The 2026 World Cup reaches its most dramatic stretch this week, as the four teams that have gone the distance since the tournament began face off over two nights for the right to play in the final on July 19.
Tonight's first semifinal pits France against Spain in Dallas, while Argentina and England meet Wednesday for the second spot in the championship match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Between the two ties, 21 players will ultimately take the field for a shot at football's biggest prize.
Tonight's matchup carries an unmistakable subplot for anyone who watched the 2022 final in Qatar, when Argentina beat France on penalties and Lionel Messi lifted the trophy. Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat trick in that final only to end up on the losing side, could get a rematch with Messi's Argentina in Sunday's final, this time with a chance to walk away as champion himself, but only if France gets past Spain first. Should France fall tonight, Spain would advance to face the winner of Argentina and England instead.
France arrives as the tournament's most heavily praised team, led by Mbappé, now 27 and playing for manager Didier Deschamps, the same coach who led Les Bleus to the 2018 World Cup and the 2020-21 Nations League title. Mbappé will lean on a supporting cast that includes the electric Michael Olise, ball-progressing defender Lucas Digne, and midfield engine room Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni. France's approach from kickoff will be its familiar patient, intelligent buildup aimed at creating enough chances to avoid extra time and, worse, a repeat of the penalty shootout that cost the team the title against Argentina four years ago.
For Mbappé personally, tonight carries an added incentive: as of the tournament's most recent tally, he sits one goal behind Messi's all-time World Cup scoring record of 21. Any multi-goal performance tonight would put the outright record, held for years by Messi, in his hands.
Spain, meanwhile, has steamrolled a string of strong opponents on its way to the semifinal and is chasing a repeat of its 2010 World Cup triumph, now 16 years in the past. The weight of that ambition rests heavily on two attacking stars: Barcelona's Dani Olmo and his club teammate, teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who is hoping to salvage what has so far been a tournament some have called underwhelming relative to expectations. Both are trying to deliver a trophy for manager Luis de la Fuente, who guided Spain to the 2023 Nations League title and the Euro 2024 crown, but above all for a Spanish fan base that has never stopped believing this run is possible. Spain knows France is the stronger team on paper, and enters as the tournament's clear underdog, looking to spoil France's bid to reach consecutive World Cup finals.
Wednesday's second semifinal sets up its own blockbuster storyline: Argentina against England, or, as much of the football world will frame it, Messi against Harry Kane, with a place in Sunday's final on the line.
