Portugal was favored to win but Morocco's Cinderella tournament continues after their sensational 1-0 win over Portugal. Morocco is the first African nation to reach the semifinals of a World Cup.
Lionel Messi led Argentina to a quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands in a penalty kick shootout. Messi had a goal, an assist and scored in the shootout. Argentina will take on Croatia next.
Croatia does it again - winning a penalty kick shootout to advance to the semifinals for the second World Cup, eliminating Brazil. Croatia's defense stymied the 5-time champions the entire match.
The quarterfinals at the 2022 World Cup begin Friday. Favorites France, Brazil, Argentina are through — as is England, the Netherlands and 2018 finalist Croatia along with Morocco taking on Portugal.
After a goal-less 90 minutes and extra time, Spanish players missed all three of their penalty kicks. No other team from outside Europe or South America made it this far in this year's tournament.
Gonçalo Ramos scored three goals - the first hat trick of this World Cup - to power Portugal past Switzerland 6-1. Ramos was playing in place of star Cristiano Ronaldo who did not start the match.
Croatia and Japan ended 90-minutes of regulation and 30-minutes of extra time tied 1-1. The Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković stopped three Japanese penalty attempts in the shootout.
The Dutch were favored and higher-ranked but the U.S. had found ways to keep moving on during the World Cup. But the Netherlands' high-powered offense was too much for the Americans.
The pressure is high for both squads, but the United States already has relieved some of that tension by moving into the tournament's second round, an accomplishment some observers did not expect.
The group stage had it all: cheers, tears, penalties, pelvic contusions, VAR-assisted calls that came down to millimeters. Now, the World Cup is onto the knockout round. Here's our guide to the games.
