Already, 40 teams remain in the United States or are on their way to compete for soccer’s ultimate championship at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The top four seeds all advanced, but who will survive after 100 of the tournament’s 104 games have been played?
Atlas Lions seek revenge on France
Quarterfinal 1: France v Morocco – Thursday, 20:00 GMT – Boston
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This will be a long-awaited rematch of the 2022 semi-final in Qatar, where Morocco’s fairytale run ended with the then-defending champions.
Morocco came into the match full of momentum and confidence after finishing first in the group featuring Croatia and Belgium, defeating Spain on penalties in the Round of 16 and Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals, but they also played the game despite being tired and suffering from serious injuries.
It felt like a bonus match at the time, but falling behind by just five minutes made their uphill task a mountain to climb.
To their credit, Atlas Lions had 60% possession in the match, won more corner kicks than France, had 10 shots on goal that hit a tree, but only one of them went on target, and France made the game safe with a crucial second goal with 11 minutes remaining.
Four years have passed since then, and the situation has changed significantly. Only nine members of the 2022 team were selected to be part of this squad, and just four of the starting lineup that last faced France started against Canada. Mohamed Ouabi took over as head coach in March following the departure of coach Walid Reglagui, who led Morocco to an ill-fated AFCON final against Senegal earlier this year in Qatar.
After defeating the Netherlands on penalties in the round of 32 and scoring the equalizer in regular stoppage time, Morocco faced Canada in the last 16, fighting hard to overcome tremendous pressure in the first half and losing star forward Ismael Saibari to injury.
However, they broke the deadlock in the second half with some well-worked set-pieces, followed by two devastating counter-attacking goals to seal a 3-0 win.
France struggled on the counter in the first half of their first game against Senegal, but were never faulted and went on to win 3-1, before going on to beat Iraq, a much-changed Norway and Sweden in the last 32, and secure a difficult victory over Paraguay in the last 16 thanks to a late penalty.
Sufian Rahimi, who came on as a substitute in the 21st minute against Canada, was an effective substitute for Saibari, but although the Bayern Munich forward scored in each of Morocco’s group matches, he and his team could have scored more and topped the group.
The quartet of Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and either Desiree Douye or Bradley Barcola is arguably the best in the world, and Morocco’s hopes rest squarely on defense and keeper Yassin Bounou standing firm, and the forwards taking advantage of the chances they create during the break.
Belgium cannot rely on Spain’s generosity
Quarterfinal 2: Spain v Belgium – Friday, 19:00 GMT – Los Angeles
It would be no exaggeration to say that many did not expect Belgium to be in the quarterfinals after the opening two games of the group stage.
After coming from behind to draw against Egypt, the Red Devils fought through a stalemate with Iran with 10 players and defeated New Zealand, who finished last in the tournament, to finally qualify.
Belgium then faced elimination against Senegal, trailing 2-0 with four minutes left, but Romelu Lukaku exploited a lax defense to pull one back, and Youri Tielemans equalized three minutes later after goalkeeper Molly Diaw deflected a cross.
Belgium made a comeback five minutes into extra time when Tielemans converted a penalty kick following a VAR decision.
Afterwards, amidst the confusion caused by Folarin Balogun’s suspension being overturned by FIFA, they faced an unranked American team in the last 16, benefiting from a team that advanced with 4 wins and 1 loss, and took advantage of poor defense to score 12 points in 3 games.
But their luck may be up as they are unlikely to receive the same generosity from Spain, who are third in the FIFA world rankings. Spain has yet to concede a goal in this tournament, making it six consecutive years without conceding a goal in the entire World Cup (the longest record in history).
La Roja had allowed just two shots on target through half-time in their five matches, both coming from Cristian Ronaldo in their 1-0 win over Portugal in the last 16, before Mikel Merino scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Red Devils coach Rudi Garcia shuffled his squad against the United States, removing Jeremy Doku and leaving Kevin De Bruyne on the bench for the first time in 38 games against Belgium, but emulating the legendary 1986 side and displacing the European champions again at this stage will require an enormous amount of effort to pull off.
The Golden Boys face off in the Golden Boot Race
Quarter-final 3: Norway vs England – Saturday, 21:00 GMT – Miami
For the first time, this tournament will see two leading contenders for the Golden Boot race face off on the same pitch.
Norway coach Starre Solbakken denied his side a chance of winning by scoring two goals each against Iraq and Senegal in the group stage, but left Erling Haaland on the bench against Kylian Mbappe and France, who had already decided to advance to the knockout stages.
Haaland made up for stoppage time to score the winning goal in the first round of the finals against Ivory Coast, and scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Brazil to advance to the quarter-finals.
He has scored in 14 consecutive games for Norway, appearing in seven out of four games, and has scored a total of 27 goals in that stretch, taking his tally to 62 goals in 54 caps.
The 25-year-old is one place behind Lionel Messi and one ahead of England’s Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot.
The 32-year-old Bayern Munich forward secured his place at the top of the group with two goals in the group opener against Croatia and one in the win over Panama. Kane then scored both goals in a second-half comeback to beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the round of 32, adding a penalty to earn a 3–2 win over co-hosts Mexico.
Kane and Haaland were born a week apart in late July and have much in common, having won the Premier League’s Golden Boot three times and enjoying success in Germany, but they have only shared the pitch twice in the 2022-23 season.
It was fitting that Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City competed equally well at home and away in the Premier League, earning one win and one goal each.
Everything points to it being another close contest, but if one of these stars can make it to the top in Miami, it could further strengthen their claim to be the greatest strikers on the planet right now.
Can Argentina avoid further drama?
Quarterfinal 4: Argentina v Switzerland – Sunday, 01:00 GMT – Kansas City
This is said to be a sign of the champions bouncing back from the brink, but Lionel Messi and co., who scored incredibly dramatic 3-2 wins over Cape Verde and Egypt in the finals, will be hoping for a much quieter night against Switzerland in Kansas City.
The two-time winners and defending champions looked battered against Egypt, trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining and could have been worse, but another Pharaoh goal was canceled out by VAR during the break.
Much of Egypt’s success was due to the speed and dribbling wizardry of Haysem Hassan on the wing during counter-attacks against an Argentine team with an average age of 30 years and 173 days. The average age is the second-oldest in a World Cup match.
Switzerland will be hoping to follow suit if Johan Manzambi misses the game against Colombia with a knee injury, as Argentina are expected to push for another win.
The fleet-footed 20-year-old has scored three goals and provided one assist in his last three appearances, while another tricky winger, Ruben Vargas, was only fit enough to come on as a substitute against Colombia, but he also scored the crucial penalty in the penalty shoot-out and has two goals and one assist.
One advantage for Argentina is that Switzerland, which has played all five games on West Coast time, including three at Vancouver’s domed BC Place, will head to Missouri to face an Argentine team that practices in Missouri and is playing two of its group games there.
However, Switzerland may feel like a free blow in this lowly-anticipated match, considering they reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 1954 and defeated Colombia in their first-ever World Cup penalty shootout win.
