Final day of group play at the World Cup sets the field for the round of 32
All but two of the matchups have been set for the round of 32 at the World Cup, as the knockout stage gets underway Sunday with Canada playing South Africa in Southern California.
The U.S. will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California, while third co-host Mexico returns to its capital city to take on Ecuador on Tuesday. Tournament favorite France goes back to the New York area to play Sweden on Tuesday, with the winner of that game going up against Germany or Paraguay in the round of 16.
Here are the games in the round of 32:
The Americans had their powerful momentum from two consecutive victories stalled in the loss to Turkey. But in the knockout round, they’ll face Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is 62nd in the FIFA rankings. Bosnia finished third in Group B with four points. U.S. star Christian Pulisic entered as a substitute in the second half against Turkey. He had not played since leaving the opening win over Paraguay at halftime with a calf injury. “We play every game like a knockout game,” said U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who scored against Turkey. “You saw that in our intensity and the way we worked. For us, it’s keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Belgium scored five times in its group play finale against New Zealand to not only advance but finish first. Up next is no easy task: a matchup against Senegal, which played France and Norway tough and routed Iraq to move on. The U.S.-Bosnia-Herzegovina winner faces the winner of this match.
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Germany comes into the knockout stage off a similarly low-key late defeat as the U.S., having already clinched its group with little to play for. Germany is a significant favorite against Paraguay, which lost to the U.S. 4-1 in its opener but steadied itself enough to move on.
France came in as the tournament favorite and remains it after winning all three of its group games to set up a matchup against Sweden, which had a 5-1 win, a 5-1 loss and a draw.
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These nations have already made history. It’ll be the first time both are in the knockout stage of the World Cup. Canada advanced as runner-up in Group B with four points — one win, one draw and one loss. South Africa was runner-up in Group A, also with four points, including a surprising win over South Korea.
The Netherlands won Group F after a draw with Japan and outscoring Sweden and Tunisia by a combined 8-2. Morocco went unbeaten to finish second in Group C in pursuit of becoming the first African winner of the World Cup. Morocco reached the semifinals four years ago in Qatar.
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Playing Colombia to a 0-0 tie Saturday night meant a second-place finish in the group for Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal and a tougher path, which could include facing neighbor Spain for a spot in the quarterfinals. Croatia moved into this spot by defeating Ghana hours earlier.
Spain bounced back from a surprising 0-0 draw against Cape Verde in its first game to win its group, in the process sending two-time champion Uruguay home. Austria or Algeria is up next.
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Japan advanced as Group F runner-up with a hard fought 1-1 draw against Sweden and the Samurai Blue’s reward is a knockout match against five-time World Cup champion Brazil. It’ll be a full-circle moment for Japan, which brought in Brazilian great Zico in 1991 to professionalize the country’s new domestic league and support Japan’s successful bid to co-host the World Cup in 2002. Now, the Japanese have a chance to show how far they’ve come against a country that has set the standard.
It would have taken beating favored France for Norway to win Group I. Instead, coach Ståle Solbakken opted to rest Erling Haaland and all but one starter. That sets up a matchup against the Ivory Coast at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday.
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Winning all three of its group stage matches for the first time at the World Cup, Mexico goes into the round of 32 also having now allowed a single goal. It has outscored opponents 6-0 and now has the distinct home-field advantage at altitude back at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City against Ecuador, which rallied to beat Germany and advance.
It took Jude Bellingham scoring and setting up Harry Kane's goal to break a tie with Panama, but England got the job done Saturday to finish first in its group. Injuries are a question now, going into a matchup with Congo, which rallied to defeat Uzbekistan and advance.
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Defending champion Argentina faces the smallest country to qualify for the knockout stage at a World Cup. Unsurprisingly, Cape Verde goes in as a massive underdog.
This may be one of the most evenly matched round of 32 games, after Australia beat Turkey, lost to the U.S and drew with Paraguay. Egypt got through as the second-place team in Group G after a late goal by Iran on Friday night was called back for offside.
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This was supposed to be Canada's spot in Vancouver, but Switzerland winning the teams' head-to-head matchup there and finishing ahead in the group gave the Swiss a plum spot.
Passing Portugal for first in the group allows Colombia to open the knockout stage against Ghana, which entered with the lowest FIFA ranking at No. 74 but also played England to a scoreless tie.
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