, and a team that has made it to this milestone for the first time in more than 70 years.
All three host nations failed to reach this point, leaving the 1998 French side the last team to win the World Cup on home soil for at least another four years.
Here is a glimpse of what to expect.
July 9: France Versus Morocco
First up, Kylian Mbappé and France will face off against the Kingdom of Morocco.
Both teams reached this point four years ago, and both teams made it to the semifinals, with Les Bleus eventually going home as the runner-up and the Atlas Lions coming in fourth to the surprise of most onlookers. This time, though, only one of them will make it to the semifinals.
French stars Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé will look to continue their individual race for the Golden Boot award, which is given to the player who scores the most goals in the tournament. Mbappé has seven goals thus far, while Dembélé has four.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Ismael Saibari will be looking to log more goals of his own after his team knocked out the first host nation, Canada, 3–0 in the round of 16. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou will be looking for his third clean sheet of the tournament. Of the nine African countries to make it out of the group stage, Morocco is the only team left standing.
Both teams remain unbeaten in this tournament, with France winning all of its games and Morocco winning all but its draw with Brazil.
France is considered a heavy favorite to win.
July 10: Spain Versus Belgium
After trumping Team USA 4–1 in Seattle, Belgium heads south down Interstate 5 to face Spain in Los Angeles.
This top-10 matchup puts the team that FIFA considered ninth-best in the world (Belgium) against a top-three contender that has yet to give up a single goal the entire tournament.
In fact, Belgium will be looking to cap Spain’s ongoing world record for the longest stretch at the World Cup without conceding a goal. It will be looking to goal-scoring pillars such as Romelu Lukaku and young talent such as Charles De Ketelaere to continue its momentum from the round of 16 victory. De Ketelaere scored twice in that game.
Meanwhile, Spain is favored to win with the help of Mikel Oyarzabal, who is also in pursuit of the Golden Boot with four goals thus far, and goalkeeper Unai Simón, who will be looking for his record sixth clean sheet. La Roja’s only blemish in the tournament thus far was the scoreless draw with Cape Verde in its opening match.
July 11: England Versus Norway
That Golden Boot will also be in play on July 11 when Harry Kane leads his England squad against Erling Haaland and his fellow Vikings from Norway.
Haaland’s meteoric rise on the World Cup stage has been evident on the score sheet. In just his first-ever appearance in the tournament, he remains tied with Mbappé with seven goals. He earned the last two in a 2–1 upset victory over Brazil in the round of 16.
Kane, meanwhile, has six goals. The star forward has delivered decisive strikes for the Three Lions, including the winning goal against the second host nation, Mexico, in Mexico City in the round of 16. He also scored two late goals in the previous match against Congo. That game marked the first time since 1966 that England won a World Cup match in which it conceded the first goal.
England is currently favored.
July 11: Argentina Versus Switzerland
Argentina also punched its way to the quarterfinals when, for the first time in decades, it won a World Cup game in which it conceded the first goals.
The defending World Cup champions found themselves trailing 2–0 against Egypt on July 7 after nearly 80 minutes of play. But with Lionel Messi at the lead, La Selección found its way back. Cristian Romero put his team on the board in the 79th minute, and Messi secured the equalizer less than five minutes later. Only two of the seven minutes of stoppage time were needed for Enzo Fernández to deliver the game-winning goal.
In the second half of a July 11 double-header, Argentina will face Switzerland, which makes its first quarterfinal appearance since 1954. It also had a hard-fought round of 16 battle against Colombia. Both teams held a 0–0 stalemate through full-time and extra time, ultimately leaving the game up to penalty kicks. Switzerland emerged victorious 4–3.
Messi goes into this match leading the race for what would be his first-ever Golden Boot award, with eight goals thus far.
Argentina is favored to survive to the semifinals, but only two teams have ever won back-to-back World Cups since the tournament’s inception in 1930.
The first team to win two in a row was Italy in 1934 and 1938. The second was Brazil, which secured the World Cup in 1958 and 1962.
The Road Ahead
Once the quarterfinals have cut the eight survivors down to four, the semifinals will be held on July 14 and July 15.
The winner of the France–Morocco match will take on the winner of the Spain–Belgium match in the first game, scheduled for Dallas at 3 p.m. on July 14.
Then either England or Norway will face either Argentina or Switzerland for the second game in Atlanta, also at 3 p.m. on July 15.
After that, the two semifinal losers will play a match for third place in Miami at 5 p.m. on July 18. Then the two semifinal winners will meet in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium outside New York City at 3 p.m. on July 19.
