2026 FIFA World Cup™ Round Of 16 Recap

The Round of 16 is over for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ and we saw a lot of good matches and great individual performances in the second round. Let's break down the bracket and all 8 matches.

Morocco 3, Canada 0

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2011 friendly where Morocco won 4-0. In the 50th minute Achraf Hakimi took a penalty kick from the right side of the field, he passed it back to Azzedine Ounahi who shot the ball for the bottom right of the net and scored, getting it past most of the defenders and the goalkeeper making it 1-0 Morocco. In the 82nd minute, Canada turned the ball over into a fast break for Morocco going down the field, past midfield into a 4 on 2 for Morocco. Brahim Diaz gets the ball around the goalie box and passes it back to Ounahi who shoots for the top right of the net and scores making it 2-0 Morocco. In the 98th minute, Canada turns the ball over around midfield and it's a 2 on 1 breakaway. Diaz brings the ball up and passes it to Soufiane Rahimi who shoots for the bottom right of the net and just gets by the goalkeeper's left hand to make 3-0 Morocco. Morocco would go on to win this game moving on to the quarterfinals versus France. Canada was eliminated and this was a really scrappy game with a lot of yellow cards. Canada just did not make enough scoring opportunities to have a chance at winning. This is Canada’s best World Cup™ performance.

France 1, Paraguay 0

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2002 friendly where France won 5-0. In the 64th minute, France’s Desire Doue has the ball with 3 defenders on him and the Paraguay defenders end up tripping him and pushing him to the ground, causing a foul. After a VAR review, France was awarded a penalty shot that Kylian Mbappe would take. Mbappe shoots for the bottom right of the net and scores and France would go on to win this game 1-0. France will be moving on to the quarterfinals versus Morocco. Paraguay was eliminated and they had a great tournament coming out of the hardest group by statistics and then upsetting Germany in the Round of 32, capped with strong play against France. Paraguay was good in this tournament and after not qualifying for the last three World Cups™ this was a great performance. They have already qualified for the 2030 World Cup™ as commemorative match hosts.

Norway 2, Brazil 1

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2006 friendly where it was a 1-1 draw.
In the 79th minute, Andreas Schjelderup has the ball on the left side of the field and crosses it looking for a header and Erlang Haaland sees it and heads the ball in on the right side of the net making it a 1-0 Norway lead. In the 90th minute. Schjelderup passes the ball to Haaland in the middle of the field and he takes his time and shoots the ball with 4 defenders around him, scoring in the bottom right of the net giving Norway a 2-0 lead. In the 97th minute, Casemiro got elbowed in the face allowing Brazil to be awarded a penalty shot which Neymar Jr. would take. He shoots for the bottom right of the net and scores to cut the lead in half 2-1. Norway would hold on to the lead to upset Brazil in the Round of 16. Norway will be moving on to the quarterfinals versus England. This is Brazil's worst World Cup™ finish since 1990.

England 3, Mexico 2

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2010 friendly where England won 3-1. In the 36th minute, Bukayo Saka had the ball on the right side of the field and crossed it looking for the header, which missed Harry Kane, but Jude Bellingham dived for the header and scored, hitting the ball in the bottom left corner giving England a 1-0 lead. In the 38th minute, England has a great turnover and starts going for a fast break with a 3 on 2 situation, Kane gets the ball on the right side of the field and crosses it to Bellingham who taps the ball in while sliding England goes up 2-0. In the 42nd minute, on a penalty kick the ball got crossed toward the net in front of all the players on the field Julian Quinones got a great rebound and shot for the top middle of the net and scored, cutting the lead in half 2-1. In the 56th minute, Jarell Quansah makes a sliding tackle and after VAR review he gets a red card meaning England can only have 10 players on the field instead of 11. In the 60th minute, Anthony Gordon, after chasing the ball, is tripped by the Mexico goalkeeper awarding England a penalty shot which Kane would take. Kane would shoot for the left center of the net and get it just by the goalkeeper's fingers for a goal making it 3-1 England. In the 69th minute, Kane would kick Brian Gutierrez in the leg bringing him down to the ground and after a VAR review Mexico was awarded a penalty shot which Raul Jimenez would take. He would shoot for the bottom left of the net and score by getting right by the goalkeeper's right hand making it 3-2 England. England would hold that lead and go on to win, England will play Norway in the quarterfinals. Mexico is eliminated and is again knocked out in the round of 16 for the eighth time in their history. They played well in this tournament but England played better to beat the home team Mexico.

Spain 1, Portugal 0

The last time these teams played each other was in the 2025 UEFA Nations League where it was a 2-2 draw. In the 91st minute, after a series of passes from Spain, Ferran Torres passes to Mikel Merino who runs into a breakaway situation and shoots for the bottom left of the net and gets the ball just past the goalkeeper’s right leg making it 1-0 Spain. It would stay like that the rest of the game. Spain will move on to the quarterfinals versus Belgium. Portugal was eliminated and both teams just could not find a lot of opportunities to put good shots. Spain found one but Portugal could not. We will see if Portugal can bounce back in the 2030 World Cup™ that they are hosting but without Cristiano Ronaldo after he announced his retirement from international play.

Belgium 4, United States of America 1

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2026 friendly where Belgium won 5-2. In the 9th minute, Nicolas Raskin has the ball on the left side of the field and makes a play where he gets through three defenders and crosses the ball to the right side where Charles Ketelaere taps the ball in making the score 1-0 Belgium. In the 31st minute, Malik Tillman gets pushed to the ground causing a penalty kick and Tillman aims for the top left of the net and hits the head of a Belgium defender and goes to the middle of the goal and scores, tying up the game 1-1. In the 33rd minute, Leandro Trossard had the ball on the left side of the field and crossed the ball just like the first goal and got a header from Ketelaere, which went to the top left of the net giving Belgium the lead 2-1. In the 57th minute, Belgium boots the ball for a breakaway but the American goalkeeper Matt Freese gets to it first and he missed the kick and it bounced out to Hans Vanaken who gets the ball and kicks it toward the bottom right of the net and with no goalkeeper and no defenders to block it Belgium goes up 3-1. In the 93rd minute, on the left side of the field after a turnover from the United States in their own zone, Romelu Lukaku gets the ball and gets by the defender and shoots for the bottom right of the net and scores giving Belgium a 4-1 lead. That would be the game, Belgium will move on to the quarterfinals versus Spain. The United States was eliminated. This was their worst game all tournament with many mistakes and bad turnovers and fouls. Belgium was able to capitalize on those mistakes.

Argentina 3, Egypt 2

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2008 friendly where Argentina won 2-0. In the 15th minute, the ball was on the right side and after a big shot toward the goal Yasser Ibrahim headed the ball and scored making it 1-0 Egypt. In the 67th minute Haissem Hassan had the ball on the right side of the field, got past a defender, and crossed the ball to Mostafa Ziko who shot the ball in the middle of the net and scored making it 2-0 Egypt. In the 79th minute, Lionel Messi has the ball on the right side of the ball and shoots the ball toward the net looking for a header and Christian Romero heads the ball toward the right side of the net and it goes on the goalkeeper's left hand and still goes in cutting the lead in half 2-1. In the 83rd minute, Lionel Messi shoots the ball from the right side of the field, the ball goes off a couple of players and the ball gets passed back to Messi. He shoots for the middle of the net and it goes off the goalkeeper's hand and into the crossbar and scores, tying up the game for Argentina. In the 92nd minute, Lautaro Martinez brought the ball up on the right side of the field and he kicked it toward Enzo Fernandez on the field side of the field and he headed the ball for the bottom left corner and he scored giving Argentina the lead 3-2. Argentina would go on to win this game and they play Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Egypt was eliminated after choking this game. They played well versus one of the best soccer countries in the world and their run has ended.

Switzerland 0 (4), Colombia 0 (3)

The last time these teams played each other was in a 2007 friendly where Colombia won 3-1. In 120 minutes the score would stay 0-0 after both teams were not able to score. In round 1 of penalties both teams would score making it 1-1. In round 2, Davinson Sanchez would step up for Colombia and hit the crossbar and miss while Mohamed Amdouni would step up for Switzerland and score by shooting for the bottom right corner making it 2-1 Switzerland. In round 3, Jaminton Campaz would step up for Colombia and shoot and get the ball right under the goalkeeper's body and score, tying up the score 2-2 while Manuel Akanji for Switzerland would miss the net completely. In round 4, Juan Hernandez would step up shooting for the left side and keeper Gregor Kobel would make a great save keeping Switzerland alive, while Cedric Itten would score right down the middle of the net giving Switzerland a 3-2 lead. In round 5, both teams would end up scoring making the score 4-3 for Switzerland. Switzerland will move on to the quarterfinals versus Argentina. Colombia was eliminated after having a pretty good tournament they could not score when it mattered in the 120 minutes and in penalties.  

Quarterfinals Matches
France Vs Morocco in Boston
Spain vs Belgium in Los Angeles
Norway Vs England in Miami
Argentina vs Switzerland in Kansas City

Conclusion
From 16 teams down to 8 teams as the World Cup™ continues into the Quarterfinals. We will be making recaps for each round of the World Cup™ so stay tuned for those posts soon. Enjoy the rest of the tournament, Mansfield!