World Cup Round of 16 bracket, schedule, live updates: France vs. Paraguay kicks off second round
After several penalty shootouts, drama and controversy, the World Cup’s Round of 32 is finally over. What does the second round of the knockout stage have in store for us?
The Round of 16 kicks off on Saturday with two matchups and two heavily favored teams. Co-host Canada will get things started in Houston against Morocco after a last-gasp winner in its Round of 32 game against South Africa. The Moroccans have high hopes in this tournament after finishing third at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
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France, the favorite to win the World Cup, will then face Paraguay in the afternoon game as Kylian Mbappé looks to add on to his Golden Boot tally. The French have outscored their opponents 13-2 so far this tournament. The Paraguayans are aiming to continue their miracle run after knocking off Germany in penalty kicks in the first round.
The winners of the two games will play each other in Boston on July 9.
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1 p.m. ET (Fox) — Canada vs. Morocco
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5 p.m. ET (Fox) — France vs. Paraguay
Follow the World Cup right here on Yahoo Sports with live updates, highlights, results and the latest news below:
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Nick Bromberg
Most of the favorites still remain after the first Round of 32 in World Cup history.
Sure, teams like Germany, the Netherlands and Croatia are already out of the tournament, but they weren’t among the top handful of pre-tournament favorites.
With the Round of 16 set to begin on Saturday, here’s how the eight matchups stack up against each other. Spoiler alert: Sunday and Monday are stacked.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JUNE 30: Erling Haaland of Norway celebrates the victory after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 32 match between Cote D’Ivoire and Norway at Dallas Stadium on June 30, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
(Etsuo Hara via Getty Images)
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Sean Leahy
Kylian Mbappé and France in action on Saturday against Paraguay. Harry Kane and England head to Mexico City on Sunday night.
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Paul Carr
With the Round of 32 in the books, it’s again time to power-rank the remaining teams in the 2026 World Cup.
As always, my two primary factors were 1) how good each team has looked, and 2) how far the team can realistically go given the bracket path ahead. There’s a new (old) top team, and several others have shifted tiers, so let’s get to it …
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, UNITED STATES – JULY 1: (L-R) coach Mauricio Pochettino of USA, Matt Freese of USA celebrating the victory during the World Cup match between USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on July 1, 2026 in San Francisco Bay Area United States (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)
(Soccrates Images via Getty Images)
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Sean Leahy
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Jack Baer
Mauricio Pochettino had a challenge on Friday, or at least a challenge in addition to preparing for Belgium.
The USMNT coach, an Argentinean national, was to throw out the first pitch at the Seattle Mariners’ game, days before his squad’s Round of 16 game at nearby Lumen Field. The man had zero baseball experience, putting him at risk of joining the 50 Cent Hall of Fame.
Fortunately, the worries turned out to be for naught. The 54-year-old Pochettino reared back and threw a perfectly acceptable first pitch. It was looping and a bit high to be considered a bona fide strike, but straight enough that at least 90% of first-pitch throwers would probably take that outcome.
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Sean Leahy
The Round of 16 begins today. Take a look at our What to Watch to get informed about today’s matchups.
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