The FIFA World Cup 2026 has now reached the Round of 16.

Most winning teams were not all that unpredictable. However, I was pleasantly surprised that Canada won their first ever knockout stage. They have had their most successful World Cup appearance so far with two wins, one draw, and only one loss.

The main big shock from the Round of 32 is Germany’s defeat by Paraguay in a shootout. Germany is a four time winner of the World Cup, with four second place and four third place finishes as well. However, this year’s competition was the first time that Germany made it to the knockout stage following their win in the 2014 World Cup.

The following 16 teams won their Round of 32 games:

Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Colombia
Egypt
England
France
Mexico
Morocco
Norway
Paraguay
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
United States

There were a few upsets in the Round of 32. On June 29th Paraguay beat German 4-3 on penalties, and Morocco also beat Netherlands 3-2 on penalties.

Germany are four time winners of the World Cup (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and have four second place (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002) and four third place finishes (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010.) Germany also are three time winners of the Euros (1972, 1980, 1996.) This is the first time since they won the World Cup in 2014 that they made it past the Group Stage at the World Cup, though.

Netherlands ate three time runners-up at the World Cup (1974, 1978, 2010) and won the Euros in 1988.

Netherlands was ranked 8th in the world while Germany was ranked 10th in the world coming into the World Cup.

The Round of 16 will see the following matches:

Paraguay vs. France
Canada vs. Morocco
Portugal vs. Spain
United States vs. Belgium
Brazil vs. Norway
Mexico vs. England
Argentina vs. Egypt
Switzerland vs. Colombia

Look for Argentina, Canada, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Portugal, Switzerland to advance to the Quarterfinals. In the Round of 32 I was 13-3 with my predictions. Let’s see how I do with my predictions this round.