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2026 FIFA World Cup
12JUN

Argentina reach last eight; Egypt out

2 min read
09:25UTC

Argentina beat Egypt 2-0 in Atlanta on 7 July to reach the quarter-finals, leaving Morocco as the only African side still standing.

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Key takeaway

Argentina advance to the quarter-finals, leaving Morocco as Africa's only remaining side.

Argentina beat Egypt 2-0 in Atlanta on 7 July, sending the holders through to the quarter-finals 1. Egypt, one of only two African sides left in the draw, go out. No goalscorer has yet been confirmed.

That leaves Morocco as Africa's sole quarter-finalist , survivor of a record ten-nation African entry that had put nine teams into the last 32 . A continent that arrived with its largest field yet is down to one team as the tournament narrows.

Argentina do not yet know their opponent. The winner of Switzerland against Colombia in Vancouver takes the final quarter-final place and meets Argentina in Kansas City on 12 July.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Argentina, the team that won the last World Cup in 2022, beat Egypt 2-0 in Atlanta on 7 July to reach this tournament's quarter-finals, the round played by the best eight teams left. Egypt is out. That result also settles a wider story: Morocco, a North African country that reached the semi-finals in 2022, is now the only team left from Africa's 54 countries, after nine other African qualifiers had already been eliminated.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Nine of Africa's ten qualifiers reached the last 32 partly because the expanded 48-team format created extra qualifying slots continent-wide compared with 2022. That volume did not carry into the round of 16: most of those nine sides, including Egypt on 7 July, met opponents from federations whose squads play far denser high-level club minutes in the preceding season.

Morocco's continued run draws on the same core that reached the 2022 semi-finals, a squad built overwhelmingly from players contracted to European clubs rather than Morocco's domestic Botola Pro league, the recruitment pattern most of the continent's other 2026 entrants could not match.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    Argentina do not yet know their next opponent, with the Switzerland-Colombia winner in Vancouver taking the final quarter-final place against them in Kansas City on 12 July.

  • Meaning

    Morocco now carries sole responsibility for African representation in the tournament's latter stages, raising the profile of its 9 July quarter-final against France.

Sources:ESPN
Mentions:Argentina →Egypt →Morocco →Switzerland →Colombia →Lionel Messi →Vancouver →Atlanta →Cameroon →World Cup →Kansas City →South Africa →
First Reported In

Update #36 · All three hosts out as Belgium beat USA

ESPN· 7 Jul 2026
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Causes and effects
Caused by
Africa's ten cut to two survivors
Morocco and Egypt were already Africa's last two survivors before Egypt's elimination left Morocco alone.
Occurred 4 Jul 2026
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Nine African nations reach the knockouts
The record nine-nation African run into the round of 32 set up the continent's later attrition to a single survivor.
Occurred 2 Jul 2026
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Switzerland edge Colombia in a shootout
Switzerland's win over Colombia completes the quarter-final draw against Argentina, who had already qualified.
Occurred 7 Jul 2026
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This Event
Argentina reach last eight; Egypt out
Egypt's exit reduces a record African contingent to a single quarter-finalist, Morocco.
Led to
Africa's last team out as France win
Egypt's defeat by Argentina left Morocco as Africa's sole quarter-finalist before this match.
Occurred 9 Jul 2026
Read story →
Argentina break 10-man Swiss side late
Argentina reached the quarter-final by beating Egypt 2-0, setting up this tie against Switzerland.
Occurred 11 Jul 2026
Read story →
Malvinas banner puts AFA on the hook
FIFA's decision not to punish Argentina for a similar Falklands song after the Egypt win sets the precedent for how it may treat the banner.
Occurred 15 Jul 2026
Read story →
Different Perspectives
French Football Federation
French Football Federation
The FFF called an 11:00 CEST press conference for 28 July, at its Paris headquarters, following an extraordinary executive committee meeting, at which Zinedine Zidane is expected to be presented as head coach succeeding Didier Deschamps. As of this writing no communique confirms the appointment, contract length or start date.
Morocco
Morocco
Morocco is pushing for the 2030 final at its Grand Stade Hassan II in Casablanca, a planned 115,000-seat venue that would be the world's largest football stadium on completion. The venue is contested by a Spanish petition for the Santiago Bernabeu, and FIFA has fixed neither the venue nor the tournament's proposed 64-team format.
FIFA
FIFA
FIFA's first tournament report, published 27 July, itemises nearly 300,000 accredited personnel, 73,700 security staff and 300,000 square metres of custom-grown turf, with no revenue or cost figure attached. As a Swiss association answering to its own Congress rather than a treasury, FIFA has followed the same operational-before-financial sequence it used after Qatar 2022.
Javier Tebas / La Liga
Javier Tebas / La Liga
La Liga president Javier Tebas said on 21 July that FIFA's system is rotten from the root and that Gianni Infantino's time as president has, in his words, concluded. Tebas has no vote in FIFA's process, so days after the IOC declined jurisdiction over a separate ethics complaint, he used the only instrument he has.
Mexico City government
Mexico City government
Head of government Clara Brugada presented a closing report on 22 July crediting the tournament with 44 billion pesos of economic activity, 2,000-plus accelerated public works and 100,000 formal jobs in June alone. The city has not published the method behind that figure, and three other Mexican bodies count the same five weeks differently.
Town of Foxborough
Town of Foxborough
Foxborough answered Kraft Group's June lawsuit on 7 July with a 61-page counterclaim, calling the stadium's owners 'a collection of multibillion-dollar corporations' trying to shift its $7.8 million security bill onto taxpayers. The town says its licensing power and its billing power run through the same board, and it wants the court to award its own costs too.