The 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 concludes on Tuesday night with a pair of intriguing matchups. First up, defending champions Argentina take on an Egyptian team that is in the middle of its most successful World Cup.
The day concludes with Colombia and Switzerland meeting in Vancouver. Both teams have been improving throughout the tournament, and the winner will be a team nobody wants to face.
Here is all you need to know for Tuesday at the World Cup:
Argentina vs. Egypt
When: Tuesday, July 7, noon ET
Where: Atlanta Stadium
TV: FOX
Stream: Watch three days free on FOX One
Argentina and Egypt meet on Tuesday at Atlanta Stadium with the winner claiming a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. Both teams had grueling matchups in the round of 32, as Argentina needed 120 minutes to find its way past Cape Verde with a 3-2 win. Egypt, meanwhile, only prevailed past Australia through a shootout after both teams played to a 1-1 draw after 120 hard-fought minutes.
Argentina is the clear favorite in this one, as Lionel Scaloni’s squad has won all four of its games at the tournament and has looked like a strong contender to defend its World Cup title.
Of course, La Albiceleste are still heavily reliant on Lionel Messi, who, at age 39, remains a dominant figure in the sport. Messi enters this game having scored seven of Argentina’s 11 goals this tournament. The issue for Argentina in this game, and in every remaining game, is whether the supporting cast can contribute in the rare event that Messi struggles to score. Thus far, the signs are not that encouraging.
(Photo by Zhang Chen/Xinhua via Getty Images)
What is key for Argentina is to see other top scoring options, such as Lautaro Martínez and Julian Alvarez, find the back of the net. In this tournament, Alvarez has no goals and no assists, while Martinez has just one goal. On the flip side, Argentina’s midfield — led by Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Thiago Almada and Rodrigo De Paul — have all played well and have been important to the team’s success.
While Argentina continues to play well, Egypt arrives in the round of 16 having won just one of its four games (counting the shootout win over Australia as a draw). It has drawn both Belgium and Iran 1-1 while defeating only New Zealand 3-1.
Egypt has fought incredibly hard in this tournament, but wins have been difficult to come by. The Pharaohs are led by legendary Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who, at age 34, is potentially playing at his last World Cup.
(Photo by Grzegorz Wajda/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Swiss midfielder Johan Manzambi, 20, has been one of the tournament’s breakout young players. In his last three games at this World Cup, Manzambi has three goals and two assists.
Another encouraging sign for Switzerland has been that its captain, Granit Xhaka, 33, has turned back the clock and played as he did five-to-seven years ago, when he was Arsenal’s captain. His performance against Algeria was instrumental to the win, and if he can play like that again, Switzerland can win this game.
Colombia comes into this game playing very well on both sides of the ball. Defensively, Nestor Lorenzo’s team has kept three clean sheets out of four games this tournament, and its high level of possession has forced opponents to chase its players for long stretches.
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
