2018 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 Analysis

After surviving the group stages the 16 most competitive and capable nations on the planet will be left to battle it out with one another under do or die circumstances. No second chances and no looking back. It’s time to take a look at how the world’s greatest competition pitched the remaining countries, in hope of advancing to the quarter finals.

France 4-3 Argentina

The first knockout fixture of the 2018 FIFA World Cup had spectators licking their lips at the thought of one of football’s most highly anticipated and promising nations locking heads with a nation which was carrying some of the most gifted forwards of the 21st century. After Argentina struggled to progress from the group stage France were in poll position as firm favourites for the tie, but in football anything is possible.

As the match kicked off Argentina struggled defensively as they appeared incapable of suppressing the relentless and lightning fast waves of attacks from the French, led by nineteen-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe and talisman Antoine Griezmann. In the 11th minute France got their reward as Mbappe clocked a record for the tournament in reaching 38km/h, as he burned his way past the Argentine defence, forcing Marcos Rojo to pull him down inside the area resulting in a penalty for the French. Griezmann displayed complete composure as he sent Argentine keeper Armani in the wrong direction and slotted the ball into the back of the net.

After France managed to pull themselves ahead, the game appeared to settle down as it approached the half-way mark. In the 41st minute, to the astonishment of spectators world-wide, a frustrated Argentina which appeared to be running out of ideas found Angel Di Maria over twenty-five yards out. He unleashed a scintillating shot with the inside of his left foot, which left French keeper Hugo Lloris no chance as Argentina drew level. The sides went into the half-time break with scores locked at 1-1 leaving everything to play for.

As the second half got underway, France returned ready to redeem their diminishing efforts visible at the end of the first half. Argentina looked to create again and once more, against the run of the play Lionel Messi took a fizzing shot from just inside France’s penalty area which deflected off Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado and into the bottom corner of the French net, 2-1 Argentina!

Shell shocked and stunned, France knew they had to make the next forty minutes count otherwise their World Cup dream would be over. In the 57th minute Lucas Hernandez’ run was met by Blaise Matuidi’s wide, driven ball as he then cut the ball across the Argentine penalty area which somehow evaded the readily approaching navy shirts. Lingering just outside the edge of the box came French right back Benjamin Pavard, who at full speed met the ball on the bounce to unleash a stinging, curling volley which put France level and also put Pavard in contention for goal of the tournament. Seven minutes later, Hernandez once again put in a dangerous ball which was met by Matuidi but blocked by a flurry of Argentine defenders. As the ball rebounded Mbappe took a heavy touch to create space, before firing through Armani to put France ahead 3-2.

As Argentina were forced to search for an equaliser, France broke once again as Matuidi found Olivier Giroud, who held up the ball and released the overlapping Mbappe, who buried the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and eradicated any hopes of an Argentine comeback. With the result beyond Argentina in the 93rd minute, Lionel Messi found space in the middle and then whipped in a dangerous ball which was met ferociously by substitute Sergio Aguero who headed a goal back for Argentina. The goal gave them a small chance, but it was merely a consolation, as France held on for a historic 4-3 victory.

Uruguay 2-1 Portugal

The second fixture in the knockout phase of this unpredictable and exhilarating World Cup pitched two more footballing heavyweights head to head. Uruguay had progressed comfortably in their group, accumulating nine points and still yet to concede a goal in the tournament. Portugal had a less comfortable progression with two draws against Spain and Iran, as well as a hard fought 1-0 victory over Morocco.

It didn’t take long for this fixture to come to life; in the 7th minute Luis Suarez cut in from the left-hand side and drilled a cross straight onto the head of Edinson Cavani who flung himself at the ball, which directed it straight past Portuguese keeper Rui Patricio. Both sides pushed for the next goal but defensively they were reluctant to give their opposite numbers a sniff, leaving the score-line with Uruguay 1-0 ahead at half-time.

Portugal came into the second half determined. It didn’t take long for that determination to pay off when in the 55th minute, Raphael Guerrero whipped the ball into a crowded Uruguayan penalty area which fell perfectly for Portuguese centre back Pepe. Pepe made no mistake as he was able to comfortably nod past Fernando Muslera and level the scores. Pepe’s header was the first goal Uruguay had conceded in the 325 minutes of football they had played in the World Cup so far. When the game appeared to be a grind to the finish, Uruguay stung another massive blow to the Portuguese. In the 62nd minute, Fernando Muslera’s clearance was misread by Pepe for whom the ball could only roll off his head to Rodrigo Bentancur who slid the ball across the face of the area towards an eagerly awaiting Edinson Cavani. Cavani took the ball in his stride and got the second to his name for the night putting Uruguay 2-1 ahead.

The final few minutes provided nervous moments for the Uruguayans as Portugal tested their back four and keeper throwing everything forward. In the end it would be too little too late for the Portuguese, as Uruguay held on to progress to the quarter-finals.

Spain (3) 1-1 (4) Russia

The champions from 2010 took on the host nation in what was a highly anticipated affair for progression to the quarter-final. Spain got off to the perfect start in the 11th minute when Marco Asensio whipped in a dangerous left-footed free-kick which was met by a tangled challenge between Spain’s Sergio Ramos and Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich, as the latter unfortunately put the ball into his own net.

Russia kept the pressure on Spain as the half continued and in the 40th minute they were given the opportunity they had been waiting for. Aleksandr Samedov fizzed in a corner and the resulting header from Artem Dzyuba, made clear contact with the flailing arm of Spanish centre back Gerard Pique leaving the referee no choice but to point for a penalty. Dzyuba approached the dead ball with complete poise and confidence as he sent David De Gea the wrong way and drew Russia level heading into half-time.

The second-half saw chances few and far between for both sides, as neither managed to break the deadlock. Extra time provided more of the same, other than an immense penalty shout for Spain as it appeared Sergio Ramos was held back in the area. After confirmation from the VAR officials, play was resumed and shortly after the referee blew for full-time, for the first time in Russia 2018, a match would go to a penalty shoot-out.

Following the end of extra-time both countries huddled together simultaneously displaying solidarity, support and belief before stepping out to take their penalties one at a time. First up was Spain’s maestro Andres Iniesta who for all he knew may be taking his last ever kick in his glorious international career. With all his experience behind him Iniesta stepped up and wrong-footed Igor Akinfeev to put Spain 1-0 ahead in the shootout. Up next was Russia’s Fyodor Smolov who did brilliantly to slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner narrowly evading the palms of David De Gea. Gerard Pique then stepped up to send Akinfeev the wrong way again and put Spain 2-1 ahead. Looking to level the score once again, Sergei Ignashevich stepped up confidently and put the ball into the bottom right corner of De Gea’s net. Spain’s third penalty taker was Koke who drove the ball across his body, only to be read perfectly by Akinfeev who punched the ball straight back towards the Spanish midfielder. Russia then had the opportunity to go ahead for the first time in the shootout, Aleksandr Golovin lined up and dispatched his penalty under a desperate David De Gea to make it 3-2 to the Russians. Spanish captain Sergio Ramos stepped forth next, striking a captain’s penalty by confidently sending Akinfeev diving in the opposite direction. Russia were then left with an incredible opportunity to give themselves match point in the shootout. Substitute Denis Cheryshev stepped up and calmly placed the ball straight down the middle as De Gea once again dove towards the bottom corner of his goal. Iago Aspas stared down Akinfeev as he hoped to keep Spain in the shootout, he opted to smash it down the middle, only for the trailing leg of a diving Akinfeev to clear the ball from the goal. The save secured Russia’s qualification through to the quarter final and sent the host nation into pandemonium, as the Russians progressed 4-3 on penalties.

Croatia (3) 1-1 (2) Denmark

The winners of group D faced the runners up of group C in an all European round of 16 tie. Denmark got off to a lightning quick start within the 1st minute. Jonas Knudsen launched a throw into the Croatian penalty area which wasn’t dealt with by the countless Croatian shirts in close proximity. The ball landed on the boot of Thomas Delaney who turned and took a heavy touch which reached Mathias Jorgensen, who struck the ball towards goal in the most unorthodox of manners, which left Danijel Subasic with too little time to react as the Danes took the lead.

It didn’t take the Croatians long to get their noses back into the game due to an enormous turn in fortune. Croatia broke out on the right-hand side. Ante Rebic played Sime Vrsaljko in behind the Danish back four who drilled a pass across the Danish penalty area. Henrik Dalsgaard approached the ball for what appeared to be a routine clearance, but as he miss-hit the ball it ricocheted heavily off the face of fellow Danish defender Andreas Christensen. Mario Mandzukic was patiently waiting at the back post to turn it in on the half-volley, leaving Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel with absolutely no chance. Scores were locked at 1-1 within the first five minutes, for what appeared as though it would transform into a high-scoring affair, but chances dried up in what followed. The game ended up in extra-time and in the 114th minute Croatia appeared to have grabbed the chance the game needed to swing the tie in their favour. Luka Modric picked up possession inside his own half, he then got his head up and played Ante Rebic in behind with a concise through ball, with only the keeper to beat. Rebic ran at Schmeichel with pace, took a touch around him and as he appeared to be stroking the ball away, he was brought down prematurely by Denmark’s Mathias Jorgensen. Penalty! With all eyes on him, Croatia’s number 10, Luka Modric, stepped up and drove the ball towards the bottom right corner. Kasper Schmeichel read Modric’s every movement and dove low to catch the penalty. No further breakthrough for either side meant that the game would be going to a penalty shootout.

First up in the shootout was Denmark’s playmaking sensation Christian Eriksen who went towards the bottom left corner however so did Danijel Subasic as he parried the first penalty away. Croatia’s opening penalty taker was Milan Badelj who went low and central to send Schmeichel the wrong way. Schmeichel did guess the wrong direction but showed great poise to redirect the ball with his trailing leg to keep the shootout locked at 0-0. The scores were finally opened as Denmark’s captain Simon Kjaer stepped up to rifle his penalty into the top right corner. Andrej Kramaric was next in line and hesitated in his run up before sliding the ball comfortably past Schmeichel. Denmark took the lead once more as Michael Krohn-Dehli sent Subasic the wrong way to make it 2-1 to the Danes. Croatia kept up the pressure as Luka Modric exercised his demons from his extra time penalty to this time get the better of Kasper Schmeichel. Approaching the final takers, Denmark’s Lasse Schone put the ball towards the top left corner, Subasic went early and managed to comfortably punch the ball away. Josip Pivaric had an opportunity to give Croatia some breathing space, but Kasper Schmeichel denied them from the spot once again by flying to the bottom right corner and pushing the ball away. Denmark’s fifth penalty taker was Nicolai Jorgensen and with each kick becoming more important than the last, his nerves showed, his penalty drove straight towards the diving Subasic, who made it look easy. FC Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic had the task of sending Croatia through and he made no mistake, drilling the ball into the bottom left corner to knock out a courageous, but ultimately unfortunate Denmark side.

Brazil 2-0 Mexico

Brazil came into the knockout phase as the firm favourites to trifle over Mexico. The Mexicans however were not to be overlooked as giant killers, from the part they played in eliminating reigning champions Germany in the group stage. The first half had both sides creating opportunities as Brazil’s brilliance shone with the likes of Neymar, Jesus, Coutinho and Willian driving towards goal with their counterparts in support. Mexico’s prowess was on display as they counter attacked, following Brazil’s flowing movements forward the Mexicans would look long to the likes of Chicharito, Vela and Lozano to break with speed and endeavour to get in behind the Brazilian defence. The entirety of the first half the game saw the aforementioned players getting into dangerous positions, but none able to make their mark on the match. Brazil was not clinical enough in front of goal and Mexico’s decision making failed them in the final third.

Six minutes into the second half Brazil finally got their break through their number 10 Neymar. He received the ball out on the left-hand side of the pitch where he was isolated 1-on-1 with Mexico’s Miguel Layun. Neymar cut in and drove the ball across the edge of the penalty area dragging the Mexican back four with him, as he then released the ball to Willian with a nicely timed back heel. Willian took a heavy touch past Hugo Ayala and laced the ball across the face of goal. The ball evaded Mexican keeper Ochoa and Brazillian forward Jesus, but not Neymar, who slid in at the back post to finish off the move that he started. Mexico continued to press the Brazilians on the break, with Lozano and Vela throwing away potentially good opportunities by pulling the trigger to shoot far too early to test Brazilian keeper Alisson. Brazil stood firm and in the 88th minute they finally put the Mexicans to rest as Fernandinho found space in the middle of the park to play Neymar in behind. Neymar took the ball in his stride which gave him an opportunity to go for goal, Ochoa got a foot to Neymar’s effort, but it only deflected into the path of Brazilian substitute Roberto Firmino, who had the all too easy task of finishing into an empty net. After all the resilience of the Mexicans, Brazil finally had breathing space which enabled them to hold on for a 2-0 victory.

Belgium 3-2 Japan

Belgium who finished top of group G with nine points would face a Japan side who progressed in favour of Senegal from group H, due to accumulating less bookings than the Senegalese in the group stage. The first half was responsible for a back and forth encounter with both sides creating good opportunities, although at no point had the cutting edge required to bury the ball in the back of the opposing net. Early into the second half Japan stamped their authority all over the tie rallying on and scoring not one, but two goals against the Belgians. The first goal came courtesy of Gaku Shibasaki’s perfectly weighted through ball which caught Belgian centre back Jan Vertonghen in two minds as he stumbled, allowing for Genki Haraguchi to get on the end of the incisive pass. Haraguchi then threw a dummy which gave himself enough space to unleash a ferocious low, driven shot which Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois could do nothing about. It took Japan less than five minutes to double their lead. They retained possession in their attacking third. Shinji Kagawa then laid the ball off to Takashi Inui who took one touch to tee himself up and another to rifle the ball in the bottom corner of Courtois’ net, who once again was left with absolutely no chance.

With a little over twenty minutes of regular time left to play, Japanese keeper Kawashima made a meal of an attempted clearance. It fell to one of his own whose attempted clearance landed on the head of Jan Vertonghen who although incredibly wide and near the edge of the area sent a looping header back towards the Japanese goal. Kawashima back-tracked to reach it but the lofted header fell perfectly under the cross bar and into the side netting as Belgium pulled one back.

In the 74th minute Eden Hazard twisted and turned out on the left-hand side to create space away from Yuyu Osako and deliver a dangerous but precise cross onto the head of substitute Marouane Fellaini, who levelled the score in trademark fashion. Kawashima pulled off two incredible saves against headers from first Nacer Chadli and then Romelu Lukaku in the 85th minute to keep the Belgian onslaught at bay, but they would have their retribution. Japanese substitute Keisuke Honda curled in a corner which was met comfortably by Thibaut Courtois. Knowing there was less than thirty seconds to play, as the match was now into its 94th minute, he rolled the ball out assertively to an advancing Kevin De Bruyne. De Bruyne pushed the ball forwards as the holes began to emerge in the desperate Japanese defence. De Bruyne all so deftly slid the ball into the path of Thomas Meunier with the outside of his right foot. Meunier used his first touch to play the ball across the Japanese area. The pass fell behind Romelu Lukaku but Nacer Chadli who had galloped the length of the pitch slotted in behind and met the cross with composure as he put Belgium 3-2 ahead. From 2-0 down with just over twenty minutes to play Belgium had produced the most astonishing comeback that this instalment of the World Cup has witnessed.

Sweden 1-0 Switzerland

Sweden v Switzerland pitched two of the tournament’s most prominent remaining underdogs against one another, to fight it out for their place in the quarter finals. The match got off to a slow start with the first real chance falling to Swedish forward Marcus Berg in the 29th minute, who attempted to volley low and hard towards the Swiss goal. Yann Sommer read the effort well and got down to parry the ball away from any potential danger. In the 38th minute, Switzerland got themselves forward to create their first menacing chance of the match when Blerim Dzemali played a one-two with Steven Zuber on the edge of the Swedish penalty area but blasted the ball over the cross bar. Three minutes later Sweden’s Michael Lustig put in an inch perfect cross for Albin Ekdal, who like Dzemali sent his effort flying into the crowd.

The beginning of the second half was tense as both sides worked tirelessly to keep the other out of proximity to create a goal scoring opportunity. In the 66th minute, Sweden finally found the breakthrough, not to say it didn’t come without a hint of good fortune. Ola Toivonen cut the ball inside from the right flank and slid it across to Emil Forsberg who opened up his body to hit a stinging shot towards the Swiss goal. The shot although low and powerful appeared to be an easy save for Yann Sommer until the ball took a wicked deflection off the leg off Manuel Akanji which reversed its trajectory and sent it nestling into the top corner of the Swiss net.

Switzerland’s best chance at finding an equaliser came off a Xherdan Shaqiri corner in the 79th minute which was won by Akanji and then deflected back into danger off Forsberg. Granqvist was alert for the Swedish and sent the ball off the line and into the crowd. Switzerland resorted to going all out in their attacks for the final few minutes which left them exposed at the back. In the 93rd minute, Swedish substitute Isaac Thelin carved open the remaining Swiss defenders which left the advancing Martin Olsson one-on-one with Sommer. Before Olsson was able to release the ball, Michael Lang clearly extended his arm to send him off balance on the edge of the penalty area, resulting in a straight red card. Switzerland were one man down and one goal down, as the referee blew for full time sending Sweden through to the next round.

Colombia (3) 1-1 (4) England

The final clash in the round of 16 brought together a high-flying England side who notched eight goals in the group stage against a Colombia side missing their talisman, James Rodriguez through injury. The first half provided very few clear-cut goal scoring opportunities. The best of which was a 16th minute header from an off-balance Harry Kane, who lofted Kieran Trippier’s cross over the Colombian cross-bar. The game didn’t click into top gear until the second-half when in the 54th minute, Carlos Sanchez forced himself all over Harry Kane who could no longer remain balanced, resulting in a penalty for England. England captain Harry Kane who scored two penalties during their 6-1 victory over Panama, stepped up and fired the ball straight down the middle to make it 1-0 and grab his 6th goal of the tournament thus far. The last fifteen minutes made for entertaining viewing as Jesse Lingard had a penalty shout waved away. Four minutes later Colombia broke on the counter attack when Carlos Bacca dispossessed Kyle Walker in the middle of the pitch and found Juan Cuadrado inside the area. The right winger wound up for a routine effort but showed a lack of composure as it was marginally high and wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal. In the 92nd minute Colombia’s Mateus Uribe unleashed a scintillating 30-yard volley which was only denied by an acrobatic Jordan Pickford, who rose incredibly to push it away for a corner. Colombia’s pressure would finally pay off on the resulting corner as Yerry Mina rose above Harry Maguire to head Colombia level on the verge of full-time.

Extra-time saw chances scarce between the tiring Colombians and English. The best effort being Danny Rose’s effort, which flashed across the face of Colombia’s goal. As full-time beckoned, the English knew that they had lost all three World Cup penalty shoot-outs in their country’s history, a voodoo which they were now desperate to break. Colombia would shoot first as Falcao went straight down the middle to make it 1-0 Colombia. Harry Kane then levelled the shoot-out smashing the ball into the bottom left corner. Cuadrado put the Colombians back ahead, rifling his penalty into the top left corner, only for Marcus Rashford to hit the same corner of the net as Harry Kane, to make 2-2 immediately after. Luis Muriel made it 3-2 Colombia when he calmly rolled the ball into the bottom right corner, sending Jordan Pickford diving towards the wrong corner. England’s Jordan Henderson stepped up next, but he was denied by an incredible diving save from David Ospina. It was now Colombia’s shootout to lose. Mateus Uribe would be next in line, but when the shootout appeared to be swinging in Colombia’s favour, Uribe sent his penalty rattling off the crossbar. Kieran Tripped showed complete poise in front of goal to smash his penalty into the top left corner and make it 3-3. Colombia’s fifth penalty taker, Carlos Bacca attempted to slam his penalty into the side netting, but Pickford predicted it perfectly and flew across his line to parry it away. With one penalty remaining England had to opportunity to qualify for the quarter finals. Eric Dier with the weight of 53 million English fans on his shoulders made no mistake in converting his penalty and winning England their first ever World Cup penalty shoot-out.