Quarter-finals
What are the World Cup 2026 Quarter-finals?
The Quarter-finals are the third knockout round of the 2026 World Cup and reduce the 8 surviving teams from the Round of 16 to the 4 teams that contest the Semi-finals. Four single-leg matches, played across two days from July 10 to July 11, 2026, with two matches per day.
The Quarter-final round has been part of the World Cup since the bracket assumed its modern shape, and the basic format hasn't changed at 2026 — single-leg, 90 minutes plus extra time plus penalties if level. What changed is the path to reach it: a 2026 Quarter-finalist needed to win a Round of 32 and a Round of 16 match, where a 2022 Quarter-finalist only needed to win a Round of 16 match.
How does the Quarter-final bracket work at World Cup 2026?
The Quarter-final pairings are fixed by the bracket — no redraw. The 8 Round of 16 winners are placed into 4 Quarter-final fixtures based on bracket position:
- QF1 + QF2 → SF1 (top-half semi-final)
- QF3 + QF4 → SF2 (bottom-half semi-final)
The two semi-final winners meet in the final. The two semi-final losers play the third-place play-off, the only consolation match in the modern World Cup — a tradition that has continued at every World Cup since 1934.
See the full 2026 World Cup schedule for the 4 Quarter-final fixtures with kickoff times.
When are the World Cup 2026 Quarter-finals?
The Quarter-finals run across two match days:
- Friday July 10: QF1 + QF2 (top-half quarter-finals)
- Saturday July 11: QF3 + QF4 (bottom-half quarter-finals)
The 4 winners advance to the Semi-finals on July 14 and 15, after a two-day rest break.
Which countries have won the most World Cup Quarter-finals?
The teams that historically reach Quarter-finals most often are also the teams that historically win World Cups: Brazil (5 titles, most appearances at the QF stage), Germany (4 titles), Italy (4 titles), Argentina (3 titles), France (2 titles), Uruguay (2 titles), England (1 title) and Spain (1 title). Of these, only Italy has missed the 2026 World Cup; the other seven are all in the 48-team field with realistic Quarter-final ambitions.
The most consistent QF reach in modern history belongs to Germany, which reached the Quarter-finals at every World Cup from 1954 to 2014 — a 16-tournament streak broken only by their 2018 group-stage exit. At 2026 the German team led by Julian Nagelsmann is in Group E and is widely projected to reach at least the Quarter-finals.