As the first round of the knockout stage has completed, one thing has been made very clear: the big dogs are holding their ground. Many of the teams favored to win their round of 16 matches did exactly that… by a lot. Between blowout victories and close nail biters, this round was just the next chapter in an already wild World Cup.

Here is the game by game recap…

Netherlands 3-1 USA

The Dutch side completely outperformed the US team on many sides of the ball. While yes, the US team dominated possession, but severely lacked the goal scoring opportunities that the Dutch capitalized so greatly on. An early missed chance by Christian Pulisic in the 3rd minute would turn out to be the Americans best chance in the half. Two Dutch goals from Memphis Depay and Daley Blind gave them a very comfortable lead heading into halftime. It took until the 76th minute when Haji Wright got one back for the Americans, but the Dutch immediately responded with a goal in the 81st minute by Denzel Dumfries sealed the deal for the Dutch. The Netherlands advance and the Americans are out. Overall, this tournament was both a positive and a negative for the US side. On the good side, they have a strong midfield and with a young squad, it can only get better from here. However, we lacked goal scorers and we were out coached in the Netherlands match. The tactics they used completely unwrapped our defense and exposed them severely. 

Argentina 2-1 Australia 

Argentina’s quest for a third World Cup title will continue after they earned a two to one victory over Australia. What this match showed was that Argentina can press heavily and very early on the attack, however it still looked shaky at times for the Argentines. One of the biggest stories of the match is that Lionel Messi scored his first ever knockout stage goal in the 35th minute. While Argentina were comfortably up a goal, a massive defensive error allowed for Julián Álvarez to get a second goal. Things looked to be smooth sailing for the Argentines, but when an own goal gave Australia one back, things got tense. Australia continued to press as much as they could, but they could not overcome the deficit and Argentina moved on. However, it was a very positive tournament for the Aussies and they have much to look forward to in the future.

Poland 1-3 France

A tight first half of this match ended with an Olivier Giroud goal, which stamped him as France’s all time leading international scorer. From then on, it was as easy as can be for the French side. With two additional goals from Kylian Mbappé in the 74th and 91st minutes further solidified the French win. Those two goals also propel him to being the main contender for the Golden Boot award and it was his 9th World Cup goal. Oh by the way, he’s only 23 years old. Poland’s Robert Lewandowski was able to get one back on a late penalty, but it was too late and France advanced with a big win. 

England 3-0 Senegal

Senegal looked to be in the match for about the first 10 minutes, but from there, it was very simple for this English side. A goal in the 39th minute from Jordan Henderson and a goal in the 45+3 minute from Harry Kane put the English up comfortably before halftime. Senegal was never able to recover and get into the match, and even if they were getting close, Bukayo Saka put away England’s 3rd goal and confirmed the win. It was an end to a great tournament for Senegal, and they have much to look forward to in the coming years. For England, they look scary… like really scary, and they will be a threat in their quarterfinal match against France. 

Japan 1 (1)- 1 (3) Croatia

Japan has been the most fun team to watch this tournament and it will be very sad to see them go. Two amazing wins from them gave soccer fans amazing memories, but another heartbreaking round of 16 loss will sting for a long time. Japan got the lead before halftime with a goal in the 43rd minute from Daizen Maeda that gave the Japanese the confidence they needed to finish the match. However, it wasn’t long in the second half till Croatia equalized with a goal in the 55th minute from Ivan Perišić. From then on, the match was a complete deadlock all the way through extra time, which still couldn’t decide a winner so on penalties we went. Right from the get go in the shootout, Japan got behind early from a combination of saves and misses. Croatia were able to convert three out of their four penalties while Japan only converted one out of their four. Heartbreak for the Japanese meant jubilation for the Croatians as they look to get back to the World Cup final as they did in 2018. 

Brazil 4-1 South Korea

South Korea already lost the match before it could even get underway. With Neymar back in the lineup, the Koreans faced a mighty uphill battle, a battle they could not climb. Two goals in the first 15 minutes for Brazil really put an end to the match, even though it had just started. Those goals came from Vini Jr. and Neymar in addition to two more goals in the half scored by Richarlison and Lucas Paquetá. The Koreans could never really develop any sort of offense even though they got a goal back from Paik Seung-ho. It was an easy win for Brazil as they danced (figuratively and literally) into the quarterfinals. 

Morocco 0 (3) – 0 (0) Spain

The true cinderellas of this tournament solidified their place in the quarterfinals with a thrilling penalty shootout win over Spain. With that win, Morocco became the fourth African nation to ever advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010). The game itself didn’t feature too much excitement with the occasional Moroccan defensive saves. The penalty shootout would be the only way to settle this match and while Morocco were able to convert three out of their four penalties, Spain converted… none. The team hero, Yassine Bounou, saved Spain’s penalties and set up his attackers perfectly to send them through. Achraf Hakimi’s ‘panenka’ was the nail in the coffin for Spain and they will go home while Morocco goes through. 

Switzerland 1-6 Portugal 

The news before this match was all about how Portugal would play with star striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, on the bench. However, it was clear from the get-go that Portugal would have no problem with this game. Switzerland looked lost and had no way to adapt to the Portuguese offense. The first hat trick of this World Cup came from Gonçalo Ramos who scored three amazing goals in the 17th, 51st, and 67th minutes. In addition to those three, Pepe, the old guy, scored on a corner kick in the 33rd minute and additional goals from Raphaël Guerreiro and Rafael Leão were icing on the cake for the Portuguese. The lone Swiss goal, coming from Manuel Akanji in the 58th minute changed nothing about the course of this game. The Portuguese look very dangerous as they go into the quarters. 

The Round of 16 matches were exciting in many different ways but with the favorites going through (mostly), the quarterfinals have some mouthwatering matchups.

So now, let’s preview them,

Croatia vs Brazil

The Croatians have their hands full in this one, and will do all they can to prevent a Brazilian stampede in this match. They will look to have a tight knit defense and will look to star strikers to hopefully give them the goals they need. For Brazil, this match is all about doing what they have done all tournament and that is by relentlessly attacking the defense of their opponent. Barring any unusual surprises, Brazil will go through to the semis.

Netherlands vs Argentina 

Lionel Messi’s quest for a World Cup runs through the scary Dutch side next. This game should feature lots of goals with both sides having numerous strikers. The Dutch looked really good against the Americans, but have looked a little wavy throughout the tournament. The Argentines got off to a rough start but rebounded extremely well and have looked very good since then, however, they cannot afford to have any defensive slip ups as the Dutch will pounce on it. I predict that this match goes to extra time, but with Argentina coming out on top. 

Morocco vs Portugal 

Morocco will look to continue their dream run into the semifinals, but they first must get through the Portuguese, who have looked lethal in this tournament so far. Even without Ronaldo in their last game, Portugal scored six goals against a good Swiss team, so they have threats everywhere on the field. Yet, Morocco has only conceded one goal this tournament, that also includes a penalty shootout win against Spain in which Spain didn’t score a single penalty. It will be an offense vs defense game all match, but I do predict that the Portuguese will come out on top in this close match.  

France vs England

Out of all the quarterfinal matchups, this one is the most mouthwatering one. England and France have looked dominant all tournament long with many goals being scored from both teams. So the question arises, who will perform better on Saturday? Well, I personally believe that France will be surprised by the English offense and that will force France to hunker down on defense, which they have not had to do much. I predict that this match will go the full 90 minutes… plus an additional 30… plus a penalty shootout. Yes, I think that this one goes to penalties and England will redeem themselves after the Euro 2020 finals, in which they lost in penalties. England will prevail over the French, but this game is such a tossup that France could win as well and it would not surprise me at all. 

This World Cup has been one of the most thrilling in recent memory and fans can’t wait to see what happens next in the quarterfinals. Be sure to check out the FIFA World Cup tag to see more of our articles covering the World Cup and check out CrusaderNationNews in the following days to get more rundowns on this amazing tournament.