SANTA MONICA — The World Cup is beginning to take shape as the third round begins to knock teams out and reveal the World Cup bracket for the round of 16.
Group A has wrapped up their competition yesterday, solidifying who would move on to the knockout round. Uruguay walked away from the group rounds undefeated, claiming nine points to move on. Uruguay defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 before overwhelming Russia in a 3-0 victory. Russia moved on with Uruguay, claiming six points of their own over Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Russia took their sole loss to Uruguay.
Group B finished with a tie between Spain and Portugal. The pair took five points each, claiming draws on the final day of group competition. Portugal tied 1-1 with Iran while Spain and Morocco knotted everything up at 2-2. Iran managed to claim one win over Morocco, finishing with four points. Morocco struggled throughout the tournament, stealing its only point on day three after tying with Spain.
France took the crown in Group C with six point with Denmark close behind on four points. France edged out Peru 1-0 in matchday two before getting locked in a stalemate against Denmark. Denmark previously tied with Australia on matchday two. Peru finished its World Cup run with three points while Australia only took one point.
Uruguay is scheduled to face Portugal on Saturday at 11 a.m. while Spain and Russia will face off at 7 a.m. on Sunday. France and Denmark’s opponents are pending Group D’s matchday three results.
In Group D, Croatia sits at the top of its standings with six points. Iceland will face off with Croatia and can move on with a win over Croatia by at least three goals if Argentina can defeat Nigeria. Argentina would need to defeat Argentina by four or more goals to move on.
Group E presented a tighter competition amongst its midst. Brazil and Switzerland sit at a tie with four points each. Brazil leads Switzerland by a goal while Serbia sits close behind with three points. Costa Rica doesn’t have a chance to move beyond the group stages but will be a deciding factor on who moves on as they face Switzerland. Serbia and Brazil battle it out to see who will move on between them.
Meanwhile, Mexico looks ready to claim the top spot of Group F, currently sitting at six points. Germany and Sweden are each poised to take the second spot with three points each while South Korea sits at the bottom of the pack with zero points and a two goal deficit. Mexico faces Sweden in its final group match while Germany battles Germany to make it out.
The standings are rounded out with Group G and Group H. England and Belgium have solidified their place in Round of 16 with six points each. The two will face each other Thursday to see who will take the top seed. Tunisia and Panama both have zero points each. Japan and Senegal lead Group H with four points, but they’re closely followed by Colombia with three points. Poland can’t move on from Group H, sitting at zero points. Senegal and Columbia will face off on Thursday while Poland will attempt to prevent Japan from moving on.
