Of the 48 World Cup participants, two-thirds advanced to the knockout stage. In the Round of 32 currently underway, 16 nations will be eliminated—while for 16 others, the dream of winning the title continues in the Round of 16. Find out here when the next round begins and where the games will be broadcast.
For the first time in this XXL World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the knockout stage began with a round of 32 instead of the round of 16, as was customary in previous tournaments in recent World Cup history. So 32 teams are battling it out in the first round of the knockout phase to advance—as of Saturday morning (CEST), all spots in the Round of 16 have been decided.
The German national team is not among them. On Monday evening, the DFB squad suffered an embarrassing defeat in Boston, losing 3–4 in a penalty shootout to Paraguay; as a result, the team led by head coach Julian Nagelsmann must pack their World Cup bags much earlier than expected for the flight home.
In South America, however, fans in Paraguay celebrated one of the biggest surprises of this World Cup. In its first World Cup appearance since 2010, head coach Gustavo Alfaro’s team has advanced directly to the Round of 16. Sixteen years ago, Paraguay even made it to the quarterfinals. Given the tournament bracket, it’s already clear what’s next for the 34th-ranked team in the world: In the Round of 16, their next opponent will be either France or Sweden.
When are the World Cup Round of 16 matches taking place?
The final Round of 32 matches will take place on Friday evening or late Friday night into Saturday, German time. The first Round of 16 matches will then begin on Saturday evening, July 4. These will be played from July 4 through July 7.
Incidentally, only two of the eight matches will take place at night for local fans. The remaining games will all be played in the evening, German time.
Where will the Round of 16 matches of the 2026 World Cup be held?
For the last time in this World Cup, Mexico and Canada will also host a World Cup match—starting with the quarterfinals, all matches will be held in the U.S. The final Round of 16 match will be held in Vancouver on July 7, but Canada will not be participating in it. Instead, Canada will kick off the second knockout round in Houston. Mexico, on the other hand, will host a home game in Mexico City.
The Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup at a glance
July 4, 7:00 p.m.: Canada vs. Morocco in Houston
July 4, 11:00 p.m.: Paraguay vs. France in Philadelphia
July 5, 10:00 p.m.: Brazil vs. Norway in New York/New Jersey
July 6, 2:00 a.m.: Mexico vs. England in Mexico City
July 6, 9:00 p.m.: Portugal vs. Spain in Dallas
July 7, 2:00 a.m.: USA vs. Belgium in Seattle
July 7, 6:00 p.m.: Argentina vs. Egypt in Atlanta
July 7, 10:00 p.m.: Switzerland vs. Colombia in Vancouver
Who is broadcasting the World Cup Round of 16?
As has been the case throughout this World Cup, ARD and ZDF are sharing free-to-air broadcasts of selected World Cup matches—but anyone who wants to watch all the games will need to tune in to MagentaTV. This also applies to the World Cup Round of 16. A total of three of the eight matches will be broadcast exclusively by the Telekom pay-TV channel, while the other five matches will also air on free-to-air TV.
The exclusive matches on MagentaTV are Paraguay vs. France, Brazil vs. Norway, and Mexico vs. England. ZDF will air Canada vs. Morocco and Portugal vs. Spain. ARD will broadcast USA vs. Belgium, Argentina vs. Egypt, and Switzerland vs. Colombia.