Football Daily | Bring on the World Cup fireworks as quarter-finals kick off

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So here we stand. The quarter-finals of this unique and expanded Geopolitics World Cup have arrived! A whopping 96 games have been played and 40 teams have now received their marching orders. The Germans, the Dutch and the Brazilians are gone. And despite the absence of such heavyweights, it’s still a lip-smacking last eight lineup to tuck into. France v Morocco, Spain against Belgium, Norway tackling England and Lionel Messi Argentina against the Swiss. Yes, it has taken much longer to reach the quarter-final stage than in any of its predecessors – the 1934 World Cup was a straight 16-team knockout with just 17 games taking place over two weeks – but the business end of the tournament is unchanged and untarnished. It captures the imagination because the jeopardy ratchets up a few notches and stomachs begin to churn. If you’re based in Europe you may have suffered some sleep deprivation to get here, meaning you have truly earned the opportunity to drink in the final stages. Allow Football Daily to run through the quarter-finals, picking out the narratives and individuals that will inevitably dominate the coverage.