Round of 32 confirmed for 8 teams whose opponents already know

With the end of the six groups of the World Cup group stage, the picture of the knockout stage has become much clearer. So far, 24 countries have completed all their group stage matches in this 12-group tournament. Of these, 19 teams have confirmed their place in the Round of Thirty-Two. On the other hand, 8 teams have confirmed their exit. The remaining 21 teams are still waiting for the last 13 places.

In this new format World Cup, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups will directly advance to the Round of Thirty-Two. They will be joined by the eight best third-placed teams. These knockout stage matches will be held from June 28 to July 3.

So far, the six group matches have ended without any major incidents. As a result, several teams have comfortably confirmed their place in the last 32. However, the equation for determining the opponent is quite complicated due to the expanded size of the World Cup. According to FIFA's new rules, there are 495 possible formations to determine the full schedule of the Round of 32. Despite that complexity, eight teams have already known for sure who their opponents are in the knockout stage.

One of the most talked about matches is going to be the match between Brazil and Japan. Brazil has entered the knockout stage by taking the top spot in Group 'C'. On the other hand, Japan, the runner-up in Group 'F', has got the opportunity to be the opponent of the Seleção. Japan's draw against Sweden has confirmed this match. The two teams will face each other at Houston Stadium in the United States at 11 pm on Monday (June 29).

Recent statistics are also increasing interest in the match. Japan is undefeated against European countries under coach Hajime Moriyasu since 2019. In addition, the Asian team defeated Brazil 3-2 in 2025. As a result, this match has all the ingredients to be one of the most interesting matches in the knockout stage.

Morocco and the Netherlands will face each other in another much-awaited match of the knockout stage. The match will be held at the Monterrey Stadium in Canada on Tuesday (June 30) at 7 am. Morocco, ranked seventh in the FIFA rankings, will face the challenge of the Netherlands, ranked eighth. One of the two potential semi-final hopefuls will therefore have to be eliminated in the first round of the knockouts.

Of the three host countries, two have already known their opponents. The host United States will play against Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the other hand, Canada will face the 2010 host South Africa. Therefore, a tough test is expected from the start for the hosts.

However, not all the equations are yet to be worked out. Although the schedule of their matches has been confirmed, Germany, Argentina, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Australia and Switzerland will have to wait for their opponents. The full picture of the Round of Thirty-Two will be clear only after the remaining six groups have finished playing.

Meanwhile, a total of eight teams have been confirmed to be eliminated from the tournament. They are - Turkey, Tunisia, Haiti, Panama, Czech Republic, Qatar, Curacao and Jordan.

The Round of Thirty-Two matches will be played according to the traditional knockout rules of the World Cup. Each match will be a direct elimination. If there is no result in the scheduled 90 minutes, the game will be played in two halves of 15 minutes of extra time. If there is a tie there, the winner will be determined by a tiebreaker. As a result, every match from now on will become a fight for life and death, where the dream of the title can end with one mistake.