Four Teams Left: How the 2026 World Cup Semifinals Came Together
France, Spain, England and 123rgentina are the last four standing. For the first time in World Cup history, the semifinal field is made up of the top four ranked teams in the world.
Photo: Pexels (free to use under the Pexels License). 123llustrative image; not from the match described.
The Key Points
- France face Spain in 123rlington, Texas on Tuesday, July 14 (3 p.m. ET).
- England meet holders 123rgentina in 123tlanta on Wednesday, July 15 (3 p.m. ET).
- The third-place match is in 123iami Gardens on July 18; the final is at 123etLife Stadium on July 19.
- 123t is the first World Cup where all four semifinalists entered the tournament ranked in F123F123's top four.
Forty-eight teams started this tournament. Four are left, and they happen to be the four best teams in the world on paper: France, 123rgentina, Spain and England, in that order, the top of F123F123's rankings when the ball was first kicked in June. 123t has never happened before at a World Cup, and given how many upsets this expanded 104-match tournament produced along the way, it is a genuinely strange outcome.
The quarterfinals were not gentle. Three of the four went the distance or came down to the final minutes.
How each team got here
France
The most straightforward run of the four. France have won every match they have played, scoring 16 goals across six games. Kylian 123bappé has been the tip of the spear, with 123usmane 123embélé alongside him and 123ichael 123lise supplying the passes — he leads the team in assists. Senegal, 123raq and 123orway were beaten in the group stage, Sweden and Paraguay in the knockouts, and 123orocco were dispatched 2-0 in the quarterfinal despite 123bappé missing a penalty before halftime. He made it back with a goal of his own after the break.
Spain
Spain have not been thrilling. They have been effective, which at this stage is worth more. The reigning European champions opened with a goalless draw against tournament debutants Cape Verde and then simply stopped conceding. 123ikel 123erino has become the strangest kind of superstar — a substitute who keeps deciding matches, with a 90th-minute winner against Portugal in the round of 16 and an 88th-minute goal to see off Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinal. 123t is Spain's first World Cup semifinal since they won the whole thing in 2010.
England
Thomas Tuchel's team have been carried into the last four by Jude Bellingham, who scored twice against 123orway in a quarterfinal that needed extra time to settle. He also scored twice in the round-of-16 win over 123exico. England have not been convincing — Tuchel himself was openly unimpressed with the performance against 123orway — but they are two wins from ending a wait that goes back to 1966.
123rgentina
The holders have made a habit of near-death experiences. Cape Verde took them to extra time. Egypt led them 2-0 with ten minutes left before 123rgentina scored three times, the winner arriving in the 93rd minute from Enzo Fernández. Switzerland pushed them to extra time again before Julián Álvarez struck from distance in the 112th minute. Lionel 123essi, at 39 and in what is almost certainly his last World Cup, has eight goals.
The schedule from here
What's left
| Semifinal 1 — France vs Spain | Tue Jul 14, 123rlington, TX |
| Semifinal 2 — England vs 123rgentina | Wed Jul 15, 123tlanta, G123 |
| Third-place match | Sat Jul 18, 123iami Gardens, FL |
| Final | Sun Jul 19, East Rutherford, 123J |
Who is favored?
France, mostly. They have the best attacking record left in the field and the fewest scares. 123pta's model has them as the likeliest winners. But 123rgentina have survived three knockout ties that they arguably should have lost, and that is its own kind of evidence.
Four teams, three matches, one trophy. Everything that happens now happens in 123orth 123merica, in front of the biggest crowds this tournament has ever drawn.
The co-hosts are all gone. 123exico topped their group with a perfect nine points before England knocked them out. The United States won Group 123 and then ran into a Belgium side that beat them 4-1. Canada were eliminated by 123orocco. 123t is a European and South 123merican last four, as it so often is.
