And then there were eight. Four full weeks after the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, and 95 games later, the quarterfinals kick off Thursday with each remaining team only three wins away from becoming world champions.
World Cup 2026
We’ve seen 40 teams — including co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States, as well traditional powerhouses Brazil and Germany — fall by the wayside over the past month.
Now only reigning world champions Argentina plus Belgium, England, France, Morocco, Norway, Spain and Switzerland are left to dream about winning the final in New Jersey on July 19.
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Match Details
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But how did we get here? Who are the players who have stood out the most? And what are the moments that we’ll never forget?
Tournament Impact
ESPN’s Sam Marsden brings you up to date with answers to all of those questions, Sam Tighe looks at where the four quarterfinals will be won and lost, a selection of our writers who have been reporting on the tournament give us their predictions on the winner of each matchup, and we’ll bring you the latest betting odds for each tie via DraftKings.
France vs. Morocco (Thursday, 4 p.m. ET | Foxborough, Massachusetts)
How they got here: France’s progress to this stage has been relatively trouble free. They have won all five games, scoring 14 goals and overpowering teams with the attacking brilliance of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise. Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0) and Norway (4-1) were comfortably beaten in the group stage, before Sweden were dispatched 3-0 in the round of 32. Paraguay did a better job of keeping them at bay in the round of 16, with their physical approach offering a different ch
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