The World Cup Take 2022, Issue 4: The Final Cuts

The World Cup's group stage is now in the books. Many of the favourites made it to the last 16; there were also several shocking eliminations. Here is how the final group stage matches played out.

Ecuador 1-2 Senegal

Senegal completed an impressive turnaround after losing their first group-stage match, qualifying for the last 16 by beating Ecuador. Senegal made it out of the group stage for the first time in 20 years. Kalidou Koulibaly scored the goal which put the Lions of Teranga into the next round.

Qatar 0-2 Netherlands

Host country Qatar's dismal campaign came to a merciful end at the hands of the Oranje. Cody Gakpo scored for the third consecutive match before Frenkie de Jong finished Qatar off. The Netherlands will now be highly favoured when they face the United States at the Khalifa International Stadium in the last 16.

Wales 0-3 England

Wales were utterly disappointing as they collapsed to a one-sided loss against their rivals. After dominating the first half, England were rather unfortunate to enter the break without a goal. However, two Marcus Rashford strikes before and after a Phil Foden goal, all within an 18-minute span, secured the victory which put England atop Group B.

Iran 0-1 United States

The US emerged victorious in this winner-take-all showdown thanks to a first-half Christian Pulisic goal. Despite the narrow margin of victory, a US triumph never appeared in doubt right from the first kick-off. However, the US may now be without Pulisic for their last-16 match against the Netherlands after the Chelsea midfielder injured himself in the process of scoring the winning goal.

Tunisia 1-0 France

Having all but clinched first place in Group D, Didier Deschamps fielded mostly backup players against Tunisia. Tunisia took full advantage and won 1-0, though the victory ended up being for nothing as they nevertheless failed to qualify for the last 16. Substitute and usual starter Antoine Griezmann's late goal was waived off by way of a VAR call.

Australia 1-0 Denmark

Mathew Leckie's goal put Australia in the round of 16 for the first time since 2006. Despite having just 31% of the possession, Australia made it count against a thoroughly underperforming Denmark team. Australia now face a Herculean task when they play against Argentina in the round of 16.

Poland 0-2 Argentina

Argentina completed their turnaround from their opening-match loss to Saudi Arabia by beating Poland to top Group C. However, the key moment of the match was not either of Argentina's two goals, but Wojciech Szczęsny's penalty save against Lionel Messi. That save put Poland into the next round on goal difference.

Saudi Arabia 1-2 Mexico

Despite their victory, Mexico failed to advance from the group stage for the first time since 1978. They needed a larger margin of victory to surpass Poland's goal difference. As for Saudi Arabia, a campaign which started with so much promise following their opening victory over Argentina ultimately came to nothing.

Croatia 0-0 Belgium

The first "shocking elimination" of this World Cup saw Belgium crash out after a goalless draw against Croatia. In this match, the primary culprit for their failure was Romelu Lukaku who missed a bevy of goalscoring chances. Croatia hung on against waves of attacks to seal a spot in the round of 16, qualifying in second place.

Canada 1-2 Morocco

In a result that almost no one would've expected before the tournament, Morocco beat Canada to finish in first place in Group F. First-half goals from Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri gave the Atlas Lions all three points against the already-eliminated Canada. Morocco are now in the World Cup's round of 16 for the first time in 36 years.

Japan 2-1 Spain

With their second upset victory of the tournament, Japan clinched first place in Group E. Spain took an early lead through Álvaro Morata's goal, but two early second-half goals from Ritsu Dōan and Ao Tanaka reversed the final outcome. Despite the loss, Spain's vastly superior goal difference put them in the round of 16.

Costa Rica 2-4 Germany

Despite a late flurry of goals to give them the win, Germany were eliminated in the group stage for the second consecutive World Cup. Their loss to Japan proved to be a fatal blow to their chances of advancing to the last 16. Germany thus join Mexico as teams which have been eliminated from this World Cup on goal difference.

South Korea 2-1 Portugal

South Korea's victory against a Portugal team which mostly fielded reserves saw them barely squeeze into the round of 16. Hwang Hee-chan's stoppage-time winning goal put South Korea into the knockout stage at Uruguay's expense. Despite the loss, Portugal remained in first place in Group H.

Ghana 0-2 Uruguay

A rematch of the iconic 2010 quarterfinal saw Uruguay once again come out on top. Giorgian de Arrascaeta scored both of La Celeste's goals in the first half. However, Uruguay's victory wasn't enough to send them through to the knockout stage; they ended up being just one goal short of qualifying for the next round.

Serbia 2-3 Switzerland

Serbia's highly disappointing tournament ended with a loss to Switzerland. Remo Freuler's winning goal confirmed Switzerland's spot in the round of 16. For this Serbia squad, a final tournament result of one draw and two losses has to be regarded as a severe underperformance.

Cameroon 1-0 Brazil

Despite dominating the match with their second-stringers, Brazil were beaten by a stoppage-time Vincent Aboubakar goal. Brazil came dangerously close to losing first place in the group; another conceded goal or another goal scored by Switzerland in the other Group G match would've made that happen. However, Brazil just barely hung on to top spot and will thus face South Korea next.

And now, my predictions for the round of 16:

Netherlands vs United States (Netherlands on penalties)

Argentina vs Australia
England vs Senegal
France vs Poland
Japan vs Croatia
Brazil vs South Korea
Morocco vs Spain
Portugal vs Switzerland