A World Cup that saw mighty Argentina fall to Saudi Arabia, Germany and Belgium go home in the group stage and an array of final match-day drama now has the sport’s traditional powers rounding into peak form.
The round of 16 saw the likes of Brazil, England, France and the Netherlands each comfortably roll in their last-16 matchups. Portugal silenced any doubters—and made a key change to the starting lineup—in a 6–1 thrashing of Switzerland. Argentina skated by Australia, while Croatia survived on penalties vs. Japan. But Morocco, the surprise underdog of the tournament that won Group F, continued taking Qatar by storm with a win over Spain in penalty kicks.
Heading into the home stretch of this tournament, we rank the eight teams remaining before the quarterfinals kick off on Friday.
Joel Marklund BILDBYRAN/IMAGO (Kane); Uwe Kraft/IMAGO (Neymar); AFLOSPORT/IMAGO (Mbappé)
1. Brazil
Group Finish: Won Group G
Last 16: Beat South Korea, 4–1
Quarterfinals: vs. Croatia, Friday, 10 a.m. ET
There’s no team in Qatar playing as well as the Seleção right now. There’s also no team playing with as much joy. The pieces are all fitting together perfectly for manager Tite. Neymar returned from injury in the last 16 and picked up right where he left off as his side cruised to a 4–1 win over South Korea. Lucas Paquetá has slotted into the midfield and made a massive difference in the attack. And striker Richarlison has showcased the two most important attributes of a Brazilian No. 9: scoring beautiful goals and making them look easy.
Brazil also holds at least the top two or three spots in the unofficial power rankings of best goal celebrations, which comes as little surprise.
A date with Croatia in the quarterfinals awaits, which is fairly advantageous considering the rest of the remaining field.
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2. France
Group Finish: Won Group D
Last 16: Beat Poland, 3–1
Quarterfinals: vs. England, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
This is Kylian Mbappé’s tournament. If he announced himself on this stage four years ago, his performance in Qatar is something of a second (perhaps even greater) act. The PSG star scored twice more in the round-of-16 matchup with Poland to lift Les Bleus (along with the record-setting Olivier Giroud). But maybe of equal importance to France along with Mbappé’s stunning form is that of the midfield. The loss of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté before the tournament spelled trouble, but Aurélien Tchouaméni and Adrien Rabiot have been superb in their stead. Antoine Griezmann has also been excellent in an attacking midfield role. While Brazil might have the edge in depth, there isn’t a team that outmatches the volume of talent in this starting IX.
3. England
Group Finish: Won Group B
Last 16: Beat Senegal, 3–0
Quarterfinals: vs. France, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
Gareth Southgate’s side is back to doing what it does best: Controlling possession, defending solidly and then being clinical with its scoring chances. Nineteen-year-old Jude Bellingham is one of the breakout young players of the tournament. His assist to Jordan Henderson got the Three Lions off and rolling in a round-of-16 win over Senegal in which they were hardly threatened. It’s still yet to be seen if England can properly utilize its attacking firepower against a side that also likes to hold onto possession. That will be put to the test immediately in a quarterfinal matchup with the reigning champions.
4. Portugal
Group Finish: Won Group H
Last 16: Beat Switzerland, 6–1
Quarterfinals: vs. Morocco, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET
Manager Fernando Santos has solved the Cristiano Ronaldo problem. Santos made the bold move to bench the aging superstar for the last-16 match with Switzerland. The result? A fluid attack unleashed by the Portuguese, spearheaded by Benfica star Gonçalo Ramos. The 21-year-old scored a hat trick and assisted on another goal in his first start for the national team. The sample size couldn’t be much smaller, but Portugal may have another star in the making. For now, all it’ll care about is that its attack is now flying at the perfect time. It’s clear that all it takes is Ronaldo taking a backseat for this team to fully unleash its breadth of attacking talent. Sound familiar, Manchester United fans?
Peter Byrne/PA Images/IMAGO
5. Argentina
Group Finish: Won Group C
Last 16: Beat Australia, 2–1
Quarterfinals: vs. Netherlands, Friday, 2 p.m. ET
This ranking may seem a little harsh, but we’re taking the full body of work into account here. That includes the loss to Saudi Arabia to open the tournament and a win over Australia in which the Socceroos very nearly drew level with minutes to play. But Lionel Messi is the great equalizer. We saw his flash of brilliance against Australia, a burst of energy that gave La Albiceleste a crucial lead. Even though Argentina hasn’t quite looked like the dominant side that went 36 matches unbeaten to enter the competition, all it takes is a classic Messi moment for this side to continue its World Cup run of destiny.
6. Netherlands
Group Finish: Won Group A
Last 16: Beat United States, 3–1
Quarterfinals: vs. Argentina, Friday, 2 p.m. ET
The Dutch made things look fairly simple in their win over the U.S. in the round of 16. Manager Louis van Gaal set up his team to sit back, defend and strike on the counterattack, which it did in clinical fashion in the victory. It may not be able to pull off the same trick against La Albiceleste, who haven’t created bountiful scoring chances in a couple of their World Cup matches but have been clinical themselves when necessary. But a strong performance to this point from Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay and a breakout goalscoring stretch from Cody Gakpo mean this side is still very dangerous.
7. Croatia
Group Finish: Second in Group F
Last 16: Beat Japan in PKs (3–1 after a 1–1 draw)
Quarterfinals: vs. Brazil, Friday, 10 a.m. ET
Do the Vatreni have enough legs left? Croatia survived after 120 minutes against a Japan side that doesn’t stop running. The penalty-shootout victory over the Samurai Blue saw a midfield of 28-year-old Mateo Kovačić, 30-year-old Marcelo Brozović and 37-year-old Luka Modrić play a combined 316 minutes just four days before facing Brazil in the quarterfinals. This is a team that relies on an aging core and midfield control. It will need every bit of energy it has left on Friday vs. the Seleção.
8. Morocco
Group Finish: Won Group F
Last 16: Beat Spain in PKs (3–0 after a 0–0 draw)
Quarterfinals: vs. Portugal, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET
Don’t be fooled: The Atlas Lions’ run to the quarterfinals is no fluke. Morocco defended courageously and in an organized manner against Spain, stifling La Furia Roja to 0.9 expected goals and one shot on target even though it conceded 76% of the possession. Morocco is now unbeaten in the World Cup, having faced the No. 2, No. 7 and No. 12 teams in the FIFA world ranking. The giant-killers in Qatar face another tall task in Portugal, but don’t write them off just yet.
