{"id":216329,"date":"2026-07-08T11:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/world-cup-2026-quarterfinals-full-schedule-and-egypt-fifa-dispute-al-jazeera\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:59:48","slug":"world-cup-2026-quarterfinals-full-schedule-and-egypt-fifa-dispute-al-jazeera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/world-cup-2026-quarterfinals-full-schedule-and-egypt-fifa-dispute-al-jazeera\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026 quarterfinals: Full schedule and Egypt FIFA dispute &#8211; Al Jazeera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>World Cup quarterfinals are set, with eight teams advancing as Egypt\u2019s FIFA controversy and VAR decisions prompt debate.<\/em><br \/>Save<br \/>Share<br \/>Egypt fans react to emotional World Cup exit after unforgettable campaign<br \/>The<a href=\"\/fifa-world-cup-2026\/\"> FIFA World Cup<\/a> quarterfinal lineup is complete after a dramatic round of 16 that delivered late comebacks, penalty shootouts and major upsets. France, Morocco, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland have all secured their places in the last eight, with four blockbuster quarterfinals set to be played across the United States.<br \/>Off the pitch, however, the tournament continues to be overshadowed by controversy, as Egypt alleges officiating bias following its defeat to Argentina and FIFA faces renewed scrutiny over decisions involving the USA team and intervention by US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what we know:<br \/><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><br \/>FIFA is facing renewed scrutiny following Argentina\u2019s controversial 3-2 comeback victory over <a href=\"\/sports\/2026\/7\/8\/var-call-argentina-win-raise-questions-of-legitimacy-at-world-cup\">Egypt in the World Cup<\/a> round of 16, just a day after the governing body was criticised for overturning USA striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s suspension following an intervention by US President Donald Trump.<br \/><a href=\"\/sports\/2026\/7\/7\/egypt-were-cheated-in-world-cup-loss-to-argentina-coach-hassan-says\">Egypt\u2019s defeat<\/a> in Atlanta was overshadowed by a late VAR intervention that disallowed the Pharaohs\u2019 second goal, a decision that shifted the momentum before Argentina completed their comeback to book a quarterfinal place.<br \/>Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan accused FIFA of favouring the defending champions and suggested officials had come under pressure to keep Lionel Messi in the tournament.<br \/>\u201cPerhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,\u201d Hassan told beIN Sports. \u201cThe world champions received support at every level.\u201d<br \/>The controversy comes amid heightened concerns over the integrity of officiating at the tournament after FIFA controversially rescinded Balogun\u2019s red-card suspension following Trump\u2019s public request. Although Balogun returned for the USA\u2019s round-of-16 defeat to Belgium, the episode prompted criticism of potential political influence on football\u2019s governing body.<br \/><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><br \/>An Argentina fan was seen waving an Israeli flag during his team\u2019s round of 16 match against Egypt, drawing attention amid wider political tensions surrounding the game.<br \/>Some observers viewed the gesture as a possible provocation towards Egypt coach Hossam Hassan, who had dedicated Egypt\u2019s historic first-ever World Cup knockout victory to the people of Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Two staff members of the USA football team were suspended by FIFA from Monday\u2019s round of 16 game against Belgium.<br \/>FIFA did not explain why it imposed the discipline on team manager Sam Zapatka and US Soccer Federation (USSF) Vice President of Security Frank Pannell.<br \/>The USSF did not give a reason Tuesday other than to say it was not related to the successful effort to have\u00a0forward Folarin Balogun\u2019s\u00a0one-game, red-card suspension lifted.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Al Jazeera English:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiqAFBVV95cUxPdjlRU2djT3N6RTY1MmotLW14R2JZV05iM0xYQnJxaVJmYnAwMDRGVmhhcVdTYkxVZzVLa0YtUi1oU2ROYXpVcF84WWMyUmJNcGRQNDhrWENlVjdZVy1BV3hXdk5IeEF5Z3NsUndab19DOFlLbGlLSlZRSGFVWmZTWTk0V3lBOFVoME1oX3lnUjhDVk1rT3pwa1NoWTBBX0pyLWZEaFRPbTfSAa4BQVVfeXFMT3NaTFlSUUR5LWcwamc3T01keFRWRVA0WXBKSmg3WXNMZVVvb25BUHFxVDJxNVlBeGZnY0NmQ0hobFlyQW9mckJYSTFIcmpfMFQ3SGRSY3FrNVQyUTBFSTRKeU0tXzB1U3kzekVuWDc0OVlGOUlWbVNXNWZ4ZVJ3Sm12OUd0UXFLTzNER2ktY0NZZ0ozTW0yeXBwdnRvUnRXUnB2Zy1aMjFDOUxoQzBn?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Cup quarterfinals are set, with eight teams advancing as Egypt\u2019s FIFA controversy and VAR decisions prompt debate.SaveShareEgypt fans react to emotional World Cup exit after unforgettable campaignThe FIFA World Cup quarterfinal lineup is complete after a dramatic round of 16 that delivered late comebacks, penalty shootouts and major upsets. France, Morocco, Norway, England, Spain, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-216329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}