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2026 World Cup Quarterfinals Preview: The Key Storyline For Every Team
48 teams started. Eight are left. Here's where things stand.
⚽ QF1 — 🇫🇷 France vs Morocco 🇲🇦
July 9 · 4:00 PM ET · Gillette Stadium, Boston
🇫🇷 France: 5 wins, 14 goals, 0 conceded. Mbappe has 7 goals and 2 assists, 19 World Cup goals in 19 appearances total. Dembele and Olise on the flanks. The one question is they haven't been seriously tested yet. Paraguay held them to a single penalty in the round of 16.
🇲🇦 Morocco: Second straight quarterfinal, the first African team to do it back to back. Drew Brazil, beat Netherlands on penalties, beat Canada 3-0. Hakimi has been their best player. Top scorer Saibari has a hamstring problem going into this game.
📺 The game: Morocco want revenge for 2022. They need Saibari fit to have a real chance at France's front line.
⚽ QF2 — 🇪🇸 Spain vs Belgium 🇧🇪
July 10 · 12:00 PM PT · SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
🇪🇸 Spain: 0 goals conceded in 5 games. Goalkeeper Unai Simon hasn't been beaten in 609 minutes at this World Cup, the longest streak by any goalkeeper in World Cup history. The attack has been slower to find rhythm. Yamal is recovering from a hamstring injury and getting sharper. Rodri is doing the same. Merino came off the bench and scored in the 90th minute to beat Portugal, same thing he did against Germany at Euro 2024. Spain last won the World Cup in 2010.
🇧🇪 Belgium: Drew Egypt, drew Iran, needed a big win over New Zealand just to get out of the group. Were losing 2-0 to Senegal with five minutes left, Lukaku and Tielemans scored to force extra time, won it. Then beat the USA 4-1. Trossard leads the tournament with 17 chances created. De Bruyne and Lukaku are both still in this squad. This is the end of the road for this group of players, one way or another.
📺 The game: Belgium have never won a major trophy with this generation. If they don't do it now, they won't.
⚽ QF3 — 🇳🇴 Norway vs England 🏴
July 11 · 5:00 PM ET · Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
🏴 England: Third straight World Cup quarterfinal. Beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca with 10 men for the last 30 minutes. Kane has 14 World Cup goals, more than any England player in history. England absorb pressure and find ways to win ugly.
🇳🇴 Norway: First World Cup since 1998, and their first quarterfinal in any major tournament. Haaland scored both goals against Brazil. Brazil had 66% of the ball and still went home. Haaland has 7 goals, tied with Mbappe for second in the Golden Boot race behind Messi. In 54 international appearances, he has scored 62 times, and has found the net in 14 consecutive games for Norway.
📺 The game: Kane vs Haaland. Both are the best striker of their generation. One of them is done for this tournament after Friday.
⚽ QF4 — 🇦🇷 Argentina vs Switzerland 🇨🇭
July 11 · 8:00 PM CT · Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
🇦🇷 Argentina: Messi has 8 goals and leads the Golden Boot race. The team has been shaky throughout, falling behind multiple times and relying on individual moments to bail them out. Switzerland will have seen all of it.
🇨🇭 Switzerland: They reached the quarterfinals in 1934, 1938 and 1954, and went out every single time. Beat Colombia on penalties. Ranked 15th in the world. They are hard to score against, and Argentina's defense has not been convincing.
📺 The game: Messi won one World Cup, in 2022. He is chasing a second. If he gets it, he would be the first player in history to win two World Cups as captain.
⏰ All four games run July 9 to 11. 🏆 Final is July 19 in New Jersey.
🗳️ Which four teams go through? Drop your predictions below!
48 teams started. Eight are left. Here's where things stand.
⚽ QF1 — 🇫🇷 France vs Morocco 🇲🇦
July 9 · 4:00 PM ET · Gillette Stadium, Boston
🇫🇷 France: 5 wins, 14 goals, 0 conceded. Mbappe has 7 goals and 2 assists, 19 World Cup goals in 19 appearances total. Dembele and Olise on the flanks. The one question is they haven't been seriously tested yet. Paraguay held them to a single penalty in the round of 16.
🇲🇦 Morocco: Second straight quarterfinal, the first African team to do it back to back. Drew Brazil, beat Netherlands on penalties, beat Canada 3-0. Hakimi has been their best player. Top scorer Saibari has a hamstring problem going into this game.
📺 The game: Morocco want revenge for 2022. They need Saibari fit to have a real chance at France's front line.
⚽ QF2 — 🇪🇸 Spain vs Belgium 🇧🇪
July 10 · 12:00 PM PT · SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
🇪🇸 Spain: 0 goals conceded in 5 games. Goalkeeper Unai Simon hasn't been beaten in 609 minutes at this World Cup, the longest streak by any goalkeeper in World Cup history. The attack has been slower to find rhythm. Yamal is recovering from a hamstring injury and getting sharper. Rodri is doing the same. Merino came off the bench and scored in the 90th minute to beat Portugal, same thing he did against Germany at Euro 2024. Spain last won the World Cup in 2010.
🇧🇪 Belgium: Drew Egypt, drew Iran, needed a big win over New Zealand just to get out of the group. Were losing 2-0 to Senegal with five minutes left, Lukaku and Tielemans scored to force extra time, won it. Then beat the USA 4-1. Trossard leads the tournament with 17 chances created. De Bruyne and Lukaku are both still in this squad. This is the end of the road for this group of players, one way or another.
📺 The game: Belgium have never won a major trophy with this generation. If they don't do it now, they won't.
⚽ QF3 — 🇳🇴 Norway vs England 🏴
July 11 · 5:00 PM ET · Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
🏴 England: Third straight World Cup quarterfinal. Beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca with 10 men for the last 30 minutes. Kane has 14 World Cup goals, more than any England player in history. England absorb pressure and find ways to win ugly.
🇳🇴 Norway: First World Cup since 1998, and their first quarterfinal in any major tournament. Haaland scored both goals against Brazil. Brazil had 66% of the ball and still went home. Haaland has 7 goals, tied with Mbappe for second in the Golden Boot race behind Messi. In 54 international appearances, he has scored 62 times, and has found the net in 14 consecutive games for Norway.
📺 The game: Kane vs Haaland. Both are the best striker of their generation. One of them is done for this tournament after Friday.
⚽ QF4 — 🇦🇷 Argentina vs Switzerland 🇨🇭
July 11 · 8:00 PM CT · Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
🇦🇷 Argentina: Messi has 8 goals and leads the Golden Boot race. The team has been shaky throughout, falling behind multiple times and relying on individual moments to bail them out. Switzerland will have seen all of it.
🇨🇭 Switzerland: They reached the quarterfinals in 1934, 1938 and 1954, and went out every single time. Beat Colombia on penalties. Ranked 15th in the world. They are hard to score against, and Argentina's defense has not been convincing.
📺 The game: Messi won one World Cup, in 2022. He is chasing a second. If he gets it, he would be the first player in history to win two World Cups as captain.
⏰ All four games run July 9 to 11. 🏆 Final is July 19 in New Jersey.
🗳️ Which four teams go through? Drop your predictions below!