Only eight teams remain in the World Cup. As the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage, only those teams remain whose challenge can be described as ‘heavyweight.’ As such, the matches between these teams will themselves be of the highest level. How did the equation for the final eight stage of the tournament come about? Let’s take a look at that now.

France vs Morocco

Strong France has played so far just as expected from a top contender for the title. After easily passing the group stage, France then dispatched Sweden and Paraguay. No team has been seen in this World Cup that can silence Didier Deschamps’ squad. The French attack includes players like Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Bradley Barcola. Michael Olise has been performing well from midfield.

Morocco itself is also unbeaten. Before facing the two-time World Cup champion, Morocco had defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout and co-host Canada in the knockout stage. Ahead of the upcoming match in Boston, Morocco will have revenge on its mind.

The reason is that four years ago, in the semifinal held in Qatar, Morocco was defeated 2–0 by France. At that time, Morocco had made history as the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals. This time, the aim will be to repeat such an achievement. Therefore, for France, this match will be the biggest test of this World Cup.

Spain vs Belgium

Since defeating Portugal 1–0 in their last match, Spain has set a rare new world record in this World Cup. Spain has not conceded a single goal so far and has kept a clean sheet in every match played. However, Luis de la Fuente’s European champions have not yet displayed a style of play that could be considered highly attractive.

But the team’s performance is itself at a high level, and they have more control over the ball. Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has scored only one goal in five matches, but Mikel Oyarzabal has already scored four. He scored two goals in the victory over Austria in the round of 32. When Belgium faces Spain, it will be on the back of a 4–1 win over co-host America.

Before that, in the round of 32 win over Senegal, Belgium made a comeback from being two goals down. The team’s victory was secured in extra time. This tournament will be the last World Cup for Belgium’s golden generation players like Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, so they too want to leave their mark.

Norway vs England

The English defense has no shortage of experience facing Norwegian star Erling Haaland. Based on their regular encounters in the English Premier League, no one knows better than them how to stop Haaland. But the main question will be whether England can actually succeed in stopping Haaland this time. Under the coaching of Thomas Tuchel, England arrived in America as one of the top contenders for the title.

England wants to win the World Cup for the second time. Accordingly, two key players for England, captain Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, have performed well. Of the 11 goals England has scored, 10 belong to them. In the 3–2 win over Mexico, all three goals were theirs. The victory over the co-host, achieved while limited to 10 players, has England in high spirits.

Now, in the upcoming match in Miami, Haaland will be in top form, having already scored seven goals. He is a strong contender for the Golden Boot award. The Manchester City player has scored in 14 consecutive matches for Norway. That amounts to 27 goals. This single statistic shows that these players will be capable of breaking England’s defense.

Argentina vs Switzerland

Lionel Messi’s Argentina had a hard time securing a quarterfinal meeting with Switzerland. First, debutant Cape Verde forced Argentina into extra time. It was not easy for Argentina to secure victory in that match. The win over Egypt in the round of 16 was even more dramatic.

Against Egypt, Argentina was trailing by two goals and it seemed their turn to go home had come, but the defending champions managed to stage one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history. At the center of it was Messi himself. After these two matches, coach Lionel Scaloni must have realized that his team cannot always rely on luck.