Six Teams Remain: The 2026 World Cup Enters Its Final Stages
After a month of packed stadiums, dramatic upsets, and matches that kept the whole world on its toes, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has reached its final stages!
The largest World Cup in history began with 48 national teams competing across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Now, only six remain: Argentina, England, France, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. The quarterfinal matchups- France defeated Morocco, Spain defeated Belgium, Norway will face off against England, and Argentina against Switzerland- will determine who advances to the tournament’s final four. The champions will ultimately be crowned on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Familiar Teams and Unexpected Contenders
Several of the remaining teams arrived in North America with championship expectations. France, Argentina and Spain remain among the most talented teams in international soccer, while England continues its pursuit of a second World Cup title.
Morocco, which became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal in 2022, surprised and delighted the world with its success before bowing out to France. Norway’s run has also been an exciting surprise, as they establish their country among the sport’s elite. Belgium and Switzerland have also survived a tournament in which many traditional teams lost.
That unpredictability is part of the World Cup’s allure. Rankings, reputations, and betting odds may shape expectations, but they cannot account for the emotional volatility of the live game.
America Gets Swept Up in the World Cup
The expanded World Cup has transformed stadium districts, restaurants, bars, and public spaces as international meeting grounds. Supporters have arrived wearing national colors, carrying flags, and bringing their own traditions and culture into American cities. Even the country’s famously complicated tipping culture has become part of the conversation, confusing some international visitors encountering restaurant gratuity customs for the first time.
Online, the tournament has generated its own evolving language of memes, emotional reaction videos and glimpses of fans attempting to fit matches into ordinary American routines. Viewers have celebrated goals in offices, airports, living rooms and crowded neighborhood bars.
That enthusiasm has translated into enormous television audiences. English- and Spanish-language broadcasts across Fox, Telemundo and Peacock have drawn stronger-than-anticipated viewership, suggesting that this World Cup has become more than a sporting event. It is one of the summer’s defining cultural moments.
The U.S. team’s elimination may have ended one storyline, but questions remain about what the tournament will mean for soccer’s future in the country. The national team showed moments of promise alongside painful weaknesses, leaving players, coaches and supporters to reconsider how the program can turn increased attention into permanent progress. Hosting the World Cup was supposed to introduce more Americans to the global game.
Searching for a Second Chance in Hotshot
Every World Cup makes people revisit past tournaments. Brazil, even though the five-time champions are no longer part of this year’s games, have been one of the most famous and successful in soccer history. Brazil’s 1970 team is still one of the most celebrated squads in the history of the sport. Led by Pelé, the team combined preparation, strategy and creativity to win the country’s third World Cup title.
That legacy is the central theme of Hotshot, a soccer drama starring Pelé as the once-great Brazilian player Santos.
The film follows Jimmy, an undisciplined American playing in a struggling semi-professional soccer league. Frustrated by his stalled career, he leaves his privileged life behind and travels to Brazil in search of Santos, hoping the former star can help him become the player he believes he was meant to be.
Santos, however, has turned away from the game. The relationship between the two begins with friction, as Jimmy’s ambition collides with Santos’s reluctance to revisit his past. Gradually, they recognize that neither man can move forward alone. Jimmy needs discipline and direction, while Santos must confront the part of himself he abandoned when he left soccer behind.
As the 2026 World Cup approaches its conclusion, the surviving teams are competing for a trophy. They are also competing for the opportunity to make soccer history.
Watch Hotshot and experience a story of two players searching for redemption through the beautiful game.
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