The group stage of the World Cup ends this Saturday (27th) with the last matches of groups J, K and L. Thus, the last matches of the 32-team phase will be defined.
By now, it is known that the first knockout game will be between South Africa and Canada, on Sunday (28), at 4pm. On Monday (29), there will be Brazil x Japan, at 2pm, Germany x Paraguay, at 5:30pm and the Netherlands x Morocco, at 10pm.
On Tuesday, Ivory Coast and Norway will compete for a place in the round of 16, at 2pm, and France and Sweden, at 6pm. The United States and Bosnia face each other on Wednesday (1st), at 5pm. On Friday (3), there will be Australia x Egypt, at 3pm, and Argentina and Cape Verde, at 7pm.
CONFIRMED CONFRONTS IN THE 32 PHASE
SOUTH AFRICA x CANADA
Sunday (28), at 4pm
BRAZIL x JAPAN
Monday (29), at 2pm
GERMANY x PARAGUAY
Monday (29), at 5:30 pm
HOLLAND x MOROCCO
Monday (29). at 10pm
IVORY COAST x NORWAY
Tuesday (30), at 2pm
FRANCE x SWEDEN
Tuesday (30), at 6pm
UNITED STATES x BOSNIA
Wednesday (1st), at 9pm
AUSTRALIA x EGYPT
Friday (3), at 3pm
ARGENTINA X CAPE VERDE
Friday (3), at 7pm
WHAT MUST DEFINE
Spain already knows that it will play on Thursday (2), at 4pm, but its opponent has yet to be defined. It will be whoever comes second in Group J — Austria or Algeria, who face each other this Saturday. The Europeans start the round in second place.
The opponents of Belgium, on Wednesday, at 5 pm, Mexico, on Tuesday, at 10 pm, and Switzerland, on Friday (3), at 0 am, still depend on the final classification of the third placed teams.
This year’s World Cup classification rule changed to accommodate the 48 teams. As a result, FIFA (International Football Federation) created this additional phase, prior to the round of 16, with 32 teams.
All teams that finish first and second in their groups advance to the next phase. As there are now 12 groups, 24 are guaranteed. The difference in this edition is that, in addition to them, the eight best third-placed teams also advance.
All 12 teams placed third will form a separate leaderboard, in which they will be compared under the following criteria, in order: number of points, goal difference, number of goals scored, number of cards and position in the FIFA ranking. This is how the best eight will be known.
Once these eight are confirmed, FIFA will use an annex to the World Cup regulations to determine the duels. According to the new format, it is already known that the winners of groups A, B, D, E, G, I, K and L will be the opponents of the third placed teams.
