For the first time in 36 years, the World Cup semifinals will be contested exclusively by former champions. France, Spain, England and Argentina – the top four sides in FIFA’s pre-tournament ranking – secured their places in the last four with a blend of dominance and late drama, setting up a pair of fixtures that European and South American observers are already calling a de facto final four of the sport’s modern elite.

France, the only team to win all six matches in regulation time, continued to look the tournament’s most complete side. A 2-0 dismissal of Morocco, with goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, extended their goal tally to 16 and maintained a sense of controlled inevitability. Spain, by contrast, reached the same stage through narrower margins. A 2-1 victory over Belgium, secured by Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Merino, followed a 1-0 win against Portugal in the previous round, both requiring late interventions. The Spanish backline, anchored by Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsí, had not conceded for 600 minutes until Charles De Ketelaere’s equaliser, a record that has defined their campaign even as the attack has occasionally laboured.

England and Argentina both required extra time to advance, exposing vulnerabilities that their opponents will seek to exploit. England edged Norway 2-1 on a Jude Bellingham double, but manager Thomas Tuchel was blunt in his assessment: “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves. I am not happy with the performance.” Argentina, the defending champions, trailed Switzerland before Alexis Mac Allister equalised and Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez struck in the additional period to seal a 3-1 win. Lionel Messi, who shares the tournament’s scoring lead with Mbappé on eight goals, acknowledged the physical toll: “We come with a lot of wear and tear and it shows.”

The semifinal pairings revive two of international football’s most layered rivalries. France and Spain meet in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, a rematch of the Euro 2024 semifinal and the 2025 Nations League semifinal, both won by Spain. Across the Atlantic, the England-Argentina collision in Atlanta on Wednesday carries the weight of a history stretching from the 1966 World Cup to Diego Maradona’s twin strikes in 1986. Viewed from Buenos Aires, the fixture is freighted with memory; in London, it is a test of whether a talented generation can overcome a familiar nemesis. The winners advance to the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July, while the losers meet in Miami a day earlier for the third-place match.