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The group stage has been completed as the FIFA World Cup 2022 has entered it's Round of 16 fixtures with top 16 qualified teams will be battling their way to reach the quarterfinals. The Round of 16 fixtures will begin from Saturday, December 3 as Netherlands and Argentina are scheduled to square off against the USA and Australia respectively.
After witnessing tremendous results from the group stage, the knockouts are expected to be even more thrilling as heavyweight across the world will fight for the last eight spots.
Round of 16 schedule
- Netherlands vs USA: December 3 at 8:30 pm IST
- Argentina vs Australia: December 4 at 12:30 am IST
- France vs Poland: December 4 at 8:30 pm IST
- England vs Senegal: December 5 at 12:30 am IST
- Japan vs Croatia: December 5 at 8:30 pm IST
- Brazil vs South Korea: December 6 at 12:30 am IST
- Morocco vs Spain: December 6 at 8:30 pm IST
- Portugal vs Switzerland: December 7 at 12:30 am IST
Expected teams to reach quarterfinals
The eight teams to win their respective Round of 16 fixtures will qualify for the quarterfinals stage. Considering their group stage performances, Netherlands, Argentina, France, England, Japan, Brazil, Spain and Portugal are expected to win their respective games against the USA, Australia, Poland, Senegal, Croatia, South Korea, Morocco and Switzerland.
Netherlands are more experienced and technical squad as compared to the USA, however, players like Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah can produce an upset for the Oranje. Argentina entered the quadrennial showpiece as favourites and faced an upset in their opener against Saudi Arabi. Nevertheless, Lionel Messi's side managed a comeback by finishing the group stage at the top of the Group C and are still considered as favourites.
Defending champions France, England, Brazil and Spain have a decent depth in their squad and are evaluated as the top goal scoring teams in the FIFA World Cup 2022. After defeating Germany and Spain in the group stage, Japan are likely to beat Croatia, who lack attacking options and young players in their squad. Portugal have shown their prowess by winning their opening two matches and are expected to continue their good form against Switzerland in the Round of 16.
If everything goes as expected then Netherlands vs Argentina, Japan vs Brazil, England vs France and Spain vs Portugal will be the quarterfinal fixtures in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
