FIFA World Cup Knockout Bracket: Pathway to the final for Argentina, Spain and other teams

The FIFA World Cup 2026 now enters the Round of 32 after the group stage came to an end on Saturday (Sunday morning India time). The Round of 32 will kick off with the South Africa vs Canada match at Los Angeles on Sunday late night.

This is the first time the first knockout round of a World Cup will include 32 teams. The previous World Cup had 16 teams in the first round of knockouts. However, with the 2026 World Cup rising to 48 teams, we will have expanded knockout rounds.

Some of the top matches in the Round of 32 are Brazil vs Japan, Portugal vs Croatia, Germany vs Paraguay, among others.

Argentina's road to final

With Portugal failing to beat Colombia in the last round of the group stage, there's no chance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo now meeting in the quarter-finals. Argentina play Cabo Verde in the Round of 32 and are most likely to face Australia or Egypt in the last 16 if they qualify.

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In the quarter-finals, Argentina could be against Switzerland/Algeria or Colombia/ Ghana.

If Argentina reach the semi-finals, their opponent could be one of England, DR Congo, Mexico, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Norway, Japan or Brazil.

Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Senegal are on the other side of the bracket. And most likely one of these teams will reach the final.

2026 World Cup knockout bracket

Also, take a look at which teams have qualified from which group and the full list of fixtures for the Round of 32.

Teams who have qualified from the groups:

World Cup 2026 Round of 32 matches

All FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will be streamed live on the Zee5 app and website. You can also watch the matches on Unite8 Sports TV channels.