The World Cup is down to its final eight teams, and the quarterfinal field is loaded with heavyweights. The top four nations from FIFA’s pre-tournament men’s world rankings are still alive, joined by two more teams that entered the competition ranked inside the top 10.
France has looked every bit like a powerhouse and now sits as the betting favorite at just under 2-1. Spain and reigning champion Argentina follow at 7-2, with England close behind at 9-2. Norway is listed at 14-1, while Belgium, Switzerland and Morocco are all longer shots at 28-1.
France vs. Morocco
When: Thursday, 4 p.m. EDT
Where: Foxborough, Massachusetts
France made a commanding statement during the group stage, outscoring its opponents 10-2. That dominance came with some context, including Norway resting Erling Haaland and nearly all of its regular starters, but France still carried its momentum into the knockout rounds with a convincing 3-0 win over Sweden.
Kylian Mbappé then delivered again, scoring the 19th World Cup goal of his career in a tense 1-0 win over Paraguay.
Morocco, four years after reaching the semifinals, has put together another memorable run. It opened with a draw against Brazil, eliminated the Netherlands on penalties and recovered from a difficult start to defeat co-host Canada on the way to the quarterfinals.
Even so, France enters the matchup as the favorite to move on.
“I do not want to talk about euphoria getting to us,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “And I do pay a lot of respect to this Moroccan team. We know what we are expecting.”
Spain vs. Belgium
When: Friday, 3 p.m. EDT
Where: Inglewood, California
For Spain, an early and unexpected draw with Cape Verde may have served as useful preparation for the narrow margins that define the later stages of the tournament.
It eliminated Uruguay 1-0, and after cruising past Austria 3-0 in the round of 32 got past Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal thanks to Mikel Merino’s goal in stoppage time.
Belgium rallied from 2-0 down with five minutes left in regulation time to beat Senegal, then blew out the U.S. in Seattle after FIFA let Folarin Balogun play despite his automatic red-card suspension.
Spain is favored.
Norway vs. England
When: Saturday, 5 p.m. EDT
Where: Miami Gardens, Florida
The underdog story of the tournament is Norway, with Haaland leading the way and fans and players doing the Viking Row all over the U.S. as giant crowds celebrate back home.
Haaland scored his sixth and seventh goals to upset five-time champion Brazil and get the Scandinavian country into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
England endured a raucous crowd at the Azteca Stadium to beat Mexico in a round-of-16 thriller but lost veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson to a wrist injury from a postgame celebration.
England is a slight favorite.
Argentina vs. Switzerland
When: Saturday, 9 p.m. EDT
Where: Kansas City, Missouri
Lionel Messi leads all players with eight goals this year and set the World Cup record at 21 – and counting – in his illustrious career.
Messi’s latest trick was scoring to complete a rally from down 2-0 against Egypt in an instant classic Tuesday that Argentina won 3-2.
Switzerland has scored only nine goals through five games, relying on defensive style to get through. It took penalty kicks to defeat Colombia in the round of 16 after neither team scored in regulation or extra time.
The Swiss are in the quarterfinals for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1954.
Argentina is favored.
What’s next
The France-Morocco and Spain-Belgium winners meet in the first semifinal match next Tuesday, July 14, at 3 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas.
The Norway-England and Argentina-Switzerland winners play in the other one Wednesday, July 15, in Atlanta, also at 3 p.m.
The final is the same time on Sunday, July 19, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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