The FIFA World Cup has entered its final week. Here’s everything that you need to know.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has entered its final week, with only four teams left in contention for football’s most prestigious title.

France, Spain, England, and Argentina have made it through to the semi-final stage of the World Cup.

All four remain unbeaten throughout their run, though England and Argentina required extra time to decide their results in the knockout stage.

This marks the first time since FIFA introduced its world rankings in 1992 that the top four ranked teams in the world have all qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament.

Here’s a primer for this week’s matches.

France v Spain

The 2022 runners-up, France, will face Spain in the first semi-final on Tuesday (12:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Sri Lanka Time).

France has been one of the most prolific teams in the tournament so far, scoring 16 goals — the second most behind Argentina — while Spain has conceded just one goal in its run to the semi-finals, setting up a classic clash between a dominant attack and a stubborn defense.

This is only the second time both teams are facing each other in World Cup history, with France having won 3-1 the only time the teams met, back in 2006.

Argentina v England

Argentina will hope to keep its title defense alive when it faces England in the second semi-final on Wednesday (12:30 a.m.
Thursday morning, Sri Lanka Time), renewing one of football's bitterest rivalries, which is fueled by geopolitical tensions.

Argentina could become just the third country after Italy and Brazil to win the World Cup back-to-back, while England is looking for its first World Cup title since 1966.

At the centre of the rivalry is the decades-long standoff over the Falkland Islands between the United Kingdom, which has administered the islands since 1833, and Argentina, which claims them as "Las Malvinas"—a dispute that boiled over into the 1982 Falklands War, which Britain won.

Golden Boot

The Golden Boot, awarded to the player with the most goals in the tournament, is a closely fought battle between France’s Kylian Mbappé and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, both of whom have scored eight goals each so far.

While Messi leads the list for the most goals in tournament history with 18 goals, Mbappé closely follows him, having now scored 17 goals across the three World Cups he has featured in.

England’s Jude Bellingham scored back-to-back braces in England’s Round of 16 and quarter-final matches, bringing his tournament tally to six goals so far, tied with his compatriot Harry Kane.

The Final

The showpiece final on July 19th will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey, where the two surviving nations will battle to lift the legendary trophy.

Before the grand finale, the two losing semi-finalists will clash in the third-place playoff match on Saturday to determine the bronze medalists of the tournament.

A global audience of over a billion people is expected to tune in next Sunday to witness the dramatic conclusion of the expanded 48-team tournament.