FIFA World Cup 2026 - Quarter Finals Quiz

Answer: Kylian Mbappe (France)

In the 4th minute Kylian Mbappe's snapshot was turned around the post by the Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou. From the resulting corner Ousmane Dembele's cross found the head of Dayot Upamecano, whose effort was saved point blank by Bounou. In the 16th minute Ashraf Hakimi's cross from a Moroccan free kick sailed over the bar. In the 18th minute Desire Doue's cross was headed wide by Dembele. In the 21st minute Adrien Rabiot headed Dembele's cross over the bar. In the 25th minute Mbappe was fouled in the area by Noussair Mazraoui, penalty kick awarded. The VAR check took an inordinately long time to rule on what seemed to be an obvious foul. After what seemed like an eternity, in the 28th minute Mbappe stepped up, stutter stepped, and his weak shot was saved by the Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou down to his left. Stutter step fails again.

In the 33rd minute Dembele curled his shot wide of the far corner. In the 35th minute Doue's low shot was just tipped around the post by Bounou. In the 1st minute of stoppage time, Michael Olise's piledriver hit his teammate, Jules Kounde. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time, Lucas Digne's long range shot struck the top of the Moroccan crossbar. In the 4th minute of stoppage time Brahim Diaz's cross was handled on the edge of the area by Rabiot. Hakimi's attempt to curl the ball around the outside of the wall lacked a vital ingredient, the curl. Half time, score was 0-0. Boatloads of French possession but no material outcome.

In the 55th minute Doue's fierce shot from outside the area was straight at Bounou and well held. In the 60th minute Doue won the ball outside the area, played a short pass to Mbappe whose shot found the far corner of the net. 1-0 to France. In the 66th minute Dembele's shot from the edge of the 'D' found the far corner, 2-0 to France. In the 73rd minute a cross from Chemsdine Talbi saw a miscued clearance from Upamecano which looped up and just over the French keeper Mike Maignon, but also his crossbar. In the 80th minute Bradley Barcola's run and cross from the left took a slight deflection across goal for a corner. In the 81st minute Digne's cross went to
Jean-Philippe Mateta's head, but his effort on goal was tame. In the 82nd minute Hakimi's free kick was cleared.

In the 83rd minute Hakimi played a free kick square to Azzedine Ounahi, whose shot was punched away by Maignon. In the 84th minute a Moroccan corner was headed at the near post by Neil El Aynaoui but his effort hit the side netting. In the 86th minute Olise's curling effort from the right went very wide. In the 88th minute Barcola's run and subsequent shot the near post was pushed around by Bounou. From the corner, Mateta headed well over. In the 4th minute of stoppage time Mateta had appeared to wrongfoot Bounou with his dragged back/mishit shot, but the keeper's leg cleared the ball. In the 5th minute of stoppage time Gessime Yassine attempted to lob Maignon from near halfway, but he put too much oomph into his attempt, and it sailed over. With the last kick of the match, Olise's shot went over the bar. Final score 2-0 to France.

So, France won the match 2-0. Le Bleus progressed to the Semi Finals and the Atlas Lions went back to the Southern Hemisphere. Following this match Kylian Mbappe was level with Argentina's Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, both players had eight goals (but Mbappe had three assists compared to Messi's one). In the semi-finals, France played Spain.

Answer: True

In the 25th minute Mbappe was fouled in the area by Noussair Mazraoui, a penalty kick was awarded. Mbappe stepped up, stutter stepped, and his weak shot was saved by the Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou down to his left.

Answer: 3

In the 10th minute a Spanish free kick was played low across the area, Rodri's shot was blocked. In the 12th minute Spain's Alex Baena was fed through into the area by Pau Cubarsi, his turn and shot was blocked by Nathan Ngoy. In the 13th minute Maxime de Cuypers' cross was gathered by the Spanish keeper Unai Simon. In the 15th minute Charles de Ketelaere's shot for Belgium was blocked. In the 21st minute Lamine Yamal robbed a defender of the ball on the edge of the area but sent his shot wide of the Belgian goal. In the 28th minute Yamal's inswinging outside of the foot cross was caught by Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois. In the 30th minute Pedro Porro's cross from the right saw Dani Olmo's snapshot saved by Courtois' legs, but the rebound fell to Fabian Ruiz whose shot was deflected into the roof of the net. 1-0 to Spain. After 34 minutes Yamal's free kick went through the wall but was parried by Courtois. In the 40th minute Yamal's run into the area saw his shot hit the side netting. In the 41st minute Timothy Castagne's cross from the right found the diving de Ketelaere, whose header from the six yard line beat Simon. Score was 1-1. In the 45th minute Porro's shot for Spain sailed over the bar. Half time, score was 1-1.

In the 52nd minute Yamal's shot was deflected for a corner. From the resulting corner, Olmo's shot went high and wide. In the 55th minute Jeremy Doku's cutback was blocked and the ball fell to de Cuyper whose shot was blasted into the side netting. In the 58th minute Yamal's cross into the box was beaten away by Courtois. In the 61st minute Yamal cut inside and his powerful shot was punched away by Courtois. In the 62nd minute, Kevin de Bruyne's turn and shot was saved by Simon. In the 71st minute Courtois succumbed to an earlier injury and was replaced by Senne Lammens. In the 74th minute Yamal's shot was blocked. In the 80th minute Nico Williams' cross for Spain went behind. In the 84th minute de Bruyne tried to shoot from 40 metres out, but his effort was blocked. In the 88th minute Cubarsi's long range shot was spilled by Lemmens, and Mikel Merino was on hand to smash in the rebound. 2-1 to Spain. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time a Belgian break down the left saw Doku play the ball wide to Alexis Saelemaekers who rounded Simon on the corner of the penalty area (what was he doing there?). His cross was acrobatically cut out by Aymeric Laporte and the ball went over his head straight into the retreating Simon's hands. Amusingly, de Ketelaere appealed to the referee for a backpass (a backpass has to be intentional, Charles). In the 7th minute of stoppage time Marc Cucarella's shot from distance was safely held by Lemmens. Full time, 2-1 to Spain.

So, Spain won the match 2-1. La Roja progressed and the Red Devils went home to Europe. Unai Simon's record run of not conceding a goal in World Cup Finals matches was halted by de Ketelaere's goal. The new record is now 650 minutes. In the semi-finals, Spain played France.

Answer: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)

Courtois was substituted in the 71st minute, replaced by Senne Lammens. Courtois had gone down a few minutes prior with a thigh injury that seemed innocuous at the time. The other players listed remined on the pitch for the entire match.

Answer: 0

In the 2nd minute England's Noni Madueke overhit his cross. In the 16th minute Anthony Gordon's run into the Norwegian area was blocked behind. In the 18th minute Gordon's cross was headed clear. In the 19th minute Elliot Anderson's cross was met with a flick header from Jude Bellingham, but his effort went wide. In the 22nd minute Nico O'Rielly's cross into the area bounced over Madueke's head and clear. In the 23rd minute O'Rielly's cross was drilled back across, the ball returned to O'Reilly, but he was wrongfooted and the chance came to nothing. In the 29th minute a free kick just outside the area saw a shot from Kane which he blazed over the bar. In the 31st minute a Norwegian through ball from Martin Odegaard saw England's keeper Jordan Pickford rush out to claim the ball. In the 32nd minute Declan Rice's free kick was cleared by the first defender. In the 33rd minute England were trying to work the ball out of their area when John Stones lost the ball; Erling Haaland was beaten to it by Pickford.

In the 35th minute Julian Ryerson's cross was met with a firm header from Haaland, but it was straight at Pickford. In the 36th minute Harry Kane was dispossessed in midfield and Norway put the ball out to the left to Andreus Schjelderup, whose cross/shot evaded Pickford and arrowed high into the far corner, in off the post. 1-0 to Norway. In the 39th minute Alexander Sorloth's snapshot for Norway went just over the bar. In the 40th minute Odegaard's shot to the near post was saved by a scrambling Pickford. In the 44th minute Norway had a two on one breakaway, but Stones' positioning forced Sorloth into a shot that got blocked. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time Gordon's pass into the area found Bellingham on the charge, he took a couple of touches and drove his shot across Norway's keeper Orjan Nyland. Score was 1-1. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time Kane's long range shot was saved by Nyland. In the 4th minute of stoppage time England thought they had taken the lead, as Belligham's short pass fed Kane in the area and his dink over the keeper dribbled into the net, however, the offside flag was raised. Half time, score was 1-1.

In the 48th minute Eberechi Eze's free kick hit Anthiony Gordon and went over the bar. In the 51st minute Bukayo Saka's shot to the near post was blocked. In the 52nd minute Sorloth's cross was mis-hit and Pickford had to bat it away from the top corner for a corner. In the 53rd minute Ryerson's cross saw Haaland's header pushed away by Pickford for another corner. In the 55th minute Torbjorn Heggem had the ball in the net, but the referee was advised by VAR to visit the pitchside monitor. Final decision: no goal. Haaland had pushed Anderson over prior to the corner being taken. In the 66th minute Gordon's cross found Kane but he was blocked by Schjelderup. In the 73rd minute Reece James' cross under no pressure found a defender's head. In the 74th minute Oscar Bobb's run into the English area saw him eventually get crowded out.

In the 75th minute Antonio Nusa's run into the area saw the ball blocked behind. From the resulting corner a shot from Fredrik Aursnes was headed onto the bar by Kristoffer Ajer and then Haaland's shot hit the side netting. In the 78th minute Saka's inswinging cross just eluded Anderson at the far post. In the 82nd minute Nusa's cross was turned behind by Saka. In the 85th minute Nusa's snapshot was saved by Pickford. In the 87th minute Saka's dribble in the area saw him beat David Mioller Wolfe and his low cross was hacked clear by Aursnes. In the 88th minute Ezri Konsa's cross was blocked for a corner. In the 90th minute Arushes' shot was punched away by Pickford. In the 1st minute of stoppage time Djed Spence's charge down of a Nyland clearance saw the ball go wide of the goal. In the 5th minute of stoppage time Bellingham's flicked header from Stones' cross went wide. Full time, score was 1-1, extra time was required.

In the 2nd minute of extra time a Saka cross was headed at the far post by Kane, forcing Nyland into a fingertip save to stop the ball finding the far corner. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time Morgan Rogers' thirty metre shot was beaten out by Nyland, but the rebound fell to Bellingham who tucked the ball away, 2-1 to England. In the 9th minute of stoppage time Spence's mazy run into the area saw him fouled by Bobb, penalty kick awarded. However, VAR struck again, after a visit to the monitor, the referee decided that Spence had placed his leg across Bobb's path to draw the foul, and he rescinded the penalty. In the 14th minute of extra time Nusa's shot was blocked by Mark Guehi for a corner. In the 15th minute of extra time Aursnes' cross was gathered by Pickford.

In the 3rd minute of stoppage time in the first period of extra time (are you keeping up here?) Saka's short pass in the area saw Bellingham shoot over the top. In the 16th minute of extra time Nusa's cross into the area was cleared. In the 19th minute of extra time Patrick Berg's shot for Norway fizzed over the top. In the 19th minute of extra time Saka cut into the area but his shot was beaten away by Nyland. England won the ball straight back through Spence and his shot was saved by Nyland and the rebound went to Saka whose effort was also saved. In the 24th minute of extra time Nusa's cross/shot was deflected for a corner. From the resultant corner Bobb's shot was deflected over but a goal kick was awarded. Full time, 2-1 to England.

So, England won the match 2-1. The Three Lions progressed and Landslaget went home to think of what may have been. Still, they should have been proud to reach their first Quarter Final.

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane were now on six goals apiece at the tournament. It was the first time two England players have scored at least five times at a World Cup Finals. Jordan Pickford became England's most-capped goalkeeper at World Cup Finals with eighteen appearances, eclipsing Peter Shilton. In the semi-finals, England played Argentina.

Answer: False

Norway were playing in their first-ever World Cup quarter-final, following their last-16 appearances in 1938 and 1998, and a group-stage exit in 1994.

Answer: 4

In the 1st minute Denis Zakaria tried a shot that was blocked by Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister. In the 7th minute Switzerland's Granit Xhaka blasted a shot over the bar. In the 9th minute Nahuel Molina's cross for Argentina was cleared by Nico Elvedi. The ball was recycled and Mac Allister's shot was deflected for a corner by Elvedi. The resulting corner was flicked out by Breel Embolo for another corner. The next corner from Lionel Messi was headed into the far corner by Mac Allister. 1-0 to Argentina. In the 20th minute Djibril Sow's shot from outside the area was comfortably gathered by Argentina's keeper Emiliano Martinez. In the 36th minute Rieder's free kick was punched away by Martinez. In the 37th minute Rieder's cross went behind. In the 43rd minute Remo Freuler's free kick was wasted by playing it far too long over the back post. Not a lot of attacking football in this match, very cagey. 0-0 at half time.

In the 46th minute Rieder's shot took a deflection and looped up and into the arms of Martinez. In the 48th minute Rider's free kick from the right was too long and was gathered by the keeper. In the 49th minute Molina broke down the right and instead of sliding a pass to Julian Alvarez in the box, he decided to shoot and it went well wide. In the 50th minute Embolo was sent clear into the area by a long ball, he squared a pass to Dan Ndoye, but a great covering tackle from Lissandro Martinez blocked the shot. In the 52nd minute Alvarez's shot was deflected for a corner kick. From Messi's corner, Enzo Fernandez headed over. In the 54th minute Molina's cross was gathered by the Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel. In the 55th minute a Swiss attack was ultimately foiled by Leandro Paredes. Argentina was sitting back happy to let the Swiss keep coming at them, a dubious tactic when leading by a single goal. In the 60th minute Embolo's high looping header forced Martinez into a diving save. In the 63rd minute Ndoye's run into the box saw his cross cut out for a corner by Molina. In the 65th minute Ndoye's header forced Martinez into a diving save. In the 66th minute Xhaka's long range shot forced Martinez into another diving save. In the 67th minute Ricardo Rodriguez finished off a great one-two with a through pass into the area for Ndoye to take one touch and put it across Martinez into the far corner. Score was 1-1.

In the 69th minute Embolo was tripped by Paredes who was subsequently booked. Thie first replay of the incident showed that it was clearly a dive with no contact made, not even close to it. Embolo had been booked a few minutes previously, for a foul on - Paredes. Perhaps it was a case of trying to square the ledger? In his defence, Embolo had literally been kicked and pulled and held for the whole match, and the referee had been way too lenient on the transgressors as the match went on. To Embolo's dis-credit, that is a very silly thing to do when you are on a yellow and the VAR is lurking nearby. Unsurprisingly, the VAR had a word in the referee's ear and sent him to the pitchside monitor. This was only going to turn out one way. That the referee had to watch about twenty replays of the 'foul that wasn't', when one would have sufficed, sort of summed up his overall performance. In the end, he made the right call. Decision: No foul by Paredes, yellow card rescinded, simulation by Embolo, yellow card awarded. In the opposite of two wrongs making a right, two yellows make a red, and Embolo was off.

In the 85th minute Messi was played through in the area and tried to beat Kobel with a cheeky dink, but the keeper had stayed up and blocked the ball. The Assistant referee's flag raised for offside, but the replay suggested it was probably not, so if the ball had gone in, we may have been seeing VAR get involved again. In the 89th minute Nico Gonzalez hooked the ball back from the byline when all seemed lost, and Mac Allister's powerful header flashed wide. In the 1st minute of stoppage time Elvedi headed a cross from Fernandez behind. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time Messi finally found space on the edge of the box but his attempt at a curler went just wide. In the 8th minute of stoppage time a Messi corner saw Lissandro Martinez's volley saved at full stretch by Kobel. Full time, score was 1-1, extra time was required.

In the 1st minute of extra time a series of Argentine attempts on goal ended up with Gonzalez's shot being deflected for a corner. In the 3rd minute of extra time a neat one-two saw Thiago Almada's shot saved by Kobel. In the 6th minute of extra time Almada's shot from outside the area skimmed the outside of the post. In the 9th minute of extra time Xhaka's long range shot went over. In the 15th minute of extra time Mac Allister's cross was overhit. In the 17th minute of extra time Zhaka's free kick was delivered to the six yard box but hacked clear by Lautaro Martinez. In the 21st minute of extra time Messi's cross was caught by Kobel. In the 22nd minute of extra time Messi's shot from outside the area was beaten away by Kobel. From the recycled ball, Alvarez cut inside and put a curler into the far corner. 2-1 to Argentina. In the 26th minute of extra time Xhaka's high cross was claimed by Martinez under pressure and he landed heavily. In the 29th minute of extra time Messi's shot was deflected for a corner by Xhaka. In the 1st minute of extra time stoppage time Xhaka was robbed of possession, and Argentina broke downfield with a three on one. Alamada's shot was blocked but the ball ran to Lautaro Martinez who calmly stroked the ball into the net. Final score, 3-1 to Argentina after extra time.

So, Argentina won the match 3-1. La Albiceleste progressed and the Rossocrociati went back to being neutral. Following this match Lionel Messi remained level with France's Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot, both players had eight goals (but Mbappe had three assists compared to Messi's two). In the semi- final, Argentina played England.

Answer: Second yellow following VAR review

In the 69th minute Embolo was tripped by Paredes who was subsequently booked. The first replay of the incident showed that it was clearly a dive with no contact made. Embolo had been booked a few minutes previously. Embolo had literally been kicked and pulled and held for the whole match, and the referee had been way too lenient about it.

However, it's a silly thing to do when you are already on a yellow. The VAR directed the referee to the pitchside monitor. Decision: No foul by Paredes, yellow card rescinded, simulation by Embolo, yellow card awarded. Embolo was off.

Answer: Jude Bellingham (England)

Bellingham won the prize with this one - he was the only multiple goalscorer across the four matches, with his double against Norway. The other three in this list scored one apiece.

Answer: 12

Twelve goals were scored in total: two for France versus Morocco; three in Spain vs. Belgium (2-1); similarly in England vs. Norway (2-1); and four in Argentina vs. Switzerland (3-1).