With the third round of the group stage coming to an end, the clashes for the second phase of the World Cup are beginning to be designed, with some already known duels, such as the Brazil, who will face Japan on Monday (29), at 2pm.
In all, 16 teams have already guaranteed a place in the next phase, but, by Saturday night (27), the other 16 will be known. The ’16th’ clashes are scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 28, with the clash between South Africa and Canada, one of the hosts of the competition, along with the United States and Mexico.
This second phase is new to the tournament, came into effect this year after an increase in the number of participating teams. The first two placed teams from each of the 12 groups advance to the knockout stages, in addition to the eight best third-placed teams, totaling 32 teams classified for the second phase.
Check out the matches already defined
Sunday, June 28th
- South Africa x Canada – 4pm
Monday, June 29th
- Brazil x Japan – 2pm
- Germany x (3rd place in groups A, B, C, D or F) – 17h30
- Netherlands x Morocco – 10pm
Tuesday, June 30th
- Ivory Coast x Norway – 2pm
- France x (3rd place in groups C, D, F, G or H) – 18h
- Mexico x (3rd place in groups C, E, F, H or I) – 22h
Wednesday, July 1st
- Confrontation to be defined – 1 p.m
- Confrontation to be defined – 17h
- United States x Bosnia and Herzegovina – 9pm
Thursday, July 2nd
- Confrontation to be defined – 4pm
- Confrontation to be defined – 8pm
Friday, July 3rd
- Switzerland x (3rd place in groups E, F, G, I or J) – 00h
- Australia x (2nd place in group G) – 15h
- Argentina x (2nd place in group H) – 19h
- Confrontation to be defined – 10:30 pm
How does the second phase work?
In the 2nd phase of the tournament, of an eliminatory nature, Teams that faced each other in the group stage will not be able to meet again in the round of 16. FIFA also distributed the teams across the brackets considering the world ranking. The four best-positioned teams — Spain, Argentina, France and England — were placed on opposite sides of the bracket alternately to avoid early clashes between the favorites.
All The knockout matches will be played in single game. In the event of a tie in regulation time, there will be extra time with two 15-minute halves. If equality persists, the decision will be on penalties.
The disciplinary regulations have also undergone adjustments, which changes the dynamics of penalties that players can suffer during matches. Two yellow cards received in different games result in automatic suspension for the following game. An isolated yellow card received in the group stage is not carried into the knockout stagebut suspensions resulting from a red card remain valid. Furthermore, accumulated yellow cards are reset before the semi-finals.
Best 3rd place
Currently, 12 teams compete for the eight places among the third best placed. Some have already played the third game and are awaiting the results of the other games, others are still going to the field.
1st Sweden – 4 points (already played)
2nd Ecuador – 4 points (already played)
3rd Bosnia Herzegovina – 4 points (already played)
4th Paraguay – 4 points (already played)
5th Senegal – 3 points (already played)
6th Croatia – 3 points (did not play)
7th South Korea – 3 points (already played)
8th Algeria – 3 points (did not play)
9th Scotland – 3 points (already played)
10th Cape Verde – 2 points (did not play)
11th Belgium – 2 points (did not play)
12th DR Congo – 1 points (did not play)
