World Cup quarterfinals feature soccer powerhouses from Argentina and Spain to France and England

WASHINGTON: Eight teams are left in the World Cup, and the quarterfinals feature the top four countries in FIFA’s pretournament men’s world rankings plus two others in the top 10.
France look like a juggernaut and are the betting favorite at just under 2-1, followed by Spain and defending champion Argentina at 7-2 and England at 9-2. Norway are 14-1, while Belgium, Switzerland and Morocco are 28-1.
All games are airing in the US on Fox and Peacock in English and in Telemundo in Spanish.
France vs. Morocco
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.

EDT
Where: Foxborough, Massachusetts
France dominated in group play, outscoring opponents 10-2, an impressive showing even considering Norway rested Erling Haaland and almost all their starters, and rolled over Sweden 3-0 at the beginning of the knockout stage. Kylian Mbappé scored his 19th career World Cup goal in a hard-fought, 1-0 victory against Paraguay. Four years removed from reaching the semifinals, Morocco tied Brazil in their opener, knocked out the Netherlands on penalty kicks and bounced back from a rough start to beat co-host Canada to reach the quarterfinals.

France are favored to advance.
Spain vs. Belgium
When: Friday, 3 p.m. EDT
Where: Inglewood, California
A surprising draw against Cape Verde early only seemingly prepared Spain for handling tight games.

They eliminated Uruguay 1-0, and after cruising past Austria 3-0 in the round of 32 got past Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal thanks to Mikel Merino’s goal in stoppage time. Belgium rallied from down two with five minutes left in regulation time to beat Senegal, then blew out the US in Seattle after FIFA let Folarin Balogun play despite his automatic red-card suspension. Spain are favored.
Norway vs.