As the Round of 16 wrapped up, we now have our eight teams that will be involved in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.
The tournament has already included last-minute winners, broken records and penalty shootouts, but there is so much more excitement left to come.
Looking ahead to the quarterfinals, there are huge footballing nations colliding and dark horses trying to continue their run, with no nation planning on heading home anytime soon.
The first matchup will be between France and Morocco on Thursday, 9 July.
It is a match between two nations at the top of their game right now, with France coming off of two World Cup finals in a row, one of them being won in 2018.
Despite this crazy statistic, do not underestimate Morocco at all, as they are fresh off of a recent AFCON final and a World Cup semifinal finish in 2022.
So far in this World Cup, France have not really been forced into another gear, as they have cruised through the majority of their games this tournament.
The hardest they have had to work was in the Round of 16 against Paraguay, where they had a 1-0 win.
However, even in that game, Paraguay had little to no serious chances on the French goal.
Morocco could be the team to change this, as they got a well-deserved win against the Netherlands and a dominant 3-0 victory over Canada in the Round of 16.
The next matchup will be between Belgium and Spain on Friday, 10 July.
Spain will be walking into the quarterfinals at peak confidence after their convincing 3-0 victory against Austria and a hard-fought 1-0 victory over football giants Portugal.
Striker Mikel Oyarzabal has hit prime form at the absolute perfect time for the Spaniards, scoring four goals in the World Cup so far.
With Lamine Yamal continuing to build back his fitness and form after his injury troubles before the tournament, Spain looks incredibly dangerous.
Spain will try to control possession as they always do; however, Belgium will have something to prove, having picked up momentum after their outrageous late comeback versus Senegal in the Round of 32.
Romelu Lukaku will be a huge threat against Spain, having scored three goals already in this tournament as a striker off the bench.
All four of these teams will be focused on their preparation leading up to their matches, but the stage is set for the world’s superstars to help lead their country to the biggest trophy in sports.
