To me, the quarter-finals is when the World Cup truly comes alive at the highest level and that will surely be the case in Boston when Morocco and France lock horns.
As winners of the 2018 competition and runners-up four years ago, Les Bleus need no introduction, led by their electric captain Kylian Mbappe – the best player in the world in Qatar as far I was concerned.
Then there’s Morocco, heading the African charge and a side which continues to bring joy to spectators around the world in the form of Moroccan matriarchs.
Their finest hour then was the historic achievement when they became the first African team to the reach the semi-finals with victory over 2016 European champions Portugal.
The best, though, could be yet to come following their respective World Cup 2026 last 16-ties on Saturday night.
Highlights of the game
The World Cup 2026 highlights began earlier in the evening (UK time) when Morocco beat Canada 3-0 at Houston Stadium.
While it was always hard to see Canada’s adventure clearing this hurdle, the co-hosts’ energetic, high-pressing tactic threatened to cause an upset in a first half of six bookings, without ever looking likely to score.
Unbeaten in eight of their last nine matches, they produced a spirited showing only for a second-half double from Azzedine Ounahi, followed by Soufiane Rahimi’s breakaway third in injury time, to ensure the Atlas Lions became the only African side to ever qualify for the last eight on multiple occasions.
For Canada, huge pride and a case of what might have been had their captain and talisman, Bayern Munich winger Alphonso Davies, been able to play.
He was again an unused sub and, after struggling with a hamstring injury, not fit enough to make an impact.
In truth, even if he had been fit, the SBOTOP World Cup 2026 betting odds always backed Mohamed Ouahbi’s men who can now prepare for a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final.
If they ran out convincing winners in the end, France had a more frustrating time of it in Philadelphia against Paraguay, who used a variety of ways to increasingly try and irritate their opponents as the contest wore on.
The nation which shocked Germany in the last round were always a class below their illustrious counterparts and only managed a solitary effort on target.
Yet in a match where extreme heat played a part (the city introduced emergency measures due to the soaring temperatures), there was no surprise who was the man to finally make the breakthrough
Sixty eight minutes were on the clock when Diego Gomez stuck out a leg to bring down exciting talent Desire Doue in the box and Mbappe did the rest, sending Orlando Gill the wrong way for his 19th World Cup goal.
The player who became the first to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since England’s Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966 – including a quick-fire double just 97 seconds apart – in 2022, had done it again and that proved enough.
Key statistics
Morocco. who are unbeaten in their last 11 matches across all competitions, now account for 50 per cent of all African knockout stage victories in World Cup history (four out of eight). The others are Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana and Egypt (one each).
Noussair Mazraoui made his 50th international appearance, once again excelling on the left side of the Moroccan defence.
Morocco have become the first African team to score three goals in a FIFA World Cup knockout match. Rahimi has been involved in three goals in five World Cup appearances (two goals, one assist), all as a sub – the most involvement by an African player who has never started a game in World Cup history.
France have won all of their World Cup meetings with Paraguay, including a famous extra-time victory in 1998 when Laurent Blanc scored a late.
Since the 2018 tournament, Mbappe has netted more goals in the knockout stages of the World Cup (11) than Brazil (10), England (10), Portugal (nine) and Spain (four).
What’s next?
A quarter-final clash to cherish on Thursday (July 9) – 9pm UK time – in Boston.
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