England, Argentina, France and Spain have made it to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. England will face Argentina, while France and Spain will face each other in the other semi-final. England and Argentina won in the quarter-finals.
The semi-final line-up of the FIFA World Cup 2026 has been decided. England and Argentina overcame tough quarter-final challenges to reach the last four of the tournament along with France and Spain. England booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals with a thrilling 2-1 win over Norway. Thanks to two goals from Jude Bellingham, the team bounced back from behind. His decisive goal in the third minute of extra time took England to the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in the country’s history.
In the day’s other match, Argentina completed the semi-final line-up with a 3–1 win over Switzerland. This match also went ahead of schedule. The defending champions continued their excellent form in the knockout stages, scoring exactly three goals each in all three of their wins in the knockouts.
Big match in semi-finals
With these results, two big semi-final matches have been decided, in which France will face Spain and England will face defending champion Argentina. Although all four teams topped their respective groups, each team has taken a different path to reach the last four. The winner of the France-Spain semi-final will face England or Argentina in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 to be held on July 20 at 12:30 am IST. Both the losing semi-finalist teams will play a playoff match for the third place.
journey to semi-finals
France
Among the remaining four teams, France’s knockout campaign has been the most powerful and controlled. After topping Group I, they started the knockout rounds with an impressive 3–0 win over Sweden in the Round of 32. They then defeated Paraguay 1–0 in the round of 16 and then defeated Morocco 2–0 in the quarter-finals to book their place in the last four. France have scored six goals in the knockout stages without conceding a single goal, which shows their defensive discipline and control under pressure. Even in close matches, their tactics have been sound, while France captain Kylian Mbappe has shown his edge in attack when needed.
spain
Spain began their knockout campaign with an impressive 3-0 win over Austria in the round of 32 after topping Group H. After this his path became quite challenging. Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 in a tough match in the Round of 16. After this, they made it to the last four by defeating Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals. Spain have scored six goals and conceded just one in their three knockout matches, highlighting their defensive strength and consistency on their journey to the semi-finals.
England
England’s journey to the semi-finals has been more exciting than that of other teams. After topping Group L, they defeated DR Congo 2–1 in the Round of 32 and then Mexico 3–2 in a five-goal thriller in the Round of 16. Norway gave an even tougher challenge in the quarter-finals. England fell behind early, missing several chances in regulation time, and the match went into extra time, before Jude Bellingham scored the decisive goal to secure a 2–1 comeback victory. England have won all three of their knockout matches by a margin of one goal, which shows their fighting ability. The team has scored seven goals in the knockouts but has also conceded goals in every round, making their campaign look less impressive than France and Spain.
argentina
Argentina entered the knockout stage by winning all three of their matches in Group J. Argentina’s knockout campaign has been equally difficult. They started with a hard-fought 3–2 win over Cabo Verde in the Round of 32, and then defeated Egypt by the same scoreline in the Round of 16. The defending champions faced another tough test in the quarter-finals, where Switzerland took them to extra time, but in the end Argentina won 3–1 to book their place in the semi-finals. Argentina has scored nine goals in three knockout matches, the most among semi-finalist teams.
golden boot race
Meanwhile, France captain Kylian Mbappe is leading the race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot with 8 goals and 3 assists. He has a lead in the tiebreaker over Argentinian legend Lionel Messi, who also has 8 goals but fewer assists. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)