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A closer look at the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists
08th July, 2026 06:01 PM
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has reached its decisive phase, with just eight countries still chasing football’s biggest prize. Quarter-final action will run from July 9 to July 11, 2026, featuring the ties France vs Morocco, Spain vs Belgium, Norway vs England, and Argentina vs Switzerland.
With only a handful of matches remaining before the final in New York/New Jersey, the tournament has already delivered several remarkable milestones and historic achievements.
Familiar faces
Half of the teams that reached the quarter-finals at the 2022 World Cup have repeated the feat four years later. Argentina, England, France and Morocco have all booked another place among the final eight.
In Qatar, England was the only one of those four to exit at the quarter-final stage after losing to France, while Argentina and France advanced all the way to the final. Since the two finalists now sit on opposite sides of the bracket, another Argentina-France championship match remains a possibility, something not seen since Argentina and West Germany contested consecutive World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990.
Four teams chasing a historic first title
Among the remaining contenders, Argentina (three titles), France (two), England (one) and Spain (one) have all previously lifted the World Cup trophy.
Belgium, Morocco, Norway and Switzerland, however, are still searching for their first triumph. Belgium and Morocco have never progressed beyond the semi-finals, Switzerland is making its deepest run since reaching the quarter-finals on home soil in 1954, while Norway has already achieved its best-ever World Cup performance by advancing this far.
Should any of those four nations go all the way, the tournament would crown its first new champion since Spain claimed the title in 2010.
Norway break new ground
Norway are appearing in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time after producing one of the tournament’s biggest surprises by eliminating Brazil in the Round of 16. Led by prolific striker Erling Haaland, the Scandinavian side has rewritten its own history.
Their upcoming opponents, England, are far more experienced at this stage, making a 10th quarter-final appearance. France follows with nine, Argentina with eight, Spain with five, while Belgium and Switzerland have each reached the last eight three times. Morocco is featuring in only its second World Cup quarter-final.
Morocco continue making history
Morocco’s impressive run has added another landmark to African football. After becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final in Qatar 2022, the Atlas Lions have now become the continent’s first team to qualify for back-to-back World Cup quarter-finals.
They will once again face France, reviving the rivalry from the previous tournament’s semi-final.
European teams account for six of the eight remaining nations. The only exceptions are South American giants Argentina and African representatives Morocco.
The six European quarter-finalists match the continent’s representation at the 2018 World Cup and improve on the five European teams that reached this stage in Qatar four years ago.
Most group winners still standing
Six of the 12 group winners remain alive in the competition: Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, France, Argentina and England.
Morocco and Norway are the only quarter-finalists who advanced after finishing second in their respective groups. None of the best third-placed teams survived to the last eight, with Paraguay, the only one to reach the Round of 16, eventually losing 1-0 to France.
France are the only team still in the tournament to have won every match inside 90 minutes.
Argentina have also recorded five victories but required extra time to overcome Cabo Verde in the Round of 32. Spain and England remain unbeaten with four wins and one draw, while Norway are the only quarter-finalists to have suffered a defeat, losing earlier in the tournament to France.
Belgium, Morocco and Switzerland each enter the quarter-finals with three victories and two draws.
Spain have yet to concede a single goal after five matches, making them the tournament’s toughest defensive side.
They are the first team since Italy at the 1990 World Cup to reach this stage without allowing an opponent to score, despite the expanded tournament now including an additional knockout round.
France have conceded just two goals, Switzerland three, Morocco four, England, Argentina and Belgium five each, while Norway have let in nine.
France and Argentina, the finalists from Qatar continue to shine in attack. France and Argentina have each found the net 14 times, giving them the highest goal totals among the remaining teams.
Belgium follows with 13 goals, Norway has scored 12, England 11, Morocco 10, while Spain and Switzerland have each registered nine.
