The World Cup quarterfinals are locked in, which means the expanded 48-team tournament has finally reached the stage where every mistake starts looking expensive. After two weeks of knockout churn, 40 nations are out and eight are still standing in the United States.
The quarterfinal lineup includes heavyweights, surprises and teams that have made a habit of ruining someone else’s month.
Which teams reached the last eight?
The quarterfinal field was complete once the round-of-16 matches wrapped, with each team arriving by a very different route. Some handled business cleanly. Others required rather more cardio and emotional damage.
The eight teams through are:
- Morocco, which beat Canada 3-0
- France, which beat Paraguay 1-0
- Norway, which beat Brazil 2-1
- England, which beat Mexico 3-2
- Spain, which beat Portugal 1-0
- Belgium, which beat the United States 4-1
- Argentina, which beat Egypt 3-2
- Switzerland, which beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties
The results also set up a quarterfinal slate with plenty of familiar pressure points: France against Morocco, Spain against Belgium, Norway against England, and Argentina against Switzerland.
