The most recent week of the World Cup saw five of FIFA’s top ten teams eliminated, all three host nations strike out, and the 2022 champion, Argentina, barely hang on by a thread through the round of 16 and the quarterfinals.
Round of 16
From July 4 until July 7, eight teams returned home. Included in that group was Brazil, who had not missed a quarterfinal since 1990. Before its match against Norway on July 5, Brazil had posted convincing results—including wins over Egypt and Japan and a draw with Morocco. Norway, conversely, barely scraped by Côte d’Ivoire, 2-1, a week prior to advance out of the round of 32.
Erling Haaland scored both of Norway’s goals against Brazil, with only 30 touches total in 90 minutes. Just three of those touches occurred in the opposition’s box. For context, that amounts to only about half of the touches Kylian Mbappe took during the France vs. Sweden round of 32 match, in which he also scored twice. Haaland’s efficiency on the ball is the principal reason the Norwegian team made it to its first-ever World Cup Quarterfinal.
The match between the U.S. and Belgium possessed an equally noteworthy storyline. Leading up to game day, the Royal Belgian FA requested that FIFA appeal their decision to waive U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension, a punishment that accompanied the red card he received in the U.S. match against Bosnia & Herzegovina. FIFA rejected the Belgian request, and Balogun started the July 6 match.
The U.S. held possession 57% of the game yet did not strike first and were outnumbered in shots by more than 3 to 1. As for Balogun, the Belgian defense made a concerted effort to shut him down offensively, as he had only three shots and 21 touches over his 89 minutes on the pitch. While the U.S. lost the game 4-1, a large deficit for the round of 16, their overall World Cup run was a step in the right direction for the U.S. Men’s National Team to build up both their reputation in the sport and expand soccer fandom across the U.S.
First on my list of rewatch-worthy games from this round is Mexico vs. England, not for how England won 3-2, but for the way Mexico fought back after each conceded goal. They outshot England by a factor of 4, completed 200 more passes, and maintained a pass accuracy of 92%.
Although Mexico may not have escaped elimination, Argentina certainly did in a second rewatch-worthy match against Egypt on July 7. Argentina entered the final 11 minutes of regular play down two goals to nil, yet, by what many would call a miracle, they managed to find the back of the net three times before the game’s end. Few late-game comebacks have come close to this one’s nature: soul-crushing for the Egyptians and an answer to prayers from La Iglesia Maradoniana for the Argentinians.
Quarterfinals
Four days later, Argentina found themselves fighting until the final whistle once more, this time against Switzerland. They may have come out on top 3-1, but had Switzerland’s Breel Embolo not picked up a second yellow card, which automatically amounts to a red, the former champions may not have advanced to the final four. With ten men, Switzerland poured their energy into a seemingly impenetrable defensive backline, hoping to hold off the Argentine offense until penalties. For thirty grueling minutes, it seemed as though they might actually have had a chance to take down the football giants, and although Argentina eventually scored a winner, the Swiss performance will put them far ahead in the 2028 Euros bracket.
In Argentina’s quarterfinal match against England, Norway was unable to keep their historical World Cup run alive. Not only did Haaland fail to score—ending his 14-game streak, the longest of any international football player—controversial VAR decisions surfaced yet again. In one instance, players from the Norwegian bench criticized the VAR system for not registering when the ball hit a camera cable after a Norwegian goal kick.
The 2-1 scoreline that pushed England into the semifinals shouldn’t overshadow how evenly the game actually progressed. England barely held the majority of possession 53% to 47% but had only one more shot than Norway, and match momentum between the two didn’t vary to any notable extent. Had the Norwegian keeper not spilled the overtime shot that led directly to Jude Bellingham’s winning goal, Norway very well could have taken down the English giants during a penalty shootout.
Don’t want to miss any of the remaining games? Download our World Cup game Google Calendar here! The first semifinal match will take place between France and Spain on July 14 at 3 pm EST. England vs. Argentina will follow on July 15, also at 3 pm EST. This is notably the first World Cup Semifinals in which all four teams involved also rank in the top four on FIFA’s World Rankings.
