We are coming to the business end of the 2022 World Cup schedule with the final eight teams that will be standing after the completion of the Round of 16.
The nations that reach the quarterfinals will feel they have a legitimate chance to advance to the finals on Sunday, December 18 at Lussell Stadium. At that point, all eight teams will be just three wins away from lifting the World Cup trophy.
The quarterfinals have already produced some intriguing matchups: France vs. England and Netherlands vs. Argentina. Surprise team Morocco is the tournament’s Cinderella side who will challenge the powers that be in the quarters.
The final quarterfinal picture will be known on Tuesday, December 6 when the last round of 16 matches will be played.
World Cup Quarterfinal Match Schedule
The eight teams that survive the Round of 16 will play in the quarterfinals on Friday December 9 and Saturday, December 10.
This will give teams a six-day break between the Round of 16 and Quarterfinal matches. The winners of the quarter-finals will have only four days to play the semi-final matches.
World Cup quarter-finals
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | Stadium |
| Dec. 9, Fri | Highlights | QF1: Croatia 1 vs. Brazil 1 | Education City |
| Dec. 9, Fri | Highlights | QF2: Netherlands 2 vs. Argentina 2 | Lusail |
| Dec. 10, Sat | Highlights | QF3: Morocco 1 vs. Portugal 0 | Al Thumama |
| Dec. 10, Sat | Highlights | QF4: England 1 vs. France 2 | Al Bayt |
World Cup semi-final
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | Stadium |
| Dec. 13, Tue | Highlights | Argentina vs. Croatia | Lusail |
| Dec. 14, Wed | Highlights | France vs. Morocco | Al Bayt |
World Cup Quarterfinal Bracket 2022
The 2022 World Cup bracket graphic shows that there are two halves in each of the World Cup finals that will compete for the trophy in the championship match on Sunday, December 18.
One finalist will be drawn from the following list of teams facing South America and Europe on one side of the bracket:
Netherlands (def. USA)
Argentina (def Australia)
Croatia (def. Japan)
Brazil (def. S. Korea)
The other half of the bracket had a heavy presence of European sides (six out of eight) so there is a good chance that another final will come from Europe. The only opposition will come from the only African side still alive in the tournament (Morocco).
England (def Senegal)
France (def. Poland)
Morocco (def. Spain)
Portugal / Switzerland
How the quarterfinals work
The quarterfinals serve as the Round of 16.
They are made up of four single-elimination matches that need to be determined to determine a winner. So if the teams are tied after 90 minutes of regulation, 30 minutes of extra time is played.
If the teams are still deadlocked at the end of the 30-minute extra time period, then the game will proceed to a penalty-kick shootout to determine the winner.
Penalty shootout
Here’s how the penalty shootout works: Each team gets five attempts to score a penalty kick against the opposing goalkeeper, and each side determines which player gets to shoot and in which order.
The team that successfully converts the most penalties after five rounds are deemed the winner and advances, although the match will be officially registered as a draw in each team’s records.
If the teams are tied in penalty kicks after the end of the fifth round, both teams get one more round of tries until the deadlock is finally broken.
A player cannot be named to attempt a second penalty in the same shootout unless all 11 players on the field — including the goalkeeper — have attempted it at the end of extra time.
Morocco and Croatia both advanced to the 2022 quarter-finals via penalty kicks against Spain and Japan respectively.