The World Cup knockout stage is finally ready to begin after 72 group matches trimmed the expanded 48-team field down to 32.
Pre-tournament favourites Argentina, France, Spain and England all progressed, but there was also room for a few surprise stories.
Cape Verde reached the knockout stage in their first-ever World Cup after drawing all three group matches. DR Congo also made history by reaching the last 32 for the first time, more than 50 years after their only previous appearance at the finals as Zaire.
Argentina will face Cape Verde on Friday, while DR Congo take on England on Wednesday.
African nations enjoyed one of their strongest World Cup campaigns, as nine of the continent's 10 teams reached the knockout stage.
Europe has 13 teams left in the tournament, South America has five, while Asia is represented by two. Co-hosts Mexico, the United States and Canada are the only North American sides still standing.
Uruguay were the highest-ranked team to miss out after failing to progress from the group stage.
Iran also suffered late heartbreak. Team Melli were seconds away from qualification before Austria's stoppage-time equaliser against Algeria pushed the North Africans into the final qualifying third-place spot.
Only Argentina, France and Mexico won all three of their group matches.
One of the standout last-32 matches sees the Netherlands face Morocco on Monday. The Dutch scored 10 goals during the group stage, while Morocco continued the impressive form that took them to the World Cup semi-finals four years ago.
The race for the Golden Boot is also heating up. Lionel Messi leads the standings on six goals, ahead of Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Erling Haaland, who have all scored four.
England captain Harry Kane is among a group of 10 players on three goals.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Fra...
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's f...
Since 2021, only 9 per cent of $8 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan can be traced beyond initial recipients in public re...
The U.S. has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth an estimated $2.1 billion, but Kyiv could face years of delays before receiving the weapons it urgently needs to defend against intensifying Russian attacks.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered Iran's armed forces to respond to any threat immediately and without geographical limits in statements posted to social media platforms on Saturday (31 October).
Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and placards supporting the hijab gathered outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London.
A Chinese-made AI chip has matched Nvidia’s H200 in tests conducted by its developer, marking a potential breakthrough in China’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology.
A hacking group linked to North Korea is widely believed to be behind the theft of $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency giant Binance, a cyberattack that experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Frankfurt, where shops were looted and police reported Molotov cocktail attacks.
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, as a hostile group, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Thousands protested in Albania's capital, Tirana, on Saturday (31 October), demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation over perceived corruption allegations and dissatisfaction with the government over a lack of jobs and poor education standards.
Russia has agreed to work with Ghana on developing a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant following talks at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said on Saturday.
Foreign ministers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and India raised concerns over export restrictions and economic coercion at a Quad meeting in Atlanta, U.S., on Saturday, 31 October 2026, according to their joint statement.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment