The World Cup’s round of 16 is underway after several exhilarating matches in the first knockout round.
The round of 32 began with host country Canada edging South Africa and ended with Colombia beating Ghana 1-0. In between, there were several exhilarating matches, including three ending in penalty kicks and a near stunner of defending champion Argentina.
Here are some observations about the final 16:
ARGENTINA
Pundits believed it was going to be a comfortable ride for Argentina against Cape Verde. It turned out not to be.
Argentina narrowly edged the underdogs of all underdogs 3-2.
Though Cape Verde got eliminated, holding Argentina off for almost 120 minutes of play was, to some degree, a major upset. Cape Verde is a tiny African nation of 500,000 people, and Argentina is a global soccer powerhouse of 46 million people.
“I hope that now you realize that there’s no easy opponent,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said.
Argentina’s next match is against Egypt. They are again heavily favored to win.
THE U.S.
The United States secured its ticket to the round of 16 after knocking out Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday.
The U.S. victory was an indication of the level the country had grown in soccer. Playing one man short for more than 30 minutes, the U.S. scored its second from a free kick in the 82nd minute by Malik Tillman. The team’s leading goal scorer in the competition, Folarin Balogun, was expelled after a red card. Balogun scored the first goal in the last minutes of the first half.
The U.S. now plays Belgium with a chance to make it to the quarterfinals. Balogun will not play because of the red card.
OTHER HEAVYWEIGHTS
Given the surprising outcomes involving underrated countries since the beginning of the competition, it is difficult to say who would sail through in the round of 16. However, France and Brazil are in good position.
France meets Paraguay on Saturday as a major favorite. Paraguay stunned Germany in the biggest upset of the tournament to date. Brazil plays Norway on Sunday.
World Cup 2022 runners-up France sailed through, winning 3-0 against Sweden with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice.
Japan had hoped to create an upset of five-time world champions Brazil, after taking the lead through a 30-yard grounder from midfielder Kaishu Sano at the 29th minute. However, the Brazilians leveled through a Casemiro header in the 56th. They secured the winning goal from Gabriel Martinelli in stoppage time.
It was a huge relief for Brazil. A win against Norway would set Brazil up for a matchup against the winner of England and Mexico.
Two of Europe’s heavyweights, Spain and Portugal, clash on Monday in an encounter that would go either way.
ENGLAND VS. MEXICO
England came from behind to beat Congo 2-1. England’s captain, Harry Kane, scored both goals in the last quarter of the match in the 75th and 86th minutes, respectively.
England meets World Cup host country, Mexico, in the round of 16. The match figures to be a hard-fought battle, with the English team being forced to navigate a difficult elevation change and raucous home crowd in Mexico City.
The FIFA World Cup round of 32 is the first in its history, introduced this year after the expansion to 48 teams from the 32-team format that ran from 1998 to 2022.
___
Aroun Dean is a former news reporter for the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service. He also covered sports for the broadcasting service in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 1990 to 1999, doing soccer commentary on both radio and TV. He now works for The Associated Press at its headquarters in New York.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
