When are they, which teams are left and knockout fixtures

With the quarter-finals done and dusted, the World Cup is whittled down to four teams: Argentina, Croatia. France, Morocco.

Morocco made history as the first African team to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, setting up their clash against France after beating Portugal 1-0. Youssef En-Nesyri’s towering 9ft1inch leap to bury a header decided the shock victory which left substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in tears and extended Morocco’s winning streak against favoured European opponents following their Round of 16 dispatching of Spain.

The Atlas Lions will now be looking to continue their dazzling run against world champions France, who have a shot at myth-making too, as they edge closer to becoming the third team ever to retain the World Cup, after Italy and Brazil. The titleholders dumped out England in their 2-1 victory, with Harry Kane missing a crucial equalising penalty.

Croatia reach the quarter-finals for a second consecutive tournament after knocking out tournament favourites Brazil, following a commanding penalty shootout performance that sealed victory before Neymar Jr could step up to the spot. They will face Argentina, who similarly edged the Netherlands in a tie that reached boiling point and saw referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz hand out a record 18 yellow cards and one red.

What is the remaining World Cup schedule for the knockout stage?

Semi-finals

Tuesday, December 13

SF1 – Argentina vs Croatia, 7pm (ITV)

Wednesday, December 14

SF2 – France vs Morocco, 7pm (BBC)

Third-place play-off

Saturday, December 17

Loser of Argentina/Croatia vs Loser of France/Morocco, 3pm

Sunday, December 18

Lusail Stadium, 3pm

How did the quarter-final fixtures play out?

Friday, December 9

QF1 – Croatia 1 Brazil 1 (Croatia win 4-2 on penalties)
QF2 – Netherlands 2 Argentina 2 (Argentina win 4-3 on penalties)

Saturday, December 10

QF3 – Morocco 1 Portugal 0
QF4 – England 1 France 2

Who’s leading the race for the Golden Boot?

At the end of the group stages, Marcus Rashford was among the front-runners. Now, Kylian Mbappe leads, with team-mate Olivier Giroud and Argentina’s Lionel Messi just behind.

Story continues

For all the latest stats from the World Cup, see our at-a-glance guide.

What were the group standings?

How did each team progress to the last 16?

In Group A

Final standings

Netherlands topped the group after beating Qatar in their final match. Senegal edged out Ecuador 2-1 to progress as runners-up. Qatar were the first team knocked out of the World Cup and lost all three of their matches, scoring only one goal.

In Group B

Final standings

England progressed as group winners after cruising past Wales in their final game. Their 3-0 win means Wales finished bottom, while the USA made it through as runners-up after squeezing past Iran in their decider.

In Group C

Final standings

After losing their opening game to Saudi Arabia, Argentina completed their turnaround in fortunes by beating Poland to top the group. Poland, despite losing to the South Americans, sneaked through to the knockouts in second place on goal difference. That came after Mexico could only beat Saudi Arabia 2-1, therefore having to settle for third place, with Saudi Arabia finishing bottom.

In Group D

Final standings

France are through, and still topped the group despite their surprise defeat to Tunisia in their final group game. Australia stunned Denmark 1-0 in their own final group game to qualify as runners-up, level on points with France but second on goal difference. Tunisia finished third on four points while Denmark, many people’s dark horses pre-tournament, picked up a single point in fourth.

In Group E

Final standings

Japan won the group after their shock victory over Spain in the final round, which came as a result of a goal that caused a huge controversy because the ball appeared to be out of play in the build-up. Spain took second place despite their defeat. Germany are out of the World Cup despite beating Costa Rica in their final match. Costa Rica finished bottom.

In Group F

Final standings

Morocco went through as surprise group winners on seven points after their 2-1 win over Canada. Croatia managed to hold on to second place after a 0-0 draw with Belgium in a match that will be remembered for the hat-trick of golden opportunities missed late on by Romelu Lukaku.

In Group G

Final standings

Brazil topped the group despite losing to Cameroon on the final evening of group-stage action. Switzerland finished second thanks to their ill-tempered victory over Serbia. Cameroon and Serbia both went out.

In Group H

Final standings

After a dramatic final two games Portugal qualified as group winners despite losing 2-1 to South Korea. The late winner for the Koreans carried them through as runners-up on goals scored over Uruguay, whose 2-0 win over Ghana was not enough to carry them through.