FIFA World Cup: Round of 32 bracket, schedule, predictions, Iran’s exit

Published 28 June 2026 · sports

Knockout matches begin with South Africa vs Canada as Iran exit, Africa make history and hopes for Messi-Ronaldo final rise. The knockout stage of the

Knockout matches begin with South Africa vs Canada as Iran exit, Africa make history and hopes for Messi-Ronaldo final rise. The knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins on Sunday with South Africa taking on Canada in the first round of 32 tie. With the group stage complete, the full knockout bracket is now set. Nine African nations have reached the round of 32, Iran were eliminated after Algeria’s late qualification and the draw has left the door open to a Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo final. Here’s the full round of 32 schedule, the South Africa vs Canada prediction and the latest World Cup news What is Sunday’s schedule? South Africa vs Canada at Los Angeles Stadium, California, in the United States at noon (19:00 GMT). What are the predictions for South Africa vs Canada? This will be only the second meeting between South Africa and Canada. The sides’ only previous encounter ended in a 2-0 win for Bafana Bafana in a friendly in Durban in 2007. Canada, however, will be looking to end another unwanted record. They have lost both of their previous competitive matches against African opposition, falling 2-0 to Cameroon at the 2001 Confederations Cup before a 2-1 defeat to Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Despite that history, the Opta supercomputer shows Canada as the clear favourites. They won 55 percent of 25,000 pre-match simulations while South Africa triumphed in 20 percent.

The remaining 24.9 percent of its calculations ended level after 90 minutes, which would send the tie to extra time and potentially penalties. Overall, Canada are given a 67.8 percent chance of reaching the quarterfinals, compared with 32.2 percent for South Africa. When and where will the other knockout matches be played? Monday Brazil vs Japan: (noon/17:00 GMT) at Houston Stadium, Texas, in the US (noon/17:00 GMT) at Houston Stadium, Texas, in the US Germany vs Paraguay: (4:30pm/20:30 GMT) at Boston Stadium, Massachusetts, in the US (4:30pm/20:30 GMT) at Boston Stadium, Massachusetts, in the US Netherlands vs Morocco: (7pm/01:00 GMT on Tuesday) at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico Tuesday Ivory Coast vs Norway (noon/17:00 GMT) at Dallas Stadium, Texas, in the US (noon/17:00 GMT) at Dallas Stadium, Texas, in the US France vs Sweden (5pm/21:00 GMT) at New York/New Jersey Stadium in the US (5pm/21:00 GMT) at New York/New Jersey Stadium in the US Mexico vs Ecuador (7pm/02:00 GMT on Wednesday) at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico Wednesday England vs Democratic Republic of the Congo (noon/16:00 GMT) at Atlanta Stadium, Georgia, in the US (noon/16:00 GMT) at Atlanta Stadium, Georgia, in the US Belgium vs Senegal (1pm/20:00 GMT) at Seattle Stadium in the US state of Washington (1pm/20:00 GMT) at Seattle Stadium in the US state of Washington USA vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (5pm/00:00 GMT on Thursday) at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, California, in the US Thursday Spain vs Austria (noon/19:00 GMT) at Los Angeles Stadium (noon/19:00 GMT) at Los Angeles Stadium Portugal vs Croatia (7pm/23:00 GMT) at Toronto Stadium, Ontario, Canada (7pm/23:00 GMT) at Toronto Stadium, Ontario, Canada Switzerland vs Algeria (8pm/03:00 GMT on Friday) at BC Place Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Friday Australia vs Egypt (1pm/18:00 GMT) at Dallas Stadium (1pm/18:00 GMT) at Dallas Stadium Argentina vs Cape Verde (6pm/22:00 GMT) at Miami Stadium, Florida, in the US (6pm/22:00 GMT) at Miami Stadium, Florida, in the US Colombia vs Ghana (8:30pm/01:30 GMT on Saturday) at Kansas City Stadium, Missouri, in the US What else is happening?