World Cup 2026: Quarterfinals matches, potential Semifinal fixtures

Jude Bellingham of England celebrates with teammate Harry Kane after scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between Mexico

The Round of 16 is well underway at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the Quarterfinals are taking shape.

Which means we can even start thinking about potential matchups in the Semifinals.

Here are the Quarterfinals matchups, which will be updated as matches are set, as well as a look ahead to what we could see in the Semifinals.

Here is the World Cup bracket, courtesy of The Sporting News:

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Now let’s work through the bracket, first by looking at the Quarterfinals matchups, and then at the potential Semifinals pairings.

Here are the matchups for the Quarterfinals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, both confirmed and potential.

The first quarterfinal match to be set? That came on Saturday, when Morocco knocked off Canada 3-0, and France outlasted Paraguay by a final score of 1-0, thanks to a penalty shot from Kylian Mbappé.

Now two teams that met in the Semifinals during the 2022 FIFA World Cup will meet a round earlier, this time with a spot in the Semifinals on the line. In that match back in Qatar, France took an early 1-0 lead on a goal from Theo Hernández in the fifth minute, and salted away the match when Randal Kolo Muani slotted home in the 79th minute.
vs. England

Time to break out all the historical analogies you can muster!

Norway is moving on to the Quarterfinals for the first time in history, following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Brazil. Erling Haaland continued his Golden Boot campaign with a brace, bringing his total to seven goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

They will take on England, after the Three Lions survived everything that was thrown at them on Sunday night in Mexico City. England’s 3-2 win over Mexico pushed them through to the Quarterfinals.

The third Quarterfinals matchup was determined Monday.

Tournament favorite Spain eliminated Portugal with a late winner from Mikel Merino. The USMNT followed suit with the rest of the host nations going out in the Round of 16 after a 1-4 loss to Belgium.

The fourth and final Quarterfinals matchup will be set on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi and Argentina will hope to return to the Semifinals when they take on Mohamed Salah and Egypt at noon Eastern in Atlanta. The winner of that match will meet the winner of Tuesday evening’s tilt between Switzerland and Colombia.

Update: Argentina’s 3-2 comeback win over Egypt has solidified one half of this matchup. Switzerland booked the other spot with a win over Colombia on penalties.

Now let’s take a quick peek ahead at what we could see in the Semifinals.

On the left side of the bracket, the winner of Thursday’s match between France and Morocco in Boston will take on the winner of the upcoming match between Spain and Belgium.

Then on the right side of the bracket, the winner of Saturday’s tilt between England and Norway will take on the team that emerges from the bottom-right quadrant. As of publication Argentina, Colombia, and Switzerland are the three teams fighting for that spot.

Update: With Argentina and Switzerland advancing, the winner of that match will meet the winner of England/Norway in the Semifinals.