For the first time in its history, the four highest-ranked teams going into the World Cup are the four teams left standing heading into the semifinals.
After more than 100 matches played over the span of more than a month across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, every Cinderella story that debuted in the group stage has come to an end.
The last four teams in contention for the title of world champions match FIFA’s pre-tournament rankings: Argentina (No. 1), Spain (No. 2), France (No. 3), and England (No. 4).
Although all the underdog and rising teams such as Cape Verde, Scotland, and Norway have all been sent home, this powerhouse foursome still offers some potential stories worthy of adding to the annals of sports history. Those possible storylines include the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since 1962, a nation claiming its first World Cup since 1966, and a team that set a record for the longest multi-game World Cup shutout and has conceded only one goal on its journey to this point.
Here is a look at the matchups.
Spain Versus France
From the rugged terrain of the Pyrenees comes a border war transposed to a Reds versus Blues soccer match in Dallas. Mikel Oyarzabal and Lamine Yamal lead Spain’s Rojas against Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Les Bleus of France at 3 p.m. ET on July 14.
Up front, the next chapter of this year’s Golden Boot story will be written as Mbappé continues his push to end the tournament as its top scorer for the second consecutive time. He won the trophy in 2022 after scoring eight goals on his team’s way to ultimately falling in the final to Lionel Messi and Argentina. France will be looking to correct their past failings and bring home a third World Cup and their first since 2018.
At the same time, this match will showcase a story of a lack of goals allowed on both ends of the pitch.
Spain’s Unai Simón refused to concede a goal for the first five matches, setting a new World Cup record of 649 minutes played without being scored on. The previous record was 518 minutes, set by Italy’s Walter Zenga in 1990.
Simón’s five World Cup clean sheets shut out Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Austria, and Portugal.
The only player to best him so far was Belgian striker Charles De Ketelaere, who also scored twice during his team’s 4–1 victory against the United States. But a late goal from Spanish super substitute Mikel Merino ultimately carried the Rojas into the next round.
The back of France’s net also proved difficult to reach. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan has recorded four clean sheets of his own so far. He’s conceded only two goals, both of which came during the initial group stage: one against Senegal and one against Norway.
Argentina Versus England
References to the Falklands War have already spread across social media as Argentina prepares to face England at 3 p.m. in Atlanta on July 15.
Messi and Julián Alvarez will lead the Selección against a Three Lions roster topped by Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
Argentina might be the defending World Cup Champions, but their road to the penultimate match was much easier than their next opponent’s—at least on paper. The No. 1 ranked team in the world has not faced a single top-10 team so far in the entire tournament. In the group stage, they played Algeria (No. 28), Austria (No. 24), and Jordan (No. 63). Then, their knockout games were against Cape Verde (No. 67), Egypt (No. 29), and Switzerland (No. 19).
But Argentina’s three elimination games have been far from easy. A heroic two-goal display from Cape Verde forced the defending champions into extra time and nearly pushed them further into penalty kicks. Then, Egypt threw them into a 2–0 hole that they didn’t escape from until the final 21 minutes of the match. Switzerland also forced its quarterfinal game into extra time, holding a 1–1 tie after being down a man because of a red card for more than 30 minutes.
England, meanwhile, opened the tournament against Croatia (No. 11), then had to beat Mexico (No. 14) in Mexico City while playing a man down because of a red card for nearly 40 minutes. They then had to overcome Erling Haaland and a Norway team that came into the World Cup ranked 34th, but they got to the quarterfinals by upsetting sixth-ranked Brazil.
Haaland was running his own campaign for the World Cup’s Golden Boot, scoring seven before being eliminated from his first-ever cup appearance.
This week, Mbappé, Messi, Kane, and Bellingham all have the opportunity to add to their totals. Kane won the trophy in 2018 after scoring six goals. This year, he has already matched that number and remains only two goals behind Mbappé, who leads the race so far. Messi also has eight goals, but he currently occupies second place because the French striker has recorded more assists.
Despite all his accolades, which include a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal, Messi has yet to win the Golden Boot at the World Cup.
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