The Last Eight, Settled: How France, Spain, England and Argentina Reached the Semi-Finals

For three days the tournament held its breath, and by the time the dust settled in Kansas City in the small hours of Sunday morning Irish time, football had done something it has never done before. The four highest-ranked sides on the planet — France, Spain, England and Argentina — had all fought their way into the same World Cup semi-finals. No hiding place, no fairy tale left standing, no shock to soften the blow. Just the aristocracy of the game, drawn into two ties that read like a heavyweight card. Here, for the Irish neutral catching up after a rest-day pause, is how the quarter-finals were won and lost — and why the last of these islands’ hopes is still, remarkably, alive.

France and Spain Do the Expected — Just

The heavyweights went first, and both came through without ever quite putting their feet up. In Foxborough on Thursday, France beat Morocco 2–0 to reach a third consecutive World Cup semi-final, ending the Atlas Lions’ second successive deep run and settling the Qatar 2022 rematch the same way it went the first time. It was a professional’s afternoon rather than a thriller — France simply have too much, having now scored 16 and conceded just 2 across the whole tournament, with clean sheets in all three knockout ties.

Spain’s night in Los Angeles was tighter. They edged Belgium 2–1, Mikel Merino settling it with a winner deep in the 88th minute — but the result came at a cost to their proudest statistic. Belgium’s goal was the first Spain had conceded in the entire competition, ending a shutout that had run all the way from the group stage. It barely dented the bigger picture: Luis de la Fuente’s side are now unbeaten in 36 matches, one short of Argentina’s all-time record of 37, and marching towards a first World Cup final since their 2010 title.

Bellingham Drags England Through the Fire

If Thursday and Friday were about the favourites doing their jobs, Saturday was pure theatre — and for the Irish living room, it delivered the result that matters most on these shores. In Miami, England and Norway went to extra time, and it was Jude Bellingham who wrote the ending. Andreas Schjelderup had put Erling Haaland’s Norway ahead in the 36th minute, and England were staring at the exit until Bellingham levelled in first-half stoppage time (45+2′). Then, three minutes into extra time (93′), he pounced on a ricochet off the Norwegian goalkeeper to win it 2–1.

It sent England into their first World Cup semi-final since 2018 — and, with the Republic never in the reckoning and Scotland long gone, kept the last British-Irish flag flying into the final week. Bellingham had entered the quarter-final one booking from a semi-final ban; he avoided it, and the tournament’s post-quarter-final card wipe has since cleared the whole England midfield. The hero, spared and then decisive. You could not script it better.

Argentina Break a Ten-Man Switzerland

The last of the four was the most fractious. In Kansas City, Argentina came from behind to beat Switzerland 3–1 after extra time, but the tie turned on a red card. Alexis Mac Allister had put the holders ahead inside ten minutes; Dan Ndoye levelled for the Swiss in the 67th. Then, five minutes later, Breel Embolo was sent off for simulation after a VAR review — a second yellow that reduced Switzerland to ten and, in the end, decided the outcome. Argentina broke the resistance in extra time, Julián Álvarez striking in the 112th minute and Lautaro Martínez adding a fourth-quarter flourish deep in stoppage time (120+1′).

Switzerland exited furious, their first quarter-final since 1954 ending in a sense of grievance. Argentina, for their part, reached a third straight World Cup semi-final and did so the hard way — a second extra-time knockout tie in a row, and 60 extra minutes now in the legs. The holders are still standing, but they have taken the scenic route to get here.

What It All Means for the Irish Neutral

Strip it back and the shape of the final week is stark. France, Spain, England and Argentina — the tournament’s four top-ranked sides — are the last four, the first time in World Cup history that the top four have all reached the semi-finals. The draw pits France against Spain in Dallas on Tuesday 14 July (20:00 IST), a "final before the final" between the favourite and the side unbeaten in 36. And it hands the Irish living room its centrepiece: England against Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday 15 July (20:00 IST), a charged rivalry renewed for the first time at a World Cup since 2002.

Every minute is free-to-air on RTÉ, which is carrying all 104 matches of this tournament across RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. For those already looking to the betting heat, France remain the outright favourites and both semis are broken down in full on our semi-final preview, while the tie that carries the adopted hopes of this island is dissected on the England v Argentina semi-final preview. The wider title picture, as ever, lives on our World Cup 2026 odds page, and the regulated Irish brands — names such as BillyBets and MrPacho — are pricing the semis in euro and fractional odds. Whatever the week holds, keep it measured: our responsible betting guide is a two-minute read worth having before the biggest matches of the tournament so far.