The FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals feature a high-stakes bracket structural division where France is the only team to have officially qualified after defeating Morocco 2-0. The remaining three slots are being determined across a critical three-day quarter-final window. Both matches kick off concurrently at exactly 3:00 PM local time in the United States, which translates to early morning broadcasts for viewers in India (IST).
FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals schedule
|
Feature |
Semi-Final 1 |
Semi-Final 2 |
|
Date & Time (IST) |
Wednesday, 15 July 2026 at 12:30 AM |
Thursday, 16 July 2026 at 12:30 AM |
|
Date & Time (Local) |
Tuesday, 14 July 2026 at 2:00 PM CDT |
Wednesday, 15 July 2026 at 3:00 PM EDT |
|
Official Venue |
Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) Arlington, Texas |
Atlanta Stadium (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) Atlanta, Georgia |
|
Seating Capacity |
~80,000 seats |
~71,000 seats |
|
The Matchup |
France vs. Winner of Spain vs. Belgium |
Winner of Norway vs. England vs. Winner of Argentina vs. Switzerland |
|
TV Broadcast (US) |
FOX, Fox One, Telemundo, Zee5 (for India) |
FOX, Fox One, Telemundo, Zee5 (for India) |
FIFA structured the knockout phase to split the final eight teams into two isolated, symmetrical halves. Teams can only face opponents from their own side of the bracket until the final. France booked their slot in Dallas through a clinical 2-0 quarter-final win over Morocco. Kylian Mbappé currently leads the Golden Boot race, establishing Les Bleus as statistical tournament favourites with a 38% win probability. They will face either Spain or Belgium. Spain previously advanced by squeezing past Portugal 1-0, while Belgium looks highly dangerous after dominant offensive displays, including a 4-1 routing of the USA.
Spain, Belgium, Norway, England, Argentina and Switzerland battle for semi-final places
The other side in the heavyweight slot for the fight for a position in the Semi-Final 2 features a massive clash between Erling Haaland's Norway and Harry Kane's England. Norway enters after eliminating Brazil 2-1, whereas England survived a chaotic 3-2 match against Mexico. Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, kept their repeat-title ambitions alive via a spectacular 3-2 comeback victory against Egypt. To reach Atlanta, they must conquer Switzerland, who advanced via a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout over Colombia.
The race to the Semi-Final 1 to play against France will be the match between Spain and Belgium; the winner of the match will proceed to play the first Semi-Final match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Dallas Stadium. The Spain vs Belgium match will start on Saturday, 11 July, 12:00 am IST (Friday 10 July, 12:00 pm local time).
The fight for the spots in the semi-final 2 will be between Norway and England on Sunday, 12 July, 2:30 am IST ( Saturday, 11 July at 5:00 PM local time). The winner of this match will compete with the winner of the clash between Argentina and Switzerland, which will start on Sunday, 12 July, 6:30 am IST (Saturday, 11 July at 8:00 PM local time )
