England are just one of 16 teams to progress from their groups as we enter the latter stages of the World Cup. The round of 16 begins tomorrow (Saturday) with the winners of Group A taking on the runners-up in Group B.
The Netherlands progressed without any problems as Cody Gakpo continues to impress in his first World Cup, leading the way as the competitions top scorer. England join the Netherlands and the USA in the next round, as Gareth Southgate’s side prepares to face Senegal on Sunday.
Lionel Messi proved to be influential for his country once again with Argentina set to take on Australia, who qualified alongside France from Group D. Spain and Germany were both heading for shock exits from the tournament at one stage on Thursday night, but it was the Germans who suffered another disappointing performance at a major tournament and join Belgium in being dumped out of the competition.
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The World Cup will now split into two routes to the final with nations now preparing for knockout football. Here is a list of every fixture and how the World Cup looks after all of the group stage matches have been completed:
Saturday, December 3 – Netherlands vs USA & Argentina vs Australia
The Netherlands won Group A after picking up seven points from their three matches and will face the USA, who finished behind England in Group B. Gakpo is the main man for Louis van Gaal’s side at the moment but the USA have their own threats in Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie.
Lionel Messi will be hoping he can lead his nation into the quarter-finals with a win against Australia, as the winner from the above two fixtures will face each other in the quarter-finals.
Sunday, December 4 – France vs Poland & England vs Senegal
The other side of the World Cup knockout bracket begins on Sunday with France taking on Poland, who finished runners-up behind Argentina in Group C. England will look to progress into the quarter-finals with a win against Senegal, potentially setting up a clash against the current World Cup holders, should France beat Poland.
Monday, December 5 – Japan vs Croatia & Brazil vs South Korea
Japan, who qualified out of Group E ahead of Costa Rica and Germany on the final matchday of the group stages, will face Croatia who saw out a 0-0 draw against Belgium to knock Roberto Martinez’s side out of the competition in shocking fashion. Tournament favourites Brazil rotated heavily for their final match in the group stages and lost 1-0 to Cameroon.
Neymar is still an injury concern ahead of the rest of the tournament and South Korea will prove a difficult test after coming into the round of 16 off the back of beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, qualifying ahead of both Uruguay and Ghana on goals scored.
Tuesday, December 6 – Morocco vs Spain & Portugal vs Switzerland
The final round of 16 ties gets underway on Tuesday with surprise package Morocco taking on Spain, and Portugal in action against Switzerland. The Swiss beat Serbia 3-2 on the final matchday of the group stages to confirm their place in the round of 16, whilst Morocco have shown they can cause an upset after beating Belgium in their group.
( source :https://www.football.london)