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A look at how each team is placed before the quarter-finals of Friday and Saturday:
Uruguay, one of only two teams to have won all four matches, has one of the most vicious defenses of Russia, with talismanian captain Diego Godin and a force of lethal strike at Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez.
Cavani's fitness is the big concern before Friday's meeting. The Paris Saint-Germain striker was injured in the calf after scoring twice to end Cristiano Ronaldo and the World Cup of Portugal in the round of 16.
After going through the group stage disappointingly, France took the stage thanks to the frantic pace of Kylian Mbappe who allowed Argentina to beat Argentina in a clbadic. of the World Cup 4-3 in the round of 16.
A very different task is waiting to cross the Uruguayan brick wall of a defense that will not allow Mbappe to exploit the same space. But as the legs begin to tire in the final stages, France's strength in depth could begin to make a difference.
With Uruguay, Brazil shares the best defensive record, having conceded only once in four matches until now and slowly begins to hit its stride on the other end of the field as well. Neymar hit his second goal of the tournament in the last 16.
After a disappointing 1-1 draw against Switzerland, 2-0 against Costa Rica, Serbia and Mexico propelled Brazil in a seventh consecutive quarter and remain favorites to erase the scars of a half -final humiliating. – The last fight against Germany four years ago.
Belgium will be the real test of the performance of the Brazilian bottom line at Kazan on Friday, but coach Roberto Martinez has some big decisions to make after an impressive 2-0 comeback in the last 21 minutes, avoiding an exit shock in Japan in the last 16.
Japan took the lead in Martinez's 3-4-2-1 system and the Red Devils had to rely on their physical superiority in the final stages with Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini returning home before Nacer Chadli does not finish his return. at the end of a superb counter-attack.
Martinez must now find the right balance to exploit the best of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku without leaving Belgium exposed.
They are not the most beautiful, but Sweden is extremely efficient and happy to play the role of outsider, having dominated the Netherlands and Italy in qualifying and Germany in group stage.
Their run to the last eight games for the first time since 1994 has been built on three free throws in four games, but although they are hard to break, they lack a powerful force in the game. # 39; before.
Freed from the curse of penalty kicks after beating Colombia, England will be favorite for a first World Cup semifinal since 1990.
For 92 minutes in Moscow, the Three Lions kept their calm as Colombia lost theirs and played with patience in possession rarely seen by English teams in recent years.
Yerry Mina's header threatened to change all that, but a first World Cup victory on penalties in four attempts gives Gareth Southgate's men reason to believe that this period will really be different.
The hosts delighted their audience by surpbading all expectations to qualify for the last eight, thanks to a great elimination of shots on goal in Spain.
Russian players were on their knees after being defended for 120 minutes in Moscow with only 26% of possession and now they have to summon another big physical effort, Croatia having to dominate the ball one more time.
Undoubtedly the most successful artists of the group stage, Croatia had to suffer to pbad in front of Denmark on penalties.
Luckily, Croatia did not go into the knockout phases after a brilliant tournament start, but after catching Luka Modric's miss penalty four minutes before the end of the extra time in Last 16, the time for a talented generation may have come.
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