On Monday, 2018 finalist Croatia rallied from a goal down to Japan before winning in a penalty kick shootout. Then five-time World Cup winner Brazil, the top-ranked team in the world, looked the part in an easy 4-1 win over South Korea.
On Sunday, electric Kylian Mbappé and defending champion France knocked off Poland, 3-1, moving on to the quarterfinals for a third straight World Cup. Then Cup contender England dismantled Senegal, 3-0, setting up a delicious meeting with France.
On Saturday, the United States started the knockout round with a loss to European power the Netherlands. Then Lionel Messi and Argentina earned a 2-1 win over tournament darling Australia.
Morocco’s surprising run at the World Cup continued Tuesday, as the Atlas Lions advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time and eliminated Spain in a penalty-kick shootout (3-0) after the sides played to a scoreless draw. Spain failed to score on its first three attempts in the shootout, as Morocco became the first African team since Ghana in 2010 to reach the quarterfinals.
Gonçalo Ramos, a 21-year-old starting in place of Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal, scored a hat trick in his international breakthrough as the Portuguese routed Switzerland, 6-1. Portugal has advanced to the semifinals twice, but not since 2006.
Morocco will face Portugal Saturday at 10 a.m.
After 17 straight days of action, the World Cup finally takes a break. There are no games on Wednesday or Thursday, the first rest days since Qatar and Ecuador opened play on Nov. 20.
The quarterfinals begin on Friday with two matches: Croatia meets Brazil at 10 a.m., followed by Argentina and the Netherlands at 2 p.m. Croatia and the Netherlands have both been to a World Cup final — three times for the Netherlands, once for Croatia — but neither has won the championship. Brazil has won the World Cup five times, and Argentina has two titles.
The winners will meet next Tuesday at 2 p.m. Brazil and Argentina have met in the World Cup four times, but not since 1990.
Looking ahead at the rest of the World Cup
Here’s a look at the rest of the tournament schedule. All times Eastern.
What to know about the World Cup group stage
Group A: The Netherlands defeated Senegal, tied with Ecuador and then had no trouble with Qatar, finishing the group stage without a loss, conceding just a single goal. Senegal and Ecuador always seemed likely to compete for the second slot, and Senegal’s 2-1 win Tuesday was the deciding factor. Qatar, the host country, was the first team eliminated from the tournament.
Group B: England, attempting to claim its first World Cup title since 1966, finished with an impressive plus-seven goal differential in group games after a dominant win over Iran followed by a nervy draw with the United States and then a comfortable win over Wales. The United States scored just two goals in group play, but it was enough after draws with Wales and England and a 1-0 win over Iran. Iran got only one positive result, a win over Wales, which finished last in the group.
Group C: In what once seemed like the wildest group, favorite Argentina was stunned by Saudi Arabia in its opening match before rallying to win the group with victories over Mexico and Poland. Despite that loss, Poland finished second on goal differential, advancing to the knockout round for the first time since 1986. Mexico had the same results as Poland but finished with a minus-one goal differential while Poland was level. Saudi Arabia’s only points came in its shocking upset over Argentina.
Group D: France got the two wins it needed for qualification in its first two games before falling, 1-0, to Tunisia in its third match. The defending champions still won the group with six points based on goal differential. Surprising Australia earned wins over Tunisia and Denmark to claim Group D’s second spot. Tunisia will heartily celebrate its closing win over France, while Denmark will stand as a huge disappointment, finishing with just one goal and one point.
Group E: Japan bracketed a loss to Costa Rica with shocking wins over Germany and Spain to finish atop the group. That left Spain and Germany tied in second with four points — both teams beat Costa Rica and they played to a draw — but Spain advanced based on its far superior goal differential. Costa Rica was eliminated, despite beating the group winner.
Group F: Belgium may have been the group favorite and one of the world’s top-ranked teams, but it was upstaged by upstart Morocco, which beat both the Belgians and Canada and drew with Croatia to win the group. Croatia was also unbeaten with two scoreless draws and a convincing win over Canada, which played an attractive brand of soccer but lost all three of its matches.
Group G: Brazil won the group despite scoring just three goals — oddly, the fewest in the group. Switzerland’s thrilling win over Serbia on Friday secured second place, while Cameroon and Serbia were both eliminated.
Group H: Portugal had already clinched a spot in the knockout round after wins over Ghana and Uruguay, which meant it had little to play for in the finale against South Korea. When South Korea scored a shocking late goal to beat Portugal, 2-1, that left Uruguay in third place on the goals scored tiebreaker. Ghana beat South Korea, but lost its other two matches to finish last in an entertaining group.
