{"id":6242,"date":"2026-07-03T23:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T23:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242"},"modified":"2026-07-03T23:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T23:37:21","slug":"world-cup-what-to-know-france-takes-center-stage-in-philly-heat-as-round-of-16-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242","title":{"rendered":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe arrives for a training session ahead of the team\u2019s World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Paraguay in Philadelphia, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Petr David Josek)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The World Cup Round of 16 has arrived.<\/p>\n

With it comes intensifying pressure \u2014 and in some places, stifling heat.<\/p>\n

The second round of the knockout stage commences Saturday with Canada facing Morocco in the opener in Houston, while powerhouse France and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 will meet Paraguay in the nightcap in Philadelphia.<\/p>

Read more Orioles place closer Ryan Helsley on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort<\/a><\/p>\n

There will be two games per day over the next four days to determine the eight quarterfinalists.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> has been one of the hottest players in the World Cup as he chases the career goals record currently held by Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi<\/a> .<\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, Mbapp\u00e9, his teammates and Paraguay will play in sweltering conditions at Lincoln Financial Field.<\/p>\n

The game coincides with a heat wave that\u2019s expected to bring temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). More than 68,000 fans are expected to endure those conditions, which could drain the energy of Mbapp\u00e9 and every other player on the pitch.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 scored his 17th and 18th World Cup goals in France\u2019s 3-0 rout of Sweden<\/a> last weekend in East Rutherford, New Jersey, when it was 90 degrees for the 5 p.m. kickoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the changing room and the AC,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said as he came off the field.<\/p>\n

For the July 4 game, misting fans will be available for fans approaching the stadium, and cooling tents will be available to fans within the stadium footprint at the fan experience.<\/p>\n

All fans are allowed to bring one disposable, plastic water bottle into the stadium, as they are at any match in this World Cup in the U.S. and Canada. Water fountains are available in nine sections on the concourse.<\/p>\n

Heat should not be a factor for the other match on Saturday in Houston because NRG Stadium has a retractable roof that will remain closed. That\u2019s good news, considering temperatures outdoors could reach 95 degrees with high humidity.<\/p>\n

Saturday, July 4:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Canada vs. Morocco, 1 p.m. EDT in Houston (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Paraguay vs. France, 5 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Sunday, July 5:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brazil vs. Norway, 4 p.m. EDT in East Rutherford, New Jersey (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mexico vs. England, 8 p.m. EDT in Mexico City (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Monday, July 6:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Portugal vs. Spain, 3 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

\u2014 United States vs. Belgium, 8 p.m. EDT in Seattle (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Tuesday, July 7:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Argentina\/Cape Verde winner vs. Egypt, noon EDT in Atlanta (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Switzerland vs. Colombia\/Ghana winner, 4 p.m. EDT in Vancouver, British Columbia (Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Morocco and Canada will meet in a second straight World Cup, but this matchup will have much higher stakes.<\/p>\n

Morocco beat Canada 2-1 in the group stage in 2022, when it went on to become the first African team to reach the semifinals.<\/p>

Read more US striker Folarin Balogun says a yellow card, not red card, would have been \u2018fair\u2019 at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada looks to continue to make history after notching its first-ever knockout win, a 1-0 triumph over South Africa on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited for the moment,\u201d Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. \u201cWe wanted to get to a point in the tournament where we were playing against some big opponents and Morocco is exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morocco dispatched the Netherlands in a penalty shootout to reach the Round of 16. With a win Saturday, the Atlas Lions would become the first African team to reach the quarterfinals more than once.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Alistair Johnston said his team embraces the challenge of facing Morocco.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve created so much new history, so many firsts,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cNow this is the chance that we wanted. To make sure that we got to the point in the tournament where we\u2019re going to get to play a Goliath, and that\u2019s what the Moroccan team is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said his team has a great deal of respect for Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be very important for us to play at our level. The level that we have shown the last few games will not be enough,\u201d Ouahbi said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be the most important game in this World Cup and the most challenging one. It\u2019s not about being tentative about our approach. We\u2019re playing a Round of 16 match and if we\u2019re not good enough, we\u2019re going home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 This high-tech ball was involved in one of the most dramatic moments in World Cup history<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FIFA considering earlier kickoff for Mexico vs. England at the World Cup due to thunderstorm fears<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Egypt defender becomes first player with two own-goals in World Cup history<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 US win over Bosnia-Herzegovina most-watched soccer telecast in English language history<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 One Extraordinary Photo: Argentine dog walker reflects country\u2019s World Cup passion<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Puppy love as dog walker turns his pack of 13 into Argentina jersey-clad World Cup followers<\/a><\/p>\n

Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41 years and 147 days, became the oldest player to win Player of the Match in a World Cup knockout game. The next oldest was Olivier Giroud of France at 36.<\/p>

Read more Lakers sending Ayton to the Wizards for Hardy and 2 second-round picks, AP source says<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston and Kristie Rieken contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Cup Round of 16 has arrived<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The World Cup Round of 16 has arrived\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/71332e1dbedf803f46a29383dd31505f-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242\"},\"wordCount\":933,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242\",\"name\":\"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"France's Kylian Mbappe arrives for a training session ahead of the team's World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Paraguay in Philadelphia, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Petr David Josek)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6242#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"The World Cup Round of 16 has arrived","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/71332e1dbedf803f46a29383dd31505f-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins","datePublished":"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242"},"wordCount":933,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242","name":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-03T23:37:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d394a20c72c34c91ec875cc32999b49f-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"France's Kylian Mbappe arrives for a training session ahead of the team's World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Paraguay in Philadelphia, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Petr David Josek)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6242#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World Cup what to know: France takes center stage in Philly heat as Round of 16 begins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}