Four people died in a celebration crush in Mexico City after Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 to reach the last 16, their first World Cup knockout win in 40 years. All three co-hosts survived the round of 32 together for the first time, while Germany and the Netherlands both went out on penalties. Mexico host England at the Azteca on 5 July.
All three hosts advanced together for the first time, but a street crush killed four and debutants mostly exited.
Four people died in a crush on Paseo de la Reforma after Mexico beat Ecuador to reach the last 16, as Mayor Clara Brugada put the celebrating crowd near 1.4 million.
United StatesA crowd crush on Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma killed four people late on 30 June, hours after Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 in the World Cup. An estimated 1.4 million fans had gathered near the Angel of Independence monument.
Plan Kukulkan, Mexico's 100,000-strong World Cup security operation, was built to guard stadiums, not city streets. The deaths expose the gap it never covered.
Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties at Foxborough after a 1-1 draw, with Germany missing three spot-kicks to exit the World Cup.
United KingdomParaguay eliminated Germany from the World Cup on penalties, winning a shoot-out 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in Foxborough. Germany missed three spot-kicks, a first for a team that had won all three of its previous World Cup shoot-outs.
Analysts are split on why: some point to pressure and nerve, others to poor scouting of the goalkeeper. Either way, Germany's shoot-out reputation, built over four decades, is gone.
The United States, Canada and Mexico all came through the round of 32 on 1 July, the first World Cup to send more than one host into a knockout round together.
The United States, Canada and Mexico all advanced through the World Cup round of 32. It is the first time in the tournament's history that more than one host nation has survived a knockout round together, let alone all three.
Some of that is home advantage: no travel fatigue, familiar training bases. Some of it is the draw, which keeps co-hosts apart and shields them from the toughest seeds.
Issa Diop's 91st-minute header dragged the Netherlands to penalties, where Morocco won 3-2 to end the Dutch tournament at its earliest-ever stage.
United KingdomMorocco eliminated the Netherlands from the World Cup on penalties, winning a shoot-out 3-2 after Issa Diop's 91st-minute equaliser levelled the match at 1-1. Ismael Saibari scored the decisive spot-kick.
It is the Netherlands' earliest-ever World Cup exit. For Morocco, it extends the run that took them to the semi-finals in 2022, this time with much of the same squad.
Folarin Balogun scored and was sent off, then Malik Tillman's late free-kick sealed a 2-0 win that carried a ten-man United States past Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The United States beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the round of 32, despite playing the final half-hour with ten men. Folarin Balogun scored before being sent off in the 64th minute, and Malik Tillman sealed it with a late free-kick.
Opta's win-probability models rate ten-man comebacks like this as rare. It also keeps a co-host's tournament, and the ticket demand behind it, alive into the next round.
Harry Kane scored twice as England beat DR Congo 2-1, ending a debut knockout run that dated back to 1974.
United KingdomEngland beat DR Congo 2-1 in the round of 32, with captain Harry Kane scoring twice. It ends DR Congo's first World Cup knockout run since 1974, when the country played as Zaire.
That 52-year gap is part of what the tournament's expansion to 48 teams was meant to close. Whether it reflects real progress or a one-off appearance divides football economists from critics of the expansion itself.
Senegal led Belgium 2-0 and still lost 3-2, Youri Tielemans burying the winning penalty in the 125th minute in Seattle.
Belgium beat Senegal 3-2 after extra time in Seattle, coming back from 2-0 down to win on a Youri Tielemans penalty in the 125th minute.
Comebacks from two goals down in a World Cup knockout match are rare; most 2-0 leads hold. Whether fatigue or Belgium's substitutions turned it is exactly what separates sports scientists from tactics analysts.
Stephen Eustaquio's 92nd-minute goal beat South Africa 1-0 in Los Angeles, handing Canada a maiden World Cup knockout victory.
Canada beat South Africa 1-0 in the round of 32, Stephen Eustaquio scoring in the 92nd minute for Canada's first-ever World Cup knockout win.
Canada had lost all six of their previous World Cup matches, across 1986 and 2022. A newer domestic pro league, only founded in 2019, is starting to produce the players now breaking that run.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France beat Sweden 3-0, and Erling Haaland's late goal carried Norway past Ivory Coast 2-1.
France beat Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium and Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on the same day, both pre-tournament favourites advancing without difficulty.
Comfortable wins like these leave both sides fresher for what comes next. Analysts are split on how much that actually predicts, since round-of-32 opponents are rarely a favourite's hardest test.
FairSquare resubmitted an ethics complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino on 30 June, alleging the peace prize to Donald Trump breached political neutrality.
FairSquare resubmitted its eight-page ethics complaint on 30 June. It accuses football's governing body president Gianni Infantino of favouring Donald Trump with the sport's first Peace Prize.
Governance scholars doubt the body's ethics process can rule against its own president. Its mandate ultimately traces back to his office.
Iran's football federation and US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traded public criticism over Iran's World Cup exit, with no arbitration case lodged.
Iran's football federation traded public criticism with US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on 1 July, after she celebrated Iran's World Cup exit. No arbitration filing has been lodged.
Scholars see this as typical mega-event political messaging rather than a formal dispute. That would only change if Iran actually took the complaint to sport's legal system.
AI-assisted, human-edited under the editorial responsibility of Bannermedia Ltd. Reviewed by Ed Woodcock on 2 July 2026. Editorial standards.
