The World Cup Quarterfinals Are Set. Here’s Everything You Need to Know

The first World Cup ever held across the United States, Mexico, and Canada was supposed to be a coronation for the sport’s biggest names. Instead, it has turned into the wildest bracket in recent memory. The knockout rounds have swallowed one giant after another, and by the time the dust settled on the Round of 16, half the teams anyone expected to see in the quarterfinals were already booking flights home. If you have not been keeping up here, here is exactly how things stand with only eight teams left and the trophy still up for grabs.

The short version is that chaos has taken over, and the bracket is now split between wounded favorites and hungry underdogs who smell a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let’s walk you through the carnage, the survivors, and the games coming next that you cannot afford to miss.

The round of 16 claimed more heavyweights

The biggest upset of the tournament happened on July 5, when Norway knocked out five-time champion Brazil 2-1in New Jersey. Superstar Erling Barut Haaland scored twice in the final 11 minutes to send Brazil home, and Neymar’s penalty in stoppage time was far too late to matter. This was Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990, and it landed the Norwegians a spot in the last eight of the World Cup – the first ever in their nation’s history.

The heartbreak didn’t stop there. A day later, Spain beat Portugal 1-0 and ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s international career for good, closing the book on one of the greatest runs the game has ever seen. On top of that, all three host countries are now gone – for the first time, the nations throwing the party will not have a team in the quarterfinals.

Messi delivered another World Cup masterpiece

If you only watch one replay from this tournament, make it Argentina’s escape against Egypt on July 7. The defending champions were losing 2-0 with barely 11 minutes to play, staring straight at the exit, and then a 39-year-old Lionel Messi decided the night was not over.

Messi set up Cristian Romero to pull one back in the 79th minute, then smashed home the equalizer himself four minutes later, and Enzo Fernandez completed the stunning comeback with a winner in stoppage time. It finished 3-2 to Argentina, and when the whistle blew, Messi was in tears. He now leads the tournament with eight goals, and Argentina is dreaming of another title.

The underdogs crashing the party

This is where the tournament gets really fun, because the teams nobody feared are the teams playing with house money now. Morocco has been the story of the knockouts, cruising past Canada 3-0 to become the first African nation ever to reach back-to-back World Cup quarterfinals.

Switzerland joined the party too, outlasting Colombia in a nerve-racking penalty shootout to reach its first quarterfinal since 1954. Add in a Norway side built around Haaland that fears absolutely no one, and suddenly the bottom half of this bracket is wide open for a team that was never supposed to get this far. For once, the underdogs are not just happy to be here.

The quarterfinal matchups to watch

The quarterfinals are stacked, and they start with a heavy rematch. On July 9, France meets Morocco in Boston in a replay of the 2022 semifinal, with Kylian Mbappe chasing the Golden Boot against the team carrying the hopes of an entire continent. The very next day, Spain takes on Belgium in Los Angeles in a battle of two sides playing beautiful football.

Then comes the weekend everyone circled. On July 11, Norway and Haaland face England in Miami, before Messi and Argentina take on Switzerland in Kansas City that same night. Every one of these games can be found on the updated bracket, and the winners move within one step of the final in New Jersey on July 19.