Introduction For a nation that had never previously earned a single point at a men’s World Cup, simply reaching the Round of 16 on home soil was already a historic achievement. But Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Morocco in Houston brought…
Introduction Tim Howard’s 15 saves against Belgium in the 2014 Round of 16 remain one of the defining images in USMNT World Cup history — heroic in defeat, since the Red Devils still won 2-1 after extra time. Twelve years…
Introduction Before he was breaking Bundesliga appearance records as a teenager, Jude Bellingham was a six-year-old playing for a small West Midlands club most England supporters have never heard of. His path from Stourbridge to Birmingham City to Borussia Dortmund…
Introduction Four years after France ended Morocco’s fairytale run in the Qatar semi-finals, the two sides meet again — this time in the quarter-finals, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with a place in the last four once again on the line. Neither…
Introduction Neither Switzerland nor Colombia was mentioned much in pre-tournament title discussions, and yet here they both are, one win away from a first World Cup quarter-final appearance in decades for one of them. Switzerland haven’t been beyond the last…
Introduction Pre-tournament, a Brazil-Argentina final was the matchup neutral fans across the football world wanted to see. Norway’s Round of 16 upset of Brazil ended that possibility before the quarter-finals had even kicked off. What’s left instead is arguably a…
Introduction Nobody wrote this quarter-final into their pre-tournament bracket. Norway hadn’t reached a World Cup since 1998, and Brazil were supposed to be the team standing between England and a semi-final. Instead, Erling Haaland’s brace sent five-time champions Brazil home…
Introduction By the time most players are considering a move to a bigger club, Kylian Mbappé had already broken Thierry Henry’s youth record at Monaco, won a World Cup at 19, and moved to Real Madrid in one of the…
Introduction Every football fan already knows the numbers: five Ballon d’Ors, the most goals in men’s international football history, a résumé that spans Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al Nassr. Fewer know that a racing heart condition…
Introduction Reigning champions against tournament trailblazers: that’s the shape of Tuesday’s early Round of 16 tie in Atlanta, where Lionel Messi’s Argentina face Mohamed Salah’s Egypt for a place in the quarter-finals. Neither side arrived here comfortably. Argentina needed a…
