France became the first side to reach the Round of 16

France became the first side to reach the Round of 16

The Round of 16 is the start of what is commonly referred to as the knockout rounds because every match is single elimination from here on out.

There are no points earned. There are no standings. There's simply a winner and a loser.

There has to be a winner on the day for each Round of 16 match and for subsequent knockout-round matches (quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match, final). So if teams are tied after 90 minutes of regulation, the match goes into a 30-minute period of extra time. If the deadlock persists after those 30 minutes of extra time, then a penalty shootout will determine the team that moves on to the quarterfinals.

 The Round of 16 pairings are set in advance. Teams that finish in first place in the group stage match up against teams that are runners-up in their respective groups.

 

The bracket above comes in two halves. And each will produce a World Cup finalist.

One half of the bracket features the following teams, from which one lucky finalist will emerge:

  • Netherlands (Group A winner)
  • USA (Group B runner-up)
  • Argentina (Group C winner)
  • Australia (Group D runner-up)
  • Japan (Group E winner)
  • Croatia (Group F runner-up)
  • Brazil (Group G winner)
  • South Korea (Group H runner-up)

The other half of the bracket will produce the other World Cup finalist from the following list:

  • Senegal (Group A runner-up)
  • England (Group B winner)
  • Poland (Group C runner-up)
  • France (Group D winner)
  • Spain (Group E runner-up)
  • Morocco (Group F winner)
  • Switzerland (Group G runner-up)
  • Portugal (Group H winner)

LET THE KNOCKOUT STAGES BEGIN!!!!!!!