As the 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage advances, the second round of matches continues to deliver high-stakes action for football fans across the globe, with two highly anticipated clashes scheduled for Sunday, July 5, and two major upsets already sealed from earlier fixtures.
First up on matchday is a battle between Brazilian powerhouse and Scandinavian underdogs Norway, kicking off at 17:00 local time at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The fixture brings an unusual historical hurdle for Brazil: the five-time world champions have never beaten Norway in four previous meetings, with Norway claiming two wins and two draws. The most famous of those victories came at the 1998 World Cup, where Norway secured a memorable 2-1 win. Despite that unwanted trend, bookmakers and analysts still name Brazil as the clear favorite to progress to the quarterfinals.
The evening fixture will see co-host Mexico take on four-time semifinalists England at the iconic Mexico City Stadium, kicking off at 21:00 local time. The two sides have only met once before in World Cup history: during England’s title-winning 1966 campaign, the Three Lions claimed a 2-0 group stage win thanks to goals from legends Bobby Charlton and Roger Hunt. England have also held the upper hand in meetings outside of the World Cup, notching four wins in friendly matches played between 1986 and 2010.
For Mexico, this clash represents a chance to end a 40-year drought for a quarterfinal berth, boosted by one of the most formidable home records in international men’s football. Since Mexico City Stadium opened in 1966, El Tri has lost just two official fixtures on its turf. That record has held strong through past World Cups hosted in the country: across the 1970, 1986 and 2026 tournaments, Mexico has claimed eight wins and two draws from 10 World Cup matches at the venue. In this year’s tournament, Mexico has kept three clean sheets in wins over South Africa, Czech Republic and Ecuador in Mexico City, plus an additional win over South Korea in Guadalajara. Former Mexico star striker Hugo Sanchez highlighted the unique advantage the venue provides, saying: “The stadium is a monster; that explains the large number of wins and draws. We are optimistic because we know it is England, but if we play like we did against Ecuador, we can beat them.”
The Round of 16 fixture list continues through the coming week, with two more matches scheduled for Monday, July 6: Portugal will face Spain at Dallas Stadium at 16:00 local time, followed by a clash between hosts United States and Belgium at Seattle Stadium at 21:00. The final two round of 16 matches will be held on Tuesday, July 7: Argentina will take on Egypt at Atlanta Stadium at 13:00, and Switzerland will face Colombia at BC Place in Vancouver at 17:00.
In already completed Round of 16 action, Morocco secured a historic back-to-back quarterfinal berth with a 3-0 win over Canada, ending the underdog North American side’s impressive deep run in the tournament. Midfielder Azzedine Ounahi stole the show with a brace, but the final scoreline does not tell the full story of the match: Canada dominated large portions of the first half and created multiple clear scoring chances, while Morocco did not register their first shot on target until the 28th minute. Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi expressed visible frustration over his side’s sloppy early errors, but praised his team’s second-half turnaround. “These are difficult matches where teams play for their lives,” Ouahbi said. “We responded really well, especially in duels and winning second balls.”
In another completed fixture, France scraped past a stubborn Paraguay side 1-0, with the winning goal coming from a controversial VAR-awarded penalty converted by French captain Kylian Mbappé. After the match, Mbappé addressed questions over Paraguay’s aggressive, physical tactics, pushing back on claims that France were caught off guard by the approach. “They thought we would turn up in tuxedos pulling off all sorts of tricks and one-twos,” Mbappé said. “But we know how to play tough football too. If that’s what the match requires, we have no problem with that.” French head coach Didier Deschamps was critical of referee Ilgiz Tantashev’s management of the game, particularly over the number of yellow cards issued to his side amid Paraguay’s physical style of play.