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After 15 days of captivating action, 16 teams remain standing and as many teams return of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The stages were full of surprises because the big players of the world football did not have the easy task facing the least ranked teams. The champions' curse continued as the winners of Germany in 2014 were eliminated from the tournament after their defeats against Mexico and the Asians, South Korea
Argentina has had to work hard to get his qualification and at one point on Lionel Messi's shoulders was immense, since they faced a win-win situation in their final group after being cleared 3-0 by Croatia during their previous meeting.
The knockout stages will be played without an African side for the first D and on the other hand, there was joy for the Asians, as Japan was the only team on the continent to qualify for the round of 16 of a highly disputed H. Group.
As we enter the World Cup knockout stages, here's a look at the winners and finalists in each group. (Final standings here)
Group A
Uruguay won the group with three wins on as many games as Russia finished second to qualify for the round of 16, delighting the host country supporters. The biggest disappointment in the group came in the form of Egypt since the Mo Salah side did not even manage to collect a single point.
Group B
Spain and Portugal are progressing as planned. next step of this group of four teams. However, both were forced to work hard after irresistible performances from Iran and Morocco.
Iran almost ended Portugal's hopes in the 1-1 draw on June 25 while they seemed threatening in the final minutes to Saransk. "title =" Cristiano Ronaldo became the oldest man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final on Friday. "width =" 660 "height =" auto "tw =" 1024 "th =" 683 "/>
[19659013] Thomas Muller and the rest of the German players react after their unbelievable defeat in South Korea 