The 2026 FIFA World Cup just did something it has never done before. France, Argentina, England, and Spain, the four highest-ranked teams in the world, have all reached the semifinals in the same tournament.
It is not lazy. It is genuinely unprecedented.
How each team got here
France arrives at the semifinals with the most decorated history of this stage, having now reached it eight times, including three consecutive tournaments. Their quarterfinal dispatch of Morocco was efficient, a 2-0 result that left little room for debate.
Argentina, never far behind their eternal rivals in these conversations, now count seven semifinal appearances. They advanced past Switzerland to book their place in the final four.
