2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 Roundup and Last 16 Preview

South Africa 0-1 Canada

The first Knockout game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup saw Canada make history with a stoppage-time winner over South Africa! As far as games go, this wasn’t one of the best that we’ve seen across this tournament, with neither team showcasing a ton of quality! South Africa, in particular, failed to create any sort of meaningful chance, whilst Canada’s goal came out of nowhere, with Stephen Eustaquio firing one in from long range to win the game in the 92nd minute! In the end, whilst it’s the end of the road for South Africa, they should be pleased to have made the Knockout Stages of a FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history! As for Canada, this was a historic win for them, their first World Cup Knockout victory, and now they’re set to enter the Last 16 for the first time in their history!

Brazil 2-1 Japan

A second-half comeback saw Brazil break Japanese hearts! Japan’s gameplan worked to perfection in the first half, with them not allowing Brazil much of anything, whilst they’d eventually find themselves ahead in the 29th minute thanks to a brilliant strike by Kaishu Sano! In the second half, there was a chaotic 30 seconds which saw both teams miss great chances, whilst Brazil would get themselves back on level terms in the 56th minute through Casemiro! The craziest part about that is Casemiro was terrible in the first half, with plenty of pundits expecting him to get subbed off during the break! Anyway, after Ao Tanaka lost the ball far too easily, Gabriel Martinelli punished him with a 95th-minute winner to send Brazil into the Last 16! Overall, this was a crucial win for Brazil, although it’s not exactly like their Road to the Final is going to get any easier! As for Japan, this will hurt them for a while because they were good enough to win this game, and instead, they’re still winless past the World Cup Group Stages!

Germany 1-1 Paraguay (Paraguay Win on Penalties)

Yes, you read that right, Paraguay knocked out Germany! Germany absolutely dominated the first half, creating chance after chance, but they just weren’t clinical enough! Paraguay then did the best thing possible, which was to punish their opponents, with Julio Enciso scoring a 42nd-minute goal to send the South American side into the break in front! Just 9 minutes into the second half, Germany were able to get themselves back on level terms through Kai Havertz, but after that, they again failed to take their chances! So, as a result, the game headed to Extra Time! In Extra Time, we saw a pretty controversial moment when Jonathan Tah headed Germany in front in the 102nd minute, only for his goal to be ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper! There has been a lot of outrage towards this decision, with this goal 100% being given in the Premier League! Make of that what you will! Anyway, when the game went to penalties, it didn’t start off well for Germany, with Havertz missing, whilst the European side looked all but out when Nick Woltemade missed at 3-2! However, both Antonio Sanabria and Fabian Balbuena missed their potential match-winning penalties, meaning we headed into sudden death! The first penalty of sudden death? Jonathan Tah smashing the ball over the bar! Jose Canale then stepped up and scored as Paraguay finally got over the line! In the end, whilst Germany will be fuming about the decision that went against them, they weren’t good enough to progress anyway; this was another shocking tournament from them! As for Paraguay, this is a famous win for them, and they’ll have to find a way to play even better if they’re to progress to the Quarter-Finals!

Netherlands 1-1 Morocco (Morocco Win on Penalties)

In a battle between two difficult teams to play against, it was Morocco who managed to edge out the Netherlands with a tense penalty shootout victory! Morocco were definitely the better team in this game, creating a lot more meaningful chances than their opponents, albeit was still 0-0 at halftime! In actual fact, it was the Dutch who scored the opening goal of the game, with Cody Gakpo reacting well to make it 1-0 after 72 minutes! However, Morocco refused to give up, with Issa Diop scoring a 91st-minute equaliser to send the game into Extra Time! Whilst not a lot happened in Extra Time, there was one moment of note as Bart Verbruggen pulled off a wonderful save to stop the Netherlands from going out… until after penalties, that is! As far as penalty shootouts go, this was a pretty poor standard, with half of the penalties being missed! After Neil El Aynaoui smashed the crossbar, Justin Kluivert missed a great chance to make it 2-0 by hitting the post himself, whilst Quinten Timber missed the target completely (at 2-2)! Somehow, Achraf Hakimi hit the post with the following penalty, whilst Crysencio Summerville saw his next penalty saved by Yassine Bounou! However, after 3-straight penalty misses, Ismael Saibari wouldn’t miss, sending Morocco through at the expense of the Dutch! In the end, it’s another heartbreaking World Cup defeat for the Netherlands as they exit the tournament way earlier than anticipated! As for Morocco, they’re still alive at this summer’s Finals; a worry for any future opponent!

Cote d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway

When needed, Erling Haaland came good to earn Norway their first-ever World Cup Knockout win! This was always going to be an interesting game, with both teams finishing second in the two hardest groups at this year’s tournament! Whilst Norway has a superstar striker, Cote d’Ivoire have a majorly underrated defence, with them being very tough to break down! So as a result, Norway needed a moment of quality from Antonio Nusa to lead inside 40 minutes! In the second half, the Ivory Coast came alive, with the decision to bring on Amad Diallo proving to be the right one, as the Manchester United winger made it 1-all in the 74th minute! But then, despite barely touching the ball the entire game, Erling Haaland would have his moment to send Norway into the Last 16! In the end, Cote d’Ivoire will be gutted to have lost their first-ever World Cup Knockout game, as an easier draw would’ve seen this team go a lot further (and I’m including the Group Stage draw in there as well)! As for Norway, as long as Erling Haaland keeps playing his game, the Norwegians are destined for greatness!

France 3-0 Sweden

As expected, France breezed past Sweden in East Rutherford, New Jersey! France completely dominated this game, boasting a 3.24xG whilst also owning 61% possession! However, it did take France a while to score, with Kylian Mbappe finally putting his nation in front in the 45th minute, whilst Bradley Barcola would then make it 2-0 just 8 minutes into the second half! Mbappe would then add a third in the 74th minute, with the French deciding to take it easy after this by bringing on Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki! Utterly ridiculous! Overall, since the start of the second half of their opening game against Senegal, France haven’t exactly allowed anyone to lay a glove on them, with that very much not changing in this one! As for Sweden, they were easily second best here, but they should be happy to have made it this far, given the fact that they failed to win a single game in their World Cup Qualifying group!

Mexico 2-0 Ecuador

After a brilliant win over Germany, Ecuador couldn’t make any more memories in this tournament as co-hosts Mexico made it 4 wins out of 4! I’d say that this was a pretty even game in the sense that both teams created plenty of chances, but it was Mexico who showed their quality with first-half goals from both Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez! Ecuador, who pride themselves on having an excellent defence, made a complete mess of this! Then, to make matters even worse for the South American side, Piero Hincapie got himself sent off in second-half stoppage time after he decided to talk whilst covering his mouth! What a muppet! Overall, Mexico are almost impossible to play against at home; they’ve won all four games at this summer’s tournament without conceding a goal! As for Ecuador, whilst this game was incredibly difficult for them, they’ll be disappointed to have exited from the competition so early!

England 2-1 DR Congo

Harry Kane came in clutch to rescue England from a near-shock defeat at the hands of DR Congo! After just 7 minutes, it was DR Congo who found themselves in front as Brian Cipenga managed to send his nation into raptures! Jordan Pickford should’ve done a lot better here! England were then asking for a penalty after Harry Kane went down following contact with Lionel Mpasi-Nzau, but that wasn’t given (which is the correct decision for me), whilst Yoane Wissa missed a great opportunity to double DR Congo’s lead! England would then continue to play poorly up until the second-half hydration break, with team captain Harry Kane bailing them out not once, but twice to turn things around! Overall, England would never have lived a loss like this down, so they’ve got Harry Kane to thank for still having their dream intact! As for DR Congo, whilst they were so close to one of the all-time great World Cup results, this was still a history-making tournament for them!

Belgium 3-2 Senegal (AET)

Crazy, absolutely crazy! Both Belgium and Senegal needed big wins in their final group games to advance to this stage, with Senegal honestly looking like the much better team! That was proven when Habib Diarra put them in front after 24 minutes, whilst Ismaila Sarr brilliantly made it 2-0 to Senegal just 6 minutes into the second half! Belgium looked completely out of it, with the African side being the far more threatening side going forward, only for Romelu Lukaku to give some hope with a goal back in the 86th minute! Unbelievably, just 3 minutes later, Youri Tielemans equalised for Belgium, sending the game into Extra Time, with more drama still to come! That drama came at the end of Extra Time, when Belgium were awarded a penalty after a coming together between Tielemans and Lamine Camara! For me, this wasn’t a penalty! Anyway, Youri Tielemans then stepped up and successfully scored again to send The Red Devils into the Last 16! Overall, I have absolutely no idea how they managed to achieve it, but Belgium are through! However, they still need to massively improve moving forward! As for Senegal, this is the definition of a collapse; they had this game in the bag!

United States 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina

The United States’ dream run continued with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina! I will say that not a ton of chances were created in this match, particularly clear-cut chances, with Bosnia barely doing anything! Just like the France-Sweden game, however, it took the United States 45 minutes to finally take the lead through Folarin Balogun, with Balogun potentially then ruling himself out for the rest of the tournament after getting sent off for a nasty challenge! Whilst it was totally accidental, it sadly still has to be a red card! Despite having an extra player for the last half hour of this game, Bosnia and Herzegovina still couldn’t do anything, with the US’ lead eventually being doubled thanks to a great free-kick effort by Malik Tillman! Overall, the United States are set for their 4th-consecutive Last 16 appearance, but this might be their best chance to make the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 2002! As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, congrats on playing in your first-ever Major Tournament Knockout Game!

Spain 3-0 Austria

Spain made it 4 clean sheets out of 4 as they breezed through Austria at SoFi Stadium! This was a game that Spain dominated, creating 18 more opportunities against an Austrian side that failed to get a single shot on target! It took them a while, but Spain would find themselves in front after 36 minutes through Mikel Oyarzabal, whilst Pedro Porro would make it 2-0 thirty minutes later! Then, just before stoppage time, Oyarzabal would score again to kill the game off once and for all, with Austria barely laying a glove on their opponents! Overall, Spain haven’t looked threatened at all so far this summer; they’re one of the two favourites to win it all! As for Austria, the draw hasn’t been kind to them, but it was still nice for them to return to the biggest stage after 28 years away!

Portugal 2-1 Croatia

A chaotic second half saw Portugal overcome Croatia in a fantastic Round of 32 matchup! Portugal were by far the better team in the first half, but they were unable to take their chances! In the second half, Croatia came out to play, with Ivan Perisic firing them in front after 53 minutes! Croatia actually had a second goal ruled out for offside, whilst Cristiano Ronaldo also saw his equaliser ruled out for the same thing! However, after Nikola Vlasic dragged down Renato Veiga in the penalty area, it was Ronaldo who stepped up and scored from 12 yards out to make it 1-1 in the 68th minute! Incredibly, 10 minutes of stoppage time was announced, with Portugal taking full advantage of it as Goncalo Ramos headed the reigning UEFA Nations League Champions in front in the 94th minute! Despite this, the drama of the game wasn’t over yet, with Josko Gvardiol finding a way to equalise for Croatia in the 103rd minute! However, his goal was ruled out by VAR for a rather controversial offside, and I’ll be honest, this goal should’ve stood in my opinion! This felt really harsh! Overall, this is a big win for Portugal, but it’s going to be interesting to see if they can build from this, given who they’re playing in the next round! As for Croatia, this was a pretty gutting defeat for them, with Luka Modric and co. heading home a lot earlier than in the previous two World Cups!

Switzerland 2-0 Algeria

Like always, Switzerland did what they should do by beating Algeria in Vancouver to advance to the Last 16! It took just 10 minutes for Switzerland to find themselves in front through Breel Embolo, whilst Dan Ndoye would double the Swiss’ lead less than a minute into the second half! Algeria did actually manage to have more of the ball than Switzerland in this game, but despite that, they didn’t create nearly as many opportunities, with Riyad Mahrez failing to score on multiple occasions! Overall, it’s now three straight wins at this year’s FIFA World Cup for Switzerland, who are very much now in the groove! As for Algeria, their wait for a World Cup Knockout win will have to wait as they just weren’t quite good enough to win this one!

Australia 1-1 Egypt (Egypt Win on Penalties)

In a game that barely had anything between them, Egypt were able to make history with a penalty shootout victory over Australia! World Rankings-wise, only Algeria separated these two teams, with this game being fairly even! Egypt were the better team in the first half, with Emam Ashour heading them in front just 13 minutes into proceedings, whilst Omar Marmoush missed a golden opportunity to double the Egyptians’ lead just moments into the second half! In the 55th minute, Australia would find themselves back on level terms courtesy of a Mohamed Hany own goal, and the crazy thing about that is Hany probably should’ve been taken off following a nasty head collision! Ultimately, though, this game went to Extra Time, with neither team really doing anything, meaning we were heading to penalties! Despite being one of the best players all game, Harry Souttar failed to hit the target completely, whilst Mohamed Salah successfully scored his spot kick to make it 3-out-of-3 for Egypt! Lucas Herrington was then the next Aussie player to miss, smashing the crossbar, which allowed Hossam Abdelmaguid to step up and score to send Egypt through to the next round! In the end, it’s disappointment for Australia, as their best chance to win a World Cup Knockout game has gone amiss! As for Egypt, this was a history-making win for them, but the next round is going to be a much taller task!

Argentina 3-2 Cabo Verde (AET)

What a game! Argentina, the reigning World Champions, entered as heavy favourites against the Cinderella story that is Cabo Verde, with Lionel Messi once again standing up to give Argentina the lead in the 29th minute! However, after Argentina failed to extend their lead, Cabo Verde would find themselves back on level terms thanks to a good finish by Deroy Duarte! Vozinha would then step up with multiple key saves, sending the game to Extra Time, as Argentina would be able to get themselves back in front early on through Lisandro Martinez! Unbelievably, though, Cabo Verde just wouldn’t go away, as Sidny Lopes Cabral scored one of the greatest World Cup goals ever! Sadly, an own goal by Diney Borges would see the dream finally die in the 111th minute, but even then, Cape Verde gave it a right old go in the closing stages! Overall, Argentina survived a major scare here, but that might be what helps them go on and successfully defend their crown! As for Cabo Verde, they have been an absolute joy to watch and cover this summer, with them winning the hearts of millions of football fans around the globe!

Colombia 1-0 Ghana

A single goal was all that was needed for Colombia to edge out Ghana at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs! Colombia were pretty comfortable in this game, creating way more chances than their opponents, as the South American side also owned 61% possession! It took Colombia just 14 minutes to take the lead through Jhon Arias, and funnily enough, that was all that was needed as Ghana failed to register a single shot on target! Overall, it’s now three straight clean sheets for Colombia, a team that I don’t think are going to be scared of anyone! As for Ghana, their latest World Cup journey may have come to an end, but they proved a lot of people wrong (me included)!

Last 16 Preview:

Canada VS Morocco

The first Last 16 tie of this year’s FIFA World Cup sees co-hosts Canada look to make more history when they take on Morocco in Houston! Canada have won 2 of their 4 games on their way to this stage, with an aggregate score of 9-3! As for Morocco, they’re still unbeaten so far this tournament, and their aggregate score currently stands at 7-4! Overall, Canada are aiming to make their first-ever World Cup Quarter-Final appearance, whilst Morocco have eyes on making at least the Final 4 again!

My Prediction: 0-2

Paraguay VS France

After stunning Germany in the last round, Paraguay are set for an even tougher task when they face tournament favourites France! Paraguay have gone undefeated since losing their opening game at the tournament, but their aggregate score still stands at 3-5! As for France, they’ve looked unstoppable so far this tournament, boasting an aggregate score of 13-2! Overall, whilst nobody gave them a chance to beat Germany, I’d still say that nobody’s going to give Paraguay a chance to beat France at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

My Prediction: 0-3

Brazil VS Norway

Star names collide as Norway’s emergence on the world’s biggest stage faces another test when they take on 5-time World Champions, Brazil! Brazil have gone unbeaten so far on their way to this stage, holding a very positive aggregate score of 9-2! As for Norway, they’ve already won more games (3) at this summer’s tournament than they have in their entire World Cup history combined, with the Norwegians' aggregate score standing at 10-8! Overall, Brazil are probably favourites; their history has earned that, but Erling Haaland can definitely win this game for Norway!

My Prediction: 1-2

Mexico VS England

England’s hopes of finally winning the World Cup again will be tested with a trip to a hostile Azteca to take on co-hosts Mexico! Mexico have been perfect so far this summer, winning all 4 games with an aggregate score of 8-0! As for England, they’re unbeaten so far this tournament, and their aggregate score currently stands at 8-3! Overall, England believe that they’re good enough to win the entire tournament, but as far as challenges go, beating Mexico in Mexico City has to be up there as one of the absolute hardest! This is a tough one to call!

My Prediction: 2-1

Portugal VS Spain

Two of the biggest national teams in the world face off in Dallas, Texas, as Portugal and Spain clash at AT&T Stadium! Portugal have managed to go unbeaten so far to make it to this stage, albeit they’ve only won 2 games! Portugal’s aggregate score currently stands at 8-2! As for Spain, besides failing to score in their opening game, things have been pretty straightforward for the reigning European Champions, boasting an intimidating 8-0 aggregate score! Overall, both Portugal and Spain got on the plane from Europe to North America, aiming to win the entire thing, and yet, one of them is going home before the Quarter-Finals are even set! Which team that’s going to be, however, is a very interesting question, given the fact that Portugal beat Spain 12 months ago to lift the Nations League Title!

My Prediction: 1-3

United States VS Belgium

The United States’ World Cup dream continues in Seattle as the co-hosts take on a resilient Belgium side at Lumen Field! The United States have won 3 of their 4 games to make it to this stage, with their aggregate score currently standing at 10-4! As for Belgium, I don’t know how, but this team is still unbeaten so far this tournament, with a similar aggregate score of 9-4! Overall, the United States are arguably favourites for this game, with home-field advantage proving to be pretty crucial! However, Belgium keep finding a way to make it through despite being anything but impressive, so it’s difficult to pick against them finding another way to win!

My Prediction: 2-2 (USA Win on Penalties)

Argentina VS Egypt

After surviving a scare against Cabo Verde, Argentina will be hoping for a much easier tie against another African side, Egypt! Argentina have technically won 4 games out of 4 on their way to the Last 16, with an aggregate score of 11-3! As for Egypt, they’re actually still unbeaten so far this tournament, making history as their aggregate score stands at 6-4! Overall, Egypt will have more belief than ever before after seeing what fellow African side Cabo Verde were able to put Argentina through, but having said that, the reigning World Champions are still heavy favourites!

My Prediction: 3-1

Switzerland VS Colombia

The final game of the Last 16 takes place at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as both Switzerland and Colombia have a great opportunity to match their best-ever World Cup result! After a poor draw in their opening game, Switzerland have bounced back with three wins since then, boasting a positive aggregate score of 9-3! As for Colombia, they’re still unbeaten so far this tournament, with a 5-1 aggregate score showcasing just how difficult they are to break down! Overall, this is a massive opportunity for both of these nations, with Colombia only ever making the Quarter-Finals in 1 previous World Cup appearance (2014), whilst the Swiss have exited at the Last 16 stage in each of the last three World Cups! I’m very excited for this game!

My Prediction: 2-2 (Colombia Win on Penalties)