France, Spain, England and Argentina Chase Spot in New Jersey Final

The 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal bracket is officially set, with France, Spain, England and defending champion Argentina emerging from a dramatic quarterfinal round to claim the tournament’s final four spots, each team now two victories away from lifting the trophy.

What began as a 48-nation field has been narrowed to those four semifinalists following a quarterfinal round played across the United States from July 9 through July 11. France advanced with a 2-0 win over Morocco at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Spain edged Belgium 2-1 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. England overcame Norway 2-1 after extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, thanks to a two-goal performance from Jude Bellingham. And Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 after extra time at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, with goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez overcoming an early equalizer from Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye.

The semifinals will unfold on back-to-back days next week. France meets Spain on Tuesday, July 14, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. Eastern time. England faces Argentina the following day, Wednesday, July 15, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, also kicking off at 3 p.m. Eastern. Both venues feature retractable roofs, a design consideration expected to help manage conditions during the peak of the U.S. summer heat.

The two semifinal winners will advance to the World Cup final, scheduled for Sunday, July 19, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a venue FIFA has referred to during the tournament as New York New Jersey Stadium. That match is also set to kick off at 3 p.m. Eastern time. The two semifinal losers will instead meet in the tournament’s third-place match, scheduled for Saturday, July 18, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the day before the final.

As with every match in the World Cup’s knockout stage, neither semifinal can end in a draw. Should either July 14 or July 15 match remain level after 90 minutes of regulation play, the teams will proceed to two 15-minute periods of extra time. If the score remains tied after extra time, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout, the same format used to resolve any deadlocked knockout-stage contest throughout the tournament.

France’s path to the semifinals has been built on a mix of individual brilliance and squad depth throughout the knockout rounds, with the quarterfinal win over Morocco continuing a run that has positioned Les Bleus among the tournament favorites. Spain, meanwhile, needed a tightly contested win over Belgium to advance, extending a run that has featured some of the tournament’s most technically polished attacking football. Both sides now meet in what many analysts have flagged as one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament’s closing stages, pitting two of European football’s traditional heavyweights against each other with a place in the final on the line.

England’s path to Atlanta came with significantly more late drama. Norway, appearing in its first World Cup since 1998, took an early lead through Andreas Schjelderup before Bellingham equalized in first-half stoppage time and then struck again three minutes into extra time to complete his two-goal display and send Thomas Tuchel’s side through. The victory pushed England into their third World Cup semifinal since lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy 60 years ago in 1966, following previous semifinal losses to West Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018.

Argentina’s route to the semifinals required a similarly grueling extra-time effort against Switzerland. Lionel Messi did not find the scoresheet himself but recorded an assist on Mac Allister’s opening goal in the 10th minute, his 10th career World Cup assist, before Switzerland equalized in the second half to force the match into extra time. Álvarez and Martínez ultimately delivered the decisive goals in the second period of extra time, sending Argentina through as it continues its bid to defend the title it won in Qatar in 2022.

In the United States, both semifinals will be broadcast on FOX in English and on Telemundo in Spanish, with streaming available through the FOX One and FOX Sports apps for English-language coverage and Peacock for the Spanish-language broadcast. Fans outside the U.S. will need to account for time zone differences when planning to watch; a 3 p.m. Eastern kickoff corresponds to 8 p.m. in London and 9 p.m. across much of Central Europe.

Both semifinal matchups carry significant historical and competitive weight beyond simply determining the tournament’s finalists. A France-Spain semifinal brings together two nations with a combined five World Cup titles between them, while an England-Argentina matchup pits a side chasing its first World Cup title since 1966 against the two-time defending champion looking to become the first nation to win back-to-back titles since Brazil accomplished the feat in 1958 and 1962.

Star power will also be on full display across both matches. Messi, playing in what is widely regarded as his final World Cup appearance at age 39, continues to lead Argentina’s pursuit of a second consecutive title, while Bellingham has emerged as the singular attacking force behind England’s run, having now scored in each of the team’s past two knockout matches. On the other side of the bracket, France and Spain both feature deep rosters stacked with players from some of Europe’s most prominent club sides, setting up a semifinal many analysts have described as a genuine toss-up given the overall strength of both squads.

With the semifinal matchups now locked in and just over two weeks remaining in the tournament, attention across the sport is expected to shift toward Dallas and Atlanta as France, Spain, England and Argentina prepare for a pair of matches that will determine which two nations advance to compete for the sport’s ultimate prize in New Jersey on July 19.