#世界杯冠军预测 2026 World Cup: Has France made it to the semifinals—will their next opponent be Spain?

In the 2026 World Cup quarterfinal match that ended early this morning, France beat Morocco 2:0 to become the first team to advance to the semifinals.   
France won the match very comfortably. They didn’t chase possession. With a solid back line as the foundation, they relied on their star-studded attacking lineup to unleash sharp counterattacks, creating plenty of scoring chances throughout the match. If it weren’t for Morocco’s goalkeeper’s outstanding performance, the score should have been above 4:0.   
Compared with the earlier matches, Morocco played very politely throughout, not putting too much pressure on France in the front, midfield, or back. Their own offense never really got going either—throughout the match they managed only 5 shots, and France goalkeeper Maignan made just one save.   
France has already shown the look of champions. Their attacking line is simply too strong—among all teams in this World Cup, they are unquestionably in their own tier.   
Mbappé, Dembele, Olise, Doue. Put any of them on another team and they’d be an absolute star player. And even between these four “legs,” there’s no conflict—Mbappé and Olise are positioned one left and one right. Dembele and Doue are one in front and one behind. With these four in the attack, that alone is enough. There’s no team that can withstand the relentless rotation of these four star players’ onslaughts.   
Among this attacking four-man group, Olise is the standout—he has strength, speed, and technique. He can break through and he can pass; he’s the number-one killer for breaking down the opponent’s compact, dense defense.   

Among the remaining teams in this World Cup, the only one I think can truly go toe-to-toe with France is Spain, the only team so far that has not conceded a goal. If the two teams were to meet in the semifinals, the key to the outcome would be whether Spain’s exceptionally strong midfield control can partially suppress France’s attacking line.

Another quarterfinal will be played tomorrow early morning: Spain vs Belgium. Spain reached the round of 8 without much fanfare this World Cup, and their form has been improving step by step in each match. That fits the upward trajectory of title contenders.   
Spain vs Belgium: Spain will definitely stick to their control-based style that adapts without changing. Spain’s advantage in this match is that the whole squad can play—no injuries, and no suspension issues caused by red or yellow cards. The left-side breakout threat, Nico Williams, will most likely come on in the second half if the game can’t be opened up.   
Based on group standings and the schedule, most predictions before the match had Belgium cruising into the round of 8 comfortably and with ease—but nobody expected them to stumble their way through in such a miserable, chaotic fashion. Yet the rough experiences from earlier matches seem to have made the Belgium team keep upgrading and getting stronger. In their previous match against the United States, their attempt to move De Bruyne out of the starting lineup seemed to have found the final answer to the strongest combination.   
In this match, as long as Belgium stays firm in playing defense-and-counter, and holds on for about the first 60 minutes, then bringing on Lukaku, they still have a chance to steal a win. Relying on Lukaku’s overwhelming physical advantage, they can send high balls to pressure Spain’s back line.