Canada vs. Morocco live updates, score: World Cup Round of 16 action begins

France manager Didier Deschamps said on Wednesday that Michael Olise’s yellow card from their win over Paraguay will remain into the quarterfinals.

“There was no change when it comes to Olise’s yellow card. We received FIFA’s decision this morning that the yellow card was maintained,” Deschamps said.

Olise got into an altercation with Paraguay’s Matías Galarza during their Round of 16 match. He was issued a yellow card after Galarza went to ground despite video replaying showing Olise had only grabbed his jersey.

The denial of the appeal means if Olise picks up another caution against Morocco on Thursday he would be suspended for a potential semifinal game.

Yellow card accumulations are reset after the quarterfinals.

We don’t know when the end will come for this Argentina team until it actually happens. All signs pointed to Tuesday’s game being Messi’s last competitive match in that famed blue and white-striped kit with 20 minutes remaining.

But this is clearly a team that continues to defy the odds. And given who looms on the path to being repeat champions, Argentina would be well-served to stop living on the edge.

Read more here.

Just eight of 48 World Cup teams remain.

The quarterfinals begin on Thursday after the first day without a game since the tournament kicked off. Here’s how we think the four matchups stack up after a fantastic Round of 16.

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Four summers from now, assuming qualification will not trip it up, the U.S. will enter the centennial World Cup spread across six countries on two continents seeking to take that elusive next step.

Following Monday’s humbling elimination in the Round of 16 by Belgium — the fifth loss in six tries since 1994 they’ve departed at that point — the Americans will catch their breath and begin pivoting to the 2030 competition in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

Where things stand …

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Another humbling loss begs the question: If the U.S. can’t seriously contend for a World Cup now, will it ever make that leap? Eight times in nine World Cup appearances since 1990, the U.S. has failed to advance beyond the Round of 16. Only in 2002 did the Americans make the World Cup quarterfinals, famously suffering a controversial 1-0 loss to Germany after Torsten Frings’ goal-preventing handball went uncalled.

The most common explanation for the USMNT’s inability to level up is that this nation’s biggest, fastest, strongest athletes typically pursue other sports besides soccer. As a Houston criminal defense attorney put it on social media on Monday night, “Every four years we take the best 11 athletes in every other country and put them up against the 4000th best athletes in America, and see if we can win. It’s a crazy exercise.”

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Fox announced Tuesday that 30 million people tuned in to watch the United States fall to Belgium 4-1 in Seattle. The audience peaked at just shy of 37 million people. That made it the most-watched soccer telecast in American history.

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In a lengthy statement Wednesday, the Egyptian FA called out “controversial and influential refereeing incidents” that it believes affected the outcome of the match.

After thanking fans, the Egyptian FA turned its attention to “several key incidents” it believed raised concern about the fairness of the match.

At the same time, the Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions witnessed during the match against Argentina as well as the failure to make appropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.

A number of football experts and specialist analysts, both locally and internationally, have highlighted controversial and influential refereeing incidents during the match. This underlines the importance of maintaining the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency in match officiating, particularly in a competition of the stature and significance of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The VAR incident referenced in the Egyptian FA’s statement occurred at the 59th minute of Tuesday’s game. After a goal by Egypt, VAR reviewed contact that occurred on the other side of the pitch. Despite no foul being called at the time, and the potential foul happening at the other end of the field, Egypt’s goal was taken off the board.

Read more here.

There are no matches today. The quarterfinals will begin on Thursday with France playing Morocco.

Switzerland is in the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in over 70 years.

Ruben Vargas buried Switzerland’s fifth penalty as the Swiss defeated Colombia 4-3 in penalty kicks after neither team scored a goal in regulation or extra time.

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢🔴🟢
Switzerland: 🟢🟢🔴🟢🟢

Score: Switzerland 4-3

Switzerland eliminates Colombia on penalties and will face Argentina in the quarterfinal,

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢🔴🟢
Switzerland: 🟢🟢🔴🟢

Score: 3-3

Switzerland up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢🔴
Switzerland: 🟢🟢🔴🟢

Score: Switzerland 3-2

Colombia up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢🔴
Switzerland: 🟢🟢🔴

Score: 2-2

Switzerland up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢
Switzerland: 🟢🟢🔴

Score: 2-2

Colombia up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴🟢
Switzerland: 🟢🟢

Score: 2-2

Switzerland up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴
Switzerland: 🟢🟢

Score: Switzerland 2-1

Colombia up next

Colombia: 🟢🔴
Switzerland: 🟢

Score: 1-1

Switzerland up next

Colombia: 🟢
Switzerland: 🟢

Score: 1-1

Colombia up next

Colombia: 🟢
Switzerland:

Score: Colombia 1-0

Switzerland up next