FIFA World Cup 2026: Who will face who in the Round of 16? Here’s everything you need to know about confirmed fixtures and live streaming

The Round of 16 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 is confirmed. Here’s a deep dive to what happened in the first knockout rounds and the confirmed fixtures for the last 16

Updated: July 4, 2026, 12:53 PM IST

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So, the 2nd round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 – the Round of 32 – has been done and dusted with half of the teams getting eliminated and the other half proceeding to the last 16 stage. This was the first time in the history of the competition that the 32 stage was played in the knockout format as part of the first-ever 48-team tournament, which is nearing towards its business end across North Americas.

We witnessed two giant killings in the Round of 32 with Morocco knocking out Netherlands and Paraguay handing a shock exit to 4-time champions Germany on penalties respectively. There were two more teams – Japan and Dominican Republic of Congo – who got extremely close to getting rid of giants Brazil and England from the 2026 edition but the former World Champions survived.

Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2026: Colombia seal tickets to Round of 16 with narrow 1-0 win over Ghana

We also saw the last dance of the 2018 Ballon d’or winner Luka Modric, whose Croatian side, silver and bronze medallists of the last two editions, enduring a heartbreaking exit after a last gasp goal got denied by the thinnest of margins in what was the first-ever usage of the tracking chip inside the official match ball.

All the co-hosts, the United States of America, Mexico and Canada advanced to the Round of 16 to keep the North American hope alive in the competition. The Vikings of Norway, all of whom making their debut World Cup appearance, also progressed to the Round of 16 at the expense Ivory Coast.

Traditional heavyweights Belgium, Portugal and Spain also progressed through to the last 16.

The Round of 32 also saw the bitter sweet ending for talented sides like Australia, Algeria, Ecuador, Austria and Ghana, who showcased immense potential but didn’t have enough to progress.

Perhaps the team that was writing the best storyline – Cape Verde – also had its FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign coming to an end but they did not give up that easily. After remaining unbeaten in the group stages, securing draws against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, the Blue Sharks did all they could in order to stop reigning champions Argentina from going forward in the World Cup.

The Island Nation had answers for every question that La Albiceleste had asked, coming from behind twice but an own goal from center-back Diney in the 111th minute of extra-time ruined it all for them. With that 3-2 result, Cape Verde became the 7th African team, alongside Algeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo and South Africa to get eliminated from the competition.

Morocco and Egypt are the only two African survivors now.

The good news is that the star attractions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland – will all be in action in the World Cup, at least till the Round of 16 which begins tonight itself. Here is the full schedule.