The knockout stage of the expanded 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup is moving into the round of 16, following 16 days of dramatic, edge-of-your-seat action in the newly introduced round of 32, which marked the first time this stage of the tournament has been contested after FIFA expanded the field from 32 to 48 teams starting this cycle.
The round of 32 opened with a narrow 1-0 win for host nation Canada over South Africa, and closed with Colombia securing a 1-0 victory against Ghana. Over the course of the opening knockout round, three matches went to penalty shootouts, and tournament favorite Argentina came perilously close to an early exit that sent shockwaves across the global soccer community. After sorting through all the results, here are the key takeaways heading into the round of 16.
For defending champions Argentina, what experts predicted would be a straightforward cruise past minnow Cape Verde turned into a 120-minute battle that ended with a tense 3-2 win for the South American powerhouse. Cape Verde, a tiny island nation of just 500,000 people, pushed Argentina, a global soccer giant with 46 million residents, to the brink of elimination, cementing its status as the tournament’s most surprising underdog even as its run came to an end. Following the narrow escape, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni warned that no opponent can be taken for granted at this year’s tournament: “I hope that now you realize that there’s no easy opponent,” he said. Argentina will next face Egypt in the round of 16, and remains the heavy favorite to advance to the quarterfinals.
The United States men’s national team punched its ticket to the final 16 with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, a result that highlighted how far the U.S. program has grown in recent years. Striker Folarin Balogun, the team’s leading goal scorer in the tournament, opened the scoring late in the first half, but was sent off with a red card before halftime, forcing the U.S. to play down a man for more than 30 minutes. With the game still tied at 1-1 in the 82nd minute, Malik Tillman scored a iconic go-ahead goal from a free kick, securing the U.S. victory despite the numerical disadvantage. The U.S. will face Belgium in the round of 16, but will be forced to play without Balogun due to his red card suspension.
Heading into the round of 16, predicting which top programs will advance has grown increasingly difficult, after a string of surprise results from underrated underdogs throughout the group stage and round of 32. Even with that uncertainty, traditional heavyweights France and Brazil have emerged as strong contenders to make deep runs in the knockout stage.
France, the 2022 World Cup runners-up, cruised through the round of 32 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden, with star forward Kylian Mbappé notching two goals. They will face Paraguay on Saturday, entering the match as heavy favorites – though Paraguay already pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset to date, knocking out defending third-place Germany to advance. Brazil, meanwhile, survived its own scare against Japan to secure its spot in the final 16. Japan took an early lead in the 29th minute on a 30-yard strike from midfielder Kaishu Sano, looking to pull off a massive upset over the five-time world champions. Brazil equalized on a header from Casemiro in the 56th minute, and secured the win on a late stoppage-time goal from Gabriel Martinelli, leaving the Brazilian side relieved to advance. Brazil will face Norway on Sunday, with the winner set to take on the victor of the England vs. Mexico match in the quarterfinals.
In the round of 32, England rallied from a one-goal deficit to beat Congo 2-1, with captain Harry Kane scoring both goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation, in the 75th and 86th minutes respectively. England will next face the tournament’s other host nation, Mexico, in a match expected to be one of the toughest tests of the round of 16. England will have to adapt to the high elevation of Mexico City and face a raucous pro-Mexico home crowd when the two sides meet. Rounding out the slate of round of 16 fixtures, European powerhouses Spain and Portugal will face off on Monday in a clash that analysts say could go either way, with no clear favorite heading into kickoff.