2026 World Cup bracket, elimination path to finals, round of 16 match schedule, wall chart

And there were 32 of them.

With the group stage over, the World Cup moves into the knockout stages, and there have already been some real kicks.

Japan will face Brazil, Portugal will play Croatia and the Netherlands will take on Morocco in three heavyweight matches much sooner than any of these teams would want to face teams of their caliber.

Bracketing will be 2026.

“I think Argentina pulled the rabbit out of the bag with their net; at least on paper they should have a very clear path to the semi-finals, at least to play Spain,” former Denmark captain Thomas Sorensen said on the Football360 Today podcast, which you can listen to here, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

“Then I look at a potential England game against France.

“Colombia is my advice for the team that can beat this quartet on the Argentina-Spain side.”

Round of 16 matches

1. South Africa vs Canada – Los Angeles, USA. June 29, 5am (AEST)
2. Brazil vs Japan – Houston, USA. 30 June, 03:00 (AEST)
3. Germany vs Paraguay – Boston, USA. June 30, 6:30 am (AEST)
4. Netherlands vs Morocco – Monterrey, Mexico. 30 June, 11:00 (AEST).
5. Ivory Coast – Norway – Dallas, USA. July 1, 3am (AEST)
6. France vs Sweden – New York, USA. July 1, 7am (AEST)
7. Mexico vs. Ecuador – Mexico City, Mexico. July 1, 11:00 (AEST)
8. England vs DR Congo – Atlanta, USA. July 2, 2am (AEST)
9. Belgium vs Senegal – Seattle, USA. July 2, 6am (AEST)
10. United States v. Bosnia and Herzegovina – San Francisco Bay Area, United States. July 2, 10:00 (AEST)
11. Spain vs Austria – Los Angeles, USA. July 3, 5am (AEST)
12. Portugal x Croatia – Toronto, Canada. July 3, 9:00 am (AEST)
13. Switzerland vs Algeria – Vancouver, Canada. 3 July, 13:00 (AEST)
14. Australia vs Egypt – Dallas, USA. July 4, 4am (AEST)
15. Argentina – Cape Verde – Miami, USA. 4 July, 8:00 (AEST)
16. Colombia – Ghana – Kansas City, USA. 4 July, 11:30am (AEST)

THE RACE FOR THIRD PLACE AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS DECIDED: Who came forward and who missed out

HAVE YOU DOWNLOADED OUR PRINTABLE WALL CHART? IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO START FILLING IT OUT NOW, WITH TIME IN AEST!

(Editor’s note: 1C vs 2F was accidentally repeated for match 87. It should have been 1K vs 3DEIJL)

Your next reading