Chapter 440: All top 8 are revealed

Chapter 440 All the top eight are revealed
"It is very likely that the game is about to enter overtime. The Colombian team has just equalized the score, and now their morale is also ahead of their opponents. They seem to have a greater chance of winning!"

Loew nodded seriously. The Colombian team is indeed a tenacious team. The draw just now is the best evidence.

Not only the two coaches of the German team think that the Colombian team is going to win, but even the Colombian fans are so optimistic.

However, Colombia seemed to have run out of luck after equalizing the score.

England's goalkeeper Pickford seemed to be cheating. He made four key saves in stoppage time and overtime, shutting out all Colombian attacks.

England held on to the one-to-one score until the last minute, and the game was dragged into a brutal penalty shootout.

This is the second penalty shootout of this World Cup.

In the three knockout games so far, there have been two penalty shootouts, and the frequency of penalty shootouts is getting higher and higher.

The first penalty shootout of this World Cup occurred between Spain and Russia. In the end, the host country used the penalty shootout to defeat the Matador Legion. The road to the revival of the Spanish dynasty continues.

This also proves how difficult it is to defeat opponents in the knockout stage. Even a strong team like Spain will be eliminated immediately.

The penalty shootout between Colombia and England began. Both sides scored the first three goals steadily, but at the fourth penalty kick, Colombia's No. 15 Uribe's penalty was saved by Pickford. come out.

With this key save, England defeated their opponents in a thrilling penalty shootout and reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup again after the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

They are also determined to face the powerful defending champion Germany in the quarter-finals!
In this game, Pickford undoubtedly won the man of the match award.

The Colombian team completed a total of 20 shots in this game, and four of them were on target, three of which were almost guaranteed scoring opportunities.

But Pickford saved these shots one by one, saving England from the fire again and again.

This earned him praise from many England fans.

As the England team reached the quarter-finals, the German team's quarter-final opponent was also announced, and that is their old rival England!
In the quarterfinals of this World Cup, another exciting battle between England and Germany will be staged!

After England eliminated Colombia, the Brazilian team that came on the scene also cleanly eliminated the Swedish team with a score of 2-0, becoming the only South American team to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. This also means that Europe The overall strength gap between the team and the American teams is becoming more and more obvious.

Then there was the Croatian team, which had an eye-catching performance in the group stage and won all three games, and defeated Argentina, the favorite to win the championship. As one of the teams with the best performance in the group stage in this World Cup, all parties before the game felt that the Croatian team should be able to easily victory over their rivals Denmark.

However, the course of the game was somewhat unexpected. The Croatian team performed sluggishly, but the opposite team, Denmark, performed well.

After ninety minutes of regular time, the score on the field was one to one. Denmark tenaciously tied the Croatian team.

After watching this game, the fans of the Croatian team felt worried.

Outsiders who were optimistic about the Croatian team before the game began to re-evaluate the strength of the Croatian team. With their current state, can they go far in the knockout rounds? !

But not everyone is worried. Fans of the host Russian team were extremely surprised after watching this game.

The Russian and Croatian teams are in the same half zone. If they successfully pass the next round, the two teams will meet in the quarterfinals.

If Denmark can eliminate the Croatian team, Russia's probability of advancing to the semi-finals will also be greatly increased.

Even if Croatia is lucky enough to reach the quarter-finals, given the current state of the Croatian team, wouldn't it be a good opportunity for the host country when they meet the Russian team in the quarter-finals?

Although Russia's process of advancing to the quarterfinals was also very difficult, they defeated the Spanish team, whose camels were bigger than horses, while Croatia faced the Danish team, which had never reached the knockout rounds before.

The strength gap between the two is too big. In comparison, some arrogant Russians feel that the Croatian team is mediocre.

In the end, Croatia, who was in poor condition, scored nothing in overtime, and the two sides entered a brutal penalty shootout!

In the end, with Subasic's magical save, the Croatian team reached the quarterfinals of the knockout round with difficulty.

Although they won this game, their poor performance in this game caused their originally optimistic winning odds to be reduced a lot.

After the Croatian team, other European teams that followed seemed to be infected by the Croatian team's sluggish state.

Portugal, who was also the favorite to win the championship, unfortunately lost to the South American powerhouse Uruguay.

At the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Uruguay took the lead in the seventh minute of the game!
Cavani moved the ball from the right to Suarez on the left and then moved forward. Suarez took the ball from the left corner of the penalty area and passed the ball. Cavani outflanked the goal from behind!

Uruguay beat Portugal 1-0!
Change sides and fight again. In the 55th minute of the second half, Portugal took a tactical corner kick from the left. Guerrero passed the ball into the penalty area. Ronaldo moved forward to attract the defense. Pepe broke the net with a header without being marked!

Uruguay vs Portugal!
Unfortunately, the Portuguese's excitement did not last long. Just seven minutes later, in the 62nd minute of the game, Uruguay took the lead again!

Uruguay got a chance to counterattack in the backcourt. Bentancur passed the ball from the top of the penalty area to Cavani who was following up from the left. Cavani shot with his right foot from the left side of the penalty area. The ball flew in around Patricio's fingers. Far corner of the goal!
Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1, once again taking the lead!

Five minutes later, the Portuguese team attacked. Guerrero took the ball from the left at 45 degrees and made a pass. Muslera went out to pick up the ball and let it go. Bernardo Silva intercepted the ball in the center of the penalty area and shot into the empty goal. The ball went high. , missed the opportunity to equalize the score again!
In the end, Portugal lost to Uruguay 1-2 and missed the quarterfinals.

Ronaldo's performance in this game was very poor, with almost no outstanding performance, and still failed to score, continuing the embarrassing record of zero goals in the knockout rounds. Compared with Portugal and Croatia, the European Red Devils Belgium performed better.

Facing the Japanese team, which can almost be called the weakest opponent in the knockout rounds, they launched a fierce attack at the beginning. They kicked a total of 27 shots in the game, eight of which were on target and one hit the door frame.

With so many shots, the score of this game should be exaggerated, right?
However, after sixty minutes of play, the score on the field was actually zero to two! The Belgian team, which was attacking like crazy, failed to score a single goal. Instead, the Japanese team, which was defensive and counterattacking, scored two goals first!
This score was too outrageous. The audience saw the Belgian team attacking and shooting constantly, but they just couldn't score.

The goalkeeper of the Japanese team, Eiji Kawashima, performed very well. In this game, Eiji Kawashima went crazy. He made a total of 15 wonderful saves in the whole game, beating all the Belgian shooters.

Under the guidance of head coach Nishinoro, this Japanese team with a relatively mediocre lineup relied on teamwork and discipline to be inseparable from Belgium.

Throughout the game, the Japanese team seized every excellent opportunity and converted all opportunities into goals.

In the 65th minute, Belgium made a key substitution.

They replaced the tall and powerful Fellaini and Chazli. This substitution sounded the clarion call for Belgium to counterattack. With their height far exceeding that of the Japanese, the Belgian team naturally used high-altitude ball tactics. In the fourth minute after the substitution, he got a goal back with Vertonghen's header!
Then soon, the substitutions just produced great results, Fellaini also scored a header to equalize the score!
When the game entered stoppage time, the Japanese team fell into a physical bottleneck. At the last moment of the game, their battered defense finally could not withstand it.

In the 94th minute, Lukaku was running wildly with the ball from the wing. He was hit by the opponent's defender and remained motionless. On the contrary, the Japanese defender who hit him fell down.

Lukaku seized the opportunity and quickly dribbled the ball into the penalty area. Facing the blocking of the opponent's defender, he cleverly passed the ball to De Bruyne.

There were four defenders in the penalty area, but only two Belgian players.

But De Bruyne did not rush to shoot after receiving Lukaku's pass in the penalty area. Instead, he calmly turned around and got rid of it. After pulling away and adjusting the angle, he aimed at the goal and hit a far corner.

Kawashima Eiji had nothing to do with the ball and failed to save the goal that decided the fate of the Japanese team.

In the end, with this goal, Belgium successfully reached the quarterfinals.

De Bruyne also won the MVP of this game.

After the game, he was praised by the Belgian national team coach Mark Wilmots.

"Kevin is a very good player. I am amazed by his creativity on the field. At his feet, football seems to have countless possibilities!"

Mark Wilmots himself is a coach who plays as an attacking midfielder, so he has a strong preference for players like De Bruyne who play the same position as him.

After training in the Bundesliga and the Premier League, De Bruyne grew rapidly and became the core of Belgium's midfield early on.

With him here, the European Red Devils look strong and they seem to be able to compete with other favorites for the World Cup crown!

The twin stars of Wolfsburg back then are still shining in the World Cup!

After defeating Japan, the Belgian team will face the powerful Brazilian team in the quarter-finals. Whether the powerful European Red Devils can go further depends on the performance of De Bruyne and Hazard.

After the Belgian team's game, the last quarter-finals of the Russian World Cup began. This was an absolute focus battle. France, the favorite to win the championship, faced off against the sluggish Argentina team in the group stage!

The two sides dedicated a very classic goal battle!

In the seventh minute of the game, Mbappe was brought down in front of the penalty area. France got a free kick. Griezmann's free kick was very threatening and hit the crossbar!

In the eleventh minute, it was Mbappe again, rushing from the backcourt into the penalty area. Rojo had no choice but to bring him down, and the referee decisively awarded a penalty kick!
Griezmann took the penalty kick and scored. France got off to a dream start with Argentina 1-0. The French fans at the scene instantly reached the climax!

In the 18th minute, it was Mbappe again. Facing three defensive players, he caused another foul on the edge of the penalty area. This time, Pogba took the free kick and hit it slightly high.

Mbappe's performance today was extremely eye-catching, even not inferior to his teammate Zhao Jinge in Manchester City!
In the 25th minute, France quickly counterattacked. Although Griezmann stumbled on the right, he still passed Rojo and crossed near the baseline. Argentine goalkeeper Almani confiscated the ball.

After more than 20 minutes of furious attack, the French team's offensive slowed down slightly, and the Argentine team began its own counterattack!
In the 40th minute, the French defense made a mistake. Di Maria unexpectedly shot a long shot of very high quality. Lori had nothing to do. France beat Argentina one to one, and Argentina equalized!

What surprised the Argentines even more was that at the beginning of the second half, in the 48th minute, Argentina took the lead!

On the right side of the French team's penalty area, Messi got the ball and hit the goal. The ball bounced into the goal at Mercado's feet. France beat Argentina one to two.

However, in the fifty-seventh minute of the game, the situation on the field changed again. France's counterattack was cleared by a header, and the young player Pavard followed up with a volley and scored the ball. It was a very high-quality goal, and France won the second quarter. 2 Argentina, France equalized the score!
In the 63rd minute, the French team pursued the victory. Hernandez made a pass and Matuidi's shot was blocked. Mbappe got the ball in the penalty area and shot a low shot from a small angle on the left to help France score another goal. The ball, France 3 to 2 Argentina, once again overtaken the score!

Five minutes later, Mbappe was unstoppable. Giroud passed the ball in the frontcourt. Mbappe followed up and got the ball. Without hesitation, he pushed the ball directly into the goal. France beat Argentina 4 to 2, completely crushing the Argentinian's goal. Sweet dreams!
So far, all the top eight teams of this World Cup have been announced. Except for the four teams in Asia, the strength gap between the other teams seems to have narrowed a lot.

Three of the eight knockout games were dragged into penalty shootouts!

In addition to the German team and the Brazilian team, the remaining favorites: France, Croatia, Belgium, and England all advanced to the quarterfinals after a hard battle!

Among them, Croatia and England both experienced a penalty shootout, while Spain and Portugal were eliminated miserably and did not even make it to the quarterfinals.

This makes every team that has advanced to the quarterfinals be very careful and dare not underestimate any opponent.

(End of this chapter)