The group stage of the World Cup is now officially over and it’s with great excitement that we now move into the knockout stages of the tournament in Russia.
The initial phase of the competition brought several surprises the biggest of which is Germany getting eliminated from the group stage and not participating in the elimination stage for the first time in 80 years.
Die Mannschaft were given a huge slap in the face by South Korea in their final group game and they return home disappointed and disheartened following a spiritless World Cup campaign.
Favourites
The World Cup 2018 has thus far been a problematic tournament for most of the favourites. Brazil and France are through to the Last 16 off the back of an underwhelming group stage, whereas Leo Messi’s Argentina were given quite a scare having sealed progression late in their closing group win over Nigeria.
The 1998 third-placed side Croatia is definitely the most pleasant surprise this year and their compelling group stage run now has them It is a far fetch but surely not an impossible one.
As we head into the next stage of the competition, the picture below shows the entire World Cup frame with the Last 16 matches.
