World Cup

The final match between Spain and Argentina was shaping up to be an exciting moment as Argentina failed to be the defending champions and Spain’s chances were boosted with a 1-0. Spain ended this victory with a great performance which actually makes this statement standing.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s quote “Attacker win you Games , Defense wins you Title” as Spain conceded just one goal at the World Cup.

Awards in the FIFA World Cup 2026

Pau Cubarsi, Best Young Player of the Tournament

Unai Simon, Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament

Rodri, Best Player of the Tournament

Kylian Mbappé makes history by winning the Golden Boot back to back, as nobody has ever done that since the start of the tournament in 1930. He did that in the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cup with eight goals and ten goals respectively.

General New records at FIFA World Cup 2026

Kylian Mbappé Becomes the All-Time Leading World Cup Goalscorer

Cristiano Ronaldo Becomes the First Player to Score in Six World Cups.

Lionel Messi Becomes the Oldest Player to Score a World Cup Hat-trick at 39yrs

Lamine Yamal Becomes the Youngest Player to Reach Both a UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup Final.

Cape Verde Become the Smallest Nation to Reach the Knockout Stage

Highest Attendance in World Cup History .The governing body counted 4.6 million spectators across the 72 matches staged in 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States surpassed United States last hosted back in 1994.

Highest-Scoring World Cup Ever
This year’s edition of the FIFA men’s world championship experienced many goals scoring, with England and France topping the list with 20 goals each, having Argentina following with 19goals. The winners of the trophy, Spain, have a goal tally with Belgium at 14 goals each and Norway follow them with 13 goals. One of the hosts, USA, got the same goals as the Netherlands and Germany had 11 goals. The two African
Senegal and Morocco couldn’t Cary last by having equal goals, with Mexico, Brazil and Switzerland recording 10 goals each. Canada had one goal ahead of Portugal, Japan and Egypt, where each have 8 goals and Sweden with 7 goals, while
Austria and Croatia follow with
6 goals each .the
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Congo DR, Côte Ivor, Colombia
And Algeria recorded 5 goals each, the smallest nation, Cabo Verde and New Zealand with
4 goals each.
Australia, Paraguay, Türkiye,
Uruguay, Iran and Jordan with
3 goals and Qatar
, Ghana, Tunisia, Czechia, Korean Republic, Uzbekistan,Haiti, South Africa and Ecuador left with
2 goals each.
The lowest scores are Curacao, Scotland, Saudi Arabia.
And Iraq, which have 1 goal and it is only Panama who came to this year’s World Cup without a goal
with total of the 314 goals scored.

Dick Advocaat Becomes the Oldest Coach in World Cup History
At 78.

Lamine Yamal Sets Record for Most World Cup Appearances by an 18-Year-Old

Tunisia became the first team in history to qualify for the World Cup without conceding a goal.

Tunisia became the first team in history to qualify for the World Cup without conceding a goal.

Panama became the only team among the 48 participating in this World Cup to finish without scoring a single goal.

Sweden qualified for the World Cup without winning any match

Panama have become the third team in World Cup history to finish with zero points .

Iraq (1986) — 1 goal scored, 4 conceded
Japan (1998) — 1 goal scored, 4 conceded
Panama (2026) — 0 goals scored, 4 conceded

Rodri enters special club of 7 players able to win Champions League, World Cup, Ballon d’Or and continental trophy.

🇩🇪 Franz Beckenbauer
🇩🇪 Gerd Müller
🇫🇷 Zinedine Zidane
🇧🇷 Rivaldo
🇧🇷 Ronaldinho
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
🆕🇪🇸 Rodri

Disappointing scenes from the Argentina players after the final whistle.
Here is the video

Players from Argentina and Spain became involved in a confrontation immediately after the final whistle following Spain’s World Cup triumph.

Leandro Paredes and Eric García were at the centre of the incident after tensions built throughout a physical final.

Who remembered how Argentines were kicking Uche Okechukwu and Wilson Oruma at the flank with the players no holding any ball.

Defeating Argentina in any tournament always comes with a price and FIFA hardly do anything against them.

The joy of this FIFA World Cup in This edition was full of moments and memories that seemed to overflow till the next tournament would take place in the summer of 2029, as the tournament is played in a four-year cycle.
FIFA has transitioned to an expanded 32-team format. While FIFA has not yet announced the official host nation or exact match dates, the tournament is expected to take place between June and July. Qualification pathways for the 2029 edition are already underway.

The ultimate celebrated trophy, the FIFA Men’s World Cup, was brought to an end and Spain finally got to lift it for a second time after today’s final match against Argentina with a 106th minute goal by Ferran Torres.

The final stretch of the World Cup begins with soft movements which
Spain’s early pressure immediately generated possession for them while Argentina looked to strike on the counter.

Argentina then settled into the dangerous game of a low block, inviting Spain forward. On the left, Marc Cucurella began pushing forward and turning the screws on Argentina, while Mikel Oyarzabal had a great chance in the 38th minute, but no goal was recorded by both sides in the first half.

The game went the same in the second half with nobody scoring.
The Argentina midfielder
Leandro Paredes came on and within minutes received a yellow card.
In the 62nd minute Spain introduced Ferran Torres and Pedri. This actually lifted the tempo of the game, making them have three quick corners and a couple of half-chances, with the best chance falling to Torres.

In the 70th minute, Messi had not been sighted, and Argentina had not registered a shot on goal.
Shortly after, a little time Spain had two attacking options: from Nico Williams and Mikel Merino, but he was saved by Emiliano Martínez.

As the result was still goalless, everybody was thinking maybe the game would be heading to penalty kicks to repeat the past history of the last World Cup final taking place in the U.S. ended in a 0-0 draw after extra time. Brazil ultimately defeated Italy on penalties in the 1994 final, but Spain put a stop to
Think on the 106th minute with a goal from Ferran Torres after a red card from Emiliano Fernández.
At this point, Spain had 20 attempts while Argentina’s 0.
The 1-0 win for Spain ended 103 magical matches having brave Argentina playing against a complete team.

The 23rd edition of the tournament and the first to feature 48 teams and three host countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. England beat France 6-4 in a turbulent third-place World Cup playoff on Saturday in Miami.
As a result, the game produced ten goals, making France repeat their historical 10 goals for France and their opponents in a single game at the FIFA World Cup. This actually happened between France and Paraguay in Sweden in 1958.
Below are the full details.
France 7-3 Paraguay

Sweden 1958 | Group stage
Idrottsparken, Non-working
10 goals

France goals: Just Fontaine (24, 30 & 67), Roger Piantoni (52), Maryan Wisniewski (61), Raymond Kopa (70), Jean Vincent (83)
Paraguay goals: Florencia Amarilla (20 & 44), Jorge Romero (50)

England beat France yesterday, making it the best success for England at a World Cup since 1966.

The first half saw Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa score before Bukayo Saka added a rapid-fire brace, completing his hat-trick from the spot three minutes from time.

Bukayo Saka hat trick helped England survive a dramatic second-half comeback to beat France 6-4 in the game.

Currently, 300 goals have been scored in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Which England and Arsenal player, Bukayo Saka, netted the 300th of the tournament in third place against France. The Mentions’ player played just 356 minutes at this World Cup, and provided 6 goal contributions.

3 goals. 3 assists… Averaged a goal or assist every 59 minutes. Just imagine if he was fully fit all tournament. Great one to Saka

France 4-6 England third place yesterday

Canada, Mexico and the United States host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

France 🇫🇷 Kalian Mbps (48′, 66′) Bradley Barcola (54)Qusmane Dembélé (90’+6)
Declan Rice (3), Ezri Konsa (18), Bukayo Saka (37′, 45’+1′, 87′ Pen)
Jude Bellingham (90’+8)

Mbappe’s has 10 goals in this World Cup, two more than Messi in the race for the Golden Boot and
Moved past Lionel Messi for the career World Cup scoring record, scoring twice yesterday to reach 22 goals.
As the FIFA World Cup has been a long tournament, ten yesterday wasn’t the highest scoring in World Cup history.
See a ranked list of the FIFA World Cup matches with the most goals.

1st
Austria 7-5 Switzerland in 1954 2nd
Brazil 6-5 Poland (AET) in 1938 3rd
Hungary 8-3 West Germany in 1954
4th
Hungary 10-1 El Salvador in 1982 5th
France 7-3 Paraguay in 1958
6th
Argentina 6-3 Mexico in 1930; Hungary 9-0 Korean Republic in 1954
West Germany 7-2 Turkey in 1954

7th
France 6-3 West Germany in 1958, Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire in 1974

9th
Austria 7-5 Switzerland
Switzerland 1954 | Group stage
Stade Olympique de la Polonaise, Lausanne

Austria goals: Theodor Wagner (25, 27 & 53), Alfred Korner (26 & 34), Ernst Ocwirk (32), Erich Probst (76)
Switzerland goals: Robert Ballaman (16 & 39), Sepp Hugi (17, 19 & 60)

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is full of unforgettable experiences and memories for millions of people, the result of yesterday’s game ended 4-6.

This has not just been and is not just the greatest record in the World Cup of all time, but a trace to follow for the next generation because it is natural to happen in football and, in other conclusions, only one country will be the FIFA world champion. Tonight witness another record set as all preparation is made for the match between Spain vs Argentina for the final of this year

The stage is set for end of the premier international men’s soccer tournament at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19 as Argentina and Spain will face off in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final .
Argentina and Spain have officially met only once in FIFA World Cup history. That lone encounter took place during the group stage of the 1966 tournament in England, where Argentina defeated Spain 2-1.

Argentina one succesfu country in the history of football who has produced some football legends like Maradona, Messi, and Gabriel Batistuta had fellow contribution in FIFA world
– *1978 Winner*: Argentina won its first World Cup on home soil, beating Netherlands 3-1 in the final (extra time).
– *1986 Winner*: Led by Diego Maradona, Argentina won its second World Cup, defeating West Germany 3-2 in the final.
– *1990 Finalist*: Argentina lost to West Germany 1-0 in the final.
– *2014 Finalist*: Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, lost to Germany 1-0 in the final (extra time).
– *2022 Winner*: Argentina won its third World Cup, beating France 4-2 on penalties (3-3 after extra time) with Messi leading the charge.

Other notable performances
– *1930*: Argentina was one of the first World Cup finalists, losing to Uruguay 4-2.
– *1998 Quarterfinals*: Argentina was knocked out by Netherlands on penalties.

As this year edition of the final Argetina teams led by the legendary Lionel Messi, seeks to defend its title and become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups. Messi, at 39, is playing in his last World Cup and is determined to go out on a high note .

Spain has been a strong team in world who had produced talented players like Sergio Ramos, David Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, Torres, and Gerard is looking forward to claim its second World Cup title, having previously won in 2010.
This year team with inclusion of Lamine Yamal, has been impressive throughout the tournament, conceding just one goal

Spain has several notable performances in the history of FIFA World Cup such as
– *2010 Winner*: Spain won its first World Cup title in South Africa, defeating Netherlands 1-0 in the final (Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal in extra time).
– *2014 Group Stage*: Spain was eliminated in the group stage after losses to Netherlands and Chile.
– *2018 Round of 16*: Spain was knocked out by Russia on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
– *2022 Round of 16*: Spain lost to Morocco on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Other notable performances
– *1950*: Spain finished 4th in the inaugural World Cup.

What are the chances for each team the to win the Title

Argentina’s chances of winning the World Cup are looking strong, with some predicting they’ll retain the title. Led by Lionel Messi, they’re one of the favorites, with a 14-17% chance of winning, according to various models and bookmakers. Their squad is stacked with talent, including Enzo Fernández, Julián Alvarez, and Lautaro Martínez

Coach Lionel Scaloni should be aware that Spain’s strength at the 2026 FIFA World Cup lies in the perfect balance between their elite, press-resistant midfield control and the explosive, vertical threat of their dynamic wingers. This tactical harmony allows them to dictate the tempo of the game and To counter Spain’s defense, Argentina might focus on exploiting the flanks with speed and creativity. Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez could be key in finding gaps in Spain’s defense. Argentina’s midfield, led by Enzo Fernández and Rodrigo De Paul, will likely play a crucial role in progressing the ball and creating scoring opportunities.

Spain is looking strong with a 26% chance of winning this year edition of the FIFA World Cup with boost from past experience country won 2010 FIFA World Cup and European Champion in 2024 with team pact with young talent like Lamine Yamal,Daxid Raya ,Rodri and Marc Cucurella etc

Coach Luis de la Fuente should know that Argentina’s strength lies in their team cohesion, defensive solidity, and Messi’s magic. But they’ll need to overcome tough opponents and history – no team has defended the World Cup title on a different continent since Brazil in 1962 and To counter Argentina’s defense, Spain might target the flanks with crosses and deliveries into the box, exploiting Argentina’s relatively narrow setup. They’ll also look to exploit Argentina’s high press, using quick counter-attacks to catch the defense off guard .

The match promises to be a thrilling encounter, with both teams boasting exceptional talent and skill. Messi and Yamal will likely be the focal points of the game, with their contrasting styles and approaches making for an intriguing battle.

Everything was in good order at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta today, Wednesday, July 15, to witness rivalries that had grown louder with time and generations echoed that was exactly what happened between England and Argentina.
The first half was full of an explosive, highly physical affair featuring six combined fouls, a midfield shoving match, and tensions sparked immediately when Argentina’s Enzo Fernández delivered a rough challenge on Elliot Anderson in the third minute.
Towards the end of the first half, an England cross into the box was deflected out for a corner kick, but with added time seconds over the allotted number, the whistle was blown for halftime.

The first half ended in a tense, scoreless where both teams played physically, resulting in no shots on target.
The second begins with a sort of tactical and little physical until
53 minutes of the game which a build-up started by Harry Kane dropping deep, hoisting a long ball to Morgan Rogers that wasn’t cleared very far, and then a cross from Rogers to Gordon and Anthony Gordon finished with a goal, to mark his first career World Cup goal.

The game kept flowing for 63 minutes, Argentina replacing Leandro Paredes and shortly in the 71st minute of the second half, England replaced Anthony Gordon with Ezri Konsa.
In the 82nd minute, England removed Declan Rice and Reece James and England became shitty
Late substitutions taking out a winger who is using the ball to bring in defenders cause problems for England.
On 81 minutes, Lautaro Martinez was substituted on getting to 90+3′. He produced a goal through headed in a cross from Lionel Messi to seal the dramatic comeback for Argentina.
What a brilliant performance. Plus today. Lautaro Martínez has come off the bench to score or assist in each of Argentina’s last three games: against Egypt assisted, against Switzerland scored.
And against England scored a goal again, while Argentina got their first goal in the 86th minute through Enzo Fernández. This makes Argentina score 11 goals after the 75th minute in the 2026 World Cup.
American referee Ismail Elfath blew the final whistle on 90+6 to end England’s dream to the final of the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026.

Defending champions Argentina defeated England 2-1 in the 2026 World Cup semi-final, rallying from behind with late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez to secure a spot in the final against Spain

Argentina are back-to-back World Cup finalists.

Only six reigning men’s World Cup champions have made the final the following year:
Italy won it in 1934 and 1938,
Brazil Won it in 1958 and 1962,
Argentina won it in 1986 and entered the finals in 1990, but West Germany won it in 1990,
Brazil won it in 1994 and entered the final in 1998, but France won it in 1998.
France won it in 2018 and entered the final in 2022, but Argentina won it in 2022 and Argentina won it in 2022 and they also enter the final in 2026. Who will win it in 2026 ?

Can they become the first side to defend their crown in 64 years?

Spain produced a performance that led to a 2-0 win against global football powerhouse. France are a global football powerhouse because they have world-class attacking talent and all this failed to create anything yesterday against Spain.
The game began with Spain’s strong defense and control of possession until an early crucial breakthrough after Lucas Digne kicked Yama, leading to a foul which resulted in a penalty kick taken by Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute of the game.
Oyarzabal first-half penalty goal makes its fifth goal of this year’s World Cup and 30th goal in 60 international games for Spain.
In the 29th minute of the France center-back William Saliba had a back injury and received medical attention, but he couldn’t continue and was replaced by Maxence Lacroix.
But Spain continued to dominate possession till the end of the first half.

France made aggressive changes at the start of the second half, bringing on Manu Kone for Adrien Rabiot and later Désiré Doue for Bradley Barcola. Despite the fresh substitutions, this didn’t have any impact on Spain’s tactical dominance, which maintained intense pressure.

In the 58th minute of the game, Spain extended their lead through a pass from Dani Olmo at the top of the box to Spain right-back Pedro Porro, who technically slotted the ball past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan to make the game 2-0.
This actually made Spain be comfortable playing against France till Iván Barton blew the final whistle at 95+1.

The game win by Spain marked Spain’s third consecutive victory over France in major tournament semi-finals.

After today’s 0-2 loss against Spain, I want to discuss the tactical setup. Despite the fact that France, with world-class attackers, have four shots on goal and failed to find answers to Oyarzabal and Porro goals.
– Spain controlled possession (51%) and looked much sharper in transition.

– Spain controlled the midfield. Their passing, movement, and composure prevented France from building attacks.
– Clinical finishing matters. Spain converted their key chances through Mikel Oyarzabal (penalty) and Pedro Porro, while France failed to capitalize on theirs.
– Defensive organization wins big matches. Spain neutralized France’s dangerous attackers, including Kalian Mbps, and recorded another clean sheet.
– Discipline and teamwork beat individual brilliance. Spain looked like a more cohesive unit throughout the match, while France struggled to create rhythm.
– outstanding player is Lamine Yamal, who uses his pace and creativity caused France constant problems, even though he did not score.

My view is that France relied on individual brilliance while Spain relied on combination football. This makes Spain run rings around France tactically and technically.
Now that Spain advances to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.

Who we the this year FIFA World Cup cup

Football has brings both rivalries together as England beat Norway 2-1 and Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quater final.

England vs Norway

The Three Lions did it again with another World Cup knockout shock when Norway took the lead through Andreas Schjelderup’s fluke goal. But Bellingham rescued England once again to make it England’s third World Cup semi-final appearance since winning the tournament in 1966, where they will face Argentina in the last four.

Before the game, a minute’s silence was held for Jayden Adams, the South African midfielder who died aged 25, only weeks after playing for his country at the World Cup.

England had a positive start, as Noni Madueke burst down the right wing, but his cross was poor.
The game was going normal until Andreas Schjelderup’s 36th minute goal, which was assisted by
Martin Ødegaard made the goal resulted 1–0. The 45 + 2′ goal marked a 1-1 draw with a mad goal coming from Jude Bellingham, assisted by Anthony Gordon.
A 93-minute goal by Bellingham made England crash home with an extra-time winner from close-range.

Argentina vs Switzerland

While Argentina goals: Mac Allister (10), Alvarez (112), Lautaro (120+1). Switzerland goals: Doyen (67)
Argentina, who were at a numerical advantage for almost 50 minutes, face fierce rivals England in the second semi-final at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday.

These goals made Argentina score their 15th successive World Cup game. The only teams with longer scoring streaks in the competition are Uruguay (16 games from 1930-1962), Hungary (17 games from 1934-1962), Germany (18 games from 1986-1998), Germany (18 games from 1934-1958) and Brazil (18 games from 1930-1958).
Argentina became the first team ever to score two goals in the same extra-time half in multiple matches in one World Cup.
With both both results, it is very clear that the fixture has now brought two football rivalries together: England and Argentina.
When and what is the result of the previous game between Argentina and England?
Here is the answer:
1962: England 3-1 Argentina (Rancagua, Chile -group stage)
A tame affair compared to what was to follow.
Goals from Ron Flowers, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves put England into an unassailable 3-0 lead, with a late consolation from Argentina.
Both sides finished the group stage with a win, defeat and a loss, but England edged through at the expense of Argentina thanks to a superior goal difference.
The Three Lions were knocked out by Brazil in the quarter-finals.

1966:At Wembley, England – quarter-finals
Was this the moment the footballing rivalry between the two sides really developed? Possibly. Probably.
The two teams met in the quarter-finals in a match Argentina, to this day, insist they were robbed of, claiming Geoff Hurst’s winning goal was offside.
That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to controversy though, with Argentina captain Antonio Rattín sent off after just 33 minutes for two offenses in the space of three minutes.
The first was for a trip on Bobby Charlton, the second was for continuing to argue with German referee Rudolf Kreitlein.
The match was delayed for almost eight minutes as Rattin refused to leave the pitch.
England held on, in an incredibly ill-tempered affair, with Three Lions boss Ramsey describing the Argentine side as ‘animals’ and insisting that his players did not swap shirts.
England’s 1966 World Cup
This is the year England won the World Cup. A lot of disputes occurred on the field on that very day, but there is a very particular one which England defender, George Cohen reflected on.
The full story in 2009 said

“Tackling is fine,” he said. “But it was some of Sandy’s things, the spitting and pulling the short hairs on your neck, pulling your ear. They were trying to intimidate us. The trouble was, when they found out they weren’t going to get their way, they fell into some of the worst excesses I’ve ever seen.
“I just consider it the greatest shame that they didn’t play the game they were capable of. We might even have got beaten, but they just should have got on and shown what they could do.
“There was a lot of commotion in the tunnel after the game. Nobody was allowed out, so we didn’t see it.”
The match is also believed to have led to the introduction of red and yellow cards, which were first used in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Previously, referees had to rely on verbal warnings.

1986: Argentina 2-1 England (Mexico City, Mexico – quarter-final)
The Hand of God. Sigh.
This quarter-final was played just four years after the two countries had fought the Falklands War. This wasn’t just a football rivalry, political tensions were huge as well.
The Argentine media and public framed the match as a way to express their resentment at the conflict, while their British counterparts also leaned into it, using nationalistic language to heighten the animosity between the countries.
The report from the game refilled that
The Argentine number 10 leaped for a ball with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton but, somehow unnoticed, he opted to punch the ball into the empty net. If only VAR was around then.
To be fair to Maradona, he then scored probably the greatest World Cup goal of all time as he dribbled through half the England team, rounded Shilton and slotted home to double Argentina’s lead.
“When I lived and worked in Argentina, people regularly brought up the Hand of God,” said Heredia. “But this is to forget that the second goal was just spectacular — almost unbelievable.”
Gary Lineker pulled one back late on, but it was to no avail as England crashed out in the most controversial of circumstances.
It took until 2005 for Maradona to apologize. An apology Shilton rejected.
To crown it all, Argentina went on to beat West Germany in the final to lift the trophy.

1998: Argentina 2-2 England (Argentina win 4-3 on pens) (St Etienne, France – last 16)
A match David Beckham will never forget.
The game will always be remembered for his kick out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone and subsequent red card.
Prior to that, Gabriel Batistuta and Alan Shearer had traded penalties, before Michael Owen scored one of his country’s greatest World Cup goals to give England a 2-1 lead.
Owen burst past the Argentine defense to score a spectacular solo goal, before a clever free-kick saw Javier Zanetti level the scores before the break.
After Beckham’s red, England bravely hung on and even thought they had won it when Sol Campbell headed home in the 81st minute, only for it to be ruled out for a push.
The match went to penalties which, after misses by David Batty and Paul Ince, Argentina prevailed in, before being knocked out themselves in the next round by the Netherlands.
To stoke the tensions in the rivalry further, Simeone admitted a year later: “Let’s just say the referee fell into a trap.
“It was also a difficult one for him to avoid, because I went down well and in moments like that there’s a lot of tension.
“You could say that my falling transformed a yellow card into a red card. But in fact, the most appropriate punishment was a yellow one.”

2002: Argentina 0-1 England (Sapporo, Japan – group stage)
This was the match that will be remembered as redemption for Beckham.
The then England skipper scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot, after Owen was chopped down by Mauricio Pochettino — yes, that one.
Having only drawn with Sweden in their opening group game, it was a crucial win for the Three Lions.
A goalless draw for England against Nigeria in the final match saw them progress, while Argentina – who concluded with a 1-1 draw against Sweden – were eliminated from the knockouts for the first time since 1962.
England went on to beat Denmark in the last 16 before being knocked out by Brazil and Ronaldinho’s impudent free-kick in the quarters while the last senior men’s football match between England and Argentina occurred on November 12, 2005, in a friendly at the Geneva Stadium in Switzerland. England won the game 3-2, with Michael Owen scoring a late brace after Wayne Rooney also found the net, overcoming goals from Hernán Crespo and Walter Samuel for Argentina.

The action begins at Los Angeles Stadium for the second quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium.

After Michael Oliver blows up and the players head off for halftime with a 1-1 draw.

Belgium broke Spain’s 609-minute clean sheet streak* with Charles De Ketelaere heading in from a Timothy Castagne cross in the 41st minute. That was the first goal conceded as Spain got an equalizing by Fabian Ruiz, slamming home the rebound after Courtois parried Olmo’s low shot from Porro’s cut-back from the right of the box in 30 minutes of the game.

The second half began 5 mins into the 2nd half. The score was still 1-1after De Ketelaere’s 41st minute header broke Spain’s 609-minute clean sheet.

No goals, no subs yet for either side in the 2nd half until 62 minutes when
Triple change for Belgium
Off: Leandro Trossard, Hans Vanaken, Maxim De Cuyper
On: Axel Witsel, Romelu Lukaku , Joaquin Says

At 65 minutes, Spain won the stats.
Spain has completed over 400 passes so far, compared to just 189 for Belgium.
It doesn’t feel like La Roja are in total control, though, despite what the stats might suggest.

At 80 minutes, La Rio made another change as Mikel Oyarzabal was withdrawn for Nico Williams.
The truth is that Spain keep playing almost entirely in Belgium’s half like us.
The game was still a 1-1 draw till 87 minutes when the Napoli midfielder was yellow-carded for dragging Torres down.
That’s his last act as he heads off to be replaced by Alexis Saelemaekers.
Spain also makes a change with Olmo heading off for Mikel Merino.
In the 88th minute, Spain did it again! Mikel Merino comes off the bench to thump home the rebound after after Lammens spills a low shot from Cubarsi with moments remaining, their normal late goal for Spain again in this game.

The whistle is sound. Spain reached the World Cup semifinals and will face France in Dallas while
Belgium are heading home.

Which is another winner off the bench for Mikel Merino as the Arsenal man repeats his heroics from the last round to score a late winner for La Roja.

Tactical Breakdown

Spain — Control + Patience*
Possession*: 62% to 38%
Shots: 10 total, 3 on target vs Belgium, 2 total
Style:La Rio built their run on defensive discipline. 5 clean sheets in 5 games coming in. Luis de la Fuente kept the same core, using the bench to win late like Mikel Merino did vs Portugal.
Lineup surprise:Fabian Ruiz started over Pedro. Front 3: Yamal, Olmo, Oyarzabal.
Key battle:Lamine Yamal vs Maxime De Cuyper. De Cuyper was flagged as likely to commit 2+ fouls trying to stop Yama.

Belgium — Direct + Counter*
Style : Much more dramatic route. Beat USA 4-1 in R16, came back from 2-0 down vs Senegal. Scored 13 goals in 5 games but conceded 5.
Lineup : Courtois in goal. Back 4: Castagne, Ngoy, Mechele, De Cuyper. Mid 3: De Bryne, Vanaken, Raskin. Front 3: Trossard, Doku, De Ketelaere. Note: Tie lemans was scratched in warm-ups.
Threat : Belgium is dangerous in transition. De Ketelaere has 3 goals in the last 2 games. Lukaku also scored off the bench vs USA.

What’s deciding the game so far?
1. Possession : Spain dominating the ball but Belgium sitting deep and waiting. One good cross broke Spain down.
2. Wide areas : Both teams like working the ball in from wide.
3. Defensive test : Belgium’s back 4 have leaked goals vs NZ, USA, Senegal. Spain’s defense had been a brick wall until today.

Spain also has history: it has won 7 of the last 8 meetings dating to 1990.

Bottom line
Spain wants to suffocate you with possession and not concede. Belgium wants to sit, absorb, and hit you with De Bruyne, Doku, De Ketelaere on the break.

In Boston today, France is in all white, while Morocco are in red shirts and green shorts for the first quarter-final game.

In just 6 mins of the game, another good chance for France in the early stages of this game.
The ball is whipped into the box from the left and Upamecano goes up unchallenged to head the ball at goal from close range.
Bounou reads it and makes the save.

Morocco loses the ball in midfield and France charge forward through Doue.
He shoots from just outside the box, but Bound gets down low to make the save as the ball trickles just wide of the post, making France have 10 shots at goal so far, while Morocco have none.

On 26 minutes of the game, Mazraoui stepped over for Mbappe in the box, which caused a foul leading to a penalty and was saved by Bounou after poor taking by Mbappe.
Shortly after, the different movements of Upamecano, the first half ended 0-0.

The second half picked up where it left off, with a long spell of French possession.

Mbappe’s broke the deadlock in the 60th minute by picking up the ball at the edge of the Morocco area and bending the ball around Diop and into the top right corner.

On 67 minutes, Les Bleus took the game away from Morocco, with Dembélé doubling the lead for them through his run at goal with nobody closing him down, and he shoots from the edge of the area, although Bound gets a hand on it, but he can’t stop the ball from nestling into the corner of his net.
On 71 minutes, Kobe was replaced by Warren Zaire-Emery for his first World Cup debut.

Getting to the 76 minutes, Morocco made two changes : Brahim Diaz
Ana’s Salah-Eddine but off for
Gessime Yassine and Zakaria El Ouahdi.

86 &87 minutes, Morocco replace Chemsdine with Amine Sbai and France’s Male Gusto replaces Kounde

The final whistle was blown at 90+6 minutes and until the 90+ 6 used in the game today Moroccan haven’t been able to penetrate the French defense.

With Kalian Mbappé’s goal today, he has registered a goal contribution in every FIFA World Cup match he’s played so far that is 20 World Cup goals in 20 World Cup career games..

🇸🇳 Senegal — ⚽⚽
🇮🇶 Iraq — ⚽⚽
🇳🇴 Norway — 🅰️🅰️
🇸🇪 Sweden — ⚽⚽
🇵🇾 Paraguay — ⚽
🇲🇦 Morocco — ⚽🅰️

Morocco lost 2-0 to France make end to all African teams in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

① 🇹🇳 Tunisia
② 🇿🇦 South Africa
③ 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast
④ 🇨🇩 DR Congo
⑤ 🇸🇳 Senegal
⑥ 🇩🇿 Algeria
⑦ 🇨🇻 Cape Verde
⑧ 🇬🇭 Ghana
⑨ 🇪🇬 Egypt
⑩ 🇲🇦 Morocco

Egypt took a shock lead through Yasser Ibrahim’s header at 15 minutes of the game through header from a beautiful cross from Egyptian Marwan Attia made it 1-0.

Shortly after the goal on 17 minutes, the Argentinian player maker missed a penalty from Haissem Hassan with a foul on Nicolas Tagliafico which could have given Argentina a chance to score an instant equalizer.

With this penalty missed, Messi has now missed HALF of the penalties he’s taken at the World Cup.

❌ vs. Iceland (2018)
⚽ vs. Saudi Arabia (2022)
❌ vs. Poland (2022)
⚽ vs. Netherlands (2022)
⚽ vs. Croatia (2022)
⚽ vs. France (2022)
❌ vs. Austria (2026)
❌ vs. Egypt (2026)

He’s the FIRST player in World Cup history to miss two penalties in a single edition.

The game continues to show no lack of confidence from Egypt, they’re not giving Argentina any respect.
They’re getting in their faces, they’re pressing high, and they’re quite happy to take them on at the moment.
Toward the end of the first half, it was all Argentina led them to have a good chance with a Lionel Messi free-kick from a central position and 25 yards out. It curls around the wall but just wide of goal. Close, but not close enough, and Egypt got to the end of halftime with that clean sheet.

The second half begins. Argentina are pressing forward while Egypt sit back. Mohamed Salah is isolated getting ready for a counter-attack.
On 67 minutes, the Egyptian got their patter right as he finished off a rapid counter-attack involving Salah and Hassan to get a goal which actually made somebody think it over.

In 79 minutes, Argentina regained the fight through an assist to pull one out as he slugged the ball into the box from the right and Tottenham defender Cristian Romero was free and uses all of his neck muscles to power the header at goal make the game 2-1.

On 83 minutes mess do again create brilliant drama by hitting ball on the half-volley from a Gonzalo Montiel’s assist to result 2–2 draw.

It has been all about Argentina since they got back into their confidence. Incredible happened in the 90th+2 minute when the third goal was got from Lautaro Martinez who crossed from the right and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández was there at the back post and did it with a super header make it end of 79 minutes Egypt 2-0 led now Argentina are 3-2 ahead and leading through. What a game.

More history for Messi

With goals in today’s game, Argentina’s Lionel Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches.

Lionel Messi is now with 13 goals in this World Cup, and he is now on 21 among the all-time top goal scorers with two clear of Kalian Mbappe’s, but none can judge if Mbappé’s game on Thursday against Morocco.