Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews the Last 16 Knockout Stage of the Football World Championship 2026 with his unique and insightful commentary.
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Be sure to check out John’s book, entitled “Three Days At Anfield“, a riotous and heartfelt tribute to Barnsley FC that blends football nostalgia, fan memoir, and a love letter to the beautiful game. Available on Amazon now.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Last 16 Knockout Stage
July 04th
American Independence Day
CANADA ((30) v MOROCCO (7)
18.00 in England
NRG Stadium, Houston USA
Canada advanced to this last-16 affair following a narrow victory over South Africa at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Stephen Eustaquio scored the late goal in the 92nd minute, to give the Canadians the win over the South Africans from a 1-0 scoreline.
Stephen actually plays for Los Angeles FC, so he was almost on home soil so to speak.
LAFC play their home games just up the road around 7 miles away.
The game against South Africa lacked real quality with both teams guilty of constantly giving the ball away.
It seemed that the game was heading for Extra Time, then Penalties, until Stephen popped up with the late winner.
After a goalless first 71 minutes in Monterrey, the Netherlands scored the opener against Morocco, with Liverpool’s Coady Gakpo scoring an emotional goal to give De Oranje a lead.
As the clock ticked over the 90-minute mark, Morocco pushed hard for an equaliser, which came from the Fulham Defender Issa Diop who headed home the Moroccan goal in the 91st minute to take the game into 30 minutes of Extra-Time, from a draw by a 1-1 score.
As predicted in this EveryTip last-32 Preview.
With no further goals, it was then another penalty shootout, following the one in the Germany v Paraguay match that finished a few hours earlier.
After some of the worst penalties taken ever, of the 10 kicked, 5 were missed but not only missed, were kicked high, wide and handsome, with just 1 being saved by the Goalkeeper, Morocco prevailed and progressed to the last-16, knocking out the Netherlands in the process.
Morocco shouldn’t be too concerned about facing Canada and will probably have an easy passage to the Quarter-Finals.
Betfred offer Canada at 4/1, the Draw at 5/2 and Odds On 8/11 for Morocco to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Morocco To Win 2-0- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
PARAGUAY (41) v FRANCE (3)
22.00 in England
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia USA
After most people assumed Germany would be taking on France in this last-16 tie, Paraguay upset the odds and knocked out the Germans.
The ex-Brighton and Ipswich Midfielder Julio Enciso headed home past Manuel Neuer just before the interval to give the Paraguayans a lead at half-time.
Germany scored an equaliser in the 54th minute, with most then thinking that the Germans would push on for the winner.
However, there were no further goals in the 2nd-half, meaning an extra 30 minutes of play.
Germany thought they had scored in the 102nd minute but the dreaded VAR deemed that the Paraguayan Goalkeeper had been fouled so ruled the goal out.
The game eventually finished in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, meaning a penalty shootout would decide the outcome.
The Germans hadn’t lost a shootout on 4 previous World Cup occasions, added to 2 at the Euros (2 of those 6 were against England)
It did look like Paraguay were going through after scoring the 1st 3 spot kicks, with Germany then missing 2 of their 1st 4, meaning all Paraguay had to do was score the 4th.
Paraguay then missed 4 and 5, with Germany scoring their 5th, leaving the score at 3 penalties each going into ‘sudden death’.
Germany’s Jonathan Tah, couldn’t say ‘Danke’ and missed his spot kick, smashing the ball way into the Boston sky.
It was then left to Jose Canale, who only had a total of 7 minutes’ game time in the 3 Group games, to score the 6th Paraguayan penalty and give
Paraguay a famous victory over Germany to progress to the last-16.
The German Manager Julian Nagelsmann was adamant that he would not resign after the disastrous campaign, however, he subsequently said ‘Ta Tah’ to his team after the decision was taken out of his hands with the DFB-Deutsche Fußball-Bund (German Football Association) sacking Herr Nagelsmann following the devastating exit from the tournament.
Jurgen Klopp is the overwhelming favourite to take over as the Germany Manager.
‘Ta Tah’ is an informal, playful English expression that means goodbye or farewell.
France were just too good for Graham Potter’s Sweden team who lacked any real threat to Didier Deschamps’ men.
Kylian Mbappe scored on the stroke of half-time to give the French the lead at the break.
Kylian had hit the post earlier but finally got his obligatory goal to settle the nerves of the French in attendance at MetLife Stadium.
Bradley Barcola added a 2nd early in the 2nd-half, with Mr Mbappe scoring a 3rd in the 74th minute to give the French an easy victory from a 3-0 scoreline.
That was Kylian’s 6th goal of the tournament, which matched Lionel Messi at the top of the goal-scoring charts.
That was until the Little Maestro scored his 7th of the tournament against Cabo Verde.
The French were good and will be there or thereabouts come the business end in a couple of weeks.
That said, Sweden were poor.
The TV cameras panned to Alexander Isak in the 89th minute and it was thought that Graham Potter was introducing the Liverpool Striker for the final few minutes, however, Alexander was actually being taken off, which was a shock to everyone as the lad had not done anything throughout the game.
(£110 Million? Wow!)
Although Paraguay beat Germany, the French will be over the moon that this last-16 game is against the Paraguayans and not the Germans.
Betfred offer Paraguay at 14/1, the Draw at 11/2 and Odds On 1/5 for France to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
France To Win 4-0- Get 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
July 05th
BRAZIL (6) v NORWAY (31)
21.00 in England
MetLife Stadium, New York USA
Brazil left it late to get the victory over Japan, with the Arsenal Striker Gabriel Martinelli scoring the winner in the 95th minute to send the Samba Boys through to the last-16.
Japan had scored 1st to lead at the break.
Casemiro, who had a disastrous 1st-half, made up for his 45-minute performance by heading an equaliser in the 56th minute.
It did look like a draw was on the cards, until Gabriel Martinelli popped up with the winning goal, 5 minutes into the added-on extra and dashed the hopes of the Japanese Nation.
This EveryTip column did put the following in the last preview-
‘Brazil are Odds On favourites to beat Japan and it could be considered foolish to think Japan will win, however, Japan have only lost 3 games out of the last 30, with 21 wins and 6 draws coming from the others, so don’t rule out anything and the Japanese could easily get a draw and then it’s the ‘penalty shootout Gods’ that will decide the outcome.’
The score of 2-1 to Brazil was predicted by John Newsome, however, it was fair to say that Japan put in a great performance and were unlucky not to get to full-time level.
This will be another tough ask for the Brazilians against Erling Haaland and his Norwegian Vikings.
As just mentioned, Norway progressed to the last-16, following a narrow victory over the Ivory Coast.
Antonio Nusa scored in the 1st-half to give Norway a lead at the break.
Manchester United’s Amad Diallo then scored a brilliant equaliser for Côte d’Ivoire in the 74th minute.
Amad had been left out of the starting eleven and was introduced on the hour mark.
It was then left to the main man Erling Haaland to score the Norwegian winner (of course it was) in the 86th minute, tapping home from 6 yards to give Norway the victory from a 2-1 scoreline and set up this brilliant tie against the Samba Boys.
The current leading goal scorers-
Lionel Messi 7
Kylian Mbappe 6
Erling Haaland 5
Harry Kane 5
Ousmane Dembele 4
Mikel Oyarzabal 4
Ismaila Sarr 4
Vinicius Junior 4
Vinicius Junior v Erling Haaland!
Betfred offer Brazil at slight Odds On 9/10, the Draw at 11/4 and 11/4 for Norway to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Brazil To Win 2-1- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
July 06th
MEXICO (14) v ENGLAND (4)
01.00 in England
Estadio Banorte (Mexico City)
There was some conjecture regarding the kick-off time of this game, with FIFA somehow wanting to change the time to 19.00 (in England) on Sunday Night, not 01.00 on Monday Morning.
Supposedly due to the weather.
That didn’t happen with a few complaints from certain sections, so the original time of 1 AM will stand.
Mexico gained a victory over Ecuador late Tuesday Night/early Wednesday Morning, after a weather-delayed game in the Azteca Stadium, with the rain resembling Manchester not Mexico City.
Julian Quinones and Wolves’ new signing Raul Jimenez scored in the 1st-half to give the Mexicans a lead at the break.
With no further goals, Mexico progressed to the last-16, to face England on home soil at the Azteca Stadium.
Like a lot of teams at this World Cup, the 4th game seems to be a step too far, with Ecuador not living up to expectations.
The Arsenal Defender Piero Hincapie, fell foul of the new rule, which doesn’t allow a player to cover his mouth whilst talking to an opponent.
Piero did this in the 95th minute, covering his mouth and saying something to the Mexican player Santiago Gimenez, which duly prompted the dreaded VAR to intervene and tell the on-field referee Slavo Vincic to show the Red Card.
This is where the game is heading and everyone knows it’s to stop ‘racist or homophobic’ or any other derogatory term but it is funny seeing the opponent go and tell the referee like a school kid telling a teacher.
‘Sir, Piero has just said a nasty word, Sir!’
Mexico have never gone beyond the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup but their impressive displays at this tournament, 4 games, 4 wins, 8 goals scored and no goals conceded, do have the Mexicans dreaming of what could be.
Based on Mexico’s performances at this World Cup and their record at the Azteca Stadium, the Mexicans going far should not feel like an impossible target.
Mexico’s competitive record at the Azteca is 70 Wins from 89 games, with 17 Draws and only 2 Losses.
Mexico are also unbeaten in 10 World Cup games in the famous Stadium.
Admittedly, the opposition the Mexicans have faced at the Azteca are not always of the highest quality but nevertheless, it will be a daunting task for England.
England gave the Three Lions faithful a bit of a scare against DR Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday.
After conceding a Congo goal in the 7th minute, England did create a few chances, however, the DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau, remained resolute and defied the England players time after time before Harry Kane eventually broke Lionel’s spirit and headed home the equaliser in the 75th minute.
That man Harry then scored a 2nd and ultimately the winner in the 86th minute to give England the victory from a 2-1 scoreline.
As a guy with heart problems, it’s not clear how many games John Newsome will last watching England in this manner.
Again, Thomas Tuchel didn’t appear to know his best starting lineup and just changed personnel really because of injuries and not for tactical reasons.
At the moment, the German is getting away with it but for how much longer?
Mexico are a far better team than DR Congo, especially in the Azteca, so TT needs to come up with a different plan.
Granted, Harry Kane did the business but again, how long can Harry keep going to the Well?
There is a lyric from a famous Bob Marley song, ‘I Shot the Sheriff!’
‘Every day the bucket goes to the Well but one day the bottom will drop out!’
One day, Harry’s goals will drop out, so who is going to step up to the plate?
Thomas has given Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney a combined total of 6 minutes in the 4 games and Ollie has had all of the 6 minutes, with Ivan just sitting there waiting for a penalty shootout.
Remember, England failed to score against Ghana and Harry didn’t get the 2nd goal against DR Congo until the 86th minute, yet Thomas Tuchel didn’t introduce Ollie or Ivan in any of the games.
Ollie got his 6 minutes of fun against Paraguay when England were winning 2-0.
TT needs to be more proactive and change things earlier.
John Newsome is always ‘it’s coming home’ however, things need to vastly improve if England have to book an extra seat on the plane journey, for the World Cup Trophy.
Betfred offer Mexico at 11/5, the Draw at 11/5 and 6/5 for England to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
England To Win 3-1- Get 22/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
PORTUGAL (5) v SPAIN (2)
20.00 in England
AT & A Stadium, Arlington USA
Portugal have set up this mouthwatering tie against their neighbours Spain following a win over Croatia in the last-32.
After a goalless 1st-half, Ivan Perisic scored the opener just after the restart to give Croatia a lead.
There were calls from the commentators to get Cristiano Ronaldo off, as it was thought the 41-year-old wasn’t doing anything, however, Cristiano did score on the hour mark but the goal was ruled out for offside.
CR7 then converted a penalty to make the score level, so although the legend didn’t appear to be ‘doing anything’ Cristiano was there when the pressure spot kick was needed.
Roberto Martinez did eventually take Cristiano Ronaldo off in the 81st minute and whilst this was to save the old man’s legs, Cristiano wasn’t happy and as always wanted to stay on, which although it appears to be selfish, is the reason the 41-year-old is still scoring goals at the highest level.
With time running out, Goncalo Ramos scored the eventual winner for Portugal in the 94th minute to send the Portuguese faithful crazy and into the last-16 from a 2-1 scoreline.
That wasn’t the end of the excitement though, Croatia had thought they had scored an equaliser in the 103rd minute, however, after a few checks from the dreaded VAR (rascals) Man City’s Josko Gvardiol was deemed to be offside when he slotted the ball home.
That was that, the old guy Luka Modric and his Croatian mates were out and the even older guy Cristiano Ronaldo continues his adventure with Portugal against Spain in Texas on Monday.
Spain were just too good for Austria in their last-32 game, getting a victory over the Austrians from a 3-0 scoreline.
Mikel Oyarzabal scored the opener in the 1st-half to give the Spaniards a lead at the break.
Tottenham’s Pedro Porro added a 2nd in the 66th minute before Mikel scored his 2nd and Spain’s 3rd in the 89th minute to give Spain the easy win.
Although this game is a fierce local derby, Spain should be too good for an ageing Portuguese team.
Betfred offer Portugal at 3/1, the Draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 10/11 for Spain to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Spain To Win 3-1- Get 14/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
July 07th
USA (17) v BELGIUM (9)
01.00 in England
Lumen Field, Seattle USA
USA progressed to this last-16 tie following a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in San Francisco on Wednesday/Thursday.
Florarin Balogun scored the opener for the USA on the stroke of half-time.
Florarin then blotted his copybook by making a horrendous challenge on the Bosnia and Herzegovina Defender Tarik Muharemovic, which after a review from VAR, saw Florarin shown a straight Red Card, leaving the USA with 10 men for half an hour or so.
The 10 men were still too strong for B and H with Malik Tillman adding a 2nd USA goal in the 82nd minute, to give Mauricio Pochettino’s American team the win from a 2-0 scoreline, to set up this tie, amazingly against Belgium.
One says ‘amazingly’ as Belgium were trailing Senegal by 2 goals to nil, going into the last 5 minutes of normal time.
Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans scored in the 86th and 89th minutes respectively to make the score level at 90 minutes.
It was then an extra 30, which when the clock ticked over the 120th minute, it did appear that a penalty shootout was going to decide the game.
However, Belgium were awarded a penalty in the final seconds of the game, which was eventually given by the on-field referee Raphael Claus after being advised to look at the pitch-side monitor by the dreaded VAR.
Raphael’s relation, Santa usually gives out the presents but this time it was Big Rafa who made Belgium’s day.
It was a big call but regardless of the timing, it was the correct decision and it was a penalty.
Youri Tielemans converted to give Belgium the win from a 3-2 scoreline and knock the stuffing out of a dejected Senegal team.
As one says,
‘Amazing!’
Belgium will need to improve vastly or it could be an easy game for the host country.
Betfred offer the USA at 6/4, the Draw at 13/5 and 13/8 for Belgium to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
USA To Win 2-1- Get 17/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ARGENTINA (1) v EGYPT (29)
17.00 in England
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta USA
After 90 minutes in Miami, the Argentinians got a draw against Cape Verde from a 1-1 scoreline.
That man Lionel Messi scored a superb goal for Argentina to give them a lead at the break.
The legend’s 7th goal at the tournament so far.
Deroy Duarte then scored an equaliser for Cabo Verde and with no further goals in the 90-odd minutes, the game went to Extra Time.
Argentina then scored a 2nd in the 2nd minute of the added 30, with folk asking,
‘Why didn’t Lisandro Martinez score that 5 minutes ago?’
That said, Sydny Lopes Cabral scored another equaliser for Cape Verde in the 103rd minute.
2-2
The Tottenham Defender, Cristian Romero then scored the winner in the 111th minute to give Argentina the hard-fought victory over Cape Verde from a 3-2 scoreline.
After closer inspection, the goal was credited to the Cape Verde Defender Diney Borges, which is always a bone of contention as Diney doesn’t want it and Cristian does.
Cape or Cabo Verde should be proud of their achievements in this World Cup and hopefully, will be back in Morocco, Spain and Portugal in 4 years time.
After 90 minutes between Australia and Egypt, goals from Emam Ashour (Egypt 13th minute) and a Mohamed Hany Own Goal (Australia 55th minute) left the game level at 1-1, meaning a further 30 minutes of play.
It did appear that both were happy for a penalty shootout, which eventually materialised after the 30 minutes were up.
Australia actually took off the Goalkeeper Patrick Beach in the 120th minute and replaced Pat with the ex-Brighton and Arsenal stopper Matt Ryan.
Obviously, Matt must have been considered the better GK at saving penalties.
However, Mr Ryan never laid a glove on any of Egypt’s 4 kicks and with the Australians missing 2, it was walk like an Egyptian, meaning Egypt progress to the last-16, to face Lionel Messi and his mates.
The 2 Australian penalties that were kicked way over the bar were reminiscent of the penalties that the Loveable OzScot took back in the day playing for Leo’s in Barnsley.
There was often a comment before the lad stepped up to eventually miss,
‘Pump that other ball up, this one will be heading for the M1!’
Which duly happened after the OzScot kicked the ball high into the sky and down onto the motorway.
One’s not 100% sure but it’s unlikely that the Argentinians will be too worried about facing Egypt.
Betfred offer Argentina at Odds On 4/11, the Draw at 18/5 and 9/1 for Egypt to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Argentina To Win 2-0- Get 5/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
SWITZERLAND (19) v COLOMBIA (73)
21.00 in England
BC Place, Vancouver Canada
Switzerland progressed to the last-16 following a victory over Algeria in Vancouver on Thursday/Friday.
Breel Embolo scored the opener after 10 minutes to give the Swiss a lead at the break.
Dan Ndoye scored a 2nd just after the restart and with no further goals for the remainder of the game, Switzerland got the win from a 2-0 scoreline.
There was also an added extra for the Swiss in the fact that they don’t have to relocate and have the luxury of playing this last-16 tie once again in Canada, which, after 2 games in the USA (San Francisco and Los Angeles) this will be the 3rd game in succession at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
A single goal by the ex-Wolves Striker Jhon Arias, scored in the 14th minute, gave Colombia the victory over Ghana from a 1-0 scoreline, to set up this tie against Switzerland.
Ghana proved against England that they were a strong team which was evident in the tie against Colombia, however, the African fell short of the mark and unfortunately, on their way home.
Betfred offer Switzerland at 23/10, the Draw at 23/10 and 5/4 for Colombia to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Draw 1-1- Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
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