2026 FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals Roundup and Semi-Finals Preview
France 2-0 Morocco
Another game, another easy win for France as they breezed past Morocco to book their ticket to a third-consecutive World Cup Semi-Final! France absolutely dominated this game when it came to creating chances, with their xG standing at 3.69 in comparison to Morocco’s 0.14! In fact, Morocco only managed one shot on target all game, but rather fascinatingly, they did actually end up having more possession (48/52)! In the first half, Yassine Bounou stepped up in a big way by saving Kylian Mbappe’s penalty, a penalty that was won by Mbappe in the first place after he got wiped out by Noussair Mazraoui! Whilst this kept the game at 0-0 for a while longer, France would find themselves in front on the hour mark as Mbappe got his goal! Just 6 minutes later, Ousmane Dembele added a second after a disappointing piece of goalkeeping by Bono! Overall, whilst this was supposed to be their hardest game on paper (so far), this again felt pretty straightforward for France, with the 2018 Champions looking pretty formidable! As for Morocco, they’ll be really disappointed with how little they created in this game, but they should still be proud of becoming the first African side to ever make it to back-to-back World Cup Quarter-Finals!
Spain 2-1 Belgium
Even though Spain finally conceded a goal, it still wasn’t enough for Belgium as the European Champions put an end to the last remains of the Golden Generation! After not a lot happened before the first-half hydration break, Spain took full advantage of the break, with Fabian Ruiz scoring on the rebound to prove that Luis de la Fuente’s decision to include him was a good one! However, Spain’s world would then get rocked as after a great pass by Kevin De Bruyne, Charles De Ketelaere got on the end of Timothy Castagne’s cross to head Belgium onto level terms just minutes before halftime! Of course, this was the first time that Spain had conceded all tournament, meaning this was brand-new territory for them this summer! Belgium actually grew in confidence as the game went on, although, having said that, it’s still not as if they created many chances! Then, a big moment came when superstar goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was forced off due to injury, meaning Manchester United’s Senne Lammens was brought on! This then led to Lammens making a terrible mistake, with Mikel Merino once again scoring on the rebound to send Spain through to the Semi-Finals! Overall, whilst this was the first time that Spain looked to have been under any sort of pressure this tournament, they handled it well, with them remaining as the only team I see having any chance of beating France! As for Belgium, they’ve actually gotten better as the tournament went on, but they’ll be absolutely devastated to have been eliminated in the way that they were!
Norway 1-2 England (AET)
The story of the summer, Norway, had its final chapter written by England and Jude Bellingham! England looked in complete control before the first-half hydration break, with the extreme temperatures clearly affecting both teams! However, it was Norway who found themselves in front first, courtesy of a wonder goal by Andreas Schjelderup! There was then an amazing opportunity for Norway to increase their lead, but for some reason, Alexander Sorloth decided against playing in Erling Haaland! What a terrible decision! Then, in additional time at the end of the first half, England found their equalising goal through Jude Bellingham, but there was an awful lot of controversy surrounding this, with the ball clearly striking the cable lead following Orjan Haskjold Nyland’s goal kick! FIFA came out afterwards to say that the sensor inside the ball didn’t pick up a touch, which only makes all of this worse! In the second half, Norway thought they’d retaken the lead through Torbjorn Heggem, but his goal was ruled out for an incident between Erling Haaland and Elliot Anderson before the ball had even come in! This was such a soft foul; Anderson deserves an acting award! The only other thing of note from regular time was Kristoffer Ajer hitting the woodwork, with both teams not exactly at their best! Early in extra time, England would have their winning goal as Bellingham scored again following a poor goalkeeping error by Nyland! England were also given a penalty, although that was rightly overturned by VAR, whilst Norway basically accepted defeat when Haaland was replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen! In the end, Norway will feel very hard done by after this game as there were multiple key decisions that didn’t go their way! However, having said all of that, this has been a fabulous tournament for the Scandinavian side! As for England, it’s another game that they haven’t exactly played very well in, but I don’t think they’ll care too much as they’re now just 2 wins away from greatness!
Argentina 3-1 Switzerland (AET)
An extra player helped Argentina to an Extra-Time victory over Switzerland! It only took Argentina 10 minutes to take the lead in this game, with Alexis Mac Allister heading home well from a Lionel Messi corner! After this, Switzerland actually had quite a lot of the ball, way more than I expected, but they just weren’t able to create any real clear-cut chances! However, after gaining the momentum back again in the second half, Switzerland would capitalise as Dan Ndoye finished well to equalise in the 67th minute! Unfortunately for Switzerland, this is when the chaos would ensue as minutes after Ndoye equalised, Breel Embolo got sent off after VAR deemed that he’d dived, an incident that originally saw Leandro Paredes pick up a yellow card! Embolo was absolutely distraught over this, and it’s honestly left me very confused as to why he’d do this to begin with! Anyway, this completely flipped the momentum of the match around, with Argentina taking complete control of the proceedings as the Swiss were just trying to make it to Extra Time and Penalties! In fairness, it actually looked like Switzerland were going to pull it off, but that was until Julian Alvarez scored one of the goals of the tournament in the 112th minute to send the reigning World Champions through! Lautaro Martinez also added a third in stoppage time! Overall, this was another case of Argentina being anything but convincing! However, the fact that the reigning World Champions have made it back to the Semi-Final is a good achievement! As for Switzerland, what could’ve been without that red card?! In fairness, the Swiss had a very good tournament; their best since 1954!
Semi-Finals Preview:
France VS Spain
The two best teams heading into the tournament, France and Spain, remain as such as they enter AT&T Stadium for a mouthwatering Texan clash! France have been absolutely faultless up to this point, winning all 6 games by a 16-2 aggregate score! As for Spain, they remain unbeaten so far this summer, with their tournament aggregate standing at a very strong 11-1! Overall, both of these teams are insanely talented, with France having all of the technical ability in the world, particularly in forward areas! However, we have to mention the fact that Spain beat France two years ago in the Semi-Finals at Euro 2024, whilst they also won again in a Nations League Semi-Final in 2025! Also, Luis de la Fuente has never lost a major tournament match as Spain’s Manager, so this could really go either way!
My Prediction: 2-1
England VS Argentina
Of course, England and Argentina had to face each other in a year ending with “6” for the right to head back to the FIFA World Cup Final! Whilst they haven’t been particularly amazing, England have managed to go unbeaten up to this point, with their tournament aggregate score standing at 13-6! As for Argentina, they’ve survived multiple scares in their attempts to retain their crown, although you wouldn’t exactly get that from a 17-6 aggregate score! Overall, I wouldn’t say that either of these two teams have been particularly impressive across the past month, with there being fair arguments to be made that neither team would’ve even made it this far had they faced harder opposition! However, England did show against Mexico that they can reach high levels, whilst we expect Argentina to given the fact that they’re the defending Champions! This is another tricky game to call!
Comments