The three co-hosts of the World Cup are all out as Mexico, Canada and the United States fell in the Round of 16.
Mexico played out a thriller against England but fell at the Azteca, Morocco accounted for Canada with relative ease to win 3-0, and the US were left embarrassed by Belgium following a turbulent build-up. The hosts are out, but a lot of the big guns remain.
Norway pulled off a big shock to beat Brazil and end Neymar’s international career. It remains to be seen what Cristiano Ronaldo does from here after Portugal fell to Spain 1-0. It looked as though Lionel Messi would face the same uncertainty before Argentina pulled off an incredible comeback from 2-0 down to beat Egypt.
France continued their dominance to beat Paraguay. Kylian Mbappé is on another level and the $2.63 favourite to win the Golden Ball after scoring another goal in their Round of 16 win.
The Round of 16 produced an upset or two, but the favourites moved through to the quarterfinals, where the games only get tougher.
3 Takeaways From The Round Of 16
“Overturn This”
The Belgium Red Devils social media team couldn’t help but take a jab at the USA side following their 4-1 demolition of the hosts.
It came after the controversial overturning of Folarin Balogun’s red card in the Round of 32. Whether or not his call made the difference, President Trump brought the World Cup into disrepute, and most football fans outside of the USA became Belgium fans for a day.
BREAKING: President Trump reveals the details of his conversation with FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the controversial red card call on star American player Folarin Balogun.
"All I did was ask for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm… pic.twitter.com/MD5Q9t44th
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 6, 2026
The Red Devils outperformed the hosts in almost every meaningful attacking metric to generate 2.01 expected goals on seven shots on target. The US, on the other hand, could only muster 0.63 on two shots on target. Belgium’s dominance came on the back of missed assignments from the US defence, poor giveaways in the middle of the field, and a Grade A howler from goalkeeper Matt Freese.
With so much against them before the match, Belgium deserved to advance to the quarterfinals and a date with Spain as $5.25 outsiders.
An Azteca Thriller
England are always a headline act in any FIFA World Cup. Add the hosts, Mexico at the Azteca, and football fans were rewarded with an all-time classic.
The Three Lions twice played with a two-goal cushion, but the result never really felt comfortable. Mexico grew legs following Jarell Quansah’s straight red card. While Harry Kane soon knocked in his sixth goal of the World Cup, Raúl Jiménez’s spot-kick reapplied the pressure.
One of the best post-match interviews you will EVER see! Rest up, Harry 🙂 pic.twitter.com/twk8bhP2YK
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2026
Mexico worked hard in search of an equaliser. Jiminez will have nightmares about the late effort he scooped over. However, England threw their bodies in front of the ball to protect their lead while playing much of the second half a man down.
England are yet to string an impressive performance together. They’re doing just enough, as difficult as just enough may have felt against Mexico. Nonetheless, they’re $1.40 favourites to get past Norway in the quarterfinal to book a spot against Argentina or Switzerland in the semis.
Argentina Survive
They’re the defending World Cup champions and entered their Round of 16 clash as heavy favourites to beat Egypt, but with only a quarter of an hour to play in normal time, Argentina looked to be on their way out.
Two excellent goals laid the platform for Egypt to pull off the upset, but two wouldn’t be enough. Not against Lionel Messi and Argentina. When they scored their first with 11 minutes to play, it always felt like there would be another. But three before the end of regular time?
The Argentina come back against Egypt is one of the best matches in football history.
I analyzed ~50,000 games with Fable to show just how crazy it was.
Of the 10,138 times that a team has been up 2-0 at 79', only SIXTEEN times (0.16%) did they ever make a come back at the end… pic.twitter.com/ccd6UC1Qv9
— Deedy (@deedydas) July 8, 2026
The final 3-2 win will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history. It isn’t enough to consider Argentina one of the favourites on the third line of betting at $5. The expectation is to reach the semi-final, though.
Switzerland topped their group and has conceded only two goals in the tournament. They’ve proven to be disciplined at the back and clinical in front of goal despite their 0-0 draw with Colombia after 120 minutes. Still, Argentina are $1.72 favourites to win in 90 minutes and $1.30 to advance.
World Cup Market Update
France are flying and the $2.88 favourites to win the World Cup from here. Despite lacking the headlines, Spain remains in the hunt on the second line of betting at $4.50, ahead of Argentina at $5 and England at $5.50.
World Cup Winner: Norway – $9, Morocco – $26, Belgium – $31, Switzerland – $34
We’re down to eight teams, but Argentina and France are favourites to make the World Cup Final at $4. With France and England the next most likely option at $4.80, UEFA is only $1.18 to be the Winning Confederation.
Seeing Kylian Mbappé towards the top of the Golden Boot list at $2.40 isn’t a shock, but for 39-year-old Lionel Messi to be the $2.25 favourite will surprise some given his age. He keeps producing, though. Erling Haaland will need to lead Norway past England if he’s to win it at $8, while Harry Kane should always be considered at $9 given how deep England could go in the tournament.
Golden Ball: Kylian Mbappé – $2.63, Lionel Messi – $2.75, Erling Haaland – $8, Harry Kane – $9, Michael Olise – $11, Jude Bellingham – $11, Lamine Yamal – $19