After several penalty shootouts, drama and controversy, the World Cup‘s Round of 32 is finally over. What does the second round of the knockout stage have in store for us?
Co-host Canada got things started with a lively effort in the first half against Morocco, but just couldn’t find the net and it ended up costing them. The Atlas Lions changed tactics after the break and got a little more aggressive. That resulted in a pair of Azzedine Ounahi goals and a stoppage-time dagger from Soufiane Rahimi to send Canada packing. It’s the first time an African team has made the quarterfinals in back-to-back World Cups.
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France, the favorite to win the World Cup, faced Paraguay in the afternoon game and Kylian Mbappé retook the Golden Boot lead with a penalty kick in the 70th minute that ended up being the difference in a chippy game.
France will play Morocco in Boston on July 9.
Round of 16 bracket after Saturday’s games
World Cup knockout bracket after Saturday’s games (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
Saturday’s Round of 16 results
Follow the World Cup right here on Yahoo Sports with live updates, highlights, results and the latest news below:
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Yahoo Sports Staff
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Yahoo Sports Staff
What started with 48 nations has been whittled down to 14 teams as the 2026 FIFA World Cup moves on.
Here’s where things stand with just over two weeks until the title game.
How the World Cup bracket looks after Saturday’s games (Yahoo Sports illustration)
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Yahoo Sports Staff
Kylian Mbappé is back in the lead in the Golden Boot race via tiebreaker. He and Messi both have seven goals, but Mbappé has two assists as well.
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Yahoo Sports Staff
PHILADELPHIA – Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill as Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates after the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between Paraguay and France at the Philadelphia Stadium on July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia, United States. MAURICE VAN STEEN / ANP (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)
(ANP via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 04: Kylian Mbappe of France (L) celebrates the victory with teammates during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 16 match between Paraguay and France at Philadelphia Stadium on July 04, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images)
(Daniela Porcelli via Getty Images)
France’s forward #10 Kylian Mbappe celebrates with his coach Didier Deschamps after winning the 2026 World Cup round of 16 football match between Paraguay and France at the Philadelphia Stadium in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP via Getty Images)
(JEWEL SAMAD via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 4: Gustavo Gomez of Paraguay reacts after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 16 match between Paraguay and France at Philadelphia Stadium on July 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
(Richard Sellers/Allstar via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA – Lucas Hernandez of France, Desire Doue of France, Kylian Mbappe of France, Marcus Thuram of France, Dayot Upamecano of France, Ibrahima Konate of France, Jules Kounde of France and Maghnes Akliouche of France celebrate after the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between Paraguay and France at the Philadelphia Stadium on July 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, United States. MAURICE VAN STEEN / ANP (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)
(ANP via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA – Lucas Hernandez of France, Desire Doue of France, Kylian Mbappe of France, Marcus Thuram of France, Dayot Upamecano of France, Ibrahima Konate of France, Jules Kounde of France and Maghnes Akliouche of France celebrate after the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between Paraguay and France at the Philadelphia Stadium on July 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, United States. MAURICE VAN STEEN / ANP (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)
(ANP via Getty Images)
04 July 2026, United States, Philadelphia: Soccer, Men, 2026 World Cup, Paraguay vs. France, Knockout Stage, Round of 16, Philadelphia Stadium, Gustavo Velázquez (Paraguay, M) gets into a scuffle with William Saliba (France, L) and Maxence Lacroix after the game. ATTENTION: In accordance with FIFA regulations, these images may be used exclusively for editorial purposes. Commercial use is prohibited. Furthermore, no video-like sequences may be created, and no alterations may be made to the image, either in the foreground or the background. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa (Photo by Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(picture alliance via Getty Images)
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Yahoo Sports Staff
It was testy at times, but France is moving on to play Morocco after a 1-0 win over Paraguay.
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Kari Anderson
A frustrating but complete win for France, who will likely not have kind things to say about the refereeing.
Paraguay’s upstart World Cup run comes to an end.
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Kari Anderson
Olise and Matías Galarza get into an exchange, and Galarza boldly flops despite no contact from Olise. But the referee falls for it, and gives Olise a yellow card. The refereeing in this second half has left a lot to be desired.
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Kari Anderson
Mike Maignan gets a nervy save as Paraguay gets a final chance.
Kylian Mbappé then gets two key shots in a row, but both are saved by Gill
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Kari Anderson
Jules Koundé goes down after a hit to the face from Matías Galarza — which is not called by the referee, again, though he does stop to check on Koundé.
Paraguay was furious that their attempt to take a throw-in was delayed.
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Kari Anderson
France finally earns a free kick as Dayot Upamecano is dragged around by Gustavo Caballero.
Play has definitely slowed down on both ends of the field, though, as France’s win starts to cement.
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Kari Anderson
Maurício takes advantage of a turnover, and hits a bouncing shot towards Mike Maignan, who gets a big save to keep Paraguay scoreless.
10 minutes of stoppage time coming up.
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Kari Anderson
Kylian Mbappé with another great shot, but it’s grabbed by Orlando Gill. That’s three shots on target now for France.
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Kari Anderson
Paraguay gets a chance, but Júnior Alonso’s shot goes well wide right. Not a lot of threatening opportunities for Paraguay to try and equalize so far, as this game starts to peter towards a close.
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Kari Anderson
France uses its second sub of the match to give Ousmane Dembélé a rest, replacing him with Rayan Cherki.
Paraguay, for what it’s worth, still has one sub remaining, but is out of substitution windows. France has three subs left
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Kari Anderson
Koné tackles Juan José Cáceres while reaching for the ball, but the contact is just late enough for a yellow card. Cáceres sells it appropriately, drawing his second French yellow of the match.
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Kari Anderson
France defender Dayot Upamecano gets elbowed in the stomach by Gabriel Ávalos, and while a foul is called, the Paraguayan is not given a yellow for the contact. That’s the kind of foul that would’ve offered a good chance for Ilgiz Tantashev to try and control this game a bit more.
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Kari Anderson
Kylian Mbappé with another impressive roll to the ground, but it comes after he gets tangled up with Juan José Cáceres — and, specifically, after Cáceres lashes out his foot to tap Mbappé’s leg. Things are getting a bit silly on both sides.
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Kari Anderson
Adrien Rabiot gets flattened with a crunchy tackle, and is still down while the game heads into the second hydrat
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Kari Anderson
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Kari Anderson
Kylian Mbappé does it again, with the French captain hitting a beautiful penalty kick into the right back corner of the goal. Mbappé leaned enough to the left that Orlando Gill dives the wrong way, before Mbappé finds the back of the net with relative ease.
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Kari Anderson
Lets the mind games begin: Paraguayan players cluster around the spot to complain to the ref and try to psych out Mbappé, who’s taking the kick. Orlando Gill, Paraguay’s goalkeeper, also hovers near him before finally moving back to his line.
