Welcome to day 38 of the 2026 World Cup finals.
There were 48 countries at these 2026 World Cup finals, the most there has ever been. The matches taking place across Mexico, Canada and the USA.
We are now left with just two potential winners of this World Cup.
Plus, only two more games to play.
Hopefully Spain will outclass and hammer Argentina on Sunday in New Jersey.
However, ahead of that World Cup final, we have the excitement of the ‘bronze’ medal match in Atlanta.
England take on France at 10pm (UK time) tonight and statistically at least, if the Three Lions win, the third place finish will be their best since 1966.
Ahead of the third place play-off, Thomas Tuchel spoke to the media about England’s exit: “If you’re asking if I regret my decisions, if this is the question, then I don’t regret my decisions. I felt that the momentum switches in the match. And I tried to help my team. I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness, and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result. We didn’t get the result. So I take, of course, the responsibility and for these decisions. I would regret if I didn’t help. I would regret if we didn’t react.”
The England boss going on to say: “For me, there is no-one to blame. If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility. I’m the head coach. Argentina had a lot of offensive changes, and a lot of offensive positions. We could not stop the crosses, and we could not stop the runners into the box. So we decided to play a back five, to have more width in the field, to be closer to the guys who cross. We just became too passive, and Argentina, by the way, found another gear and they found the total flow. We played in the semi-final against the reigning world champions. We were 85 minutes 1-0 up. We played against the best player in the world, and we lost 2-1, which is painful.”
Ahead of Sunday’s final, one stat will hopefully be backed up when Spain meet Argentina…
The Athletic reporting: ‘In 13 of the past 14 finals across men’s and women’s World Cups and European Championships, the side that played their semi-final a day earlier won the final. In the other game, both semis were on the same day. And there is also evidence the pattern carries across to the Copa America.’
It is now 297 goals in 102 matches and this 2026 World Cup not too far short of averaging three goals per game for the first time since the 1958 World Cup but the chances of it happening are now all but gone. The closest since 1958 was the 1970 Mexico World Cup that averaged 2.97 goals per match, this 2026 World Cup now averaging 2.91 goals per game after the first 102 matches. To get up to an average of three goals per match across the tournament, there would need to be at least 15 goals scored in these two games left to play, which is a ‘little’ unlikely.
Here are the results from the quarter-finals onwards and the matches to come (all kick-offs are shown as UK times and with the channel that is showing them).
Quarter-finals
Thursday 9 July
France 2 Morocco 0
Friday 10 July
Spain 2 Belgium 1
Saturday 11 July
Norway 1 England 2 (AET)
Sunday 12 July
Argentina 3 Switzerland 1 (AET)
Semi-finals
Tuesday 14 July
France 0 Spain 2
Wednesday 15 July
England 1 Argentina 2
Third place play-off – Saturday 18 July 10pm
World Cup final – Sunday 19 July 8pm
Here is the full 2026 World Cup schedule:
Come on Dan Burn and England, finish this World Cup in style!