After a group stage that was full of drama, including a spot in the round of 16 that came down to fair play points, it's time to move on to the knockout round.
The most notable difference between group play and knockouts? No more draws. Every match is do or die, so we're in for some thrilling soccer.
Here's how things look after 48 matches.
A few things stand out, if we're being honest about it, but the biggest thing is this: The left side of that bracket is absolutely stacked. There was talk heading into the final match of group play about whether Belgium and England would even want to win their group when they'd get dropped into a side that includes France, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Portugal. Mexico has also shown flashes of brilliance this Cup, and the bottom line is that it's going to take a lot to get to through that gauntlet.
So what is the optimal bracket for the World Cup Challenge? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you should be all over in your World Cup brackets, and which upsets are the key to victory, all from the model that's returned an incredible 1800 percent profit on bookmakers' closing odds.
1. Side-by-side breakdown
First half of the bracket
- Participants: Uruguay, Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, Japan
- Cumulative World Cup titles: 10 (Brazil 5, Argentina 2, Uruguay 2, France 1)
- FIFA World Rankings average: 13.8 (five teams in the top 10)
- Group stage record (W-L-D): 15-3-6 (51 cumulative points)
Second half of the bracket
- Participants: Spain, Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Colombia, England
- Cumulative World Cup titles: 2 (England, Spain)
- FIFA World Rankings average: 21.2 (two teams in the top 10)
- Group stage record (W-L-D): 14-4-6 (48 cumulative points)
The left side -- in the purposes of the bracket image above -- is the side of the powerhouses. There's the classic favorite in Brazil, a Uruguay side that has yet to concede, a French team full of up-and-coming stars and the team with the two best players in the world in Argentina and Portugal. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo make those teams particularly nerve-wracking to face off against.
2. Breakdown by continent
Europe (UEFA)
- Teams qualified: 14
- Teams advanced: 10
- Round of 16 participants: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
- Teams eliminated: Germany, Iceland, Poland, Serbia
South America (CONMEBOL)
- Teams qualified: 5
- Teams advanced: 4
- Round of 16 participants: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay
- Team eliminated: Peru
Asia (AFC)
- Teams qualified: 5
- Teams advanced: 1
- Round of 16 participant: Japan
- Teams eliminated: Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia (part of the Asian Football Confederation)
North America (CONCACAF)
- Teams qualified: 3
- Teams advanced: 1
- Round of 16 participant: Mexico
- Teams eliminated: Costa Rica, Panama
Africa (CAF)
- Teams qualified: 5
- Teams advanced: 0
- Teams eliminated: Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia
Europe and South America are continuing their utter domination at the World Cup. There's never been a World Cup participant that isn't from one of these two continents, and barring an utter miracle from either Mexico or Japan, that doesn't seem likely to change. South America sent four of its five participants past the group stage, whereas Europe sent 10 of its ridiculous 14 through. That only makes it more shocking that Germany wasn't able to make it out.
Compared to the 2014 World Cup, only six UEFA teams made it to the knockout stage. CONMEBOL had five, CONCACAF featured three and CAF featured two African teams.
3. Head-to-head
- Uruguay vs. Portugal: First World Cup matchup
- France vs. Argentina: 2-0-0 Argentina (2-1 win in 1978 group stage; 1-0 win in 1930 group stage)
- Brazil vs. Mexico: 3-0-1 Brazil (last meeting, 0-0 draw in 2014)
- Belgium vs. Japan: 0-0-1 (2-2 draw in 2002)
- Spain vs. Russia: First World Cup matchup
- Croatia vs. Denmark: First World Cup matchup
- Sweden vs. Switzerland: First World Cup matchup
- England vs. Colombia: 1-0-0 England (2-0 win in 1998)
4. Key players
Uruguay vs. Portugal
The players to look out for in this match aren't any different than you would expect. Luis Suarez for Uruguay vs. Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal. Ronaldo is looking to get his team out of the round of 16 for the first time since 2006, when Portugal finished in fourth place, and he's in the Golden Boot race with four goals so far. Edinson Cavani is a dark horse for the Uruguayan squad.
France vs. Argentina
For France, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe must play well against Lionel Messi. Messi netted his first goal of the tournament on a gorgeous touch against Nigeria, and he's looking to build on that success. Pogba has played a few phenomenal balls into Mbappe already, and France has two players more than capable of making a difference against a player with an argument for best in the world.
Brazil vs. Mexico
Philippe Coutinho and Neymar Jr. are one of the deadliest tandems in the Cup, and they're looking at Carlos Vela and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. Coutinho has two goals in the group stage, while Neymar has one. Chicharito hasn't had much impact for Mexico in the offensive department so far, but he'll have to step it up to keep up with Brazil's potent offensive arsenal.
Belgium vs. Japan
Romelo Lukaku is easily Belgium's most prolific scorer, he has four goals thus far, and he's going up against a Japan team that has very quiet talent. Shinji Kagawa is Japan's best player, and he hasn't scored since the sixth minute of the first match against Colombia. So you could say he's "due."
Spain vs. Russia
Diego Costa and Denis Cheryshev have both made waves early in this tourney. Each has three goals, and Cheryshev is leading a Russia team that has put up video game numbers to this point.
Croatia vs. Denmark
Luka Modric is playing in one of his last World Cups at 32, but he's making it count in the Croatian midfield. He had a pair of goals in a dominant group stage. Christian Eriksen leads the way for Denmark, and he accounted for one of Denmark's goals in the group stage.
Sweden vs. Switzerland
Andreas Granqvist has two goals for Sweden to this point, and he's a huge part of them advancing out of the group stage amid a quiet showing from Emil Forsberg. For Switzerland, Xherdan Shaqiri made his presence felt in the opening round, constantly staying involved in the action.
England vs. Colombia
Golden Boot leader Harry Kane will have to lead for England against Colombia. James Rodriguez is trying to fight off an injury, while Yerry Mina has become an integral part of Colombia's team, scoring two goals to help it advance.
