The 2026 World Cup has reached its most thrilling stage, with just four nations remaining as the competition enters its penultimate round of fixtures.
France, Spain, England and Argentina are all now just two victories away from lifting the famous trophy in what promises to be an extraordinary few days of football.
The first semi-final takes place on Tuesday at Dallas Stadium, where France and Spain will renew European hostilities with a place in the final on the line.
Kylian Mbappe has been in devastating form throughout the tournament, scoring eight goals so far and sitting level with Lionel Messi in the race to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
France are not a one-man team, however, with Ousmane Dembele also on five goals and Michael Olise leading the competition for assists with five of his own across the tournament.
Spain beat France 2-1 in the semi-finals of Euro 2024, and Luis de la Fuente’s side will carry genuine belief into Tuesday’s tie despite mixed knockout-stage performances.
Lamine Yamal, who turns 19 on the eve of the match, has managed just one goal at this World Cup and Spain will desperately need the Barcelona winger to deliver on his enormous potential.
Four-goal Mikel Oyarzabal has gone quiet in recent matches, leaving substitute Mikel Merino to provide late moments of inspiration against both Portugal and Belgium in the knockout rounds.
Spain’s one remarkable statistic heading into the semi-final is an unbeaten run stretching back 36 games, a sequence that represents the longest in their entire national team history.
France will be appearing in their eighth World Cup semi-final, equalling Brazil, with only Germany having featured in more across the history of the competition.
The second semi-final on Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium carries a weight of history few fixtures in world football can match, as England face defending champions Argentina.
This fixture falls exactly 40 years after Diego Maradona almost single-handedly eliminated England at the quarter-final stage of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Lionel Messi, who became the World Cup’s all-time top goalscorer during this tournament, has never previously faced England and leads the Golden Boot race alongside Mbappe on eight goals.
England have their own generational talent in Jude Bellingham, who has scored twice in each of their last two knockout games, the first player to do so since Maradona in 1986.
Captain Harry Kane is level with Bellingham on six goals for the tournament, giving England a genuinely potent attacking threat to complement their overall team resilience.
Thomas Tuchel has called on his side to show greater quality than they displayed in their quarter-final victory over Norway, acknowledging that their performances have not yet reached peak levels.
Tuchel is only the second England manager to go unbeaten in his first six World Cup games, following Alf Ramsey in 1966, who had the exact same record of five wins and one draw.
England have now won four consecutive World Cup matches, their longest winning run within a single tournament since their title-winning campaign back in 1966.
Argentina have reached the World Cup semi-finals for the third time in the past four editions, continuing a remarkable run of consistency for the defending champions at the very highest level.
With history, pride and a place in the World Cup final at stake, both semi-finals promise to be unmissable occasions for football fans across the globe.
