The night of July 13–14 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup passed without any football on the pitch — FIFA had scheduled an official rest day between the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Off the pitch, however, the news kept coming: FIFA president Gianni Infantino commented on a possible expansion of the tournament, while all four semi-finalists prepared for their decisive matches. If you are looking for the full WC 2026 match schedule in Kyiv time for this week, it has already been published.
Night results
In the time window from 22:00 on July 13 to 08:00 on July 14 (Kyiv time), no WC 2026 matches were played. Monday, July 13 was the official rest day in the tournament schedule between the quarter-final and semi-final stages. This has been confirmed by several independent sources.
Tournament schedule
Four teams have reached the semi-finals — France, Spain, England and Argentina. This is the first time in World Cup history that the four highest-ranked FIFA teams have all reached the last four simultaneously. Each team's path to this stage:
- France — won all six of their tournament matches, conceding no goals in the knockout rounds: victories over Sweden 3–0 (round of 32), Paraguay 1–0 (round of 16) and Morocco 2–0 (quarter-final).
- Spain — beat Austria 3–0, Portugal 1–0 and Belgium 2–1 in the quarter-final thanks to another late goal from Mikel Merino.
- England — defeated DR Congo 2–1, Mexico 3–2 and Norway 2–1 after extra time in the quarter-final, with Jude Bellingham scoring twice.
- Argentina — beat Cape Verde 3–2 (a.e.t.), Egypt 3–2 and Switzerland 3–1 (a.e.t.) — Messi set an all-time World Cup record for assists during the tournament.
For more details on the path of all four teams and the WC 2026 match schedule in Kyiv time — France vs Spain and England vs Argentina, see the dedicated article.
Off the pitch
Infantino on expansion to 64 teams. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Monday that the question of expanding the World Cup to 64 teams will be considered after the 2026 tournament concludes. Speaking on Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, he stressed that the organisation of the World Cup must take into account the interests of the entire world, not just Europe and South America. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin had previously called the idea "bad"; the presidents of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF support it.
Top scorers race. Heading into the semi-finals, the leading scorers are Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi with eight goals each; the French forward leads the Argentine on assists. In third place is Erling Haaland with seven goals, but the Norwegian is out of the tournament after Norway's quarter-final defeat to England. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham each have six goals.
FIFA and FIFPro — heat protocols. According to ESPN, FIFA and the international players' union FIFPro are in talks about introducing protocols that would prevent matches from being played in extreme heat. The issue is particularly relevant given the summer temperatures in the US host cities.
Team preparations. All four semi-finalists held training sessions on July 13. Harry Kane publicly called on England to find the "missing element" and finally win the title, while acknowledging that coach Thomas Tuchel is demanding improvements from the squad. More on match preparations can be found in the article "WC 2026 match schedule in Kyiv time: two semi-finals this week".
Today, July 14, at 22:00 Kyiv time, the first semi-final — France vs Spain — kicks off at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) in Arlington, Texas. Tomorrow, July 15, at the same time in Atlanta, England vs Argentina will be played.
Photo: Barnaby Lane · Editorial (source)
