Four quarterfinals. Four qualified nations. And a bracket that looks like a movie script: France faces Spain in a rematch of the Euro 2024 final, while England and Argentina prepare to write a new chapter in one of football’s most intense rivalries.
Quarterfinal results
- France 2-0 Morocco (July 9, Boston). Mbappé 60', Dembélé 66'. Same scenario as in the semifinal at Qatar 2022.
- Spain 2-1 Belgium (July 10, Los Angeles). Ruiz and Merino at the buzzer. Hard-fought qualification for La Roja.
- England 2-1 a.e.t. Norway (July 11). Haaland and his teammates eliminated in extra time in one of the most contested quarterfinal matches.
- Argentina 3-1 a.e.t. Switzerland (July 11). Messi decisive once again in a tough match against the Nati, qualifying for their first quarterfinals since 1954.
Profile of the four semifinalists
France is the only team not to have conceded extra time in this knockout phase. Six matches, six wins, sixteen goals scored. Mbappé (8 goals) co-top scorer with Messi. Dembélé, the tournament's offensive revelation, scored his fourth goal in the quarterfinal. The third time in three editions that Les Bleus reach the semifinals, a consistency few teams can claim.
La Roja arrived at the World Cup as European champion, and they have acted like it: never really in danger, sometimes laborious (the 0-0 opening match against Cape Verde), but always qualified. In the quarterfinal, Merino again pulled his team through in the last seconds against Belgium. Lamine Yamal, barely 18 years old, is the best player in the world in this tournament after Messi. France beat them in the Euro 2024 final. The semi-final has a taste of revenge.
England has not yet found its best football in this World Cup, but it knows how to win the matches that matter. The extra-time victory against Haaland and Norway, in one of the most physical quarters of the tournament, shows a team capable of drawing on its resources when the game doesn’t flow. Bellingham, decisive several times, remains the link between the two parts of the game. Against Argentina, the historical context is extremely charged.
Argentina keeps advancing. Rarely without trouble, sometimes on the edge of the abyss (3-2 after extra time against Cape Verde), but always present in the next round. Messi (8 goals) is the tournament’s all-time top scorer with a comfortable margin now. The defending champion may be the least impressive collectively of the four semi-finalists, but it has experience, bench depth, and Messi. That often makes the difference.
Find all the official jerseys of the four semi-finalist nations at Elite Fanstore.