Eight matches across four days in July decided which teams went to the quarter-finals of the biggest World Cup ever staged. Two of them ended a career. One of them produced England’s best away win in their history. And the team that eventually lifted the trophy needed a substitute to squeeze past Portugal by a single goal.
- Morocco, France, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland advanced.
- Spain beat Portugal 1-0, ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career.
- Belgium dismantled the United States 4-1 in Seattle.
- Norway knocked out Brazil; England won 3-2 at the Estadio Azteca.
Updated 30 July 2026 with final results and the full tournament outcome.
Every Round of 16 result
The round ran from Saturday 4 July to Tuesday 7 July across the United States and Mexico. Here is the complete set.
- Morocco 3-0 Canada — NRG Stadium, Houston
- France 1-0 Paraguay — Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- Norway 2-1 Brazil — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
- England 3-2 Mexico — Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
- Spain 1-0 Portugal — Arlington
- Belgium 4-1 United States — Seattle
- Argentina 3-2 Egypt
- Switzerland 0-0 Colombia — Switzerland won 4-3 on penalties
Four of the eight ties were decided by a single goal. One went to penalties. That is a tighter round than the expanded 48-team format was supposed to produce, and it undercut the argument that adding teams would water down the knockouts.
Spain 1-0 Portugal: the tie that ended an era
Spain were ranked second in the world going into the tournament, Portugal fifth. On paper the closest match of the round. In practice it was 90 minutes of Spanish possession that Portugal could not break, settled late by a substitute.
It was also the last World Cup match of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career. ESPN’s tournament coverage recorded it as an ending that arrived without ceremony — no late chance, no dramatic exit, just a substitution pattern that ran out of time.
Spain had arrived via a 3-0 win over Austria in the Round of 32, having beaten Uruguay 1-0 in the group stage. Portugal came through 2-1 against Croatia in Toronto. Neither performance suggested what Spain would do over the following two weeks.
Belgium 4-1 USA: the reality check
The United States had won their first knockout match in 24 years days earlier, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in Santa Clara. Belgium had come from two goals down in the closing minutes against Senegal to force extra time, then won 3-2 on a VAR-awarded penalty.
One of those two teams carried momentum into Seattle. It was not the host nation. Belgium’s 4-1 win was the fifth time in six attempts since 1994 that the USA has exited at this stage, and the margin left little room for the argument that it was close.
We covered the build-up in our USA vs Belgium match report, which now carries the result and what it means for the 2030 cycle.
Norway 2-1 Brazil and England 3-2 Mexico
Norway had escaped the group stage only once in three previous tournaments. They beat Côte d’Ivoire 2-1 in Dallas, then took down Brazil at MetLife with Erling Haaland central to it. Full detail in our report on Norway’s win over Brazil.
England’s 3-2 at the Estadio Azteca was, by their own federation’s measure, the best away win in their history. Mexico had won Group A with a perfect nine points and beaten Ecuador 2-0. Thomas Tuchel’s side went to Mexico City and won anyway. Our Azteca match report has the full account.
How they got there: the Round of 32
The 48-team format added a Round of 32, and it produced more chaos than the round that followed. Two former champions went out on penalties inside 24 hours.
- Canada 1-0 South Africa
- Brazil 2-1 Japan
- Germany 1-1 Paraguay — Paraguay won 4-3 on penalties
- Netherlands 1-1 Morocco — Morocco won 3-2 on penalties
- Norway 2-1 Côte d’Ivoire
- France 3-0 Sweden
- Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
- England 2-1 DR Congo
- Belgium 3-2 Senegal (a.e.t.)
- USA 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Spain 3-0 Austria
- Portugal 2-1 Croatia
- Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
- Egypt 1-1 Australia — Egypt won 4-2 on penalties
- Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde (a.e.t.)
- Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Germany and the Netherlands both exited from winning positions, both on penalties, both on 29 June. Two of the most decorated nations in the competition were gone before the last sixteen even started, which is why the bracket that followed looked so unfamiliar.
Japan came closest to the biggest upset
Japan scored first against Brazil and held the lead deep into the match. Gabriel Martinelli settled it in the sixth minute of added time. A minute or two the other way and Brazil are out at the Round of 32 rather than beaten by Norway a week later — and the entire right side of the bracket changes.
Morocco set an African record
By beating the Netherlands on penalties and then Canada 3-0 in Houston, Morocco became the first African nation to reach the final eight in back-to-back World Cups. That is the single most durable achievement of the tournament outside Spain’s title, and it barely registered in European coverage.
South Africa’s run deserves a line too. The 2010 hosts opened against Mexico and lost 2-0, drew 1-1 with Czechia, then beat Korea Republic 1-0 to reach the knockouts for the first time since hosting. Canada ended it with a late Stephen Eustaquio winner in Los Angeles.
The group-stage result that aged strangely
France beat Norway 4-1 in Group I at Gillette Stadium. Three weeks later Norway knocked Brazil out and pushed England to 2-1 in a quarter-final, while France were shut out by Spain and then conceded six to England.
Group-stage margins are close to worthless as knockout predictors, and this tournament made the point repeatedly. Belgium drew 1-1 with Egypt and 0-0 with Iran before beating New Zealand 5-1, a profile that suggested an early exit. They reached the quarter-finals and took Spain to 2-1.
What happened next: the full bracket
The Round of 16 shaped a knockout run that ended with a new pairing in the final.
Quarter-finals
- France 2-0 Morocco — Foxborough
- Spain 2-1 Belgium — Los Angeles
- Norway 1-2 England — Miami
- Argentina 3-1 Switzerland — Kansas City
Semi-finals and finals
- France 0-2 Spain — Arlington
- England 1-2 Argentina — Atlanta
- Third place: France 4-6 England — Miami
- Final: Spain 1-0 Argentina (a.e.t.) — New Jersey, 19 July
Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to win it, making him only the second substitute to score the winning goal in a World Cup final. Spain claimed a second title after 2010 and became the first nation to hold the men’s and women’s World Cups at the same time. Argentina, chasing the first back-to-back win since Brazil in 1962, managed two shots across 120 minutes and none on target. The official record is at FIFA.
The third-place match deserves its own note. France 4-6 England, with a Bukayo Saka hat-trick, gave England their best tournament since 1966 and produced ten goals in a fixture nobody usually watches.
The records this round set
Several of the eight quarter-finalists were writing new national history rather than repeating old.
- Norway had never gone beyond the Round of 16, reached in 1938 and 1998. Beating Brazil took them past their own ceiling for the first time.
- Switzerland equalled their best-ever finish. Their previous quarter-final appearances came in 1934, 1938 and 1954 — nothing in 72 years until Colombia went out on penalties.
- Morocco became the first African side to make the final eight twice in a row.
- Argentina reached the quarter-finals for the fifth time in their last seven appearances, the most consistent record in the field.
- France won all five of their opening matches without needing extra time, the only side in the tournament to do so.
Belgium belong in a separate category. Their so-called golden generation arrived in North America widely written off, having drawn twice in the group stage, and this was their third appearance at this stage in the last four World Cups. They beat Senegal from two goals down, then put four past the host nation. Losing 2-1 to the eventual champions is not the ending that generation wanted, but it is a better one than the narrative allowed for.
Individual awards
Rodri took the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player, having controlled the midfield in the final and kept Lionel Messi away from dangerous positions. Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot and in doing so became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. Pau Cubarsí and Unai Simón also collected honours.
Mbappé’s award is the detail that complicates the France story. We argued during the group stage that France had the most frightening attack in the tournament, and the Golden Boot supports it. Then Spain kept them to zero in the semi-final.
Our view at Unicorn Blogger
The last sixteen was where the expanded format justified itself, and we did not expect to write that. Norway and Switzerland reaching the quarter-finals from a 48-team field is exactly the outcome critics said the extra places would prevent — they assumed dilution, and instead the extra matches gave mid-tier sides time to grow into the tournament.
Our sharper view is on Spain. Winning 1-0, 2-1, 2-0 and 1-0 through the knockouts is not the profile of a vintage side, and plenty of people will use those margins to argue this was a weak champion. We think that reads it backwards. Spain conceded once in four knockout matches against Portugal, Belgium, France and Argentina. Control, not flair, won this tournament, and the sides who tried to out-attack them all lost.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the World Cup 2026?
Spain, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time on 19 July 2026 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute. It is Spain’s second title after 2010.
Which teams reached the quarter-finals?
Morocco, France, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland came through the last sixteen.
Did Cristiano Ronaldo retire from international football at this World Cup?
Spain’s 1-0 win over Portugal was the final World Cup appearance of Ronaldo’s career.
How far did the United States go?
The USA reached the last sixteen for a second straight World Cup, winning 2-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 before losing 4-1 to Belgium.
Who won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball?
Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot and became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. Rodri won the Golden Ball.
What was the highest-scoring knockout match?
The third-place play-off, France 4-6 England in Miami, with a Bukayo Saka hat-trick.
Key takeaways
- All eight Round of 16 ties are listed above; four were settled by one goal and one went to penalties.
- Spain 1-0 Portugal ended Ronaldo’s World Cup career and started Spain’s run to the title.
- Belgium 4-1 USA was the round’s most one-sided result.
- Norway and Switzerland reached the quarter-finals, the clearest argument for the 48-team format.
- Spain conceded once in four knockout matches — control beat flair.
More across the football section, including how the tournament reshaped the 2026 summer transfer window and the Germany and Netherlands exits.
