Norway knocked out five-time winners Brazil on day 25 of the World Cup, the result that turned the Fifa bracket 2026 search into a scramble for who is still standing. England also beat Mexico, and France, Spain and Argentina all moved on, leaving only 12 teams in the tournament.
That is why readers are checking the bracket now: the path to the quarter-finals has changed in a hurry, and the names at the top are no longer just a list of big reputations. England are set to meet Norway on Saturday, while Folarin Balogun will be available to play Belgium later on Monday after his one-game ban was controversially suspended. He has three goals at the tournament, which is part of why the ruling drew so much attention.
France stayed top of the pile after beating Paraguay 1-0 in the last 16, a result that added to a run of four straight wins but did not make the contest look as one-sided as the scoreline suggests. Paraguay showed that France can be got at with unscrupulous methods even if France remain clear favourites, and The Athletic’s live projection tool still gives them a 31 per cent chance of winning the World Cup. Kylian Mbappe is level with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot on seven goals, while Michael Olise leads the assists chart with five.
The other surviving contenders have their own marks of control. Spain began with a 0-0 draw with Cape Verde but have now won three consecutive matches without conceding a goal, including a 3-0 win over Austria in which Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice and moved to four goals at the tournament. Argentina needed extra time to beat Cape Verde 3-2, with an own goal in the 111th minute sending them through, while Lionel Messi scored his seventh goal of the tournament. England, meanwhile, held on against Mexico even after Jarell Quansah’s red card before the hour mark.
What this leaves is a quarter-final field shaped as much by discipline and nerve as by pedigree. Brazil are gone, France are still the team others are trying to catch, and Balogun’s return gives Belgium an immediate problem on Monday. For everyone else, the bracket has become simpler only in the harshest sense: there are fewer teams left, and every one of them has already proved it can survive a night that changes the tournament.
