World Cup 2026 Power Rankings: France remain out in front as England prove their mettle while Argentina continue to show vulnerabilities in another thriller

Talk about growing into a tournament! After stumbling through the group stage and finding themselves 2-0 down to Senegal with four minutes of their last-32 clash remaining, Belgium have somehow made it to the quarter-finals after rediscovering themselves just in the nick of time.

The Red Devils backed up their come-from-behind win over Senegal with their best display of the summer to send the United States packing, as manager Rudi Garcia was rewarded for his bravery in dropping Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku to the bench. Charles De Ketelaere, meanwhile, belatedly showed that he can lead the line, with Romelu Lukaku continuing to be limited to cameos off the bench.

Belgium will need to raise their game even further should they have any hope of beating Spain in the quarters, but hope in the nation's footballing future has at least been restored.

Well, it certainly wasn't pretty - but then again, nobody expected Switzerland's last-16 meeting with Colombia to be one for the purists. Both teams had been solid rather than spectacular on their respective paths to Vancouver, so it wasn't in the least bit surprising that an atrocious game was decided on penalties.

The Swiss also deserve some credit for finding a way to win without the injured Johan Manzambi, one of the revelations of the World Cup so far, while shootout hero Ruben Vargas was only fit enough to feature off the bench. So, while Switzerland will, of course, be massive underdogs in their last-eight encounter with Argentina, they'll take great encouragement out of how poorly the champions have performed in their last two games.

Jesse Marsch may have thought that Canada were the better side in their last-16 showdown with Morocco but the American was talking absolutely rubbish, as he so often does. The Canucks unquestionably caused The Atlas Lions problems but Morocco made for most worthy winners - even if the final 3-0 scoreline flattered them a tad.

Up next for the fourth-placed finishers at the last World Cup is the team that ended their winning run in Qatar, France, who look even stronger now than they did back then. Still, Morocco have also improved, at least from an offensive perspective, and will be looking forward to this shot at revenge, as they've absolutely nothing to lose.

Is any team having a better time at the 2026 World Cup than Norway?! We said ahead of their last-16 meeting with Brazil that the Scandinavians represented nightmare opponents for the Selecao because they were playing with such freedom, having already achieved their primary target at the nation's first World Cup since 1998: getting out of the group stage.

We also pointed out that in Erling Haaland they had a one-man wrecking ball capable of breaking down one of the strongest centre-back pairings in world football - and so it proved, with the smiling assassin scoring twice in East Rutherford. Norway will be underdogs again against England in the last eight, but that will suit them just fine. All of the pressure is on their opponents - again.

Are Argentina lucky or resilient? Maybe it's a bit of both, because fortune certainly smiled on Lionel Scaloni's side against Egypt - and yet they also deserve enormous credit for the way in which they came from 2-0 down with just 11 minutes to go to defeat the Pharaohs 3-2 in a last-16 tie for the ages in Atlanta.

Lionel Messi was unsurprisingly primarily responsible for the fightback, with the captain making amends for yet another penalty miss by creating one goal for Cristian Romero and then netting one himself, before Enzo Fernandez headed home an injury-time winner from Lautaro Martinez's cross.

Argentina should beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals, but after scraping past both Cape Verde and Egypt, will it be a case of third time unlucky for the champions?...

The toughest test of England's World Cup campaign belatedly brought the best out of Thomas Tuchel's team, who showed sufficient quality and character in beating Mexico at the mythical Azteca stadium to prove that they actually can end arguably the most infamous major trophy drought in international football.

Jude Bellingham was brilliant in a ridiculously dramatic 3-2 win over El Tri, but England produced a real team display in Mexico City that will have done wonders for their confidence going into their quarter-final clash with Norway. Obviously, nobody in the Three Lions' squad will need to be told about the threat posed to their hopes of progressing by Erling Haaland, but Tuchel will feel that if England can shut down the striker's supply line, Bellingham & Harry Kane will take care of the rest.

Though Spain didn't hit the heights of their last-32 display against Austria, they still managed to get the job done when faced with their toughest test yet in Portugal on Monday. Mikel Merino's stoppage-time strike ensured La Roja edged out their Asturian neighbours as they remain on track to add a global title to the European one they secured in 2024.

Despite some eye-catching moments, Lamine Yamal is yet to light up the tournament as many might have expected. Taking on a Belgium side who have shown improvements but have weaknesses in defence could be just what Spain's teenage superstar needs as he and his team-mates look ahead to Friday's quarter-final.

Paraguay went all out to upset France in every sense but Kylian Mbappe had the last laugh, literally, by netting the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. As Mbappe pointed out afterwards, les Bleus weren't in the least bit fazed by their opponents' rough-housing, as they're made of stern stuff.

France will undoubtedly have to get back to their scintillating best to see off Morocco in the quarter-finals but Didier Deschamps' men proved against Paraguay that they know how to win ugly too, which is why they remain out favourites to win the World Cup.