🏆 Quarter-finals! Mbappé v Morocco to Haaland v Kane, who goes through? | OneFootball

From France-Morocco to Norway-England, via Spain-Belgium and Argentina-Switzerland. The World Cup has officially entered its hottest phase, with the best 8 teams ready to battle it out to lift the World Cup to the sky on the night of the New York New Jersey Stadium, where the final will be played on Sunday, July 19. 

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A World Cup that, so far, has already given us plenty. Between unexpected comebacks, major surprises, controversial incidents, and historic feats, one thing is certain: nothing is guaranteed. Far from it. It has also been a World Cup of tears and farewells, like that of CR7, who said goodbye to his Portugal at 41 without fulfilling his dream of winning a World Cup; then Luka Modric, Manuel Neuer, Guillermo Ochoa, and more. 

Now only eight remain. The best eight teams. Four matches in four days, from July 9 to 12 — overnight between the 11th and 12th in Italy — to decide the four national teams that will keep their title hopes alive by reaching the semifinals. In the top half of the bracket, Morocco will face favorites France, while La Roja will take on Belgium. On the other side is the real surprise — even if they had already shown their strength — of this World Cup: Haaland’s Norway, who will face England in what promises to be a brilliant clash. Rounding things off are the Albiceleste champions, who will face Switzerland, 72 years after the Swiss last appeared in a World Cup quarterfinal.

🏆 The bracket

📆 The quarterfinal schedule

💥 A bracket that promises fireworks

As mentioned before, this is the World Cup of big surprises. So, all the more now that the stakes keep getting higher, nothing can be taken for granted. But if we wanted to make some predictions, a semifinal between France and Spain seems plausible in the top half of the bracket, even though Morocco are having a very strong World Cup and Belgium are coming off an impressive win over the USA.

On the other side, the real puzzle is Norway-England, with the English aiming to “bring it home” and the Vikings driven by their leader Erling Haaland, who is becoming more decisive with every match. Perhaps the most “comfortable” path through is Argentina’s, led by the usual and seemingly ageless Leo Messi, but Switzerland, in last night’s penalty shootout win over Colombia, once again showed they have absolutely no intention of giving up. 

In short, everything remains to be seen. Let’s sit back and enjoy the show. The World Cup gives no one any favors, and every mistake could mean a flight back home — which now, with the finish line getting closer and closer, would be even more painful. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 MAURO PIMENTEL - AFP or licensors